13 Ups And 23 Downs For WWE In 2020

4. Bayley/Sasha Friendship And Rivalry

Few storylines in WWE were better scripted and paid off than the friendship and downfall of Bayley and Sasha Banks.

The two had been partners-in-crime for what seemed like forever, with both women dominating SmackDown for much of 2020. Bayley spent the vast majority of the year as SmackDown Women’s Champion, but then the pair won the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship, allowing both to visit Raw (and NXT) as well. They managed to become focal points of both shows, and be entertaining about it, which was no small feat. (There were weeks where they were one of the very few purely positive aspects of Raw.)

Then Banks briefly held the Raw Women’s Championship, making both women double champions. But then, things fell apart, with the team losing the tag titles and Banks losing the Raw title. Throughout all of this, kinks showed in the armor between the two, but it wasn’t Sasha who would turn her back on her friend – it was Bayley.

This set up the much-anticipated feud between the two women, leading to Banks ripping the SmackDown title from Bayley and becoming champ.

Top to bottom, this was one of the better storylines in WWE, with the added twist of Bayley being the pure heel, something that was unthinkable a couple years ago. Just a great effort all-around and great execution.