In case you're not all caught up with RAW this week (which wouldn't be too surprising if you consider the viewership numbers), Lana scored an upset victory against Nia Jax but then was promptly removed from her WWE TLC 2020 match owing to an 'injury'.
Yes, it was not a legitimate injury but a storyline beatdown that promoted this removal, and one has to believe that Lana was written off from WWE TLC 2020 because the company has big plans in place.
Here are five theories about why Lana may have been replaced in this match. Share your own theory about WWE TLC 2020 in the comments section below.
After all, WWE had done a commendable job in creating babyface sympathy for Lana after having her go through one table after another in recent weeks.
#5 To create an element of intrigue with the 'replacement for Lana' angle at WWE TLC 2020, which is not one of the more anticipated WWE pay-per-views of the calendar year
If you look up and down the WWE TLC 2020 card, be it the Sasha Banks vs. Carmella match, Roman Reigns vs. Kevin Owens, or even Drew McIntyre vs. AJ Styles, you know that there's a very slight possibility that any of the Champions will lose their titles at the pay-per-view this weekend.
But by creating an element of intrigue regarding who will show up as Lana's ally at WWE TLC 2020, the audience has a reason to tune in and check out the action.
It's not much, but everyone likes an element of mystery. And speculation has been rampant online since WWE decided to go down this route not long ago. Could the following name return from injury to team up with Lana at WWE TLC 2020?
#4 Is Charlotte Flair returning at WWE TLC 2020 in a pretty massive way?
Is Lana being written out of WWE TLC 2020 because Charlotte Flair is making a huge comeback?
A report from PWInsider indicates that Charlotte Flair may be coming back at WWE TLC 2020, although they have not been able to confirm the same.
The talk coming out of Raw is that Lana was expected to be off TV for the next several weeks, possibly as long as 3-4 weeks. There was some buzz last night that perhaps this was an angle to bring Charlotte Flair back on Sunday, but PWInsider.com has not yet confirmed that to be the plan.
The truth of the matter is that Asuka is being slotted into the Women's Tag Team division at WWE TLC 2020 because there's a serious lack of serious and credible challengers for her, at this point in time.
Maybe Charlotte Flair returns at WWE TLC 2020 only to turn on Asuka and this results in a feud that stretches all the way to the Royal Rumble pay-per-view.
#3 Is Lana still being punished for Miro's comments in All Elite Wrestling?
Is Lana being punished for AEW Superstar Miro's comments?
From the moment that Miro, whom you may recognize as Rusev during his WWE run arrived on AEW Dynamite, he has been taking shots at WWE management and Vince McMahon, and one has to imagine that it doesn't sit well with the management. Especially if you consider that Lana, who is Miro's wife, is still employed by the company.
One just has to look at Miro's social media and the constant shots that he takes at his former place of employment and believe that there may be an element of malice from WWE's side, with how Lana is being booked.
In fact, Lana attaining babyface sympathy from going through one table after another may not have been the intention, to begin with, but an accidental side effect.
And so, Lana may have been removed from her WWE TLC 2020 match for no other reason, but pettiness, one has to believe.
#2 Did the return of Mandy Rose change the WWE TLC 2020 plans quite drastically indeed?
Mandy Rose showed up on the episode of RAW before WWE TLC 2020 and fans collectively breathed a sigh of relief. Unlike Lana's storyline injury, her own injury was quite real, and fans were delighted to see that it did not put her on the shelf for too long. Mandy Rose's return may have prompted the company to include her in the WWE TLC 2020 card.
Unlike Lana and Asuka, where one of the two performers would have been the weak link from an in-ring perspective, Mandy Rose can hold her own against the best of them, and this is probably what WWE wanted at this stage.
Even if you consider the Survivor Series 2020 match where Lana was the sole survivor, she stood on the ring steps for almost all of the match. With Mandy Rose in the mix, at WWE TLC 2020, the company has the ability to put on a competitive match with four world-class performers, without any smoke and mirrors.
#1 Because Lana may not have gotten her payback at WWE TLC 2020
So, because of the manner in which the Lana and Asuka vs. Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler match at WWE TLC 2020 had been built up, one would have assumed that it would be Lana's big moment of redemption.
After weeks of going through the announcers' desk, Lana would probably be able to exact a measure of revenge against the woman who put her through this torture, with the help of the RAW Women's Champion, at WWE TLC 2020, right?
However, a new report from Dave Meltzer says that Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler are unlikely to lose the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships and that Ruby Riott and Liv Morgan are being groomed to become their next challengers. In such a scenario, Lana would have come out on the losing end, and the storyline wouldn't have made sense.
One has to believe that the company wrote Lana out of WWE TLC 2020 to avoid fan backlash, from Lana not getting her revenge.