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United States Championship Match
Cesaro vs. Sheamus (c)
Sheamus and Cesaro look to steal the show at Payback as they engage in their third match in recent weeks. Cesaro already has a victory over Sheamus, and now Sheamus is looking to even the score and also retain his United States Championship. This is an international story of Battle Royals, handshakes, and streaks being conquered. And the stage is now set for Sheamus to dish out some payback to the newest Paul Heyman Guy.
The Road to Payback
On April 6th, Paul Heyman's client Brock Lesnar conquered The Undertaker's streak at WrestleMania. On that same night, Cesaro dumped the Big Show over the top rope to win Hulk Hogan's ultra-hyped Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal.
One month later, Sheamus won the United States Championship in a much less hyped and rather ho-hum Battle Royal on Raw.
And now here we are at Payback, where Cesaro is chasing Sheamus for that United States Championship. It seems that winning the Andre The Giant Battle Royal isn't quite as prestigious of an accomplishment as WWE tried to deceive us into thinking it would be. If only Paul Heyman would go out of his way to constantly remind the audience of who won that Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal.
Cesaro and Sheamus initially crossed paths on the May 13th edition of WWE Main Event. After a brutal fight full of uppercuts galore, the two men fought to a double count out. They immediately had a rematch on the following Raw. This time the Swiss Superman pinned the United States Champion with a German suplex after a successful distraction from the man whose client Brock Lesnar conquered The Undertaker's streak at WrestleMania.
Sheamus offered Cesaro a handshake afterwards, but Cesaro pulled his hand away at the last second in order to slick back his luxurious head of invisible hair. Sheamus was left embarrassed and looking like a fool.
Later that week on Smackdown, Cesaro attacked Sheamus during a match and then obliterated Sheamus with a Neutralizer. Cesaro added insult to injury by shaking the limp hand of an unconscious Sheamus. After this heinous assault there was no doubt that Sheamus would be thirsting for a pint of Payback.
Sheamus gained a small measure of revenge on the following week's Raw. He ran down to the ring after Cesaro's match with RVD was over and he Brogue Kicked Cesaro's head off. However Sheamus ran into a different type of trouble later in the night when Alberto Del Rio delivered a succession of vicious kicks to Irishman's skull during their match. Sheamus was knocked loopy but managed to pull out the win with a sudden Brogue Kick.
A weakened Sheamus was left vulnerable and ripe for the picking afterwards, and so Paul Heyman took the time to tell the audience that his client Brock Lesnar conquered The Undertaker's streak at WrestleMania. Cesaro then ran to the ring and focused a combination of knee strikes towards the injured head of Sheamus. Cesaro then finished Sheamus off with a Neutralizer yet again.
What's at Stake?
The United States Championship is on the line as the champion Sheamus looks to defeat the challenger Cesaro in Chicago.
Sheamus will in all likelihood feel the effects of his recent head trauma during this match with Cesaro at Payback. Will Sheamus be able to overcome this adversity and unleash his own version of payback at Cesaro's bald head in the form of a Brogue Kick?
Will the former Real American take the United States Championship away from Ireland and bring it back home to Switzerland?
And most importantly of all, if Sheamus sustains further significant damage to his head, might he actually forget that it was Paul Heyman's client Brock Lesnar who conquered The Undertaker's streak at WrestleMania?