Since the last few weeks, WWE has been under the attack of a massive unidentified group of individuals who have been heel-bound on wreaking havoc and destroying things. The group is being called RETRIBUTION and from the looks of it, consists of a mixture of male and female talents.
RETRIBUTION is being compared by many fans with The Nexus, which also had a similar first impression. The rumor mill and wrestling communities have been buzzing in speculation of who could be the men and women under the black masks and what their purpose could be?
With them attacking and invading RAW and SmackDown for the past few weeks, it is very likely that RETRIBUTION would be looking to make a huge impact at WWE's Biggest Party of the Summer, SummerSlam 2020. But the question is, what will they do?
Let's take a look at five possible things that RETRIBUTION can do to wreak havoc at WWE SummerSlam. Be sure to comment down what you think about this new faction of WWE and who do you think will be a part of it?
#5 RETRIBUTION invades SummerSlam production
On the go-home Monday Night RAW episode for SummerSlam 2020, we saw RETRIBUTION make their presence felt right from the beginning when they invaded the WWE production truck and tried to hijack the airing of the show in a sense.
In the last couple of weeks, we have seen RAW and SmackDown go through all sorts of lighting and sound issues, courtesy RETRIBUTION, whom we saw blow up a generator on their RAW debut. I can certainly see them doing something similar at SummerSlam, trying to ruin the production of WWE's second-biggest show of the year.
This, kind of, blurs the lines between kayfabe and reality a bit as WWE would normally want their production quality to be top-class for an event like SummerSlam. And RETRIBUTION ruining that could maybe go as far as Vince McMahon getting involved in the feud.
What good is a rebellious group without a proper authority figure for them to go up against! Right?
#4 RETRIBUTION takes over the ThunderDome
WWE recently made a huge announcement about introducing a "state-of-the-art" viewing experience for fans, WWE ThunderDome. Through this, fans would be able to virtually attend the shows, starting this Friday on SmackDown. With all the excitement around it, it would really be a shame if RETRIBUTION got their hands all over this.
As per a statement by WWE, ThunderDome's set will consist of video boards, pyrotechnics, lasers, drone cameras, and cutting-edge graphics. WWE Executive Vice President, Television Production, Kevin Dunn mentioned that they would have almost 1000 LED boards with fans attending the shows.
Now imagine this situation, what if during the middle of WWE SummerSlam, for a brief moment, RETRIBUTION takes over the entire arena and all the LED boards, with some rebellious sign being displayed on all the 1000 LED screens. How amazing would that be?
There are so many ways that RETRIBUTION could use a set like ThunderDome to their advantage. I know, there would be people who might think that WWE would want to portray the concept of ThunderDome properly on a huge scale at SummerSlam, but they can still do that with RETRIBUTION hijacking everything for a few minutes or even seconds.
#3 RETRIBUTION attacks the WWE locker room
I personally think that the entire RETRIBUTION angle could lead to a traditional Survivor Series elimination match between the faction and a group of Superstars from WWE. Now since there are females on the group as well, it might be a bit complicated to pull it off, but I can still see it happening.
This week on Monday Night RAW, we saw how the locker room is starting to understand that RETRIBUTION might harm them. We previously saw the anonymous faction attack and invade a match between Big E and John Morrison on Friday Night SmackDown. One of the biggest statements that RETRIBUTION can make at SummerSlam is to attack the WWE locker room.
There have been several fans complaining about some of the acts of RETRIBUTION looking childish, especially the ones where they were throwing cinder blocks through a glass window or turning a car upside down outside of the WWE Performance Center. If RETRIBUTION wants to get everyone to take them seriously, I believe they need to come up as proper threats to the WWE locker room.
Or can they take things to another level and make a massive impact during the main event of SummerSlam?
#2 RETRIBUTION makes a run-in during the WWE Championship match
This might be a bit of a stretch, but the only way this happens is if WWE is really high on RETRIBUTION and are looking at it as their next big faction. And we have some hints to believe that this might be true as WWE let them "interrupt" the opening segment and promo of WWE Champion Drew McIntyre this week on RAW.
In all likeliness, the main event of WWE SummerSlam will be Drew McIntyre vs Randy Orton for the WWE Championship. There has been a lot of debate among the fans as to who should come out victorious at SummerSlam and have the WWE title around their waists? But what if RETRIBUTION decides to invade the main event of WWE SummerSlam, leading to a no-contest?
Now, there are chances of that happening as WWE will be holding a second PPV just a week after SummerSlam, WWE Payback. This PPV could then be used for a rematch between McIntyre and Orton, with proper security in place. Thus, we do get a proper match between the two, and RETRIBUTION gets to make a huge impact at WWE SummerSlam. But as I said, it all depends on whether WWE is very high on the faction or not.
#1 RETRIBUTION reveals their identity and purpose
The biggest question ever since the debut of RETRIBUTION has been who is behind those masks? There have been several speculations of someone like Tommaso Ciampa or even Rusev being the leader of the faction. WWE Universe noticed that two of these were women as well, and the names of Chelsea Green and Vanessa Borne have come up as possible women who could be in RETRIBUTION.
WWE has a great chance in their hands to introduce some new names to the WWE Universe through RETRIBUTION. There are several talented NXT Superstars who could benefit from being part of a faction like this. There are also speculations of the faction including some of the released WWE Superstars.
So far, the members of RETRIBUTION haven't revealed their true identity, but there is a good chance that they might do that on a huge stage like SummerSlam. The rebellious faction has done so many things to create chaos and fans would love to know their purpose behind all of it.
Is RETRIBUTION a bunch of NXT talent who want to "takeover" (wink wink) WWE, or are they released WWE Superstars who want "payback" (again, wink wink) against the company? Or are they someone completely unexpected? We might get these answers at WWE SummerSlam!