Most Intriguing Storylines to Track on Road to WWE Hell in a Cell 2020

The WWE ride never ends. Fresh off Sunday's Clash of Champions, the wheels are in motion for the next pay-per-view, Hell in a Cell, on October 25.

While it isn't as big of an event as Royal Rumble, the show usually sells itself off the titular gimmick match. Sometimes, the feuds surrounding the cage don't even matter as much as the structure itself.

Thankfully, even though WWE has been in a creative drought for months that consists of a near-endless repeat cycle of some lackluster programming, there are still some interesting storylines worth getting invested in.

Let's look at some of the most engaging stories that are set to unfold on the road to Hell in a Cell 2020.

The 2020 WWE Draft

Credit: WWE.com

Arguably, the most interesting thing happening in WWE right now isn't even a storyline, it's the opportunity to give us new storylines.

Nearly all of 2020 and much of 2019 has consisted of the company dragging every feud out far too long. It seems ideas follow one of two paths: They are either abandoned before they get started or WWE refuses to do something different.

Nearly every week has consisted of Bayley vs. Nikki Cross, Andrade and Angel Garza vs. The Street Profits, The Hurt Business against Apollo Crews and his friends, and so on. It's time for something—anything—that feels fresh.

The WWE draft is always interesting because it offers the chance to shake things up. Even if it doesn't break the company's habit of repetition and we find that the post-draft feuds become the ones on repeat, it at least gives us temporary respite.

It's always intriguing to see how WWE manages to mess up balancing the rosters, though. Each year, it refuses to properly plan out the trades and winds up with Raw and SmackDown being horribly disjointed until things smooth out after a month or so.

This draft may not directly influence Hell in a Cell as it could cause chaos for the card. But we won't know for sure until its first night on October 9.

Alexa Bliss Descends into Darkness

Credit: WWE.com

Several times since her first interaction with The Fiend, a switch has been flipped in Alexa Bliss that turns her into a different person.

Instead of being bubbly with a little sass and snark, she becomes more violent and goes into a trance that has even made her leer at Roman Reigns.

Clearly, something is up and this story has deeper elements to it. Is Bray Wyatt controlling her like a drone where he sees through her eyes? Does he have a more general puppeteer power over her but isn't directly influencing her actions?

For that matter, maybe he isn't responsible at all? Is this just what she's had inside her the whole time and she's only now tapping into that darkness?

How is Nikki Cross going to factor into this she's medically cleared to return to action? A feud between the Scot and Bliss seems inevitable, and it will be interesting to see what pushes the two friends into a rivalry.

The Boss Will Get Her Revenge on Bayley

Credit: WWE.com

After three years of teasing it, Bayley and Sasha Banks are finally going to fight each other.

They've had issues teased now and again going back to fall of 2017, but the two best friends continued to work things out—until now.

With the SmackDown women's champion's recent attack on The Legit Boss, followed by Banks retaliating at Clash of Champions, they seem destined to duke it out for the title inside Hell in a Cell.

While the story itself is textbook and doesn't have the depth it should for such a long setup, the execution of The Golden Role Models finally battling will either be worth the wait or nowhere near what people have been expecting.

That dichotomy of such an extreme pass or fail is an interesting test of WWE's ability to tell long-term stories.

Either folks like Reigns are right and we should be patient for slow burns that lead to massive payoffs, or this will prove that rhetoric is nonsense sold to viewers to keep them watching for as long as WWE can keep up the ruse.

The Hurt Business vs. Retribution

Credit: WWE.com

Retribution has been a mess on so many levels.

With no creative direction, the faction had a weak start with smaller members looking more silly than intimidating. Then, once the main five were settled on, they were saddled with laughable new names that would never headline the marquee of WrestleMania.

The one good thing that has happened out of this, however, is that it has given The Hurt Business an antagonist to look strong against.

Oddly, for such a definitively heel group, the strength of MVP's crew has been suiting up and taking on the masked marauders.

The WWE draft should break up Apollo Crews, Ricochet and Mustafa Ali to bring an end to those repetitive six-man tag team bouts, and The Hurt Business can then focus more on being Raw's special security force.

Will that lead to a war between the gangs at Hell in a Cell? How would Bobby Lashley's United States Championship factor into that? Would he step aside and defend his title while MVP, Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander take on T-Bar, Mace and Slapjack?

Randy Orton's Continued Pursuit for the WWE Championship

Credit: WWE.com

Drew McIntyre successfully retained the WWE Championship against Randy Orton at both SummerSlam and Clash of Champions, but The Viper isn't done yet.

Determined to get another title shot, The Legend Killer lived up to his name on Monday when he attacked Big Show, Christian, Shawn Michaels and Ric Flair to prove the point that crossing him has consequences.

Since no other No. 1 contender has been established, it seems Orton and McIntyre are destined to fight inside Hell in a Cell, probably as the conclusion to their feud.

How will WWE go about bringing an end to this story? Will there be any more appearances from the legends? And are there any plans to keep Keith Lee involved, or has he been pushed aside for now?

Otis and the Money in the Bank Contract Disputes

Credit: WWE.com

The Miz and John Morrison have been against the idea of Otis as Mr. Money in the Bank from the moment he captured the briefcase.

Recently, they've made more headway with getting that contract out of his hands by getting Mandy Rose traded from SmackDown to Raw and threatening him with a lawsuit that has yet to be resolved.

An interesting twist came about last week when Tucker pointed out the paperwork didn't have both their names on it as recipients for who would be given the briefcase if Otis were to hand it over. That teased—at least momentarily—a rift between the heels.

This may be a case where WWE has no idea where this story will lead and is writing it week-to-week, ready to cancel it at any moment's notice by saying the lawsuit has been dropped. Or, it could be the first steps in taking the MITB contract from Otis.

The latter is far more interesting, especially if Miz and Morrison have to fight each other over it. But even if this is just an obstacle for Otis to overcome, how he navigates it could make for some entertaining and silly segments.

'The Tribal Chief' Has Spoken

Credit: WWE.com

The attitude change in Roman Reigns since his return to action at SummerSlam has been one of the few truly great things WWE has done this year.

This moniker of "The Tribal Chief" has now even manifested a personal story within the universal title scene, as The Big Dog was more concerned with making Jey Uso call him that than just retaining his title at Clash of Champions.

Jimmy Uso is still injured and unable to be the next challenger for Reigns, but this is too good a storyline to quickly move beyond. So how is WWE going to capitalize on events at Sunday's pay-per-view?

Who would be the right challenger for Hell in a Cell who can allow The Big Dog to tap into this side of his character and show us more of his new edge?

Determining the next opponent to get speared into next week could provide as much quality television as Reigns vs. Uso already has.

Anthony Mango is the owner of the wrestling website Smark Out Moment and the host of the podcast show Smack Talk on YouTube, iTunes and Stitcher. You can follow him on Facebook and elsewhere for more.