5 WWE Superstars who abruptly lost their push in 2020

2020 has perhaps been the most unique year in WWE history. With 9 out of 11 months of shows taking place behind closed doors in an empty arena, the entire landscape of WWE has changed.

There were quite a few Superstars who received pushes in WWE's COVID era, but not all have sustained. These were the Superstars who abruptly lost their push in 2020.

#5 Apollo Crews - A beneficiary of WWE's pandemic era?

Apollo Crews had the best year of his WWE career in 2020

Apollo Crews had an underwhelming four years on the WWE main roster. Once poised to be a future top star, he had a brief run in NXT that lasted less than a year before he debuted on RAW.

Apollo Crews spent most of the four years in creative limbo, even admitting that he wasn't where he thought he would be in his WWE career. The COVID-19 pandemic changed everything and WWE was suddenly forced to shift all of their shows to the Performance Center in Orlando, where they pre-taped RAW, SmackDown, and PPVs including WrestleMania 36.

There were a handful of Superstars who seemed to benefit from the situation since a lot of talent in WWE decided to take time away during the pandemic. Apollo Crews was one of those beneficiaries and rumors had suggested that Paul Heyman requested to bring him to RAW from SmackDown - with a clear plan to utilize him.

This instantly resulted in the best run of Apollo Crews' WWE career - where he suddenly found himself in a position where he was having career progression, improved promos, and higher quality matches - all of which he lacked in the four years prior.

It led to a United States Championship victory - his first title in five years with WWE. Apollo Crews feuded with The Hurt Business and overcame veteran MVP before inevitably facing Bobby Lashley - a man who gained significant momentum since splitting with Lana post-WrestleMania 36.

Bobby Lashley dethroned Apollo Crews to win the United States title and while he was the right person to win the title at the time, it also came at a cost. Since then, Apollo Crews experienced another slump in momentum and hasn't been as regularly featured as he was before.

Perhaps WWE removing Paul Heyman as the RAW Executive Director had to do with it, but the halt in Apollo Crews' push was abrupt.

#4 Zelina Vega - Released by WWE due to issues outside the ring

Zelina Vega's release came as a big surprise

WWE released Zelina Vega in November 2020, and it came as a big shock to everyone. When she was hired, her initial role was to help elevate Andrade in NXT. At the time, Andrade was viewed as a big prospect for WWE, especially considering that he was only 27 years old at the time and potentially key to the company's expansion in the Latin American market.

There was little doubt about Andrade's raw talent, but he needed a mouthpiece since he was still struggling with speaking English. Zelina Vega proved to the perfect match and Andrade's heel turn eventually led to an alliance and an NXT Championship victory in 2017.

She was key in the WWE main roster as well and all accounts seemed to suggest that Vince McMahon was a big fan of hers. Despite that, it was WWE's crackdown on third-party apps for Superstars that resulted in the end of Zelina Vega's run with the company. She had a big presence on Twitch and it was a big source of income for her outside of WWE.

WWE soon announced that she was released, marking an abrupt end to her push and her run with the company.

#3 Otis - A shocking emergence to WWE World title contention

Otis emerged as one of WWE's surprising breakout stars in 2020. While most fans didn't seem to understand why, it was clear that Vince McMahon was a big fan of his. It was the storyline with Dolph Ziggler and Mandy Rose (and Sonya Deville) that proved to be his moment, becoming a sympathetic babyface. His popularity was evident even before WWE stopped allowing crowds due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The storyline helped him gain incredible momentum and a win over Dolph Ziggler at WrestleMania 36 and an on-screen alliance with Mandy Rose. He also won the Money in the Bank briefcase, perhaps the most surprising Money in the Bank winner of all time.

Unfortunately, it was something that wasn't planned out and SmackDown had Braun Strowman, Bray Wyatt, and Roman Reigns as the Universal Champions while Drew McIntyre was the WWE Champion (with Randy Orton having a brief run in between). Being in a position where they didn't want Otis to fail his cash in, he inevitably dropped the briefcase to The Miz, losing his push in the process.

While not as abrupt as the rest, the push of Otis seemed to be one without any long-term plans.

#2 Andrade - WWE's Latin American star no more?

Andrade has had a rather forgettable 2020

Andrade hasn't had the best year of his WWE career. Even with a United States Championship victory, he wasn't one of the beneficiaries of the pandemic era. It all started with a one-month suspension while he was the United States Champion.

Perhaps wanting to give Zelina Vega more screen time, WWE called up Angel Garza with no intention of keeping him around. However, he exceeded expectations and reportedly had people pushing for him backstage. It led to Garza getting called up to the WWE main roster permanently and they paired up as a tag team (with Austin Theory briefly with them as well).

Angel Garza seemed to be preferred by the WWE higher-ups and after losing his United States title to Apollo Crews in a great match, Andrade was in a seemingly endless title feud against the Street Profits.

Unsuccessful in every attempt to capture the titles, Andrade's momentum rapidly fell, and Paul Heyman's departure as RAW Executive Director seemingly had something to do with that as well.

#1 Aleister Black - A bleak future in WWE?

Perhaps the biggest example of a Paul Heyman guy behind the scenes in WWE, it was no secret that Aleister Black was on the list of Superstars to be pushed during late 2019 and early 2020.

Aleister Black even admitted to having a great relationship with Paul Heyman and his WWE main roster career flourished the most under the latter's tenure as RAW Executive Director. Aleister Black started 2020 with a feud against [Buddy] Murphy, leading to a series of matches that benefited both men despite Black being the one to win all their matches.

Aleister Black even had a decent outing at WrestleMania 36 against Bobby Lashley, but the rest of 2020 wasn't memorable for him. The departure of Paul Heyman marked the end of any push he was to receive.

There were rumors that Vince McMahon and other WWE higher-ups weren't too keen on Aleister Black, to begin with. After his wife Thea Trinidad's (Zelina Vega) release from WWE, many have begun to doubt the future that he has with the company.

Edited by Nishant Jayaram