Rookie Year 2020 - Grading the debuts of WWE stars on RAW and SmackDown

#1 Shayna Baszler on WWE RAW - B

The Queen of Spades

By the way WWE booked Shayna Baszler after the 2019 Survivor Series, it seemed like it was only a matter of time before she was terrorizing the women on either RAW or SmackDown. Baszler pinned Bayley in a triple threat match at Survivor Series and then had a dominant showing in the 2020 Royal Rumble.

Her dominance continued as she immediately targeted RAW Women's Champion, Becky Lynch. Baszler earned her shot at Lynch by eliminating every other competitor in the Elimination Chamber. That has never been done before and it looked like the time was running out on Lynch's run atop the WWE and RAW.

But at WrestleMania 36, Lynch retained her title. Baszler was then a part of the Money in the Bank Ladder match at WWE HQ and was favored to win. But once again, the Queen of Spades came up short. Baszler has still continued to dominate everyone outside of the Champs, i.e Lynch and Asuka.

She finally captured some main-roster gold when she and Nia Jax captured the WWE Women's Tag Team belts. It helped the break up of Bayley and Sasha Banks, while also allowing the Queen of Spades to be her usual dominant self.

Had Baszler won either the Royal Rumble or the MITB briefcase, this grade would have been a bit higher. It wasn't her fault that she wasn't picked to win either of those matches but it would have helped to solidify a brand new star. It was the direction they were taking with her anyway.