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It looked for a brief time after WrestleMania 36 that WWE was going to show squash matches and archive footage on television every week, with storylines no longer being treated as a priority while events were filmed at the Performance Center.
Fortunately, as the weeks went on, WWE stopped replaying matches from years ago and began to focus on the current-day product again.
Since then, various long-term storylines have played out on WWE television over the last few months, including “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt vs. Braun Strowman, Seth Rollins’ feud with the Mysterio family, and the demise of Bayley and Sasha Banks as a tag team.
With four months left of 2020, WWE is bound to produce even more major storyline developments before the year is out, especially with Roman Reigns back on TV and with a WWE Draft yet to take place.
In this article, let’s take a look at 10 storyline developments that could realistically happen in WWE before 2021.
#10 NXT invades RAW and SmackDown
Up until 2019, the Survivor Series pay-per-view had a RAW vs. SmackDown theme after the two brands were given exclusive rosters in 2016.
Last year, Survivor Series took place just a couple of months after NXT debuted as a two-hour weekly show on the USA Network, so the black and gold brand’s Superstars were also involved in the annual rivalry between WWE’s main shows.
It is unclear whether RAW, SmackDown and NXT will compete against each other again at Survivor Series 2020, but it is worth noting that Triple H has already confirmed that a WWE Draft is on the horizon.
Once the next set of roster changes are finalized, do not be surprised if NXT Superstars make their presence felt by invading the WWE ThunderDome.
#9 Roman Reigns moves to WWE RAW
As we saw in 2019, WWE allows World Champions to move between brands in every Superstar Shake-Up/Draft, which means the WWE Champion (currently Drew McIntyre) and Universal Champion (currently Roman Reigns) could potentially swap shows in the near future.
Storylines on RAW and SmackDown have improved a lot over the last couple of months, but viewing figures for the red brand’s show are still way below what they should be.
If WWE wants to boost RAW’s ratings with some more star power, Reigns could be the man to help with that.
#8 Drew McIntyre faces Tyson Fury
Drew McIntyre has traded insults with Tyson Fury in interviews and on social media ever since he defeated Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 36.
Although Fury has repeatedly told the Scot to contact his people and make the match happen, a one-on-one encounter did not seem like a realistic possibility in 2020 until Triple H said this week that a match between the two men could do “record box office business”.
Ideally, McIntyre vs. Fury would take place in a sold-out arena on a stacked WWE card, but that seems unlikely before 2021.
The alternative is to stage the match at the WWE ThunderDome in Orlando, Florida or at NXT UK’s makeshift arena in the BT Sport Studios in London, England.
#7 Bayley vs. Sasha Banks headlines WWE Hell in a Cell
If, as reported, Hell in a Cell takes place on November 1, the following three rivalries are all worthy of being settled inside the steel structure: Drew McIntyre vs. Randy Orton (WWE Championship), Roman Reigns vs. “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt (Universal Championship), and Bayley vs. Sasha Banks (SmackDown Women's Championship).
Unlike the two male World Championship storylines, which could potentially be over or on hold by the time of Hell in a Cell, Bayley and Banks will almost certainly be feuding on PPV at the start of November.
If they are, a five-years-in-the-making PPV match between The Golden Role Models would not look out of place as the Hell in a Cell main event.
#6 Otis unsuccessfully cashes in his MITB contract
As is often the case with Money in the Bank winners, Otis had a ton of momentum around the time of WrestleMania and heading into his appearance in the 2020 Money in the Bank ladder match at WWE’s headquarters.
However, since surprisingly winning the match, Otis has hardly featured on SmackDown, with Mandy Rose’s rivalry with Sonya Deville taking priority over her romance storyline with the Heavy Machinery member.
The Money in the Bank match has created unexpected World Champions in the past (The Miz in 2010 and Daniel Bryan in 2011, for example), but a repeat of Damien Sandow’s 2013 failure looks more likely for Otis at the moment.
#5 WWE General Managers return
In September 2019, a similar article to this suggested that WWE could use Paul Heyman and Eric Bischoff – RAW and SmackDown’s Executive Directors at the time – as on-screen authority figures ahead of the WWE Draft.
A lot has changed since then, both on-screen and off-screen, but WWE has not yet reintroduced General Managers and/or Commissioners on RAW and SmackDown.
Various people in WWE have given out orders and created match stipulations in recent months, including WWE producer Adam Pearce and Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon, even though nobody is officially in charge of either show.
Granted, the GM role can be tedious at times, but it is also necessary when a certain storyline needs an authority figure to step in and make decisions.
#4 Big E has a WWE World Championship match on PPV
Big E looked like the most probable winner of the SmackDown Fatal 4-Way match to determine a new number one contender for Roman Reigns’ Universal Championship at WWE Clash of Champions.
However, the New Day member was unable to compete in the match following a backstage attack from Sheamus, meaning his inevitable rise to the World Championship picture will have to wait until he has finished feuding with the Irishman.
Realistically, with at least three pay-per-views set to take place in 2020 after Clash of Champions, there is every chance that Big E will still receive a title opportunity at a PPV this year.
#3 WWE plants the seeds for Wade Barrett’s in-ring return
Although Wade Barrett mentioned on this week’s NXT that he retired as an in-ring competitor in 2016, the five-time WWE Intercontinental Champion has repeatedly stated in media interviews that he is not ruling out a possible return to action one day.
Barrett, who has recently been working as an NXT commentator on a week-to-week basis, looks set to land the role permanently after it was announced that Mauro Ranallo has left WWE.
If Barrett does continue to work in NXT, he is destined to end up having confrontations with one or two current Superstars by the end of the year.
#2 Another Asuka winning streak
The latest episode of WWE RAW saw Mickie James defeat Lana (w/Natalya) to set up a future RAW Women’s Championship match against Asuka.
With respect to the three Superstars involved in Monday’s segment, it is highly unlikely that Asuka is going to lose her title to any of them in 2020.
Looking at the rest of the RAW women’s division, Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler are now involved in a Tag Team Championship storyline with Ruby Riott and Liv Morgan, while Peyton Royce and Billie Kay have not been built up enough to be deemed credible challengers for Asuka’s title.
The other two active female Superstars on RAW right now, Bianca Belair and Zelina Vega, have been nowhere near RAW Women’s Championship contention in recent months, so it looks like Asuka could rack up a few wins before 2021.
#1 Brock Lesnar returns to WWE
Chris Jericho told Sportskeeda’s Gary Cassidy this week that, even though Brock Lesnar is technically a free agent right now, he believes the eight-time World Champion will end up agreeing terms on a new WWE deal with Vince McMahon.
That theory has been speculated by many people over the last few days, especially as Lesnar has agreed deals with McMahon at the last minute before his contract has been due to expire in the past.
Whether it happens in 2020 or 2021, it is not unrealistic to think that The Beast could be back in WWE in the not-too-distant future.
