7 WWE Superstars likely to return from injury in 2020

WWE have the biggest roster in professional wrestling, spread across three brands - RAW, SmackDown and NXT, each of which airs a show a week. Apart from the TV shows, the Vince McMahon-led company also hosts live events each week.

The Superstars in WWE have a tough schedule, that eventually causes long-term injuries which adds to the hard-hitting in-ring action.

WWE have a few Superstars out with injuries currently, including some that haven't featured since April. But, we expect several of them to return next year, perhaps as early as the Royal Rumble too.

Let's take a look at 7 WWE Superstars likely to return from injury in 2020:

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#7 Xavier Woods

Xavier Woods

Xavier Woods, one-third of The New Day, is the latest Superstar to suffer an injury in WWE. Woods suffered an achilles injury during a match against The Revival during WWE's tour of Australia. Woods went down while performing a move and held his leg during the match. He recently underwent surgery and he will be out for a long time.

PWInsider have revealed that Woods could be out for anywhere between 9 months and a year and that he will be back in the summer of 2020 or a little later.

Woods, along with the other two members of The New Day, are in a feud with The Revival, with Kofi Kingston and Big E winning back the SmackDown Tag Team titles on the recent SmackDown show in Manchester, England. Woods and The New Day are seven-time tag team champions, after their recent win on SmackDown.

The New Day were supposed to challenge The Revival for the SmackDown tag team titles on the SmackDown after Crown Jewel, but the travel delay resulted in that match being held in the show in Manchester, England.

#6 Ember Moon

Former NXT Women's Champion Ember Moon has also suffered a similar injury to Xavier Woods and could be out for 6-12 months. A report by Wrestling Observer in October revealed that Moon had suffered an Achilles or ankle injury that would put her out of action for a while.

Moon had suffered an injury at the start of 2019 at the Royal Rumble, where she hurt her elbow which required her to get a surgery.

After her recent injury, Moon should return in the middle of 2020.

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#5 Jinder Mahal

Former WWE Champion Jinder Mahal suffered a knee injury in June which required him to get surgery. Mahal, in a recent interview with Fanbuzz, revealed that his return to WWE will be “not until the new year at earliest.”

This means that Mahal could be a possibility for the 2020 Royal Rumble which takes place on January 26. But an injury like his could possibly take anywhere between 6 and 12 months to recover from, and a return after WrestleMania is a possibility too.

#4 Ruby Riott

Ruby Riott, the leader of the now-disbanded Riott Squad, has been quite unlucky with injuries this year. Riott had to have double shoulder surgery, first on her right shoulder, followed by one to her left shoulder.

Riott revealed recently that she should return to WWE "early in 2020", so we could perhaps see her return at Royal Rumble or a little later.

“They [doctors] said I’m on a good track for recovery. Some time, hopefully early in 2020, but they haven’t given me an exact return date. I’m just hoping the sooner, the better, honestly. It’s been such a hard road. Physically, obviously, I lost a lot of muscle in my shoulders and in my arms and everything. I guess I never realised how much I used my arms until I was without one and then both of them," said Riott on Vickie Guerrero's podcast last month.

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#3 Nia Jax

Nia Jax, too, needed surgery this year, to both her knees, which happened right after WrestleMania. She had competed in a fatal four–way match at WrestleMania for the Women's tag team titles, before getting surgery.

Reports suggested that she could be out for upto a year, which means she could return just before WrestleMania.

#2 Jeff Hardy

Another Superstar that required knee surgery was Jeff Hardy, who had to relinquish the SmackDown tag team titles earlier this year to have the procedure.

Reports had earlier suggested that he would be cleared to wrestle by the end of November, and it is likely that he is back in the pink of health, but issues away from the ring could cause him to not return this year.

According to Fightful, Hardy is not expected to return soon as he's "taking care of his personal issues". These personal issues could be him being arrested for driving under the influence. We could possibly see him return next year, though, as he still has some months remaining on his WWE contract.

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#1 Lars Sullivan

Lars Sullivan, incidentally, was one of the last Superstars to be involved in a feud with Jeff and Matt Hardy on WWE television. The former NXT Superstar is also out with an injury, and needed knee surgery.

Sullivan was reported to be out for anywhere between 6 and 9 months, and Fightful recently revealed that he could return in the summer of 2020.

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