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2020 has been the most unique year in the history of WWE RAW and SmackDown, and certainly one that has presented challenges like never before for Vince McMahon.
While Vince McMahon, the man who put sports entertainment on the map and created a global juggernaut from what was essentially a territorial form of entertainment, has seen it all and done it all, he wasn't prepared for the pandemic called COVID-19. To be fair, neither was the rest of the world, honestly.
And to say that this was the single biggest factor that impacted WWE RAW and SmackDown this year would be an understatement. Everything had to be rebooted, as the Creative team went back to the drawing board and unlearned everything that had worked for them through the company's tenure.
With that established, here's the Best and Worst of 2020 from the company's perspective. Mind you we're only touching upon WWE RAW and SmackDown here, so NXT isn't being considered.
#1 Best: Vince McMahon listens to the fans and finally turns Roman Reigns heel, resulting in a dream run on WWE SmackDown that's still going strong
Roman Reigns was miscast as the lovable babyface, who cut promos that did not suit him. Fans knew that there was a vicious heel in him waiting to come out and conquer the world.
The current version of Roman Reigns, who is a bully and who takes shortcuts to win, who has Paul Heyman speaking for him, but also cuts incredibly promos all by himself, is the best version of the WWE Superstar we've yet seen.
Vince McMahon listened to all the fans who'd wanted Roman Reigns to turn heel and gave the fans what they wanted in 2020.
And thanks to Vince McMahon, we have the most believable Champion in wrestling today in the SmackDown brand!
#1 Worst: Drew McIntyre becomes the face of the WWE RAW brand, gets a massive push from Vince McMahon, and yet COVID-19 ruins his moment
One look at Drew McIntyre and you know why Vince McMahon chose him to be the face of the WWE RAW brand.
Not only does he look like a million bucks, but he also works at the same level as the best in the business and can cut a mean promo too. He looks like the prototype of the kind of WWE Superstar that Vince McMahon is known to like.
His transformation into a babyface and then, the face of the WWE RAW brand was organic, and yet, his crowning moment happened in front of no fans at all, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, to the disappointment of the wrestling world.
Drew McIntyre defeated Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania in the biggest match of his life and yet his crowning moment came in front of no fans at all. Fans will be back in the buildings one day, but this special moment will be long gone.
#2 Best: Edge returns to WWE in a big way
Edge's return to WWE happened in front of a packed house, thankfully, before COVID-19 had claimed the world and brought it to its knees. One has to believe that it is the biggest comeback of the year, with due respect to Sting and AEW. Edge was told that he would never wrestle again, so for him to come back to WWE is a positive story, in a year that's been filled with many unfortunate events.
But no, Edge did not come to WWE as a veteran who would just pick up a big, fat paycheck and disappear into the sunset, oh no!
Edge and Randy Orton were told to have the greatest wrestling match of all time by WWE, and to their credit, they went out and had the best match that they could have had! Whether it was the greatest match in WWE history remains to be seen, but Edge proved that he has the fire and the heart to deliver. In doing so, Randy Orton embarked on his best heel run too!
#2 Worst: Ideas like RAW Underground and RETRIBUTION don't quite hit home
Recently, SK Wrestling broke an exclusive, where former WCW Champion Vince Russo revealed on-air, how RAW Underground and RETRIBUTION came to be on WWE television:
About six months ago, USA Network let it be known to WWE, they were not happy. 'We're not happy with these numbers, with what we're paying for this show, we're not happy with the creative'. They were not happy about a lot of things, okay?
So the WWE came back to USA and pitched the two big creative storylines that were going to boost the ratings and get them headed in the right direction, When I heard this at that time I laughed, like I laughed when I heard it. But this is what they sold USA on - the big two story ideas - bro, do you know what they were? RETRIBUTION and RAW Underground.
Suffice to say, in retrospect, neither idea was well-thought-out and neither will go down in the history books as memorable and unforgettable concepts from the RAW brand.
RAW Underground was canned a few weeks into its debut, but RETRIBUTION is still a part of your weekly television, where the faction meanders on, without any rhyme or reason.
#3 Best/Worst: Matt Hardy created the cinematic match, Vince McMahon perfected it
It would be unfair to attribute the cinematic match to Vince McMahon because Matt Hardy had been doing fantastic things within the 'Broken Universe' a long time ago. However, IMPACT Wrestling did these matches without the benefit of the budget that Vince McMahon commands.
The Firefly Fun House Match between John Cena and Bray Wyatt, the Boneyard Match between The Undertaker and AJ Styles, and the Money in the Bank contest at WWE's corporate headquarters were all fantastic bouts.
However, Vince McMahon did not hit a home run with all of his cinematic matches this year, if you factor in the Bray Wyatt vs. Braun Strowman swamp fight or even The Street Profits and Viking Raiders contest (with many ninjas galore).
Check out Randy Orton talking about the cinematic match at WrestleMania between Cena and Wyatt here, which makes sense because the House of Horrors match was a precursor to today's cinematic matches.
What would your own Best and Worst of the year 2020 be, ladies, and gentlemen?
