The WWE Yay's and Nay's of 2016

2016 started out like that cool person you met at a party in January, but ultimately ended being a vicious maniac. Having already covered the top talents in 2016, we now move on to what we liked and what we didn’t about this year. Every year wrestling offers fans new stars, OMG moments, poor bookings and controversial decisions. In WWE we saw another roster draft, new championships and NXT taking the title of top wrestling brand in the world. Outside of McMahon’s promotion, the popularity of indie wrestling rose to new heights, while New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) broadened its recognition and appeal.

Kicking up our legs in front of a cozy fire and enjoying a satisfying hot toddy, we bust out our wrestling Dear Diary to recall the moments and people that left positive and negative impressions on us.

 

Yay: Alexa Bliss

Charlotte and Sasha Banks may get all the headlines, and Bayley may be the most beloved female wrestler currently on the roster, but nobody climbed the ladder faster to a championship than “The Wicked Witch of WWE.” Looking like Harley Quinn stepped out of the comic book pages, we’re fanboys of the pint sized dynamo as she’s our favorite women’s wrestler of 2016. Alexa Bliss spent the first half of the year down in NXT honing her wrestling skills, while also serving as manager to Blake and Murphy. Clearly the star of the trio, Alexa was drafted to Smackdown during the WWE Draft in July. Since then she’s cemented herself as a legit star while becoming the Smackdown Women’s Champion. We’re betting that 2017 will be a blissful year for us all.

 

Nay: The Cruiserweight Division

This nay squarely falls on the shoulders of the creative team, not the wrestlers. The Cruiserweight Classic on WWE Network was one of the high points in wrestling this year. Fans were introduced to new talents from all over the world, as the tournament showcased amazing mat wrestling and high flying moves. Unfortunately, the cruiserweights have been poorly used and positioned ever since.

As a RAW brand exclusive, the cruiserweight division has been used mostly as filler, rushed matches and with few storylines of substance. The rivalry between TJ Perkins and Brian Kendrick never clicked with the fans. WWE’s answer to fix this has been WWE 205 Live, a weekly cruiserweight specific show that has had its issues drawing crowds. Wrestling fans want to have a successful cruiserweight division, it’s just up to the executive team to invest in the writing and properly build characters.

 

Yay: The Success of #DIY

The story of Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa was the most satisfying journey told in 2016. Their underdog tale was a throwback to classic storytelling and ring psychology. Feuding back and forth against The Revival (Dash Wilder & Scott Dawson) for the NXT Tag Team Championships created amazing wrestling moments with real emotion that fans could connect with. After coming ever so close to winning the titles at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn II, Gargano and Ciampa were repeatedly thwarted and undercut by The Revival on getting another shot at the titles.

The veteran tandem were indie heroes before arriving in NXT, but this title quest has pushed them to the next level in terms of popularity with fans. The team finally got their storybook ending at NXT TakeOver: Toronto, where they not only defeated The Revival to become the new tag champions, but they also delivered a top pick for Match-of-the-Year. The “You deserve it” chants ring true here.

 

Nay: The WWE Announce Teams

When the WWE Draft occurred in July, the commentating teams for RAW and Smackdown were shuffled as well. RAW currently has Michael Cole, Corey Graves and Bryon Saxton, while Smackdown has Mauro Ranallo, JBL, David Otunga and Tom Phillips. Too many (horrible) cooks certainly applies here. These combinations are dull, noisy and just flat out annoying. How Saxton and Otunga still have jobs with WWE is a mystery Robert Stack would love. JBL just spouts whatever comes to mind, which most of the time comes as a determent to WWE Superstars. WWE should keep it simple with two-man teams. Mauro Ranallo and Corey Graves should man Smackdown, while in a stunning but best for business move, Vince McMahon returns to his commentating days to helm RAW with Michael Cole. Fingers crossed!

 

Yay: The Friendship of Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho

We’ve already proclaimed in the past how much we love the pairing and comedic hijinks of Owens and Jericho. These two have natural charisma and are the most entertaining act in wrestling. Whether it’s being put on Jericho’s List or hearing Owens insult cameramen, interviewers and opponents, these two are money! If the Academy Awards were smart, they’d hire Owens and Jericho to host the Oscars.

 

Nay: Poor WWE Pay-Per-View Events

WWE PPV shows in 2016 were bland and forgettable for the most part. They’re now on par with your weekly RAW or Smackdown show. There’s nothing special about their production or booking. With the label split we now get two pay-per-views a month, outside of the months with the classic “Big Four” (Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, SummerSlam and Survivor Series). This new delivery schedule compresses the amount of proper buildup and storytelling creative has to work on feuds. The end result is weak shows that always fail to deliver on the hype. The “Big Four,” like WrestleMania 32 for example, are bloated, poorly booked events that lack the magic and career-defining moments past WrestleMania’s had. Here’s hoping for improvements in 2017!

 

Yay: New Championship Titles

Five new Championship titles were christened this year, starting off with the (RAW) Women’s Championship that replaced the dumb butterfly belt of the Divas Championship. That move instantly brought credibility and respect to the Women’s division, putting them on par with their male counterparts. In addition, RAW created the WWE Universal Championship as the top prize of its brand. Even though the stupid sounding name evokes images of a wrestling ring floating in space, Kevin Owens currently has it, which makes it cool. At this rate, don’t be surprised if WWE rolls out the Internet Wrestling Championship next year!

 

Nay: Lack of Top Talent on Smackdown

There’s only so many versions of AJ Styles versus Dean Ambrose that WWE can keep parading out to fans. Eventually WWE will have to find new challengers for Styles (not Ellsworth) to feud against. The problem is that the current Smackdown roster doesn’t have any appealing options. We’ve discussed in the past how thin the Blue brand’s roster is and the most glaring hole is at the main event level.

There’s rumors of Samoa Joe making his way to Smackdown in January, but WWE will also have to move talent between brands to balance things out and keep Smackdown interesting. If WWE wanted to make Smackdown must-see-TV, they should try and pry “The Cleaner” Kenny Omega away from NJPW. Continuing their rivalry from Styles’ NJPW days would be a game-changer for the show.

 

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