Payback (2016)

The 2016 Payback was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was the fourth annual Payback and took place on May 1, 2016, at the Allstate Arena in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, Illinois. The event is considered by WWE to be the first PPV and livestreaming event of The New Era. The concept of the event was based around wrestlers seeking payback against their opponents. Eight matches were contested at the event, including two on the Kickoff pre-show. In the main event, Roman Reigns defeated AJ Styles to retain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. In other prominent matches, Dean Ambrose defeated Chris Jericho, The Miz defeated Cesaro to retain the Intercontinental Championship, and in the opening bout, the tournament final to determine the number one contenders for the WWE Tag Team Championship, which was contested between Enzo Amore and Colin Cassidy and The Vaudevillains (Aiden English and Simon Gotch), ended in a no contest. The event was originally scheduled to be held on May 22, 2016, at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, but WWE switched its date and venue with that year's Extreme Rules, in turn marking the third Payback held at the Allstate Arena, after the first two events in 2013 and 2014. This was the last Payback to take place before the reintroduction of the brand extension in July. Critics gave mixed reactions to the event, criticizing WWE for promoting the event as the start of a "new era" while employing several storylines they had been using since the Attitude Era. Special criticism was reserved for a re-enactment of the Montreal Screwjob at the end of the WWE Women's Championship match. This event also featured Ryback's final appearance in the company as he was released in August 2016.