10 WWE moments that are destined to happen before 2020

The WWE Universe has already been treated to lots of great moments in 2019, including the first women’s main event in WrestleMania history and Roman Reigns’ return from battling leukemia.

Fans have also witnessed the rise of ‘KofiMania’, leading to Kofi Kingston winning the WWE Championship from Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania 35, while Seth Rollins surprisingly picked up two victories over Brock Lesnar to emerge from WrestleMania and SummerSlam as the Universal Champion.

With four months left before 2020, we are bound to see plenty of other memorable moments occur on WWE programming by the end of the year, especially with extra focus on the NXT brand and with the rosters almost certainly separating again ahead of SmackDown’s move to FOX in October.

In this article, let’s count down 10 WWE moments that are destined to happen before 2019 is over.

---

#10 Sasha Banks becomes Raw Women’s Champion

Sasha Banks took a four-month leave of absence from WWE after she and Bayley lost the Women’s Tag Team titles to The IIconics in a Fatal 4-Way match at WrestleMania 35.

Shortly after ‘Mania, various reports suggested that she complained about losing the titles and she wanted to leave the company. Needless to say, this prompted a negative response from many fans on social media, so it was no surprise that WWE brought Banks back as a heel when she made her long-awaited return after SummerSlam.

Since then, “The Boss” has attacked Natalya and Becky Lynch on Raw, becoming more relevant than she has been in three years, and her recent reunion with Bayley has added more intrigue to Banks’ character ahead of her Raw Women’s Championship match against “The Man” at Clash of Champions on September 15.

It is difficult to predict a winner for the Clash of Champions encounter – both women have a lot of momentum heading into the event – but it is safe to assume that Banks will get her hands on Raw’s top female title at some point before the end of the year, especially if Lynch switches to SmackDown when the brand moves to FOX in October.

#9 The Miz turns heel again

The Miz became a babyface for the first time in four years when he aligned with Shane McMahon and won the SmackDown Tag Team titles alongside his fellow “co-bestie”.

Fans responded well to the duo teaming together in early 2019, and The Miz continued to receive positive crowd reactions when McMahon betrayed him in the build-up to their Falls Count Anywhere match at WrestleMania 35.

Although the match was widely considered to be one of the best on the show, it cannot be denied that The Miz has lost more and more momentum as each month has passed since ‘Mania.

As a heel, the cocky and confident “A-Lister” constantly found himself in meaningful storylines and many fans even advocated for him to be involved in the WWE Championship picture. However, as a babyface, he often feels like an afterthought on SmackDown Live, and his upcoming Intercontinental Championship match against Shinsuke Nakamura is set to be one of the least anticipated of the night at Clash of Champions.

While the majority of fans respect The Miz as a performer, it is clear that he will have a lot more success if he turns heel again in the next few months.

#8 Finn Balor joins The O.C.

Finn Balor has not been on WWE television since losing in convincing fashion against Bray Wyatt’s “Fiend” at SummerSlam on August 11.

Since then, the Irishman has married FOX reporter Veronica Rodriguez and showed off a new look on social media, while it has been reported that he was given a two-month break by WWE after his last appearance.

When Balor returns, it would not be a surprise if the former Universal Champion finally turned to the dark side and joined forces with three former Bullet Club members – AJ Styles, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson – to become part of The O.C.

WWE planted the seeds for Balor to join the villainous group on the SummerSlam kickoff show when Styles, accompanied by Gallows and Anderson, told the two-time Intercontinental Champion that he only has to say “when” if he ever needs help from them.

“The Phenomenal One” recently dropped another hint on social media that a fourth person could be added to his faction, saying that a three-man group is “good… for now”.

#7 The introduction of on-screen authority figures

"The role of the General Manager is played out. I don't want to do it because it's been going on for twenty years. And whether you're the hero general manager or the villain general manager, it's enough. I don't know how many people really turn on WWE or any form of sports entertainment to see how a match is made."

Those words, said by Paul Heyman at an Inside The Ropes show, were brought up by a lot of people when the former ECW owner was named the Executive Director of Raw in July 2019.

Since WWE appointed him in that role, authority figures have disappeared from Raw, with the brand’s previous on-screen decision-makers – Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, Shane McMahon and Vince McMahon – having no say on who faces who on Monday nights.

Despite the change of direction in recent months, it is very difficult to believe that nobody will represent Raw and SmackDown as a General Manager if, as rumored, another WWE Draft takes place after the blue brand moves to FOX in October.

Unlike past Superstar Shake-Ups, which (in storyline) are trades that have been mutually agreed upon between rival authority figures, how is WWE going to explain why Becky Lynch has permanently moved to SmackDown from Raw? Or who made the decision to split up Andrade and Zelina Vega to put Vega in the Raw women’s division?

These are hypothetical scenarios, of course, but these are questions that only an authority figure can answer after a WWE Draft.

#6 Another Goldberg match

One of the most talked-about WWE matches of 2019 so far took place in June when The Undertaker defeated Goldberg in the main event of Super ShowDown in Saudi Arabia.

The first-time-ever encounter, which also happened to be the oldest one-on-one PPV main event in WWE history, will be remembered for all the wrong reasons after Goldberg legitimately knocked himself out during the match, causing both Superstars to make mistakes whilst executing uncoordinated moves.

WWE allowed the veterans to redeem themselves after the event, with The Undertaker returning to in-ring action in July to join forces with Roman Reigns in a victory over Drew McIntyre & Shane McMahon at Extreme Rules. Goldberg, meanwhile, returned in August and convincingly defeated Dolph Ziggler at SummerSlam.

Despite those recent appearances, WWE will no doubt want ‘Taker to compete at a Saudi Arabia event for the fourth time in a row when the company visits the country later in 2019, and it would not be at all surprising if Goldberg were to appear in a match on what is certain to be another star-studded show.

The date for the next Saudi special, which is reportedly going to be called Crown Jewel again, has not yet been revealed but it is expected to take place in late October.

#5 Luke Harper returns to WWE TV

Shortly after making his main-roster return in the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 35, Luke Harper took the unusual approach of publicly requesting his release from WWE.

The former Wyatt Family member was written off television in August 2018 after he and Erick Rowan lost the SmackDown Tag Team titles to The New Day on SmackDown Live, with both men undergoing surgeries during their absence from the ring.

As Harper revealed in an open letter on Twitter ahead of his televised return against Dominik Dijakovic at Worlds Collide in April 2019, he had been left feeling “ignored” and “exasperated” after remaining at home for several months with no contact about when he would be brought back to television.

Now, five months on, all of Harper’s old Wyatt Family colleagues – Bray Wyatt, Erick Rowan, Braun Strowman, and even Randy Orton – are featuring heavily on Raw and SmackDown, and there are plenty of possible storylines that could bring the former Intercontinental Champion back in an important role.

And when you consider that NXT is going to need more high-profile names when it becomes a weekly two-hour show on September 18, there will surely be a spot for Harper somewhere on one of WWE's brands.

#4 Dissension between Bayley and Sasha Banks

Bayley realigned with Sasha Banks in September 2019 by joining forces with her Boss ‘n’ Hug Connection partner to attack Becky Lynch on Raw. This, according to “The Hugger”, simply shows that she is loyal to Banks and does not mean that she has turned her back on the WWE Universe.

Interestingly, Sportskeeda’s Tom Colohue reported shortly before Bayley’s attitude change that WWE had originally planned to build towards a Champion vs. Champion match between her and Banks at this year’s Survivor Series event in November, but that idea was forgotten about after “The Boss” took a leave of absence.

Now that she is back and in the Raw Women’s Championship picture, there is every chance that we could soon see Banks as a title holder on Raw and Bayley – the current SmackDown Women’s Champion – as a title holder on SmackDown.

A lot can happen between now and Survivor Series, especially with Clash of Champions, Hell In A Cell and another brand split on the horizon, but it would certainly make sense from a storyline perspective if the inaugural Women’s Tag Team Champions were to begin feuding with each other ahead of a match at Survivor Series.

#3 Apollo Crews turns heel

The majority of topics in this article have focused on higher-profile names on the WWE roster. However, it is worth remembering that perennial mid-carder Apollo Crews is one of the most impressive in-ring performers that WWE has, yet he often struggles to receive television time.

In a recent article, we looked at five WWE Superstars who received a push after the 2016 Draft to find out what happened next in their careers after their initial spell in the spotlight. While the likes of Finn Balor and AJ Styles went on to become World Champions, Crews fell down the card after his push and soon found himself losing to the likes of Curt Hawkins.

Fast forward three years and the 240-pounder’s babyface character is still not connecting with the audience, and the time has come for WWE’s decision-makers to finally turn him heel.

Crews showed brief glimpses of being a bad guy during his time with Titus O’Neil in Titus Worldwide, but the group was mostly known for their run as a babyface duo with Dana Brooke as their sidekick.

Only time will tell if WWE decides to go down this route, but there is no harm in testing the former NXT Superstar out as a heel singles competitor.

#2 Bray Wyatt becomes WWE’s next PPV main-eventer

By the end of 2017, Bray Wyatt’s “Eater of Worlds” character had become very stale and it was obvious to everybody that it was time for him to undergo a transformation.

In 2018, the former Wyatt Family leader became a babyface for the first time in his main-roster career when he emerged from ‘The Lake of Reincarnation’ as a changed man who joined forces with his former rival, Matt Hardy, to win the Raw Tag Team titles.

Despite this intriguing change of direction, Wyatt felt like nothing more than a mid-carder – a far cry from his WWE Championship triumph in 2017 – and he took eight months off between August 2018 and April 2019 to reinvent himself again.

Now, as the entertaining host of ‘Firefly Fun House’ and the creepy in-ring performer known as “The Fiend”, Wyatt is the most talked-about Superstar in WWE, and the company has handled his new personalities well by treating him like a special attraction.

Moving forward, it looks as though Wyatt’s “Fiend” will challenge for the Universal Championship against either Seth Rollins or Braun Strowman at Hell In A Cell in October. If he wins that match, WWE will have no choice but to have him headline PPVs regularly by the end of the year.

#1 Kofi Kingston loses the WWE Championship

Kofi Kingston fulfilled an 11-year dream by winning the WWE Championship from Daniel Bryan in the Match of the Night at WrestleMania 35 in April 2019.

Since then, the New Day member has defended his title against Superstars including Bryan, Kevin Owens, Dolph Ziggler and Samoa Joe, while he is currently involved in a 10-years-in-the-making rivalry with Randy Orton.

In the four months that followed Kingston’s WWE Championship victory, he still had momentum from the ‘KofiMania’ phenomenon and the majority of fans wanted him to retain his title against the likes of Ziggler and Joe.

However, there has definitely been a clear shift in crowd reactions in recent weeks, particularly at SummerSlam, with Orton gaining more momentum by the week as he looks to win his 14th World Championship as a WWE Superstar.

Either way, whether Kingston retains his title against Orton at Clash of Champions or not, it feels like time is finally running out on the babyface’s five-month title reign, so expect a new Superstar to hold SmackDown’s top male title by the end of the year.

---

Follow Sportskeeda Wrestling and Sportskeeda MMA on Twitter for all the latest news. Do not miss out!