So, I’ve been messing around with this whole WWE Payback 2023 thing, and let me tell you, it’s been a wild ride. I saw that the event took place on Saturday, September 2, 2023, at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I started by digging into what the big shots, you know, the “experts” like this Dave Meltzer guy, were saying about it. Seems like everyone’s been waiting for his take, his star ratings and all that jazz, he got famous by rating matches.
First off, I had to get the lowdown on what exactly went down at Payback. I wasn’t there, obviously, so I started scouring the internet for match results, who won, who lost, the whole nine yards. It was a lot to take in. I even found out that the ratings were published in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Then, I started looking at these star ratings. Meltzer’s got this system, apparently, it’s pretty popular, where he rates matches from zero to five stars. He even goes into negative stars if a match really stinks, or so I heard. I spent a good chunk of time just trying to understand this whole rating system. And then, I saw some of his ratings for Payback 2023. Some matches got 2.5 stars, others got 2 stars.
I made a little table for myself, just to keep track of everything. Here’s what I cobbled together:
- Match 1: Got 2.5 stars, not bad, not great.
- Match 2: This one also got 2.5 stars. Meltzer seemed to think they were just okay.
- Match 3: Only 2 stars for this one. One of the lowest, it seems.
- Match 4: Another 2-star match.
Honestly, trying to follow all this was a bit of a headache, and it is not over. After I got a handle on Meltzer’s ratings, I started checking out what other people were saying. Forums, social media, you name it. Everyone’s got an opinion, and let me tell you, they’re not shy about sharing it. I even tried to find some videos of the matches, just to see for myself what all the fuss was about.
I’m not sure I’m any closer to understanding this whole wrestling thing, but it’s been interesting, to say the least. I might keep digging into it, or I might just move on to something else. I also found that the event was the first Payback held since 2020. Who knows, maybe I’ll check out this Meltzer guy’s ratings for other events, see what the deal is. There is one thing that I’m sure of, I will keep sharing stuff like this, it is just fun.
