10 WWE Moments 2020 Will Be Fondly Remembered For
Some bright, shiny WWE diamonds in a wrestling year that's been full of coal.
2020 has not been a kind year to many industries. Professional wrestling, a business that thrives on fan presence, fan interaction, and fan response, was at least able to keep operating, albeit under very changed circumstances.
Empty arenas. Elaborate entrances played out to silence. New championships held aloft to the applause of a few dozen people who were allowed inside closed sets.
Alongside the changes came the wondering. Would wrestling ever be back to 'normal'? What kind of impact would this have on the roster? (Which WWE, unfortunately, answered on Black Wednesday in April.) Would wrestling continue on as a distraction for millions of people who were forced into quarantine and isolation?
As is always with WWE, the show must go on, and we got answers to these and more questions in the ensuing weeks and months.
It's not been all doom and gloom, however. Despite the chaos surrounding us, 2020 still gave us some banging WWE moments; moments that allowed us to lose ourselves in the fantasy world of good vs. evil for a few hours and gave us something to cheer for at a time that cheeriness was in freefall.
With a few months' worth of TV and PPVs left, there could certainly be more of these ahead of us, but for now let's count the blessings we've had and look back on 10 WWE moments we'll remember fondly when this is all over.
10. A Killer AJ Styles / Daniel Bryan Title Match On A Random SmackDown
AJ Styles is widely regarded as one of the best wrestlers on the planet. Ditto for Daniel Bryan. Put them together in the right circumstances and let them go.
On 12 June, the culmination of a tournament for Sami Zayn's Intercontinental Title (which he was stripped of) took place, pitting Bryan vs. Styles. While it wasn't a stretch to think they would have a good match, no one really expected an almost 40-minute gem in the middle of the show. The timing was perfect, as being mid-show couldn't even really telegraph the timing or result of the match.
It was an excellent back-and-forth match, with the outcome legitimately in doubt, which is a nice surprise for shows that so often make it clear through repetitive commentary or PPV schedules who's going to be wearing a belt down the road.
Styles' Intercontinental title was mindless fun until Jeff Hardy took the belt in August, and it started that night in June in a match that put anything that took place at the following Sunday's Backlash PPV to shame. While Edge and Randy Orton were supposed to have the greatest WWE wrestling match ever at Backlash, they didn't even have the best WWE match that week.