WWE Payback 2016: The full rundown and why you should care

Many fans were let down by WrestleMania 32 last month and weren't looking forward to Sunday's Payback pay-per-view at the time. Over the past month, however, Shane McMahon has assumed control of RAW and has been thrilling hardcore fans by debuting popular wrestlers and featuring lights-out matches every week since WrestleMania. In the meantime, Payback has become a stacked card almost completely devoid of rematches.

While a lot of WWE fans are still coming to terms with being excited about Payback, we have the full rundown of reasons for you to get pumped about Sunday night's PPV, which will air live from Rosemont, Ill. beginning at 8 p.m. ET, with the Kickoff Show starting at 7 p.m.

Keep in mind that the following eight matches will take place, as well as Vince McMahon's decision on whether Stephanie McMahon or Shane McMahon will be in control of RAW going forward.

Kickoff Match for the WWE United States Championship: Kalisto (c) vs. Ryback

What am I looking at here? Kalisto, the reigning U.S. champ, should by all rights be on his way to becoming this generation's answer to Rey Mysterio. For whatever reason, however, WWE seems reluctant to turn him loose and put some serious storylines and television time behind him.

Ryback is The Big Guy. He used to be really into brunch, but now he's mostly interested in socking people in the mouth. He lost to Kalisto at WrestleMania 32 and now he's looking to prove that he's much bigger than Kalisto (which he is) and therefore better at everything (which is up for debate, honestly).

Why you should care: Kalisto can do things you haven't seen many wrestlers do. The only question is whether WWE will let him do those things on his second straight Kickoff Show. Their match at WrestleMania was a bit lackluster (and played to far fewer people in the arena than they would have liked), so both men are likely to be wrestling this match with a bit of a chip on their shoulders. Can Kalisto escape with his title again, or will the sheer size of Ryback overwhelm him?

Huge guy vs. tiny guy matches are fun. Just succumb to that truth and you should be fine.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Baron Corbin

What am I looking at here? Dolph Ziggler dresses and acts like a petulant member of Steel Panther and believes he should be a top guy in the company because he's super good at giving people entertaining matches. Baron Corbin is a recent call-up from NXT and looks like a guy who is probably related to the Undertaker and whose list of potential WWE names DEFINITELY included something like "Robby Corvette." He won the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 32, in his first night on the main roster.

Why you should care: Barry Corbin is a huge, entitled dude who thinks he's the best at everything because he's achieved a modicum of success in Division III football. He also mauled Ziggler in his first match on RAW and pissed Ziggler off royally. Now you've got the new guy and the established guy both looking for something to prove.

If you've never seen much of him before, make sure you keep your eye on Corbin. He's gotten crazy-good since August of last year and could be a great heel in WWE for years to come. He could also potentially launch Ziggler into the sun, so there's always that extra bit of fun to look forward to.

Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens

What am I looking at here? Sami Zayn is a lovable, skanking dork. He's like if Ducky from Sixteen Candles were way into ska and the Bouncing Souls, but he's easier to root for. He's also one of the best wrestlers in the world. Kevin Owens is a big, violent, prizefighter jerk who just wants to beat people up for money. Especially when one of those people is Sami Zayn.

Why you should care: Zayn and Owens are real-life best friends and forever enemies who are destined to do this for the rest of their lives. Any promotion these two have ever been in has led to an uncontrollable blood feud. Seriously, just watch this:

Yeah. You're all-in. They're probably going to do everything they can to hurt each other real bad and steal the show. We simply cannot wait.

Dean Ambrose vs. Chris Jericho

What am I looking at here? Dean Ambrose is a lunatic whose talk show segment replaced Chris Jericho's talk show segment on WWE television. Jericho is an egomaniac who can't accept anyone taking the spotlight from him for an instant. Especially when the person doing so is a STUPID IDIOT.

Why you should care: Jericho and Ambrose are both world-class performers whose wacky chemistry together has managed to make this weird talk-show-based storyline extremely entertaining. Jericho will be at his smarmy worst and Ambrose will be at his unhinged best. The result should be endlessly watchable.

No. 1 Contender's Match for the WWE Tag Team Championship: Enzo Amore & Colin Cassady vs. The Vaudevillains (Aiden English & Simon Gotch)

What am I looking at here? Enzo Amore and Big Cass are the realest guys in the room and they cannot abide any haters. The Vaudevillains, as they just revealed on Monday's RAW, are NOT time-displaced ne'er-do-wells, but in fact hipsters who admire and emulate the turn-of-the (20th)-century lifestyle.

Why you should care: The winner of this match goes on to challenge tag team champs The New Day for the tag team titles. Enzo and Cass are the two most charismatic wrestlers on the roster, bar none, and will be one of the most popular acts on the roster in short order. Get in on the ground floor of caring about them and knowing their many catch phrases now.

The Vaudevillains, while saddled with a rough entrance and strange gimmick, have incredible talent in the ring. As these two teams are intimately familiar with one another thanks to their time in NXT, they should definitely be able to put together a fantastic tag match.

The best part is that no matter which team wins, watching them and the New Day play off each other until the title match will be entertaining as hell.

WWE Intercontinental Championship Match: The Miz (c) vs. Cesaro

What am I looking at here? The Miz basically stole the Intercontinental title from Zack Ryder the day after Ryder won it at WrestleMania, thanks to Maryse, Miz's wife. Maryse is the only person on the planet who is as big a prima donna as The Miz, so they're a match made in heaven.

Cesaro has recently returned from a shoulder injury and is now a real-life Transporter, wearing a tearaway suit for his entrance and somehow becoming an even bigger badass during his time away.

Why you should care: Cesaro has never held the Intercontinental Championship and is one of the greatest wrestlers alive. The Miz has the most OH MY GOD HIT THIS GUY IN THE MOUTH act of our generation. Also, the last time these two had a significant beef, it led to this:

YES MORE OF THIS PLEASE AND THANK YOU

WWE Women's Championship Match: Charlotte (c) vs. Natalya

What am I looking at here? Charlotte is the rechristened Women's Champion and has mostly held onto that title thanks to the machinations of her father, the no-good dirty dog Ric Flair. Natalya is the standard bearer of second-generation women wrestlers and is out to prove to Charlotte that she's the better wrestler -- and better person.

Why you should care: Flair will be in Charlotte's corner, of course. But Natalya is bringing her uncle, Bret Hart, to have her back and be in her corner during this match. The last time these two women met with Flair and Hart in their respective corners, they had one of the greatest women's matches in NXT history. Can they capture that magic again? Probably!

WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match: Roman Reigns (c) vs. AJ Styles

What am I looking at here? Roman Reigns isn't a bad guy. He's not a good guy. He's THE guy. And he has the world title to prove it. That isn't going to stop nearly every WWE fan from booing him as loud as they can, of course.

AJ Styles spent over a decade being the face of TNA, then left that company and spent over a year in Japan and on the indies, being the consensus best wrestler of 2015. This is his first shot at the WWE world title (if we're not counting the Royal Rumble) and he's going to make the most of it.

Why you should care: Beyond the excitement of a truly fresh matchup as a main event and Styles' first singles WWE title match, there is a whole added level of intrigue surrounding this bout thanks to Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows.

Gallows and Anderson, who debuted in WWE a couple weeks after WrestleMania and made their in-ring debut this past Monday, were two of the members of the ultra-popular New Japan heel stable Bullet Club. Styles was the leader of that group before departing for WWE and now his buddies have followed him here.

Anderson and Gallows beat down Reigns' cousins, the Usos, as their first act in the company. They've credited Styles with allowing them to get their jobs here and have been acting VERY buddy-buddy with him. They've also been specifically targeting Reigns and the Usos, just as Styles is challenging for Reigns' title. Styles says he has nothing to do with these attacks, but something sure seems fishy.

If you want to add even more intrigue to the intrigue pile, NXT's former champion, Finn Bálor, was the founder of Bullet Club and Styles only came to the group after Bálor accepted a WWE developmental contract.

So, who is REALLY behind the Anderson and Gallows attacks? And how will this affect the world title match? We'll find out on Sunday night. Maybe.

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