Intercontinental Champion Wade Barrett vs. Fandango vs. The Miz (Triple Threat Match)
If Wade Barrett hopes to leave WWE Payback with his Intercontinental Title reign intact, he’ll have to turn back the challenge of not one, but two competitors when he faces The Miz and Fandango in a Triple Threat Match.
For The Bare-Knuckled Brawler, whose win-loss record has been checkered since regaining the Intercontinental Championship in April, WWE Payback provides an opportunity to gain redemption against two Superstars who have already pinned him in non-title competition. The two challengers, meanwhile, will each look to June 16 as their chance to upend Barrett when it matters most, with the championship gold on the line.
Although Triple Threat Matches often boil down to two-on-one scenarios, with two Superstars unofficially teaming up to weaken the third, it’s hard to ascertain where the battle lines will be drawn in WWE Payback’s Intercontinental Championship bout. Indeed, the aphorism “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” may not give much comfort to any of the three competitors, who have been steadily at each others’ throats for several weeks.
The trouble began in May, when Fandango abandoned Barrett in a Tag Team Match against The Miz and Chris Jericho, choosing instead to dance at ringside with Summer Rae. Since then, the ballroom brawler scored a pinfall victory over Barrett on Raw, though much of that accomplishment was owed to the bout’s “Awesome” guest referee, who couldn’t help but get involved when the opportunity presented itself. More recently, The Miz overcame The Barrett Barrage on the June 3 edition of Raw, but again, the conclusion was far from decisive, thanks to a musical distraction provided by Fandango.
With animosity pointing in all directions, the only guarantee is that all three Superstars will have ample motivation heading into June 16’s Intercontinental Championship Match. The Miz undoubtedly wants to prove to the WWE Universe that he is capable of a long-term Intercontinental Championship reign — a status that eluded him earlier this year, when he defeated Barrett for the title on the WrestleMania Pre-Show, only to lose it back to the Englishman the following night on Raw. Fandango, a relative newcomer to the scene, already made WWE history when he won his debut match on The Grandest Stage of Them All. The more important question is, how will he fare in his first official title bout?
Last
but not least, there’s the ever-dangerous titleholder, Barrett. Despite
being in possession of the Intercontinental Championship as well as
arguably WWE’s most lethal strike, the Bull Hammer, Barrett has
seemingly taken a back seat to both of his challengers: The Miz has done
nothing but turn heads since returning to the ring last month, while
Fandango has quickly become one of the WWE’s most prominent Superstars.
Is it possible the Intercontinental Champion feels snubbed by all the
attention given to his challengers?
Another point of curiosity is whether each Superstar will be able to rely on his finisher in the context of a Triple Threat Match. Is The Miz able to nullify one competitor long enough to cinch the Figure-Four Leglock on the other? Can Fandango scale the turnbuckles and drop his mighty leg drop unhindered? At first glance, the advantage in this category appears to go to Barrett, whose Bull Hammer is delivered with lightning speed.
To find out how this intriguing three-way matchup plays out, be sure to catch all the action of WWE Payback when it debuts on pay-per-view Sunday, June 16 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.
Another point of curiosity is whether each Superstar will be able to rely on his finisher in the context of a Triple Threat Match. Is The Miz able to nullify one competitor long enough to cinch the Figure-Four Leglock on the other? Can Fandango scale the turnbuckles and drop his mighty leg drop unhindered? At first glance, the advantage in this category appears to go to Barrett, whose Bull Hammer is delivered with lightning speed.
To find out how this intriguing three-way matchup plays out, be sure to catch all the action of WWE Payback when it debuts on pay-per-view Sunday, June 16 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.
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