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It's the final week of December, and soon we all will be witnessing the arrival of a new year. One look at the past 12 months and it's obvious that 2020 was one of the toughest years for the wrestling community.
After starting the year with a fantastic Royal Rumble PPV, WWE produced some exceptional storylines in the next three months. However, WWE's plans for the year were halted due to the worldwide pandemic. Crowds were restricted from the shows, which eventually left a bad effect on WWE's product.
However, even such a pandemic couldn't stop Vince McMahon from continuing on his mantra of "The show must go on". Even in such unusual circumstances, WWE was successful in delivering many amazing moments to the WWE Universe.
The absence of the crowds allowed WWE to try out some new changes in their programming. WWE capitalized on many such opportunities, which proved to be beneficial for them. Roman Reigns' heel turn is one such well-executed masterstroke played by WWE as it finally solidified Reigns' position as the top guy of the company.
However, WWE didn't hit the home run every time, as there were some big misses throughout the year. There were many opportunities that WWE failed to capitalize on. If WWE had pulled the trigger on these decisions, it might have benefitted them in the long run. In this article, let's take a look at five such missed opportunities for WWE this year.
#5 Turning Rhea Ripley into the next big WWE star
Rhea Ripley had an unforgettable 2019. After being moved to the main NXT brand, Ripley gradually started to gain momentum. She led the NXT women into WWE Survivor Series and pinned Sasha Banks to pick up the victory for her team. She didn't stop there and went on to dethrone the 'Queen of Spades' Shayna Baszler to capture her first NXT Women's title.
She kicked off her 2020 by challenging Charlotte Flair, who had just won the Royal Rumble match. The match was set for WrestleMania, with Ripley being a strong contender to win. Charlotte already had numerous titles to her name, so it seemed like she would put Rhea Ripley over this time.
The match was a blockbuster and probably the best of WrestleMania 36. However, in a shocking turn of events, Ripley tapped out to Charlotte. The victory didn't do Charlotte any favors, but it did hurt the credibility of Rhea Ripley.
'The Nightmare' lost a lot of her steam after getting beaten by The Queen. While she is still a major name on NXT, Ripley is nowhere near the level of what she could have been if she had retained the title at WrestleMania.
#4 Establishing 'The Fiend' as an invincible force by defeating WWE legend, Goldberg
The Fiend has emerged as one of WWE's best creations in recent years. It has given a new life to Bray Wyatt's WWE career. He had terrorized the WWE roster after making his debut at SummerSlam 2019. He put down well-established names like Finn Balor, Seth Rollins, The Miz, Daniel Bryan, and no one could stop this evil monster.
At Super Showdown 2020, The Fiend was ready to go one-on-one with 'The Icon' Goldberg. From a storyline perspective, it made no sense for Goldberg to become the Universal Champion. In fact, The Fiend's character would have become even more invincible had he taken down Goldberg.
However, after a rather forgettable finisher fest, Goldberg shockingly pinned The Fiend after hitting him with the Jackhammer. The Fiend's loss was unexpected, and Goldberg becoming the new champion made matters even worse.
WWE was heavily criticized for ruining one of their biggest characters ever at the expense of Goldberg. Although The Fiend did beat John Cena and Braun Strowman later in the year, he couldn't fully recover from the damage done by this heartbreaking loss.
#3 Booking WWE RETRIBUTION as a more successful version of The Nexus
The Nexus is still remembered for the impact that they had a decade ago. The idea of having a bunch of NXT rookies fighting against the WWE administration was pretty cool and well received by the fans. The stable was very popular among the WWE Universe and was destined for success.
The group was booked dominantly until their crushing loss to John Cena at SummerSlam 2010. This loss was critical for the group, which derailed their momentum forever.
Earlier this year, some masked men attacked WWE Superstars and created chaos all around. The group was called RETRIBUTION, which was in the minds of a few, the second coming of The Nexus. It was expected from WWE to learn from its past mistakes and book this Nexus 2.0 properly. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case with RETRIBUTION.
In the beginning, the group was booked decently, as they attacked several Superstars on RAW and Smackdown. Mustafa Ali's revelation as the stable's leader also enhanced the credibility of the group. However, all the hype around the stable was soon busted.
WWE gave them weird masks and ridiculous names, which made it difficult to take them as a serious threat. Further damage was done by The Fiend and The Hurt Business, who convincingly destroyed the group.
The group has lost all its momentum now and is currently stuck in a lower mid-card feud with Ricochet. The idea of RETRIBUTION had tons of potential, but the group never really took off. WWE failed to capitalize on the brilliance of the concept that made RETRIBUTION one of the most poorly booked stables in WWE history.
#2 Saving Apollo Crews' WWE career by letting him join The Hurt Business
Apollo Crews' WWE career was revived earlier this year after he was moved to the Red brand. He got momentum and became a solid mid-card act on RAW and captured the United States title from Andrade and kept it until the Payback PPV.
During his title run, Crews was involved in an intense feud with The Hurt Business. He faced MVP several times during this rivalry and always came on top. However, his title run came crashing down at the hands of Bobby Lashley. This title loss also took away Crews' relevancy as he once again disappeared from WWE TV.
However, things might have been different if Crews had joined The Hurt Business. MVP's latest run with the company has done wonders for the careers of Bobby Lashley. It has also given a new direction to the respective careers of Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander.
The same thing could have happened with Apollo Crews if he had decided to join hands with MVP. His heel turn could have given a new dimension to his character. He would have been a mainstay on the roster and made The Hurt Business even stronger.
#1 Rebuilding the WWE tag team division
It's been a long time since WWE has focussed on its tag team division. While other wrestling promotions like AEW and IMPACT have outstanding tag teams in their roster, WWE simply doesn't seem to care about its tag team stars. It's quite painful to watch because WWE has given so many legendary moments to tag team wrestling in the past.
Iconic tag teams like Legion of Doom, The Hardy Boyz, Edge and Christian, and The Dudleys made a big impact on not just WWE's tag team division but pro wrestling as a whole.
However, the current tag division of WWE has been in a crisis for a very long time now. The company has failed in booking tag teams in recent years. Apart from The New Day and The Usos, that there hasn't been a legitimate long-term tag team in the last 6-7 years.
There have been multiple makeshift tag teams that have always made the tag titles look like an afterthought. The Brand Extension has also damaged the depth of the tag team roster. WWE had a big opportunity to work on this division this year and silence their critics forever. However, they didn't show any interest in doing so.
The Street Profits and The New Day held the titles for most of the year, with little to no character development. There weren't any credible challengers, and their matches were also too short. There weren't any measures to get people invested in tag team wrestling.
If WWE wants to bring back its old audience, it must rebuild its core strength. The popularity of tag team wrestling is continuously increasing worldwide, and WWE should follow focus more on it in the future.
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