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2020 has been quite a whirlwind year for pro wrestling. The month of January saw the birth of a new star in the form of Drew Mcintyre and the genuinely shocking return of Edge. The build-up to WrestleMania had officially begun with several matches set for the biggest WWE show of the year.
But the emergence of the pandemic in late February turned wrestling on its head. WWE had never faced such a challenging dilemma. Yet after a minor readjustment, the fans and the performers have gotten accustomed to this new approach. It's still hard to guess when the crowds will be able to return, but in the meantime, WWE continues to produce some solid programming.
There have been plenty of excellent matches this year. Daniel Bryan's bout with AJ Styles stole the show on WWE SmackDown. The trio of Sasha Banks, Asuka, and Bayley routinely gave fans remarkable matches, too. Brutal and gritty matches like Finn Balor vs. Kyle O'Reilly and WALTER vs. Ilja Druganov respectively stood out on NXT and NXT UK.
But there were a few matches that were quite disappointing. These weren't bad matches by any margin, but they somehow underdelivered in terms of what their build-up suggested.
So, let's dive in and take a look at some of the matches that didn't live up to the fans' expectations.
#5 Keith Lee vs. Karrion Kross (WWE NXT TakeOver: TakeOver XXX)
Keith Lee vs. Karrion Kross at WWE NXT: TakeOver XXX for the former's NXT Championship was a highly anticipated match. Lee and Kross were two of the most dominant stars on NXT, so many fans were excited to see what would happen when they clashed in the ring.
It became quite a challenge for the WWE Universe to predict which star would emerge victorious at the end of this battle. It was unimaginable that Lee would drop the title so soon after he won it, while Kross' momentum would have been derailed if he lost this high-profile match.
As for the bout itself, it happened. It was a fine enough big man vs. big man fight, and it was wrestled with technical competence. Kross, to everyone's surprise, defeated Lee and won the gold. But something was amiss. For more than 20 minutes, the two Superstars traded some big moves, but most of the match was stuffed between extended headlocks and a control period by Kross.
This contest was a good match that had the limitless potential to be one of the best of the year. But it didn't exactly leave the fans wanting more.
#4 Randy Orton vs. Edge (WWE WrestleMania 36)
When you have a comeback story like this to work with, there's not a lot that can go wrong. After Edge had made his stunning return to WWE at Royal Rumble, he quickly teamed up with his old tag-team partner Randy Orton to take down other contenders in the match. However, as with every Rumble match, every man fights for himself. Edge found the right opportunity to eliminate Orton and successfully managed to do so.
On the following episode of WWE RAW, Orton turned heel and unleashed a brutal attack on Edge, marking the beginning of this rivalry. In the weeks and months that followed, "The Legend Killer" did some of the best character work of his career.
After weeks of an incredible build, the Last Man Standing match between the bitter enemies ran for an overlong and indulgent 36 minutes. The problem with the match-up was that it was designed for a live crowd. In the match, both men brawled all across the building and moved from one place to another.
As a result, it was a slog to sit through. It's easy to imagine how well the match would have worked if it took place in front of a packed stadium. Every move and spot would have received the desired reaction. Instead, it was performed in an empty arena.
Alas, the match was a good enough old-school bout that could have been even better if it was a good 15 minutes shorter. The duo would go on to have a much-better match at WWE Backlash later in the year.
#3 Bray Wyatt vs. Braun Strowman (WWE Extreme Rules 2020)
Expectations from this match were off the charts considering what Bray Wyatt had achieved with his instant classic cinematic match at WWE Wrestlemania 36 against John Cena. The work of a boundless creative mind, the contest drew so much applause that everyone was waiting for Wyatt's next cinematic match.
The Swamp Fight between Wyatt and Braun Strowman at WWE Extreme Rules 2020 intrigued many fans. It had everything from a boar, random men in black, Alexa Bliss, Sister Abigail, and a snake. The match was weird and surreal, and both men actually fought in the swamp. The acting by the then Universal Champion was, though, quite hammy and over-the-top.
Both men soon drowned in the swamp. The Fiend emerged from the depths and uttered, "Let him in." While the bout wasn't as bad as many fans claim it was, it was still a major let-down from what Wyatt had done at WrestleMania 36. To its credit, it successfully did what it was trying to do without outstaying its welcome.
#2 Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa ( WWE NXT- April 8, 2020)
This encounter between Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa on WWE NXT was quite an ambitious, albeit, a disjointed match between the two rivals. It suffered from many of the same issues that plagued Orton's match with Edge at WWE WrestleMania 36.
Unlike their all-time trilogy of matches in 2019, this one came nowhere close to the heights achieved by those bouts. It also had an unnecessary interference from Candice LeRae that resulted in a odd finish. The main reason why this contest received criticism was for its emotional dissonance.
It was hard to truly care about this match, given the characters involved had embarked on separate paths after their rivalry seemingly ended last year. NX wanted to give the audience another Gargano-Ciampa epic, which, in all honesty, nobody asked for in the first place.
Besides those criticisms, the match was fine for the most part. But given the world-class talents of these two Superstars, it's fair to call "One Final Beat" a glaring disappointment.
#1 Roman Reigns vs. Drew Mcintyre (WWE Survivor Series 2020)
Yes, it's a controversial pick, but this is what your writer believes is the most disappointing WWE match of the year. Drew Mcintyre had regained the WWE Championship from Randy Orton just a few days before WWE Survivor Series 2020. So he took Orton's place in the main event match with WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns.
Both Superstars engaged in a terrific sit-down session just a couple of nights before the show on WWE Smackdown. The stage was set for a match worthy of the spot after their previous encounter at WrestleMania 35. And what we ultimately got was a match much better than its predecessor. There was the usual staredown, the mandatory commentary table spot, the finisher kick-out, and eventually, the interference that sealed the outcome.
"The Tribal Chief" ultimately secured the win with the help of Jey Uso, ending the show with a bang. But the problem was that the match lacked any distinct identity of its own. It was presented in a text-book WWE style, with the Superstars doing just what was asked of them. Nothing more, nothing less. It was fun, but it was quite forgettable when it should have been a Match of the Year contender.
