5 Surprising decisions WWE has taken in 2020 so far

We are almost halfway through 2020, and WWE is still churning out content on a weekly basis amidst the global coronavirus pandemic. The company kicked off the year with a bang, as the 2020 Royal Rumble PPV was a huge hit among the fans. Drew McIntyre's decade-long quest to win the big one came to an end at the PPV, and he came one step closer to winning the ultimate prize.

We were treated with a string of incredibly entertaining and innovative cinematic matches over the past few months, plus a bunch of WWE legends made their huge returns on the Road to WrestleMania 36.

In this slideshow, we will take a look at five of the most surprising decisions WWE took in 2020 so far.

#5 Drew McIntyre makes light work of Brock Lesnar at the Royal Rumble

It isn't exactly a secret that Drew McIntyre has gone through a lot to reach the spot he's currently at. He was introduced as The Chosen One back in 2009, but the run soon turned into a nightmare for him and he became an enhancement talent in a matter of years. McIntyre made his big comeback to WWE in 2017 after improving himself in other promotions.

Fans had to wait for a while before WWE gave McIntyre his much-deserved monster push. It all began in the 2020 Royal Rumble match. After Brock Lesnar ran roughshod over a bunch of WWE Superstars, McIntyre came in and it took him mere seconds to eliminate Lesnar, albeit with a bit of help from Ricochet.

The fans collectively cheered for the spot and made it clear that they wouldn't mind seeing McIntyre win the free-for-all. After the dominant showing Lesnar had in the match, it was certainly a big surprise to see him get eliminated by McIntyre in a matter of seconds.

#4 Bobby Lashley comes out on top in his feud with Rusev

Last year, when the Bobby Lashley-Lana-Rusev angle kicked off, many fans felt bad for The Bulgarian Brute but still held hope that he would come out as a huge babyface and would pick up a big win over Lashley when the storyline came to an end. The WWE Universe was expecting to witness Rusev exacting revenge on Lashley and destroy him in a big PPV bout. Nothing of this sort happened though.

Lashley ended up beating Rusev on several occasions. Liv Morgan got involved in the mix soon after and her return led to a mixed tag team match pitting her and Rusev against Lashley and Lana. The villains again ended up putting down the good guys, much to the disappointment of the WWE Universe.

Lashley kept defeating Rusev in singles and tag team action, with the tag team match involving Lashley & Angel Garza and Rusev & Humberto Carrillo being Rusev's last bout on the main roster. He didn't wrestle inside a WWE ring again and was released back in April. Rusev's booking in this feud was surprising and left fans scratching their heads over how things turned out in the end.

#3 John Cena and Bray Wyatt's WrestleMania 36 outing

Soon after losing his Universal title to Goldberg at WWE Super ShowDown, Bray Wyatt set his sights on WWE legend John Cena. The duo agreed to a match at WrestleMania 36 but fans had no clue about what WWE had in store for them at The Show of Shows. The Firefly Fun House match pitting Cena against Wyatt was certainly an interesting bout if we can even call it that.

The match was an elaborate cinematic presentation and WWE went out of its way to create a masterpiece that was nowhere close to a traditional singles match. The entirety of the match saw Wyatt getting in Cena's head and showing him past versions of himself.

This included his rapper gimmick, as well as his very first appearance on the main roster. In the end, Wyatt defeated Cena and exacted revenge for his loss to the former World Champion at WrestleMania 30. WWE's decision to ditch the idea of a traditional match to make way for this incredible cinematic presentation was lauded by fans on social media, as they had never seen anything like this before.

#2 Money in the Bank 2020 ladder matches take place inside WWE HQ

With the coronavirus pandemic preventing WWE from having shows in front of live audiences, the company relied on cinematic matches to keep fans invested in the product. After the success of the two cinematic encounters at WrestleMania, WWE raised the stakes at Money in the Bank 2020 and decided to have the men's and women's ladder matches simultaneously inside the WWE Headquarters.

The chaotic bout saw both the men and women wrestlers starting on the ground floor and fighting their way to the rooftop, where the briefcases were hanging for the taking. This was a pretty bold decision on WWE's part but it did pay off in the end, if fan reaction on social media was any indication.

Fans had never witnessed a full-fledged ladder match involving a bunch of Superstars taking place inside the WWE HQ. Vince McMahon shouting at AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan, Nia Jax confronting Otis, and Asuka putting down King Corbin to win the briefcase were just a few of several surprising and entertaining moments that this match gave us.

#1 Otis winning the Men's Money in the Bank briefcase

When WWE began giving Otis a push on SmackDown earlier this year, fans had no idea that the company would be going all the way with the Heavy Machinery member. Otis feuded with Dolph Ziggler on the Road to WWE WrestleMania 36 and finally won Mandy's heart after chasing her for months on end. Mandy helped Otis defeat Ziggler at 'Mania and finally got together with him.

At WWE Money in the Bank 2020, there were several big names that were being rumored to win the briefcase. AJ Styles and King Corbin were strong contenders to win the contract but it was Otis who left the building with the briefcase in his hands.

A sequence between AJ Styles and Corbin on top of the ladder ended with the briefcase falling down and landing in Otis' hands. It would certainly be interesting to see how and when Otis cashes-in his briefcase. Currently, he is having the time of his life on the Blue brand.