Every WWE PPV Of 2020 Ranked

2020 was one of the more bizarre years of the young 21st century as the world was gripped by the COVID-19 pandemic from March, with Planet Earth very much shutting down as a lot of us were told to stay at home. Some of us went on furlough, while others worked throughout the global pandemic. 

Those who worked was primarily reserved for key workers like doctors, nurses, teachers, and other public servants, as well as supermarket workers, but if you were in the state of Florida, those classed as key workers were also, for some reason, professional wrestlers as WWE continued to hold weekly shows in front of no fans from the WWE Performance Center and various ThunderDomes.

Altogether, while many of us worked from the sofa, WWE produced 14 pay-per-views in 2020. This is every WWE pay-per-view of 2020 ranked from worst to best.

14. Super ShowDown

WWE’s last foray to Saudi Arabia before the pandemic struck was an absolute shocker, full of bad matches and worse booking. 

The best things on the show – Miz and Morrison beating New Day for the SmackDown Tag Team Titles and Mansoor getting one over on Dolph Ziggler – were merely okay, though they seemed a lot better in comparison to the sheer amount of other awfulness. 

The opening Tuwaiq Trophy Gauntlet was pointless and basically amounted to a convoluted way to set up an appearance by eventual winner The Undertaker, who kicked off his feud with AJ Styles and won the trophy without even bothering to take off his clothes. 

Angel Garza vs. Humberto Carrillo was also fine, but nobody really cared, and the same primarily applied to Seth Rollins & Murphy’s Raw Tag Team Title defence against The Street Profits. Bayley’s SmackDown Women’s Title defence against Naomi was very much just there, too.

The bad stuff at Super ShowDown was incredibly bad. Ricochet was eaten alive by Brock Lesnar in 90 seconds in one of the most pointless WWE Title matches ever. 

Pre-Bloodline Roman Reigns vs. Baron Corbin in a Steel Cage Match after a feud that revolved around dog food was as bad as it sounds, with the programme being incredibly tired by the time WWE headed to the Middle East. 

The main event of Goldberg’s Universal Title win over “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt was the beginning of the end of the alter ego that debuted to much fanfare at SummerSlam 2019. The match was terrible, and then the finish of Goldberg making quick work of The Fiend was a horrific way to end a pay-per-view, especially as Goldberg was 22 years past his prime by 2020. 

13. Payback 2020

Essentially a glorified episode of Raw with a newsworthy ending, Payback had no real reason for existing, especially since it took place just one week after SummerSlam. 

In the main event, Roman Reigns returned to the ring to reclaim the Universal Title, beating Braun Strowman and The Fiend in a so-so No Holds Barred Triple Threat Match, with Reigns picking up the win after watching Strowman and Bray Wyatt batter each other before he made his way to the ring to pick up the pieces. Reigns would remain Universal Champion until 2024’s WrestleMania XL. 

Other title changes at Payback 2020 included Bobby Lashley dominating Apollo Crews to win the United States Title, and Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler downing Bayley and Sasha Banks to capture the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles. 

Both matches were alright, but the best and most exciting bout of the night was Seth Rollins and Murphy taking on The Mysterios. 

Big E’s win over Sheamus was okay, and Keith Lee beat Randy Orton, which should have been a boost, but it was presented as a total fluke and Lee didn’t look impressive in the process. His WWE run would be all downhill from here. 

Matt Riddle’s win over Baron Corbin wasn’t terrible, either. Nothing on the show was, really, but it was all just so boring and not anything you need to go back and watch or even think about.

12. Backlash

A show with the bizarre billing of featuring the Greatest Wrestling Match Ever saw Edge go one-on-one with Randy Orton in a fantastic match, although it was set up to have unrealistic expectations by the advertising. The piped-in chants haven’t helped the match age well, nor has a resurrected Howard Finkel providing the ring announcing. 

The next best thing at Backlash was Drew McIntyre’s WWE Title defence over Bobby Lashley in a fun hoss fight, with the only negative being Lana’s involvement. 

The rest of the show was all stuff that happened and wasn’t remembered by the next morning, including Sasha Banks & Bayley vs. Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross vs. The IIconics, Sheamus vs. Jeff Hardy in their feud based around urine, Asuka vs. Nia Jax, and Braun Strowman vs. The Miz & John Morrison for the Universal Championship. 

11. WrestleMania 36 - Night 2

WWE tried to make the best out of an unprecedented situation and presented their biggest show of the year as the world was falling apart. Hunkering down in the WWE Performance Center and a few other select locations, the company managed to tape the show in time with as few personnel changes as possible. 

For night two, the big match was Drew McIntyre’s challenge of Brock Lesnar and the WWE Title. It would have been much better in front of tens of thousands of screaming fans, and you felt for Drew McIntyre getting robbed of his big moment, but they got in there and got out, ending the event on a high note. 

Elsewhere, John Cena and The Fiend had their Firefly Funhouse Match that, really, wasn’t so much a match as it was a piece of bizarre, yet compelling, sports entertainment performance art. 

Edge had his first proper match back, battering Randy Orton in a polarising Last Man Standing match that went all over the PC and lasted far too long, with it memorably being compared to Chinese water torture by Dave Meltzer. 

Charlotte Flair also beat Rhea Ripley for the NXT Women’s Title in a very good match, but one that ultimately had the wrong winner and contributed to derailing Ripley’s momentum until into 2022, really. 

The rest of the mid-card was fine and paid off some storylines, but all felt very sterile in what was literally a heavily sanitised environment.  

10. The Horror Show At Extreme Rules

The Horror Show at Extreme Rules is up there as one of the silliest names for a WWE event in company history. Some of the matches were fun and engaging, and the wrestlers worked hard, but the intelligence-insulting booking and rotten main event dragged the show down. 

In the good column, The New Day vs. Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura in a SmackDown Tag Team Title Table Match was a solid way to kick off the show. It was followed by another decent outing, with Bayley retaining her SmackDown Women’s Title against Nikki Cross. 

MVP then declared himself the new United States Champion because titleholder Apollo Crews didn’t show up as scheduled due to a ‘bulging disc’ in his back. Then Rey Mysterio lost his eye in a match where the only way to win was via eye extraction. Despite the bizarre stipulation, which was done in case Mysterio decided to leave WWE, the match itself was solid before the absolutely mental, braincell-depleting finish. 

Sasha Banks and Asuka then had a good match, but the finish was rubbish and ended in a no contest after Bayley attacked Asuka with the WWE Women’s Tag Team Title belt, before she revealed a referee shirt and counted the “win” for Banks. The result was overturned by WWE. 

Drew McIntrye also defended the WWE Title against former tag team partner Dolph Ziggler in a filler title defence. It was good, but after years of mixed booking no one believed Ziggler had any chance of winning. 

The main event was then a Swamp Fight between Braun Strowman and Bray Wyatt, a poor non-title cinematic match that ended with both Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman being drowned by The Fiend. It sounded better on paper than in execution. 

9. WrestleMania 36 - Night 1

On balance, night one of WrestleMania 36 was better than night two, with a few memorable matches distinguishing it. 

The show will likely always be remembered for the awesome Boneyard Match between The Undertaker and AJ Styles. It was really, really good and unlike anything WWE had done to that point. The two men ultimately created a fitting swansong for a legendary character, with The Undertaker finally retiring on a high three years on from WrestleMania 33. 

Elsewhere, Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross beat the Kabuki Warriors to win the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles, Sami Zayn retained the Intercontinental Title over Daniel Bryan, John Morrison single-handedly retained the SmackDown Tag Team for him and The Miz in a Triple Threat Ladder Match also featuring Jimmy Uso and Kofi Kingston, Becky Lynch retained the Raw Women’s Title over Shayna Baszler in a surprise, and Kevin Owens beat Seth Rollins in a hard-fought Street Fight where KO jumped from the WrestleMania sign and put Rollins through the announce table. 

Elias vs. King Corbin also happened, while Braun Strowman defeated Goldberg for the Universal Championship after Roman Reigns pulled out of the match due to health concerns. The match wasn't very good.

8. Elimination Chamber

The last WWE pay-per-view before the COVID-19 pandemic, Elimination Chamber 2020 was an uneven effort that had some good and some bad but, mainly, was just very long. 

It started off well with a trio of worthwhile matches. First, Daniel Bryan bested Drew Gulak in a crisp technical affair. Then Andrade beat Humberto Carrillo in a solid match to retain his United States Title. Then there was the Elimination Chamber match for the SmackDown Tag Team Titles. All 12 competitors brought their A game and featured everything you would expect from a Chamber match before The Miz and John Morrison retained after 30 minutes of engaging action.

The show got worse after the third contest, though. AJ Styles’ loss to Aleister Black was drawn out and surprisingly dull. If you like the Undertaker magically showing up and hitting a Chokeslam then maybe you won’t mind waiting almost 25 minutes for it to happen. 

The Street Profits vs. Seth Rollins and Murphy was also much longer than it needed to be and, while the wrestling was fine, it should have wrapped up much earlier than it did. 

The less said about Braun Strowman’s three-on-one Intercontinental Title handicap match loss, the better, but at least Sami Zayn won. 

In the main event, Shayna Baszler eliminated all five of her opponents to become Becky Lynch’s WrestleMania number one contender, which put her over in a big way, but made for a very boring match since it was obvious Baszler was winning going in when the five other competitors were announced for the match. 

7. Survivor Series

Another tired, BRAND SUPREMACY battle took place at Survivor Series 2020, but those in action tried their best to overcome the incredibly weak stakes. 

The opening Raw vs. SmackDown men’s elimination tag was good enough, even if the one-sided nature of it kind of sucked a bit of the enjoyment out. The Street Profits’ victory over the New Day was fun, but US Champion Bobby Lashley’s win over IC Champion Sami Zayn failed to entertain. 

Sasha Banks vs. Asuka in a battle of the women’s champions was very good and much better than their contests earlier in the year. The women’s Survivor Series elimination tag match, meanwhile, was way too long, especially for the punchline of Lana as the sole survivor.

Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre was a typically great hoss fight that would have benefited from some proper audience interaction.

In the main event, the thing the whole show was built around in advertising, The Undertaker made his entrance while a bunch of his friends stood around and watched as The Dead Man officially retired after 30 years in WWE. 

6. Clash of Champions

Clash of Champions – Gold Rush! – was a show that was bookended by two very good matches and had a whole lot of ‘meh’ in the middle. 

In the opener, Sami Zayn retained his IC Title in a Triple Threat Ladder Match also featuring AJ Styles and Jeff Hardy. Far from taking it easy in the empty ThunderDome, the three men went all out and threw caution to the wind in their bid to entertain. It was innovative and there was no shortage of big moves and spectacular bumps.

In the main event, Roman Reigns beat cousin Jey Uso in a dramatic epic after beating him to a pulp and forcing Jimmy to throw in the towel on his brother’s behalf. 

As far as the matches in the middle, it was all rather middling. Asuka beat Zelina Vega, Bobby Lashley beat Apollo Crews, the Street Profits defeated Andrade and Angel Garza, Asuka overcame Bayley by DQ, and Drew McIntyre beat Randy Orton in a WWE Title Ambulance Match that saw Ric Flair, Christian, and Big Show work with Drew to vanquish the Legend Killer. 

5. Money In The Bank

The 2020 Money in the Bank matches were prime examples of WWE getting creative during the COVID-19 pandemic, as instead of regular multi-person ladder matches in an empty warehouse, the men and women of WWE had to fight their way from the ground floor of Titan Towers to the roof, where a ring with briefcases suspended above it stood waiting. 

The men’s and women’s matches intersected in the chaotic main event, which featured such highlights as a food fight, Daniel Bryan and AJ Styles scrapping in Vince McMahon’s office, much to the chagrin of the WWE chairman, and Rey Mysterio getting thrown off the side of the building as Asuka and Otis snatched the respective briefcases. 

Elsewhere, the opening four-team SmackDown Tag Team Title match was entertaining enough, Bayley’s SmackDown Women’s Title defence over Tamina was a good effort by Bayley, who attempted to wrestle herself for 10 minutes, and Braun Strowman and Bray Wyatt’s Universal Title match wasn’t great as an actual match but they told a story and that was enough.

Drew McIntyre’s WWE Title defence against Seth Rollins was a good match, as the two stalwarts worked hard, but this was forgettable compared to their earlier and later matches. Overall, though, Rollins was the perfect first opponent for Drew, whose title run got off to a good start, all things considered. 

4. SummerSlam

The move from the WWE Performance Center to the ThunderDome certainly improved things starting at SummerSlam, a show that had mostly very good matches capped off with a rotten main event. 

In the Falls Count Anywhere show-closer, Bray Wyatt mercifully ended Braun Strowman’s Universal Title reign. Then Roman Reigns returned after a five-month absence and immediately asserted himself as the top star once again, with Reigns finally working as a heel and giving fans what they had wanted for several years. 

As for the rest of the card, Asuka had two attempts at winning a women’s title, first falling to SmackDown’s Bayley in a quality opener, before later tapping out Sasha Banks in an equally good offering to regain the Raw Women’s Title.

The Street Profits also saw off Andrade and Angel Garza in a fun little match, and Mandy Rose beat Sonya Deville in a surprisingly good No DQ Loser Leaves WWE Match. 

Dominik Mysterio also debuted and put on a commendable performance in a bruising Street Fight loss to Seth Rollins. Finally, Drew McIntyre retained the WWE Title against Randy Orton in a customarily airtight match courtesy of two polished pros, even if it was one that didn’t feature any finishing moves. 

3. Hell In A Cell

All three Hell in a Cell matches were good and more than helped to offset some of the worse offerings on the card. 

In the first, Roman Reigns continued his revival by beating Jey Uso in a Universal Title match that had I Quit rules. The Bloodline collectively knocked it out of the park, and the post-match cameo from Afa and Sika anointing Roman as Tribal Chief was a nice touch. 

The second Cell match of the night pitted Sasha Banks against Bayley in The Boss’ successful attempt to win the SmackDown Women’s Title. It was epic and violent and a fitting end to Bayley’s long reign. 

In the main event, Drew McIntyre dropped the WWE Title to a resurgent Randy Orton after taking a big bump off the side of the cage. The match was very good, if not quite at the level of the two other Cell matches before it. 

With regards to the rest of the show, Jeff Hardy vs. Elias was filler, as was Bobby Lashley’s US Title defence against RETRIBUTION’s Slapjack. 

Also, Otis predictably lost the Money in the Bank briefcase to The Miz after Tucker turned on his Heavy Machinery partner.

2. TLC

The last pay-per-view of what had been a trying year was, happily, a very good one, with plenty of good-to-great matches and no real duds apart from the main event where Bray Wyatt was set on fire and burnt to a crisp.  

The show kicked off with a triple threat WWE Title TLC match, as Drew McIntyre retained against AJ Styles and The Miz. The match was originally a singles match until The Miz’s Money in the Bank cash-in backfired, but he would get the briefcase back on a technicality. 

Sasha Banks then beat Carmella in a match that was much better than expected. The Hurt Business captured the Raw Tag Team Titles from the New Day in a very fast-paced and well-worked match, before the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles also changed hands as Charlotte Flair and Asuka toppled Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler.

The match of the night came, once again, from Roman Reigns, as he defended the Universal Title against Kevin Owens in a chaotic TLC bout.

In the final match of the evening, Bray Wyatt was murdered in a Firefly Inferno Match. It wasn’t a terrible match or anything, but it was hard to look past the silliness. 

1. Royal Rumble

Royal Rumble 2020 wasn’t a perfect event by any means, but it had far more good than bad and, once the pandemic set in, demonstrated just how important fans are when it comes to making pro wrestling what it is. 

As for the actual Royal Rumbles themselves, both of them were good value. Charlotte Flair won the women’s version, last eliminating Shayna Baszler, who had looked mightily impressive before falling at the final hurdle. It was nice to see Mighty Molly and Beth Phoenix in the match, but less so Santina Marella. 

In the men’s Rumble, Drew McIntyre won a match that was expertly laid out and told many great stories. The first half of the match was the Brock Lesnar show, as the Beast Incarnate battered and eliminated everyone who came his way as he vowed to win the Royal Rumble from the number one spot. Eventually, McIntyre Claymored him over the top rope to a thunderous ovation in a brilliant, star-making moment. 

That monster ovation was then made to feel like a golf clap when Edge made his surprise in-ring return after an absence of almost a decade in one of the best WWE moments in company history. 

In other show highlights, Daniel Bryan gave The Fiend character its best-ever in-ring showing in their Universal Title Strap Match, and Becky Lynch defeated Asuka in a very good Raw Women’s Title match. 

Roman Reigns and Baron Corbin’s Falls Count Anywhere Match was another in their protracted series, and Bayley’s SmackDown Women’s Title defence against Lacey Evans didn’t set the world on fire, but everything else delivered.