Ranking and grading every WWE PPV in 2020 (WrestleMania onwards)

By Divesh Merani
Modified Dec 29, 2020 14:25 IST
WWE has had an eventful 2020, to say the least.
WWE has had an eventful 2020, to say the least.

There have been 13 WWE pay-per-views in 2020. However, 10 of them took place without any live fans in attendance and despite that, most of them were pretty good.

This has been a challenging year for WWE, mainly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After two fairly smooth months to kick off the year, almost every plan the company had was flipped on its head. A stacked and exciting WrestleMania at Raymond James Stadium had to be compromised and fans haven't returned to WWE events yet.

This list will only look at the 10 events that happened under those circumstances. That would give all of them as level a playing field as possible, although there is a difference between the Performance Center and the WWE ThunderDome.

WWE pay-per-views in 2020 before WrestleMania

Of the three that went ahead as planned, Royal Rumble was the best one. It might be the best WWE show of 2020 as a whole. Matches like The Fiend vs. Daniel Bryan and Becky Lynch vs. Asuka, along with moments like Edge's surprise return and Drew McIntyre eliminating Brock Lesnar, made this a stellar show.

Super ShowDown was possibly the worst pay-per-view of the year. Goldberg's victory over The Fiend left a very sour taste in everyone's mouths, while there were some baffling moments involving Brock Lesnar and The Undertaker. Elimination Chamber was average, with Drew Gulak stealing the show with Daniel Bryan and Shayna Baszler dominating her way to victory in the main event.

Now, onto the 10 pay-per-views that happened at the WWE Performance Center or the ThunderDome. Most of them did well, making for a very tight list. Here is every WWE pay-per-view in 2020 during the 'Pandemic Era' graded and ranked, from worst to best.

#10 WWE Extreme Rules

The weakest WWE pay-per-view during the 'Pandemic Era', Extreme Rules had a myriad of weird matches and questionable booking decisions. While the wrestling was good, this show was not at all satisfying. The main event saw Braun Strowman take on 'The Eater of Worlds' Bray Wyatt in a Swamp Fight - a confusing cinematic affair that dragged on.

An appearance from Alexa Bliss was not enough to make it as good as some of WWE's best cinematic matches of 2020. This, along with the Eye-for-an-Eye Match between Seth Rollins and Rey Mysterio turned this into the Horror Show at Extreme Rules. While well wrestled, the match was ridiculously booked.

Mysterio had his 'eye' popped out in a moment that nobody could buy into. Meanwhile, Drew McIntyre defended his WWE Championship against Dolph Ziggler, in a match where only the challenger could use weapons. It was pretty good if a bit predictable.

Another big match at Extreme Rules was Asuka against Sasha Banks for the RAW Women's Championship, which ended in a non-finish after Bayley invaded the match and counted the pinfall for Banks. Most matches on the card served to build to bigger matches on RAW and SmackDown, which is why Extreme Rules is at the bottom of this list.

Grade: C-

#9 WWE Money in the Bank

The first WWE pay-per-view in the post-WrestleMania season, Money in the Bank suffered from the quiet setting of the Performance Center. It also had a lack of intrigue and excitement that surrounded 'Mania from a month prior, at that very venue. That being said, the primary selling point was the dual ladder matches that took place simultaneously at WWE's Corporate Headquarters.

It was a wacky cinematic production, which featured some interesting interactions between various Superstars. In the end, Asuka won the women's Money in the Bank briefcase and the men's one fell into the arms of Otis. It was enjoyable in places but bordered on pure lunacy and the comedy did not always land.

The in-ring portion of Money in the Bank hardly impressed, aside from a barnburner between WWE Champion Drew McIntyre and Seth Rollins. Braun Strowman vs. 'Firefly Fun House' Bray Wyatt headlined the undercard, which was painfully mediocre.

Grade: C

#8 WWE Backlash

A significant improvement from Money in the Bank, Backlash featured some great matches. However, some poorly booked ones prevent it from reaching the level of some of the events taking place in the WWE ThunderDome. This was headlined by Randy Orton vs. Edge, touted the 'Greatest Wrestling Match Ever'.

The match certainly was brilliant, as WWE going all-out to make it a spectacular production. Edge and Orton managed to compel WWE fans for over 45 minutes, with The Viper coming out on top with a Punt Kick. This spectacle was supported by a hard-hitting WWE Championship match between Drew McIntyre and Bobby Lashley.

The undercard was inconsistent, with an enjoyable Sheamus vs. Jeff Hardy match being followed by a non-finish between Asuka and Nia Jax. Braun Strowman's two-on-one victory over The Miz and John Morrison was also not very good, as was the cinematic brawl between The Street Profits and The Viking Raiders. The contrast between the main events and the undercard makes Backlash an average outing for WWE.

Grade: B

#7 WWE Clash Of Champions

The first WWE ThunderDome event on this list, Clash of Champions was not a bad show. It opened and closed with two spectacular matches. Sami Zayn won a wild Ladder Match against Jeff Hardy and AJ Styles to regain the Intercontinental Championship to kick things off. Meanwhile, Clash of Champions was headlined by the emotionally gripping contest between Roman Reigns and Jey Uso.

The Universal Champion pummelled his cousin with no remorse and only stopped when Jimmy Uso threw in the towel on behalf of his twin brother. It was a masterful piece of storytelling. The Ambulance Match between Drew McIntyre and Randy Orton was also fun, with various legends interfering to get their hands on The Legend Killer.

Asuka wrestled twice at Clash of Champions, first against Zelina Vega before simply being used as a presence before Sasha Banks returned to confront Bayley. This couple of Women's Championship matches, along with the rest of the card, were not exactly pay-per-view quality.

Grade: B

#6 WWE Payback

Hastily added to WWE's pay-per-view schedule just one week after SummerSlam, Payback did a fine job to facilitate some residual stories from the 'Big Four' event. It helped to keep the stories in WWE flowing while crowning a new Universal Champion. This is where Roman Reigns won the belt, entering the main event after Braun Strowman and The Fiend had destroyed each other, as well as the ring.

Reigns easily dispatched off the two monsters to become the Universal Champion. Before that was a fun tag team match that saw Dominik Mysterio gain his first win in WWE. He teamed up with Rey Mysterio to take down Seth Rollins and Murphy, following some miscommunication between the heels.

Other major happenings saw Keith Lee defeat Randy Orton in under 10 minutes and The Golden Role Models lose the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship to Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler. While the second half was pretty good, the first few matches slightly underwhelmed. Bobby Lashley's US title victory over Apollo Crews was the highlight of the undercard.

Grade: B

#5 WWE SummerSlam

The first pay-per-view inside the WWE ThunderDome, SummerSlam was a pretty entertaining show. It had a consistent string of solid matches, with a huge moment at the end. Roman Reigns shocked fans as he returned to WWE and invaded The Fiend's celebrations, following his Universal title victory over Braun Strowman in a Falls Count Anywhere match.

Drew McIntyre retained his WWE Championship over Randy Orton - the first of many good matches in their extremely long feud. Asuka, like at Clash of Champions, performed double duty. Only this time, both matches felt big and were a substantial part of the card.

The Empress of Tomorrow lost to Bayley but defeated Sasha Banks to leave with the RAW Women's Championship. Sonya Deville lost a Loser Leaves WWE Match to Mandy Rose and hasn't returned since, while Dominik Mysterio impressed the fans during his in-ring debut against Seth Rollins. While it could have been bigger and better, SummerSlam was a perfectly solid pay-per-view.

Grade: B+

#4 WWE Hell in a Cell

While it was as good as, if not better than SummerSlam, the format of Hell in a Cell was completely different. Instead of a consistent card, the show offered three huge Hell in a Cell matches and added a couple of undercard bouts to fill time between them. And while three is a bit too much, every Cell match did deliver brilliantly.

WWE told an even better story for Roman Reigns vs. Jey Uso here than they did for their Universal title match the previous month, with the 'I Quit' stipulation inside the Cell cranking up the intensity. The next Cell match saw Sasha Banks and Bayley finally face each other on a WWE pay-per-view. The Legit Boss won the SmackDown Women's Championship after an epic show-stealer.

Meanwhile, in the main event, Randy Orton defeated Drew McIntyre in a match that featured a fall from the side of the Cell wall. A weak undercard - highlighted by Tucker costing Otis his Money in the Bank contract against The Miz - was vastly outweighed by the brilliance of the three Hell in a Cell matches. They are alone in pushing the show high on this list.

Grade: B+

#3 WWE Survivor Series

There may have been some creative issues from WWE surrounding Survivor Series this year, but the show was still really good. The concept of brand warfare was dead and rendered most matches pointless. That being said, WWE did well to plant some element of a story in a few of the 'Champion vs. Champion' matches on the card.

Some of them delivered, while the two Survivor Series Elimination matches had some fun moments. The clean sweep for the men on Team RAW and Lana being the sole survivor were both expected and surprising at the same time if that makes sense. The Street Profits earned a major victory over The New Day, while Sasha Banks and Asuka had another fine installment in their series of pay-per-view matches in 2020.

The headline match saw Roman Reigns take on Drew McIntyre, in what was a battle between the two biggest stars in WWE today. The Tribal Chief won this titanic battle, following some help from Jey Uso. It truly was a special encounter, but Survivor Series did not end with that. The Undertaker's Final Farewell was the true main event of the show.

The appearances from legendary WWE figures and The Undertaker's friends seemed confusing, as they were brought out and quickly returned to the back before The Deadman entered the ThunderDome. But it was incredibly emotional, thanks to the Paul Bearer hologram.

Survivor Series ended with Undertaker officially retiring. The magnitude of this moment, along with the strength of some of the matches firmly place it among the best WWE pay-per-views of 2020.

Grade: A-

#2 WWE TLC

While there might be a slight element of recency bias, the final WWE pay-per-view of 2020 was a brilliant show. TLC did not feature a single dud and every match served a purpose. Right from Kevin Owens' incredible effort to The Hurt Business winning tag team gold, TLC was really impressive.

Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander put on a blinder alongside Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods, which came after Sasha Banks gave Carmella possibly the best match of her career in a competitive effort over the SmackDown Women's Championship. Charlotte Flair's return as Asuka's mystery partner was fun, although it is a shame that Lana got thrown to the side for it to happen this way.

Meanwhile, the two world title TLC matches delivered spectacularly. Drew McIntyre survived a hell of a fight from AJ Styles and The Miz - who cashed in his Money in the Bank - to remain the WWE Champion. The Scotsman rounded out a fantastic 2020 with a victory against challenging odds. Something Kevin Owens nearly did against Roman Reigns.

Reigns and Owens put on a spectacular TLC Match, which had the fans gasping and believing that KO could do it. He lost the match but won a lot of hearts. However, the lasting image from TLC 2020 will forever be the one it ended with. The Fiend being burned in the ring by Randy Orton, following their Inferno Match.

The match was unique, with WWE going all-out to deliver a shocking ending. It was polarising, but the visual of The Fiend being set on fire is pretty cool. Some great in-ring action, a title change, a big return, and a shocking ending make TLC a magnificent way for WWE to end 2020.

Grade: A

#1 WWE WrestleMania 36

This list ends where it truly began. The first WWE pay-per-view of the 'Pandemic Era', WrestleMania had to be shifted from a packed stadium to an empty gym in a matter of weeks. The way WWE laid the event out was as good as it could have been under the dire circumstances. Among the changes made was the expansion to two nights - Saturday and Sunday.

The action was split with eight matches on both nights, although a few of them did not seem WrestleMania-worthy. That being said, this was still an incredible and unique experience. Night One was headlined by the excellent Boneyard Match between The Undertaker and AJ Styles, the first cinematic match WWE produced this year. Undertaker looked like himself again, with this being the perfect match for him to go out on.

It also featured a brutal RAW Women's title match between Becky Lynch and Shayna Baszler - The Man's last before her pregnancy - as well as an all-action Ladder Match between John Morrison, Kofi Kingston, and Jimmy Uso. Meanwhile, Daniel Bryan vs. Sami Zayn for the Intercontinental title could have been better.

Kevin Owens got his WrestleMania moment by diving from a giant 'Mania sign onto Seth Rollins before Braun Strowman won the Universal title in a short match against Goldberg. Night Two was also pretty enjoyable, kicking off with a great showing by Charlotte Flair and Rhea Ripley for the NXT Women's title, despite its questionable result.

While Otis and Mandy Rose finally became a couple, Edge and Randy Orton had an intense and overly long Last Man Standing brawl. Bayley defended her SmackDown Women's title in a fun multi-woman match, before the wonderfully unique Firefly Fun House Match between John Cena and The Fiend. Cena's WWE career was deconstructed through various plot points, with a lot of inside jokes being told.

The final match of WrestleMania 36 saw Drew McIntyre pin Brock Lesnar in a matter of minutes, to win the WWE Championship. While there were no fans to witness it, this was an especially special moment. McIntyre was set to lead WWE into the trying times ahead, as the company successfully put smiles on people's faces with an entertaining broadcast.

It wasn't a normal WrestleMania, but WWE did everything possible to make it feel like one. That - along with the moments delivered across the weekend - makes WrestleMania 36 the best pay-per-view since fans stopped coming to shows. Nothing in WWE following this two-night extravaganza has been able to top it.

Grade: A

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