WWE SummerSlam 2020: What if RETRIBUTION ruins the main event?

RETRIBUTION has been in the past two SmackDown main events, but what if they disrupt the WWE SummerSlam 2020 main event?

In an effort to increase the ratings, the promotion is trying new things heading into WWE SummerSlam 2020. One of those new ideas has been a “fight club” called Run Underground, spearheaded by the returning Shane McMahon, and the other is a new stable called RETRIBUTION.

On Raw, RETRIBUTION hasn’t been doing much. They show up, break some random stuff or shove boxes (???), and then leave. But on SmackDown, they have been a menace. They literally brought out a chainsaw and destroyed the ring on the Aug. 7 episode of the Blue Brand, and this past week, they attacked everyone backstage and disrupted the main event match between John Morrison and Big E.

The timing of RETRIBUTION’s introduction is ominous. SummerSlam carries the tagline “You’ll Never See It Coming”, which can work for a number of the matches on the card. Asuka losing both title matches, as my colleague Tom Colohue reports? It sure sounds like a shock to me.

But the biggest shocks could happen when Randy Orton battles for Drew McIntyre for the WWE Championship. That match will likely be the show’s main event, and it is one of the most highly-anticipated men’s title matches of the year in WWE. McIntyre has been a strong champion, while Orton is producing better work than any other man in wrestling right now. Seriously.

There’s an idea that Orton didn’t actually attack Ric Flair on Raw and the lights went out to fool McIntyre, so Flair will help his Evolution protege defeat McIntyre. That’s plausible.

But what if the interference is even more dramatic? What if RETRIBUTION shows up to ruin the main event of WWE SummerSlam 2020?

RETRIBUTION need to do something big to be taken seriously

They have laid low, relatively speaking, on Raw. It’s almost as if they are planning something. What are they about? Who leads them? How many members are there? We have very little answers to these questions. By destroying the set on SmackDown, they are interfering in the show and staying on our minds, but they aren’t actually *doing* anything in the pro wrestling sense of the word. There’s no storyline impact.

Maybe that all changes at SummerSlam. A lot of fans have been wondering why WWE is bringing back the forgotten Pay Per View Payback literally the week after SummerSlam. Dave Meltzer said on Wrestling Observer Radio that it’s because an angle at the show will necessitate a rematch one week later. Since this rematch must be on PPV and is happening at SummerSlam, it must be a huge angle in a world title match.

Sasha Banks, Asuka, and Bayley don’t need any storytelling help and have been boosting the ratings with their great angles and twists and turns in title matches. So it’s not happening there. Braun Strowman vs. The Fiend is a possibility, but there’s enough trouble there brewing with Braun’s character change and Alexa Bliss’ excellent involvement.

That leaves Drew McIntyre vs. Randy Orton as the WWE SummerSlam 2020 match with the huge angle that leads to a non-finish and needs a rematch. Maybe Ric Flair does cheat to help Orton, but I really think he’s off TV. I think his chapter is done.

And I think RETRIBUTION will rear its head at the Biggest Party of the Summer. We’re going to have answers and questions after watching SummerSlam, and that’s exactly what WWE wants. Plus, if they are serious about RETRIBUTION, they need them to do something big.