The Business of WWE

WWE will be cutting back on live events, which is sure to improve the health of their performers but reduce the size of their paychecks. This combined with the company’s recent struggles in the stock market and the success of AEW – which is regularly beating out NXT across the board in TV ratings almost every week in 2020 – is putting pressure on the company to step up their game.

Daniel Bryan deserves to have a marquee match at WrestleMania 36 in Tampa Bay after receiving so much audible fan support at Royal Rumble. However, he is currently not penciled in for any match, although some fans would love to see him go one-on-one with The Fiend one more time. That spot will go to Roman Reigns as Vince McMahon looks to perch him atop WWE’s totem pole once again, and the Royal Rumble winner Drew McIntyre will obviously be challenging Brock Lesnar and hopefully defeating him.

Unless WWE fans began clamoring for Daniel Bryan the way they did in 2014-15, Bryan will not be placed into a title match at ‘Mania. The silver lining however is that WWE does have a history of listening to the WWE universe if they incessantly let the company know over a period of months just how much they would like for certain superstars to be pushed. This was evidenced at last year’s WrestleMania when all three major babyfaces walked out as champions in Becky Lynch, Seth Rollins, and Kofi Kingston.

Bottom Line: The Yes! Movement is still as strong as ever in 2020 after starting in 2013.

Alexa Bliss is one of the few viable options other than Sasha Banks to face Bayley at WrestleMania 36 – this time as a babyface of course; she hasn’t played this exact role before at such a big event. This would also make sense in the storyline because these two women feuded last summer over the SmackDown Women’s Championship.

Alexa also brings an experience factor into the equation, being a five-time Women’s Champion in WWE; since McMahon might trust her a little more in a spot as big as this knowing she has been there before. She’d no longer be that extremely green 25-year-old first-time champion like she was at her first WrestleMania back in 2017.

Speaking of the major women’s matches at WrestleMania 2020, at least as of this moment, Becky Lynch is expected to defend her Raw Women’s Championship against Shayna Baszler. This makes total sense since Lynch assaulted Baszler after their triple threat match with Bayley at Survivor Series. There are also no more NXT ties for Shayna after she dropped their main title. The woman she dropped it to, Rhea Ripley, will also reportedly be challenged for her NXT Championship at the biggest show of the year by Charlotte Flair, which will give NXT a much-deserved spotlight to elevate the brand.

WWE is not committing to any set plan when it comes to Seth Rollins’ WrestleMania 36 plans. It looks like it’s their intent to keep the door open for a possible CM Punk return (maybe at Royal Rumble). It would be a massive money match between Rollins and Punk.

However, the company is being mindful of the fact that it might not happen. There’s a backup plan which is a delayed Rollins – Buddy Murphy match. It could the reason Murphy aligned with Seth’s cult/stable with The AOP. They seem to be positioned for an ultimate clash and Raw Tag Team Title victory against the Viking Raiders at ‘Mania.

Royal Rumble is one of the most anticipated WWE Pay-Per-Views every year. It’s my personal favorite because of the build-up surrounding it. There’s a high degree of anticipation for WrestleMania before the event, and it only grows after because the WWE universe knows a little more about how ‘Mania will unfold but nothing is ever a given. With every big event, it’s a great opportunity for the company to flex its marketing muscle and create even more hype for around WWE and the sports entertainment industry.

WWE tends to employ the mentality of freshening the landscape before WrestleMania each year, so superstars’ opponents at Royal Rumble are almost never the same as they are at ‘Mania.

If I were Michael Cole, I would forgo mentioning anything pertaining to the Houston Astros. I know he might be tempted because Royal Rumble is emanating from Minute Maid Park, which is obviously the home of the Astros. It would probably be best for WWE to distance itself as much as possible from the whole sign stealing scandal for which the Astros were recently busted. Their manager and general manager were suspended for a year and subsequently fired, and MLB is attempting to distance itself from the situation. It would be very wise for WWE to do the same.

Roman Reigns will most likely win the Royal Rumble Match and face The Fiend in what should be the main event. Reigns will probably then go on to hold the Universal Title for an extended period. The WWE Championship match should definitely be set up since Brock Lesnar is participating in the match. He shouldn’t earn the victory but rather be eliminated by his ultimate challenger at the biggest event of the year (by someone like Drew McIntyre, Kevin Owens, or Samoa Joe).

One storyline proposal surrounding the WWE Championship that Paul Heyman could implement on Raw until SummerSlam involves:

1. Brock Lesnar losing the title at WrestleMania for the second straight year, and
2. Drew McIntyre walking out of SummerSlam as WWE Champion.

The era of part-timers being major champions in WWE will be over in the foreseeable future. And, the man who Monday Night Raw will be built around for seemingly the next several years in McIntyre could finally be coordinated.

So Lesnar lost the Universal Title last year at WrestleMania 35 to Seth Rollins. This year he could face The AOP, who are directly affiliated with Rollins at the moment. The AOP could defeat Lesnar in a heel vs. heel match to become Co-WWE Champions (kind of like Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn attempted to accomplish over WWE Champion AJ Styles at Royal Rumble 2018), terrorizing the entire men’s locker room on Raw.

I am fully aware that heel vs. heel rivalries are not the norm in WWE. But it has clearly been established over the years that it’s going to take a major force with a very aggressive demeanor to dethrone Lesnar. The AOP just might be the perfect match for the job, unleashing violence for the sake of violence.

Following ‘Mania, Seth Rollins could develop some deep-seated resentment towards his teammates because they would be holding the title he feels should be his by right. This could precipitate a face turn for Seth. He could cautiously form a tag team for a short time with Samoa Joe, who also has history with The AOP since they put him through the announcers’ table at Christmas time.

This alliance between Rollins and Joe could go on from say May – July, when the two men have a No. 1 contender’s match to see who faces the dominant tag team for the WWE Championship. Samoa Joe could beat Rollins to become number one contender and subsequently win the WWE Championship at the July Pay-Per-View event. He could subsequently use the catchphrase that he brought Christmas in July to the WWE universe.

However, Joe would only be a transitional champion considering his age (he would be 41 years old, which is a little advanced for wrestling). He’d be perfect to put over the 35-year-old Drew McIntyre at SummerSlam 2020 in Boston. There are few things in this business that McIntyre can’t do. He is clearly the future of the business, and Joe deserves the spotlight that would come with main-event-ing SummerSlam.

He and McIntyre could also cut some fantastic promos in a rivalry together since they are both such great mic workers. Going back to Drew McIntyre, another way the WWE universe could know without a doubt that he is the future of WWE is that Paul Heyman – Raw’s Executive Director – is extremely high on him.

On the latest edition of Corey Graves’ After The Bell podcast, he made the bold prediction that Big E could be a candidate to win the men’s Royal Rumble and possibly go on to face The Fiend for the Universal Championship at WrestleMania 36.

This is a fantastic idea. It makes total sense from a business standpoint. Big E’s New Day brother Kofi Kingston had one of the greatest moments in WrestleMania history just last year when he won the WWE Championship. It would make perfect sense for WWE to make an effort to take advantage of that and try to organically create a similar standout moment for another New Day team member.

Let’s not forget that Big E is a more than capable in-ring competitor. He held the NXT Championship for approximately five months and the Intercontinental Championship on the main roster about a year later for roughly six months before joining The New Day. People forget how good he is between the ropes because of his hips that do not lie.

Since Corey is an announcer with SmackDown on FOX, there is a very good chance he may have the inside scoop on what may transpire within the company for ‘Mania. Based on that, this very well may be the route that WWE decides to travel down heading into the biggest event of the year.

Another dark horse candidate to win the men’s Royal Rumble and go on to face The Fiend at WrestleMania 36 is The Demon Finn Balor. Perhaps this option would be a little more within context since he was the first man to ever face The Fiend at SummerSlam. He did not use his Demon persona (he obviously lost and underwent a transformation that culminated with moving back to NXT).

It would make for a great story if he were to return to Royal Rumble winning it so he can dethrone The Fiend at ‘Mania in Tampa Bay as The Demon.

Over to the women’s side, a great candidate to win the Women’s Royal Rumble is Shayna Baszler. She had to have lost the NXT Women’s Title for some reason. She would be guaranteed to not only have a great match with Becky Lynch but it could also serve as an avenue for WWE to integrate Ronda Rousey back into a major storyline in WWE since the two women are great friends.

A Finn Balor or Shayna Baszler victory would be a powerful step towards attracting more eyeballs to WWE on third brand NXT. Becky Lynch could make some appearances on NXT, as she did not too long ago, or the company could air some episodes of Firefly FunHouse.

Confusion and Anticipation Surrounding Brock Lesnar’s Royal Rumble Booking

The two options to face Brock Lesnar at Royal Rumble which appear most likely are Randy Orton and Kevin Owens. Owens seems to make more sense as Lesnar’s ‘Mania opponent because he is currently involved in a featured storyline with Seth Rollins. He is also gaining more support from the WWE universe.

Orton, however, makes perfect sense because WWE could easily end his feud with AJ Styles rather quickly. Orton could also serve as an opponent for Lesnar who could instantly provide a whole lot of credibility and star power. And, he certainly doesn’t need another world title victory at this stage in his career. WWE can also build off their previous match at SummerSlam 2016 where Orton had his head busted open by The Beast.

Other Formidable Options

Another great option to face Lesnar at Royal Rumble would be Aleister Black because of the enigmatic, superstar-like aura that seems to permeate the arena every time he walks out. However, it is doubtful WWE would choose a superstar who is not very established yet (even though Paul Heyman is a huge fan and will likely book him to have a huge 2020). Black has not been around long enough to be considered (like Finn Balor clearly was when he challenged Lesnar for the Universal Championship at Royal Rumble last year.

Meanwhile, Samoa Joe is standing off to the side as the X factor in this whole equation. His excellent work on the commentary team the last several weeks on Monday Night Raw, filling in for Dio Maddin (who decided to leave his role on Raw to once again pursue his in-ring career), has served as an avenue for the WWE universe to appreciate Joe’s impressive mic skills.

Joe would make for a very credible Royal Rumble opponent for Lesnar, not to mention the fact that they have history together. Joe played a believable rival for The Beast in 2017. WWE could always pull a surprise and book Joe to dethrone the WWE Champion, given that he plays the role one might imagine Lesnar what occupy if he were a full-timer.

The Roman Reigns-King Corbin storyline will continue into February according to reports. It’s positive news because this rivalry has produced matches of good quality and Corbin is so naturally gifted at garnering heat from the WWE universe. The only somewhat negative aspect is the fact that Vince McMahon insists on the two men using dog food so frequently. This seems overbearing and a bit much. It makes sense why WWE is doing it but seems juvenile.

It would significantly help Bayley’s credibility as SmackDown Women’s Champion if she defended her title at least once before the Royal Rumble. Becky Lynch hasn’t defended her title in a while either, but at least she has acknowledged this fact and is making it clear that she does not intend to stand for it. At this point, I don’t even know if I remember Bayley defending her title at all since winning it – best-case scenario, it has been once.

WWE pleasantly surprised fans in booking Andrade to win the United States Championship from Rey Mysterio on December 26 at a live event at Madison Square Garden. The last time a WWE title changed hands at a live event was in July 2017 when AJ Styles won the exact same title from Kevin Owens.

It’s great WWE is attempting to maintain the feeling that anything can happen on any given night. The company should do things like this more often. This might give fans more of a reason to tune in to the product. Smart WWE fans who know the intricacies of the product shouldn’t have expected Mysterio to hold the US Title for long given his age (45). It’s nice to see Mysterio being a team player and electing to put over luchadors such as Andrade and Humberto Carillo before he retires from in-ring action.

Royal Rumble Predictions

It looks like Roman Reigns is No. 1 on the list – not the list of Jericho – but the list of Superstars’ to win the 2020 men’s Royal Rumble match and go on to face The Fiend/Bray Wyatt at WrestleMania. As much as fans would love to see either an NXT guy or an up-and-coming superstar on Raw pick up the victory to launch their career into superstardom (someone like Keith Lee, Tommaso Ciampa or Drew McIntyre), it will in all likelihood be an established name in WWE getting the nod to reestablish their push.

That’s why Roman Reigns is the most likely candidate to win the match. Daniel Bryan would be a fantastic choice if he were not currently feuding with Wyatt (the two men will be booked in a Universal Championship match at Royal Rumble). Hopefully fans will embrace Reigns this time around, unlike in 2015, and not be chanting for Bryan or CM Punk.

Bobby/Robert Roode (whichever name he’s currently abiding under) has been suspended for the past couple weeks for violating the WWE wellness policy. This is why he hasn’t appeared on TV. He should be able to return to action by Royal Rumble time and it should not have much overall effect on his career. The last we heard about anything like this was in 2016 when Roman Reigns violated the wellness policy, and the violation had virtually zero effect on his push.

WWE may also want to contemplate doing away with:

1. the incessant push of Brock Lesnar, and;
2. the Women’s Tag Team Championships.

Less of Lesnar

The WWE universe has been tired of Lesnar as either a dominant champion or a top contender for quite some time now. He is also not nearly as big of a draw as Vince McMahon would like to believe. He does not necessarily move the needle in terms of WWE Network subscriber count, merchandise sales or TV ratings.

Fans would have to anticipate that once Lesnar is out of the title picture (he can still be used as an attraction – just not the focal point as champion) that WWE’s TV ratings amongst other things will actually increase and it will spark renewed interest, much to the surprise of Vince McMahon.

Women’s Tag Team Titles Create a Division Stretch

It would be beneficial for the company to do away with the Women’s Tag Team Championships simply because the Women’s Division would not be stretched so thin. As of now with the tag team titles in existence as well as the women’s championships on WWE’s top two TV programs, it’s unfortunately becoming clear that WWE’s Women’s Division is not deep enough yet to support this many titles. It probably will be one day, just not quite yet.

Vince McMahon launched the creation of the Women’s Tag Team Titles without having a real plan or vision for what to do with them according to Tom Colohue at Sportskedda. The primary goal of these titles should be to elevate the careers of younger women on the roster, very similar to the same titles for the guys. It’s just lacking current depth.

Men’s Division

Some anticipated storyline changes expected to transpire in 2020 are:

• The return of Cain Velasquez at WrestleMania
• A potential WrestleMania rematch between Matt and Jeff Hardy, and
• Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar may split

Probably Most Important: A John Cena return to SmackDown and subsequent heel turn might be in the cards. He could turn on the WWE universe for incessantly booing him throughout the years. This would make perfect sense because turning heel is pretty much the only thing John Cena hasn’t done in his career. He is so over with the crowd that they will love any character change he decides to make at this point.

WWE may be in the process of orchestrating a return for Cain Velasquez at WrestleMania. He could even challenge Brock Lesnar at the following Pay-Per-View. It’s a safe bet this will happen at some point because Cain has already signed a deal with WWE. His match with The Beast at Crown Jewel was reportedly short because he had a pre-existing knee injury and needed surgery. He had to be play it safe.

It’s also a possibility that Tyson Fury could wrestle Lesnar at WrestleMania 36, assuming he beats Deonte Wilder in February.

Speaking of Brock Lesnar, there’s a chance he might part ways with his longtime advocate Paul Heyman. The reason for this change would be so Paul is free to devote full attention to his duties as the Executive Director of Monday Night Raw. Paul is already doing an admirable job running Raw, but perhaps he could do an even better job if he was free to devote his 100% effort to it rather than taking time away from those duties by serving as Lesnar’s advocate. Brock’s a big boy so he can fend for himself since he’s already very much over.

Jeff & Matt Hardy

Jeff Hardy will be returning soon after 2019. The latter half of the year was rather forgettable, including trouble with the law and whatnot. 2020 could set him up to win the Intercontinental Championship, only to be betrayed by his brother Matt (who would also be returning). This could set up a match between the two brothers at WrestleMania 36 that may, or may not, be for the IC Title.

If this sounds familiar, it’s because it is. Matt and Jeff had a match at WrestleMania XXV in Houston in 2009. The only difference is that this one might be for a championship. WWE can take advantage of the fact that there are two brothers in the company with all sorts of history together.

Women’s Division

It’s also a strong possibility Sasha Banks and Bayley will rekindle their NXT rivalry from 2015. However, this time reversing roles: Sasha would be the babyface and Bayley the heel. This would have all sorts of potential because of the degree it invested fans in 2015. This would be extremely logical since it is a feud involving two full-time stars who are not anywhere near the end of their careers.

It’s also almost guaranteed that Ronda Rousey will make a return to the ring at some point in the upcoming year – probably on SmackDown to bring more star power to FOX Network. She may resume her feud with Becky Lynch for a of couple months before the move to SD occurs, most likely after WrestleMania. Ronda has been in constant contact with WWE management and has pitched ideas periodically for her return.

A potential angle for Rousey’s return is for her to return and subsequently win the women’s Royal Rumble.

Side Note: Some other superstars who could receive strong pushes and become major breakout stars in 2020 are: Buddy Murphy, Andrade, Aleister Black, Liv Morgan, and Drew McIntyre. Many fans have been clamoring for McIntyre to get a push to possibly become a world champion since his return to the main roster in 2018. Some think WWE might have missed the boat already. Let’s hope not – Drew would be an absolutely fantastic choice for a future WWE champion.