Last year may not have been a vintage year for the WWE, but 2019 certainly ended with a
host of top-quality entertainment. Survivor Series was one of the very best pay per views of
the year, which gave the rub to the previously developmental brand of NXT. However, there
is now nothing developmental about the yellow brand, and superstars on that roster look
certain to have a big year in 2020.
Meanwhile, there will also be other members of the Raw and SmackDown locker rooms that
will feel that 2019 got away, and they will be hell-bent on rectifying that in 2020. But, which
superstars are we expecting to make the biggest impact over the next 12 months?
Drew McIntyre
The Scottish superstar went stale during 2019, and many feared that it could have meant an
end to his second run with WWE. However, it could work out in the opposite fashion, as he is
back as a singles competitor with the spotlight firmly on him. He was crowded out far too
many times in 2019, as he was forced to share tag matches with Baron Corbin, Bobby Lashley
and Dolph Ziggler. McIntyre has always been better when he is working alone, and we could
see the best of him in 2020. You can place different kinds of bets on the WWE, but McIntyre is already one of the favourites to win the Royal Rumble.
Shayna Baszler
If Becky Lynch was the star of the women’s wrestling scene last year, then Shayna Baszler
was a very close second. The former NXT Women’s champion held the title for 416 days,
which is sixth on the list for longest reigns in the women’s division. She had unforgettable
matches with Kairi Sane and Mia Yim at two separate NXT TakeOver events, before she had a taste of the main roster during the Survivor Series main event against Bayley and Lynch.
Baszler got the win in the match, but she was put through a table to close the night, which
sets up a possible feud between Lynch and Baszler moving forward. She could make her main roster debut at the Royal Rumble, and win the 30-women match to challenge Lynch for her title at WrestleMania. There is no doubting that she will be one of the stars of 2020.
Adam Cole
There arent many other WWE superstars that have been involved in so many high-quality
matches as Adam Cole. He has been involved in two WarGames matches, as well as instant
classics involving Ricochet, Velveteen Dream and Matt Riddle. He is the reigning NXT
Champion, and he won that in another instant classic involving Johnny Gargano. He has had
a taste of the main roster this year during the Survivor Series build, but that has left fans
craving more. He defeated Daniel Bryan during an episode of SmackDown, and Seth Rollins
during an episode of Raw. His call up to the main roster only appears to be when, and not if.
