It took place on May 1, 2016, at the Allstate Arena in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, Illinois, and was the third Payback held at this venue after the 2013 and 2014 events.

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 against The Vaudevillains (Aiden English and Simon Gotch), ended in a no contest.

Special criticism was reserved for a re-enactment of the Montreal Screwjob at the end of the WWE Women's Championship match.

[4][5] At WrestleMania 32, Roman Reigns defeated Triple H to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship for the third time.

[6] The following night on Raw, Reigns issued an open challenge for the championship, which was answered by Chris Jericho, AJ Styles, Kevin Owens, and Sami Zayn.

[8] On the April 11 episode of Raw, Shane McMahon started a tournament where the winners would face The New Day for the WWE Tag Team Championship.

[13] At WrestleMania 32, Zayn cost Owens the Intercontinental Championship in a ladder match, which Zack Ryder won.

[6] The following night on Raw, Owens attacked Zayn, preventing him to compete in the fatal four-way #1 contender match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.

[11] At WrestleMania 32, Charlotte defeated Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch with interference from her father Ric Flair to become the inaugural WWE Women's Champion.

[7] The following week on Raw, Natalya defeated Charlotte in a Women's Championship match, but by disqualification, therefore not winning the title.

[8] A rematch was subsequently scheduled for Payback, with Natalya announcing that her uncle Bret Hart would be in her corner.

[11] On the WrestleMania 32 Kickoff pre-show, Kalisto defeated Ryback to retain the United States Championship.

[6] Corbin made his main roster debut the next night on Raw, fighting Dolph Ziggler to a double-countout.

[17] The actual pay-per-view opened with the final of the tournament to determine the #1 contenders to the WWE Tag Team Championship between Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady and The Vaudevillains (Aiden English and Simon Gotch).

[17][18] According to Canoe.ca, Enzo's head got "whiplashed hard onto the mat", knocking him unconscious, which possibly made matters "worse when he then hit the floor since he couldn't protect himself.

In the end, as Jericho attempted a Lionsault, Ambrose countered by raising his knees and executed Dirty Deeds to win the match.

This was a repeat of the infamous Montreal Screwjob suffered by Bret Hart, and also advanced a second vintage storyline, that of Robinson as the "personal referee" of Flair, which dates back to her father Ric Flair's time in World Championship Wrestling and Robinson's "Little Naitch" gimmick.

[17] In the main event, Roman Reigns defended the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against AJ Styles.

Early in the match, Styles took the advantage and applied the Calf Crusher, only for Reigns to reach the ropes, breaking the hold.

Outside the ring, Styles performed a Phenomenal Forearm on Reigns, sending both men through a broadcast table.

When Styles tried an aerial attack, Reigns accidentally low blowed him and was disqualified, again losing the match but retaining his championship.

Reigns followed with another Superman Punch and prepared to execute a Spear, however, Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows appeared and pulled Styles from the ring.

Both reviewers felt that "the return to the already-tapped-dry well of McMahon Family drama" was overlong, with Kapur saying that it was also unnecessary if WWE had abided to the stipulation they set for Shane's match at WrestleMania 32.

Kapur felt that the main event was merely "a showcase for [the McMahons'] storyline, and took away any significance of the title", while both reviewers panned the "two match restarts".

Lastly, after Vince said that he only listened to himself, not to the fans or the media, Scherer endorsed that "Truer words were never spoken.

The main event, rated 2.75 stars, was hurt by "the Shane-Stephanie business" and "the anticipated outcome of Reigns winning Super Cena style kicking out of multiple finishers", which "added fuel to the anti-Reigns fire."

Lastly, the women's match and Vince's announcement were described as having "laughably bad endings ... back-to-back in the middle of the show".

[27] The Vaudevillains (Aiden English and Simon Gotch) were awarded a WWE Tag Team Championship match at Extreme Rules.

[32] On the May 9 episode of Raw, Shane and Stephanie McMahon scheduled a triple threat match between Owens, Miz, and Cesaro for the title at Extreme Rules.