With SummerSlam in the rearview mirror and fall transitioning to winter, WWE has entered an interesting period of the year in which the build to WrestleMania isn’t yet on in earnest, but it is in sight. It’s a time when WWE is prone to experiment with pushes and turns to not only lay the groundwork for Survivor Series as a big four PPV, but also to start shaping how things will look come the Royal Rumble.

There’s plenty of time for change, and indeed the fall has already seen its share of shakeup from the real life illness Roman Reigns is struggling with, to heel turns for Dean Ambrose and Bobby Lashley, to Becky Lynch coming into her own as a heel on SmackDown.

So what can we expect in the months ahead? Part of the fun of this time of year is that WWE often seems to feel some freedom to experiment and shake things up, given there’s not as much of a spotlight as there is for ‘Mania or SummerSlam season and we could have some very interesting matches and promos ahead of us.

This article takes a look at twenty different scenarios that might take shape for WWE booking in the near future, with ten possible storylines based on Raw, and ten rooted on the SmackDown Live side of things. So many elements of WWE’s creative are a moving target, and there’s always the possibility for real life events to intervene in the storytelling. Nonetheless, we can make some educated guesses about where things might be headed.

20 Raw: Dean Ambrose Mania

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Dean Ambrose is a big enough star who has been featured prominently enough with The Shield that his heel turn is major news. Moreover, with Brock Lesnar presumably out of the mix for at least a little while, and Roman Reigns having to step away because of Leukemia, there’s a sizable void at the top of the card.

Now is the time when Ambrose’s new heel persona could get a huge push as the central focus of Raw.

He could even ride that wave of momentum all the way to a WrestleMania main event, or at least featured match.

19 SmackDown: The Miz Wins The WWE Championship

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The Miz has been one of the Superstars to truly thrive in the new brand split era, willing his way to a prominent spot on whichever brand he’s on. He has spent the last two years quite arguably more equipped to carry a world title then ever before in his career. WWE may be reticent to pull the trigger on another reign given how poorly received his first was back in 2010-2011.

However, with very few clear stars more deserving than him, and a main event worthy program with Daniel Bryan, Miz would be a natural choice to carry the WWE Championship into WrestleMania.

18 Raw: Drew McIntyre Vs. Dolph Ziggler

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When Drew McIntyre returned to main roster ostensibly as Dolph Ziggler’s sidekick, a lot of hardcore fans groaned. While Ziggler is a respected talent, he’s also most likely past his days of being a bona fide main event contender, while McIntyre absolutely still has that kind of potential.

Things have worked out well enough, though, with McIntyre getting built slowly and featuring in storylines involving The Shield and Braun Strowman. It feels like only a matter of time though before the Scotsman and The Show Off come to blows themselves, though, likely with the bigger McIntyre playing the heel in that scenario.

17 SmackDown: Samoa Joe Turns Face, Feuds With Shinsuke Nakamura

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Monday Night Raw has seen a flurry of face and heel turns of late, while SmackDown has been steadier overall. One turn to keep an eye out for is Samoa Joe’s.

While Joe is arguably better in a heel role, he has also been popular among indie fans as a straightforward dominant face.

One of the more natural matchups to line up for Joe if he does turn face is a US title program with Shinsuke Nakamura. The guys could work a stiff style with one another and cut loose in a less conventional style for WWE. It would also provide another dream matchup of sorts for WWE.

16 Raw: Braun Strowman Vs. Bobby Lashley

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Earlier this year, WWE briefly booked Braun Strowman and Bobby Lashley as an unstoppable face tag team. The pairing didn’t really go anywhere though as they each moved on to separate things and never feuded.

With each man recently flip flopping to land Strowman as a face and Lashley as a heel, it may only be a matter of time before WWE books the two big men to square off. Particularly if Strowman does win the Universal Championship sooner than later, it could make a lot of sense for Lashley to be one of his first challengers.

15 SmackDown: Bray Wyatt Leads Sanity

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Bray Wyatt has felt directionless for most of the last year with his biggest story being a largely nonsensical feud with Matt Hardy en route to a pairing that won the Raw Tag Team Championship around that title’s lowest point.

Wyatt has been mostly off TV since. While his gimmick largely feels played out, he’s also a legacy guy WWE seems invested in, and too recognizable to rebrand anytime soon. One of the better ways to rebuild him may be to hit the reset button on him heading up a stable as the villainous figure he first got over as. Sanity would fit his style, and WWE hasn’t been doing much with oddball faction since they moved up from NXT anyway. Wyatt taking over may be best for all parties involved.

14 Raw: The Ronda Rousey-Shayna Baszler Saga

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After a successful NXT Women’s Championships reign, Shayna Baszler feels ready for her main roster call up at any given moment.

Given her well known real life friendship with Ronda Rousey it seems inevitable the two will be booked together.

One obvious and heavily rumored approach would see Rousey and Baszler partner up as either a twosome or as half of the so called Four Horsewomen of MMA. Another tack could see Baszler as a challenger to Rousey’s title. Given the personal connection between the two and Baszler’s real fighting background, she’s one of the more credible and interesting opponents WWE could throw at the Baddest Woman on the Planet.

13 SmackDown: Becky Lynch Vs. Asuka

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Becky Lynch’s heel turn has been one of the biggest success stories of WWE’s year, as an uber-talented, under-utilized star has thrived once given the spotlight. But win or lose, what’s next after her program with Charlotte Flair?

Asuka is Lynch’s next logical opponent. While the Empress isn’t as well protected as she once was, she remains the next biggest female star on SmackDown. Besides that, it’s a fresh pairing, with the added extra selling point if both women using arm bar variations for their signature holds.

12 Raw: The Return Of Sami Zayn

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It has been a tumultuous year for Sami Zayn. He turned heel and reached new heights for his main roster run, only to lose his feud with Shane McMahon and wind up lost in the shuffle as cannon fodder for Bobby Lashley on Raw.

Zayn has been out due to injury. When he comes back, it will be interesting to see if he returns as a face, alongside partner Kevin Owens who has been edging in that direction.

Alternatively, Zayn could remain heel to feud with KO, or finally move on from the guy most of his WWE career has been associated with to do something different altogether. One way or another, Zayn should make an impact upon his return.

11 SmackDown: The Big Show And The Bar Run Afoul Of Shane McMahon

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Shane McMahon spent the better part of a year feuding with Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. In the aftermath of that at times epic, at times strained rivalry, McMahon has been mostly absent from television, but what will he get up to upon his return? After all, we know Shane is still under contract to wrestle a couple of times a year.

One scenario could be a program opposite the new faction of The Big Show and The Bar. The unit is formidable enough to pose a credible threat to McMahon, and Shane-O-Mac could give an invaluable rub to a tag team he sides with against the heels.

10 Raw: Team Angle Vs. Team Corbin

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Since not long after WrestleMania, Baron Corbin has played Kurt Angle’s foil as a dueling authority figure appointed by Stephanie McMahon. The two have had their war of words, and things got physical when Angle spoiled Corbin’s bid to enter the World Cup tournament.

WWE has, on a number of occasions, used Survivor Series as a battle ground for authority figures to have teams fight on their behalf for control of a brand. Team Angle vs. Team Corbin reads a s a highly likely featured bout for this fall. From there, who knows how long WWE could prolong the feud.

9 SmackDown: Aiden English Finds A New Star To Back

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After Simon Gotch made an abrupt departure from WWE, Aiden English wasted little time in hitching his wagon to Rusev. The pairing made a great deal of sense as Rusev’s personality came out more based on his chemistry with English, while English had an upper mid card star to help him consistently secure television time and shape a new identity.

The Rusev-English partnership appears to be over, and we may get a proper feud between the two.

Coming out of it, though, English will more likely than not find himself back at square one as a talented guy who nonetheless can’t necessarily hack it on his own as more than jobber to the stars who struggles to get TV time. The best answer is for English to pair with another guy of Rusev’s caliber or greater—someone English can enhance as a side kick, while he keeps himself relevant.

8 Raw: Chad Gable Vs. Bobby Roode

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Chad Gable is one of the best young pure talents in WWE. His amateur pedigree, natural athleticism, and work ethic all shine through as a tremendous in ring performer. His makeshift tag team with Bobby Roode, as a skilled veteran with great charisma seems like it ought to be a success. However, the pair has no real story behind it, and was pretty clearly assembled for lack of anything better to do with these two under utilized stars.

While there’s some potential for Gable and Roode to really gel, a more likely scenario may be for them to feud when one of them turns heel. While both have proven their capacity to play the bad guy before, Roode is the obvious choice for having thrived in that role in Impact Wrestling and NXT, and for not yet having had the chance to do so on the main roster.

7 SmackDown: AJ Styles Vs. Randy Orton

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As of press time, AJ Styles is closing in on a full year as WWE Champion. He will imminently either be looking for a new challenger to defend the title against, or looking for his next program as he transitions out of the title picture. In either case, Randy Orton is an obvious choice for Styles to move on to.

Styles and Orton haven’t had a proper program in WWE yet, and have the respective star power to make sense as opponents. Moreover, Orton’s recent heel gimmick of targeting guys who came up through the indies or work a more indie style makes The Phenomenal One a natural target for him to go after.

6 Raw: The Authors Of Pain Dominate

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The Raw Tag Team Championship has had an unusual year. It hit its doldrums coming out of WrestleMania season, with Braun Strowman all but single handedly winning the titles only to vacate them, after which the lackluster teams of Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt and The B-Team got their reigns. From there, the belts became fringe main event fodder as the teams of Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre and Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins battled.

The Authors of Pain have been waiting in the wings.

To WWE’s credit, the young team has been protected and look like the obvious choices to win the title next. While there may not be many teams on Raw with the clout to challenge them, that may be OK in this case as they can dominate for a while in the style of a team like The Legion of Doom.

5 SmackDown: A Singles Run For Harper

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After years of uneven, and arguably under utilization, Harper and Rowan got the their big break with reboot as The Bludgeon Brothers. The team was booked dominantly, including storming their way into WrestleMania 34 where they largely dominated New Day and The Usos to capture their first tag titles. Sadly, an injury to Rowan wound up cutting their dominant reign short.

It’s understandable that WWE would want to resume The Bludgeon Brothers gimmick when Rowan is back. In the meantime, Harper is too talented of a big man to simply keep on the sidelines. We may see him in a brief singles run sooner than later, until his partner is ready to come back.

4 Raw: Elias Vs. Jinder Mahal

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Elias got himself over nicely with Raw fans based on his song stylings and charisma. WWE justifiably turned him face this fall to cash in on his organic popularity and it will be interesting to see what kind of opportunities he gets from here.

While Elias looks like a star on the rise, Jinder Mahal has steadily continued the decline following his abysmal 2017 WWE Championship reign.

Elias and Mahal may well meet in the middle, on their respective ways up and down the card, for a brief angle to give them both a fresh matchup. It should further cement Elias as a face.

3 SmackDown: Daniel Bryan Vs. Andrade Almas

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One of the more fun components of having Daniel Bryan back in the ring in 2018 has been less rooted in dream matches or epic blow offs to rivalries, but rather getting to see him work a wide range of opponents who weren’t around for his original run, and get the best out of each of them on SmackDown Live.

Bryan has clashed with Andrade Almas, but their SmackDown match felt less like a fully realized iteration of what the men are capable of than a teaser of what might be to come.

These are two men who can go with remarkable proficiency in the ring, with Almas high speed a fine complement for Bryan’s marginally more conservative style since returning to the ring. A full blown program between these two could be something special in the months ahead.

2 Raw: Alexa Bliss Vs. The Riott Squad

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Since the new brand split first went down in 2016, Alexa Bliss has been one of the most consistently featured female stars on whichever brand she lands on. Since the arrival of Ronda Rousey, however, Bliss has found herself taking a backseat. Though she had noteworthy program with the Baddest Woman on the Planet, including two PPV matches, she lost both outings decisively and its unclear where Bliss will go from here.

One route would be to at last turn The Goddess face for a bit, which could not only revitalize the character but offer her fresh matchups like a confrontation with The Riott Squad. Given the chaotic style of Ruby Riott’s faction, it wouldn’t be too out of left field for them to attack Bliss and get an issue started.

1 SmackDown: R-Truth Expands His Entourage

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At 46 years old, R-Truth is an oddball fit for the contemporary WWE landscape. However, he’s a veteran, a total professional who does what’s asked of him, and has stayed in terrific shape. Add onto that that he’s an entertainer, and there is some logic to him getting featured with his Truth TV segments, including an interaction with the McMahons on the 1,000th episode of SmackDown.

Truth has absorbed Carmella into his act recently, saving her from getting entirely lost in the shuffle as she transitioned out of the SmackDown Women’s Championship picture. WWE may use this move as a template, allowing other wayward stars to latch onto truth and his oddball antics to get TV time and stay relevant while they figure out their next steps.