RETRIBUTION

On the August 3, 2020 episode of *Raw*, lights in the WWE Performance Center began flickering on and off and a masked group set fire to a generator. Four days later, on the August 7 episode of *SmackDown*, members attacked the announcers and the audience. The group would end their attack by using a chainsaw to cut the ring ropes down. As the weeks progressed, the group began to explain their actions, referring to perceived unfair treatment as they came up through the WWE system, and the desire to upend said system.

On the September 21 episode of *Raw*, it was revealed that Dominik Dijakovic, Dio Maddin, Shane Thorne, Mercedes Martinez, and Mia Yim were the primary members of the stable, being subsequently revealed as going under the new ring names of T-Bar, Mace, Slapjack, Retaliation, and Reckoning respectively. That same night, T-Bar, Mace, and Slapjack made their in-ring debut against The Hurt Business (Bobby Lashley, Shelton Benjamin, and Cedric Alexander) in the main event, losing by disqualification. On the October 5 episode of *Raw*, Mustafa Ali was revealed as the leader of the stable as he ordered them to attack The Hurt Business during his match with MVP. Shortly thereafter, Retaliation was quietly removed from the group. On the October 19 episode of *Raw*, Retribution lost a four-on-four tag team match to the Hurt Business after T-Bar submitted to Lashley's *Full Nelson*. Afterwards, they all would be attacked by "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt.

On the Hell in a Cell kickoff show, Mustafa Ali challenged any member of The Hurt Business to face one member of Retribution. On the main show, MVP confirmed that Bobby Lashley would face off against Slapjack. Bobby Lashley then defeated Slapjack to retain the United States Championship. Retribution then attacked Lashley, but retreated when the rest of The Hurt Business came. On the October 27 episode of *Raw*, Ali, T-Bar, Mace and Slapjack competed in an 8-man elimination tag team match against The Hurt Business, losing by disqualification after Ali hit Alexander with a chair.

Retribution picked up their first win in WWE, defeating Keith Lee, Braun Strowman, Sheamus and Riddle of *Raw*'s Survivor Series team on the November 16, 2020 edition of *Raw*, with Ali pinning Riddle. On the November 26 edition of *Main Event* , Retribution appeared as a guest on *Miz TV* explaining their motives and attacked Drew Gulak (dressed as The Gobbledy Gooker). They then began feuding with Ricochet with every member defeating him in singles matches in order to try to convince him to join their group. However, Ricochet would reject their offer. Following this, Retribution began feuding with The New Day with Ali targeting Kofi Kingston for taking his spot in the Elimination Chamber the previous year, which led to KofiMania. On the February 22, 2021 episode of *Raw*, after T-Bar and Mace lost a tag team match to the New Day, the first signs of a potential split occurred when Ali began to show frustration, criticizing the whole group for having lost the majority of their matches. The team disbanded at the Fastlane kickoff show, where Reckoning and Slapjack walked out on Ali, then T-Bar and Mace double chokeslammed him after he lost a match for the United States Championship to Riddle.

After the group dissolved, Ali returned to singles competition, while Mace and T-Bar continued on as a tag team, still using the Retribution aesthetic. Reckoning and Slapjack would not return to WWE television, however as part of the 2021 Draft, the former was referred to by her previous ring name, Mia Yim, effectively dropping her Retribution persona. Also in the 2021 Draft, Mace and T-Bar were split up, as T-Bar stayed on *Raw* as Mace was drafted to *SmackDown*, disbanding the team.