Ranking 15 WWE Debuts And Returns In 2020
Offbeat year produces mixed bag of debuting wrestlers, some hits, plenty of misses.
Let’s face facts: 2020 was not a good year for WWE in terms of in-ring product or quality television programming. What could have and should have been a banner year for the company was sent into a tailspin, along with the rest of the globe.
It’s a shame, because one of the things we fans look forward to the most – the post-WrestleMania call-ups – was stunted by the pandemic. But even taking that into account, this might be one of the worst years for debuts and returns in recent memory. Yes, there were a few successes, but when you look at the sheer volume of new faces on Raw and SmackDown in 2020, most of them underperformed – and some were already demoted.
Consider that 2018’s returns and debuts gave us Ronda Rousey, Drew McIntyre, Daniel Bryan, AOP, Rey Mysterio and Bobby Lashley. Last year’s crop included the Viking Raiders, Ricochet, Cedric Alexander, Street Profits, Murphy and Goldberg, so while that was more of a mixed bag, you have some wrestlers who captured gold since showing up. Of the batch that debuted this year, only two have won titles – and one doesn’t work for WWE anymore!
As we rank these superstars from worst to best, a quick note: This list does not include wrestlers who were out with an injury and returned, nor does it include Chelsea Green, who got injured in her debut match, so it wouldn’t be fair to judge her.
With that said, let’s get to it…
15. RETRIBUTION
There really can be no one else to occupy the “worst” spot
than the masked goobers who comprise RETRIBUTION. In NXT, Dominik Dijakovic,
Shane Thorne and Mia Yim were among some of the more reliable wrestlers on the
roster. DD had “future star” written all over him.
So if you heard that all three along with Dio Maddin were being called up to the main roster together and partnered with Mustafa Ali as a strong heel faction, you might think there was serious potential there.
But RETRIBUTION has been anything but serious. The group’s debut as a bunch of faceless black-clad goons committing acts of vandalism around the Performance Center was a total joke, and the faction was nearly irrelevant before the “named” members made their debuts in the fall. Since then, they’ve lost numerous matches and fallen down the pecking order to simply resorting to trying to recruit Ricochet rather than wreaking havoc.
It’s an utter embarrassment, and it’s nearly criminal that five wrestlers’ careers have been hindered by the anchor known as RETRIBUTION.