10 Most Shocking Revelations From WWE In 2020
WWE's biggest shocks, surprises and reveals from a year where the truth was stranger than fiction...
It has been a long time since WWE has been the wrestling company able to furnish an article like this free from snark. By design, the show should have a decent number of kayfabe revelations throughout a 12 month period - not least with the same number of pay-per-views (or more) to sell during that time.
Stories, angles and matches have to come from somewhere, and shock remains one of the quickest ways to get there. WWE used to be masters of the trade. Most Shocking Revelations From WWE In...say, 1991, would be a doddle. Earthquake squashed Damien the snake then put him in a g*ddamn burger, sending Jake Roberts off the deep end and into feuds with Ultimate Warrior and Randy Savage that resulted in cobras attacking them both. Reveal upon surprise upon twist. If this were entitled 10 Most Shocking Revelations From WWE in 1999, it'd probably need to split by month thanks to Vince Russo's propensity for the preposterous swerve. Even in 2017, the events of October and November were so chaotic that nobody could have assumed it would simply be the norm a year later.
For reasons both related and unfortunately not-at-all-related to the global health crisis, 2020 can't be that year. Twists and turns were in low supply, with Black Wednesday more devastating - thought sadly not at all revelatory - than any big angle the company could script.
In this of all years, a dose of reality was required...
10. Edge Is Cleared To Wrestle
But first, something nice!
Edge's Royal Rumble 2020 return was suggested and disputed in equal measure the year prior thanks to reports from Dave Meltzer at the Wrestling Observer and tweets from Edge himself. The former had strong source while the latter was just looking to keep the dream alive, and there wasn't much wrong with either's approach.
A wicked Spear to Elias on the SummerSlam 2019 pre-show looked to be an excuse for him to test himself and the pre-Rumble speculation didn't remotely devalue the size of the pop when he was revealed as entrant 21 in the annual battle royal.
While you'll miss his first f*cking Spear back as a wrestler if you watch the pay-per-view because WWE, it's hard not to get emotional watching Network documentary cameras catch the whole thing, not least because of how the year turned out for everybody, including the 'Rated-R Superstar', after the fact. This was an earnestly brilliant fantasy booking-adjacent surprise from a company looking increasingly like they had none of them left.
Edge left for real. And rehabiltated himself and returned, for real. There's a lot to be said all of that reality trumping WWE's warped fiction, too...