Roman Reigns to Edge - Top 5 WWE returns of 2020

Edge made perhaps the Return of the Decade at Royal Rumble 2020 (image courtesy WWE.com)

Bengaluru, December 14: One of the most interesting aspects of WWE programming is the uncertain set of incidents that keep the fans entertaining. Whenever things become dull on weekly or PPV programs, the scripts tend to change accordingly to set the tone right. To be specific, absentees show up on TV to fill up the void, leaving the fans in total awe.

Returns, in general, is that particular thing around which the rumour mill keeps on rolling. For both fans and TV content, it's much needed to keep things fresh.

Over the years, WWE scripted out such monumental comebacks and 2020 was no exception, either. Be it during the pandemic or before that, regular as well as part-timers resurfaced whenever the time seemed right.

Now, let's check out the top 5 WWE Superstars' returns for the calendar year of 2020:

Sami Zayn

Perhaps, the most annoying superstar of the current WWE roster is Sami Zayn who was happy to be away from TV since March. As the pandemic began, he wasn't ready to fly in Orlando for SmackDown taping.

Post-Summerslam phase, WWE planned to move AJ Styles and Jeff Hardy from SmackDown to Raw that would have left a big void on Friday nights. To make things right, Zayn was back on the scene during the go-home SmackDown show for Payback PPV, taking out Hardy with a Helluva Kick.

The Great Liberator made a bold claim that he never lost the Intercontinental Championship that set up a huge Triple Threat Ladder Match at Clash Of Champions. A solid bout featuring these three veterans upped the prestige of the IC Title.

Zayn regained the belt and started a revolution of his own on how there's a conspiracy going against him, all the time. Thus he took over the mid-card scene of SmackDown via that impactful summer return and the reign is still going strong.

Goldberg

If truth be told, there's a significant portion of the fans who didn't like to see Goldberg back on TV. But there's a marquee tag attached to him which is more than enough to churn out a WrestleMania main event. This is the reason Vince McMahon keeps him booking whenever a bigger PPV approaches. Bygone Saudi Arabia show, Super ShowDown was one of the shows that needed his presence.

The Myth destroyed The Fiend Bray Wyatt en route to his second Universal Championship win. Despite the controversy of the booking, it should be noted that WWE needed a superhuman character to pin the resident demon of the roster and who better to do so than the one who once possessed a 173-0 streak.

Furthermore, the return instantly built up a dream Spear vs Spear warfare between Roman Reigns and Goldberg over the title. That's a different story, the match never happened as Reigns decided to go into a hiatus, out of health concerns. Hopefully, the former WCW franchise will continue to make more such returns in due course to set the course for more such mouth-watering bouts.

Carmella

As the Women's Division of WWE suffered a lack of star power, throughout the year in the absence of Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, or Ronda Rousey, fans couldn't stop asking why Carmella was kept off the shows. Apparently, she was gearing up for a return with a completely new makeover. The mystery vignettes following SummerSlam obviously hinted that it was her but in a different avatar.

Since her very first appearance on SmackDown in late October, Carmella is hell-bent on putting herself over as The Untouchable One. Sasha Banks is the reigning champion of the blue brand and Mella took the easiest way to make an impact by attacking her, consecutively. The feud has now booked her in a title match at TLC against The Boss and who knows whether we'll get a new champion on December 20th.

Roman Reigns

The most usual way to turn back fans' attention to WWE programming is to put the face of the company on TV as much as possible. That was missing ever since the WrestleMania season until the day of SummerSlam where Roman Reigns made an emphatic return to WWE, crashing the scene following the hellacious Universal Championship Match between "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt and "The Monster" Braun Strowman.

Reigns took down Wyatt, the Universal Champion, with a huge Spear before turning his attention to Strowman, the former champion, with another vicious Spear, outside the ring. The Big Dog then blasted Strowman with repeated steel chair blows uncorking a third massive Spear on Wyatt. This hinted at a heel-turn for him which was eventually solidified within a week when he snatched the title from The Fiend at Payback.

The Tribal Chief persona thus saw daylight that completely changed the dimensions of SmackDown. Now, there's only one Head of the Table who provides food for everyone and takes care of them. If someone ever dares to defy him, beatdowns are reserved, cementing his super-villain gimmick.

Edge

The smoke behind the fire was originally noticed at SummerSlam 2019 where Edge hit Elias with a Spear that was heard all over his native-land of Toronto. After months of back-and-forth rumors and denials, January 26th arrived with speculations around the internet over a potential appearance by the Rated R Superstar at Royal Rumble.

So when the timer buzzed off for the number 21 entrant and that 'You Think You Know Me' theme song hit the arena, the audience present at the Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas as well as watching at home became just unphased with it. It was for the first time since Edge's retirement in 2011 after being forced into retirement due to a serious neck injury, he got involved in physical capacity inside the squared circle.

For the next 25 minutes, the crowd watched Spears after Spears, some dream confrontations they have only dreamt of until Edge was eliminated by Roman Reigns. Although McIntyre won the Rumble, it was the Hall of Famer who stole the show. Moving on, he delivered two more epic matches at WrestleMania and Backlash 2020.

It was more than just a return as many careers in the professional wrestling industry previously came to end due to broken necks. Edge himself was on the verge of getting paralyzed but coming back, straight he competed in a grueling Last Man Standing Match, proving that hopes continue to beam for the hard workers. Dreams can be materialized and this man is perhaps the greatest example of that.