Evolution is not a mystery to The Shield. Surprise! That means if you placed a bet at Extreme Rules 2014 thinking that Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose could overcome the odds, you not only pocketed some cash but befuddled the (admittedly wrong) experts like me. The consensus thinking going into that PPV was that if Evolution didn’t win, the feud wouldn’t have any legs going forward. As it turns out The Shield vs. Evolution is the hottest program on two WWE events two months in a row, despite The Shield having already gotten the upper hand in their last match, and in fact with Daniel Bryan sidelined by a neck injury that program has if anything gotten hotter going into Payback 2014 on Sunday night. This time it’s a No Holds Barred match, and once again that seems to favor Evolution – they are a -280 favorite as of this writing. Since WWE rewrote the script at the last minute though, there’s every chance they’ll do it again, and Batista IS leaving to promote Guardians of the Galaxy imminently. Perhaps +200 on The Shield to beat the odds again is a good buy. Speaking of feuds that seemingly came to a logical end, Bray Wyatt (and friends) got the best of John Cena in a steel cage match last month. The current backward progression of WWE booking means we go from a match that should blow OFF a feud to one that should build UP a feud – Cena and Wyatt go one on one in a Last Man Standing contest. Cena seems to win almost all of these stip matches (and sometimes with a little help from duct tape) so it’s no surprise he’s a -175 and Wyatt is +135. Besides when does John Cena take the L at two major shows in a row? Very very rarely. In the heavy favorites department, Wade ‘I’ve Got Some Bad News’ Barrett is -1700 to retain his Intercontinental Title against Rob Van Dam. The math matches the rumor mill that Barrett is currently one of Vince McMahon’s “fave five” and likely to be there for the foreseeable future. He must also be be big on Paige though as she’s a -1500 favorite against Alicia Fox at +700, though the latter has been spectacular on Raw in the last month. It’s more likely that it’s too soon for Paige to drop the strap, especially given that NXT just crowned a new champion for the title she had to vacate. Other matches of interest: Sheamus is -720 to retain the United States Title against Cesaro at +440. If you’re going to wager on a dog I like the bark of Cesaro AND the bite, and he’s on that “fave five” list too. Don’t go with Hornswoggle at +500 though facing El Torito at -900 in a “Mask vs. Hair” match. It’s so silly and unnecessary that if they already have a winner in mind there’s very little chance they’re going to rewrite it now. Please remember these previews are for entertainment purposes only and that if you wager you should only bet what you can afford. Enjoy WWE Payback this Sunday!
