WWE: 10 biggest stories of 2016

As the year comes to a close, it’s time to take a look back at the biggest stories of 2016 in WWE.

2016 was a big year in WWE. With rising stars, the retirements of others, shocking returns, the return of a division, the rise of another, new championships, 15 pay-per-views (and that’s not including NXT), including the biggest WrestleMania in history and everything else in between, there was a lot to take in this past year.

For just the second time in history, the WWE title was up for grabs in the Royal Rumble match. We witnessed the shocking return of Shane McMahon (and another surprising return that we’ll get to in a little while), who returned to WWE after seven years to battle The Undertaker for control of Monday Night RAW. We watched as the former face of WCW, Sting, was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, announcing his retirement that very same night. We saw matches that we never thought we’d see as former stars from Ring of Honor, New Japan and TNA made their mark in WWE and NXT.

We saw the return of enhancement talent following the brand split and saw one of those enhancement talents become a bigger star than many superstars on the roster. We watched the reunion, whether they were battling each other or working together, of one of the best stables in WWE history. And we saw one of those men, Roman Reigns, become just one of a few prominent superstars who violated the Wellness Policy. We watched as some big names left the company, and for the first time in more than a decade, one of the biggest superstars in WWE history spent more time away from the company than with it.

This past year was a different kind of year for the company and here are 10 stories that helped shape WWE in 2016.

10. Daniel Bryan retires

It’s always unfortunate when any WWE superstar, or any wrestler for that matter, is forced to retire early due to injury. We’ve seen it happen many times over the years and we’re never quite prepared for it, are we? Even when rumors run rampant that it’s going to happen, we don’t want to believe it. We won’t believe it. But that’s exactly what happened on February 8 on Monday Night RAW as one of the most popular WWE superstars of the past decade, Daniel Bryan, announced that he was retiring from in-ring competition, not even two years after reaching the pinnacle of his career.

After years on the independent circuit, Bryan came into WWE at just the right time as smaller superstars like CM Punk were changing the industry, and after spending some time in some mid-card angles, he elevated into the main event picture in a huge storyline with The Authority and real-life backstage politics came into play on TV. It’s widely known that Vince McMahon doesn’t like the little guys as much as the big guys but Bryan’s popularity grew and grew until there really was no choice but to crown him as the top guy in WWE. The “Yes Movement” became one of if not the biggest thing in wrestling, and after beating Triple H in the opening match at WrestleMania XXX, he went on to capture the biggest prize in the game later that night and was hotter than any other wrestler in the world.

Unfortunately, his reign would end after only 64 days as a neck injury kept him out of action for months. The title was taken off of him, and while he would return for big matches, he never won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship again. He was able to win the Intercontinental Championship in a ladder match at WrestleMania 31 and could have made that belt relevant again but he was forced to relinquish the title shortly after due to another set of injuries. He would never wrestle again.

In the end, it was his history of concussions and the seizures that accompanied them that forced him to retire. While he says he had been cleared by other doctors, WWE’s medical staff refused to do so and thus we got the ceremony back in February in front of his hometown crowd. In a scene that reminded me of Edge’s retirement announcement, Bryan broke down (as I’m sure much of the WWE Universe did while watching) and asked for one last “YES” chant as he walked away. And while he has continued with his onscreen role as the GM for Smackdown Live and did some announcing for the Cruiserweight Classic, it’s sad to know that, barring some sort of miracle, we’ll never see Daniel Bryan compete in the ring again.

Image via WWE

9. James Ellsworth

Like it or not, James Ellsworth somehow managed to become one of the biggest stories in WWE in 2016. Following the brand split, a number of enhancement talents were brought in to be fed to Braun Strowman, whom WWE continues to build as this unstoppable monster. Okay, no problem. Strowman does have some work to do to get to where they want him to be and squash matches once again became a thing, taking us old-school fans back to the days of Barry Horowitz and Iron Mike Sharpe. The former Rosebud (no seriously, look it up) was destroyed by Strowman back in July but resurfaced in September on Smackdown Live as a tag team partner for AJ Styles. He was attacked by The Miz on his way to the ring and I think everyone thought that was the end of it. Nope.

A few weeks later, Ellsworth was chosen by WWE World Champion AJ Styles as his opponent in a non-title match and things took off from there. He was inserted as a major part of the feud between Styles and Dean Ambrose, and actually holds more victories over Styles than John Cena does. Seriously, think about that for a minute. And the WWE Universe took to all of this. He got his own entrance music and t-shirt, and was actually signed to a WWE contract (that’s not just kayfabe). That t-shirt ended up outselling those of most current WWE superstars on WWEshop.com. Again, I’m dead serious about that.

This isn’t even done yet. He still has a title shot coming on Smackdown Live Tuesday night and has gotten involved in some huge pay-per-view matches, including Survivor Series and WWE TLC, even costing Ambrose the title in a great match. He then cost Ambrose the Intercontinental Championship just last week and it looks as if this is going to go on for a while. I don’t know what they do with him after all of this but congrats, James Ellsworth. You just made the top 10 list of 2016.

Image via WWE

8. The return of the cruiserweights

After years of rumors and requests from fans all around the world, the cruiserweight division finally made it back to WWE.

When it was announced that the Cruiserweight Classic, a 32-man tournament featuring talent from all over the world, would be taking place, I don’t think I was the only one who was shocked by the news. There hadn’t been a cruiserweight title in WWE in nearly a decade, and while the new title has nothing to do with the history of the old one, it’s very good for the company, even if some of the live crowds on RAW haven’t figured that out yet.

The Cruiserweight Classic itself was fantastic. Sure, there were some names there that the casual fan didn’t recognize and even some names there that the most hardcore fans maybe didn’t know but that didn’t stop these 32 men from putting on some great matches. I mean, if you didn’t like the match between Cedric Alexander and Kota Ibushi then you just don’t like wrestling. In the end, it was T.J. Perkins that not only won the tournament, but became the new WWE Cruiserweight Champion following a great match with Gran Metalik on September 14.

In the few months since, the division is just trying to make a name for itself. Title matches have been featured on RAW-exclusive pay-per-view events and on the flagship show itself. Former stars like Brian Kendrick were brought in to give some name recognition while the unknowns get themselves familiar with the WWE audience, and the addition of 205 Live to the WWE Network will only help things.

Image via WWE

7. The New Wyatt Family

Okay, there may be a little personal bias here as I’m a huge fan of Bray Wyatt, but there’s no denying that this new edition of the Wyatt Family that includes Randy Orton is fun to watch. And they’re winning things now as well. About time, don’t you think?

Since their debut on the main roster in WWE three years ago, the Wyatt Family has been one of the best things going in the company, despite some of the injuries that may give them some different looks from time to time. But Bray Wyatt had never really elevated to that next level and always seemed to lose every big match that he was in. Sure, he would pick up some victories at the weekly shows but when it came time for big matches against John Cena or The Undertaker or Roman Reigns, he would always come up short. Harper and Rowan would find some success here and there as well, but they were in and out of the stable for a while. They added Braun Strowman to the mix, which worked for a little bit, but then comes something like this year’s WrestleMania when they were completely squashed by The Rock and John Cena in an embarrassing segment, and there seemed to be nothing that could work to bring them back from that.

They tried a brief feud with The New Day and got a win on a pay-per-view but it was a non-title match. And then came the brand split. While Bray and Rowan were drafted to Smackdown Live, Strowman was drafted to RAW and he was on his own to become this monster. That left Rowan and Bray, and we thought that might be over once Bray walked away from him on an episode of Smackdown Live, even leaving Rowan’s sheep mask on the rocking chair. But then Rowan attacked Randy Orton on behalf of Bray Wyatt, got that feud going and the rest is history as Orton would eventually join the Wyatt Family.

What I like about this is that, after 14 years, Randy Orton can still make things interesting. It’s hard to keep things fresh after that many years, but this is something new for Orton and I like what they’re doing with it. He’s sacrificing himself for Wyatt at points and Harper’s return from injury only added to the mix. Naturally, Rowan is now out with an injury but that just sets up another return that they can play with. As I said earlier, they’re winning big matches now. Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton were the last two men standing in the amazing Survivor Series elimination match and won the tag titles shortly after. While most still expect Orton to turn on them at some point, much like Daniel Bryan did years ago, this is a fresh version of the Wyatt Family that may finally get them to bigger and better things.

Image via WWE

6. Chris Jericho is better than ever

Over the past few years, the WWE Universe has been treated to small doses of Chris Jericho here and there. But in 2016, we saw a LOT of Chris Jericho and I think most of us are just fine with that. I could sit here and go through everything that Chris Jericho has accomplished since making his amazing debut in WWE after years of being underutilized in WCW but that could take a while. World titles, Intercontinental titles, tag team titles — you name it, Chris Jericho has done it.

But even after all this time, he continues to perform at a high level and had a great 2016. He was the perfect choice as AJ Styles’ first big program and those two put on some great matches, including a Jericho victory at WrestleMania 32. From there, things actually only got better. He got rid of the light-up jacket, started wearing his now-signature scarves, changed his facial hair and got into some amazing programs with Dean Ambrose as well as Enzo & Cass. Then he got himself aligned with Kevin Owens to form JeriKO and we’ve got one of the best stories of the year with these two.

I certainly don’t want to slight Kevin Owens on this list, as he is one of the best wrestlers and talkers in WWE, but what makes this so wonderful is that he’s got Jericho to play off of and it’s been absolute gold. Whether it’s the backstage promos, the in-ring promos or the actual matches themselves, these two have an unbelievable chemistry that has dominated Monday Night RAW for months.

They’ve teased splitting the two up on numerous occasions, and we’ll likely really get that at some point, but I think creative just wants to ride this as long as possible. Adding The List of Jericho was a stroke of genius as anyone who knows anything about Chris Jericho knows that his history with lists is epic. Armbar, anyone? I mean, just listen to the crowd every time he even threatens to put someone on the list; he’s more over than ever. Let’s just hope that we get to drink in the gift of Jericho well into 2017.

Image via WWE

5. The return of Goldberg

I’ve got no problem admitting that I’ve never been the biggest fan of Goldberg, but there is no denying that his return to WWE in 2016 was one of the biggest stories of the year. What started out as simply adding him to a video game turned into one of the most talked about moments of the year.

Bill Goldberg was huge in WCW. There’s no denying that. Less than a year after his debut, he beat Hulk Hogan clean (a huge feat in itself) to win the WCW title and became one of the biggest stars in wrestling during its hottest era. But his first run in WWE wasn’t that impressive and his match with Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania XX was an absolute dud. Nevertheless, they decided to run with this again a dozen years later, and I will admit that it was kind of cool to see him out there again. However, I had set myself up to be disappointed with his first promo. But he did surprise me with his mic work, and adding the family angle to his match with Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series was good. The buildup to the match was done quite well but I had my concerns on whether or not he could handle the brutality that comes along with a Brock Lesnar match, especially since he’s now close to 50. But that really wouldn’t be an issue, would it?

In a turn of events that surprised everybody in the wrestling world, Goldberg decimated Lesnar in less than 90 seconds in the biggest squash match in history and social media blew up. I think Lesnar saw the money that could be made from furthering the storyline and we now know that both men will compete at the Royal Rumble next month at the Alamodome and are likely on a collision course for a rematch at WrestleMania 33 in Orlando in April.

We’ll all have to wait and see how this all plays out, and whether you love him or you don’t, Bill Goldberg is one of the top five stories in WWE in 2016.

Image via WWE

4. The absence of John Cena

John Cena has been the face of WWE for more than a decade and I’m not sure most people have actually grasped how difficult that is to do. But it’s time to start preparing for a WWE without John Cena, and 2016 gave us a big look on how that’s going to go.

Cena started the year on the shelf after shoulder surgery in January, and outside of a brief return at WrestleMania 32 to help The Rock embarrass the Wyatt Family, wouldn’t return to WWE until late May, at which time he began his epic feud with AJ Styles. Following his loss at SummerSlam, Cena placed one of his armbands in the ring and many thought he would be gone for quite a while, but he ended up coming back for a WWE World Championship storyline involving Styles and Dean Ambrose. Cena would lose to Ambrose on an episode of Smackdown Live, marking the first time he’d lost clean on TV in seven years. He then took yet another pin from Styles in the triple threat match at No Mercy and hasn’t been seen since.

Now, we all know that Cena isn’t done with WWE, rather he left to start filming the second season of American Grit on FOX. He also just recently appeared as the host of Saturday Night Live. More and more opportunities outside of the ring are constantly being thrown at Cena, and his appearances in movies such as Trainwreck and Sisters have shown a versatile side to the 15-time champ.

So at 39 years old, what does the future hold for John Cena? We know that he’s advertised for next week’s episode of Smackdown Live and will likely participate in next month’s Royal Rumble match as WrestleMania season gets going. But will he be on TV every week? Or is he now just a part-time TV talent like The Undertaker or Triple H, only showing up to participate in the major pay-per-view events? And if so, how does WWE move on without him?

What I can say is that the company has a big roster full of talent right now that is ready to take his spot. It was interesting to watch all these events this year without him there and I think that WWE would be just fine without him. But if I can throw a golf equation in here, John Cena is Tiger Woods. Sure, things will be okay with him gone but it’s just a little more interesting when he’s around. Maybe it’s just because we’ve gotten so used to him being around that it feels strange when he’s not, and I’m fully aware that half the people reading this right now are screaming at their screen that it is time for Cena to go away; WWE would obviously survive. They thrived before him and will thrive when he’s fully gone. But it was just interesting to watch the product without Cena. But whether you like him or not, John Cena is still the biggest star in the company and will be until he decides not to be.

Will we see more of the same in 2017?

Image via WWE

3. AJ Styles

With John Cena gone, somebody needed to step up and fill the void, and AJ Styles did just that in 2016.

As rumors swirled prior to the Royal Rumble, the question of whether or not the former face of TNA would show up were quickly answered when AJ Styles came out at No. 3 to a thunderous ovation. Styles would last nearly half an hour before being eliminated by Kevin Owens and he was off and running. During his first few months in WWE, he would find himself in great programs with Chris Jericho and Roman Reigns before beginning an amazing summer run with John Cena. I’m sure having his Bullet Club running mates Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows helped his transition but Styles is the ultimate professional and his matches with Cena at Money in the Bank and SummerSlam showed fans who may not have been familiar with him just how phenomenal of a wrestler he is and that he has that nickname for a reason.

His run as the new “face that runs the place” has been nothing short of spectacular and he obviously won over everyone in the back, which was proven when he made history and won the WWE World Championship at WWE Backlash. And can we talk about how great his feud with Dean Ambrose was as well? He plays the heel exceptionally well and has even gone as far as getting someone like James Ellsworth over. He’s brought his own unique style to WWE and Vince has got to be kicking himself for not signing this guy ten years ago. Can you imagine some of the matches we could have gotten during that time?

But Styles is certainly making the best of his run in WWE and is showing no signs of slowing down. He’s only a few months younger than John Cena but having not been in the company makes it a little different. The casual fan is getting a lot of what Styles does for the first time and they’re loving it. There are constant “AJ STYLES” chants in these arenas, even when he’s bashing them. That’s how you know you’re good. And there’s no better wrestler in WWE right now than AJ Styles.

Image via WWE

2. The rise of the women’s division

2016 was the greatest year that the WWE women’s division has ever had and it’s not even close.

While the “women’s revolution” technically started in 2015 with the addition of Charlotte, Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch, things didn’t really take off until 2016 and it started at WrestleMania 32 when those three women put on the best match of the night. After years of the butterfly belt, the term “divas” was thrown out the window and a new title was introduced that day, marking a new era coming along with it.

Following the brand split, we witnessed some of the greatest matches in history as Charlotte and Sasha Banks had one of the best feuds of the year on RAW. They took part in the first-ever women’s Hell in a Cell match, main-evented the flagship show on numerous occasions, including one of my favorite matches of the year with their Falls Count Anywhere encounter just a few weeks ago, and have set the bar extremely high for 2017.

Over on Smackdown Live, which I think has an even deeper women’s roster, Becky Lynch and Alexa Bliss have been engaging in their own great program, even getting their own specialty match with tables at WWE TLC. But even before that took place, I really enjoyed the Six-Pack Challenge to crown their first champion at WWE Backlash and they followed it up with a great number one contender’s match just two days later.

But even outside of the title picture, there are actually feuds that have been captivating. The grudge matches between Nikki Bella and Carmella were entertaining and throwing Natalya into the mix has been great as well. Monday Night RAW needs to do a little bit better job of developing stories outside of Sasha and Charlotte, but with that feud coming to an end just recently at WWE Roadblock: End of the Line, it looks like Bayley will finally get her real chance to shine on the main roster and Nia Jax is likely to get a big push in 2017 as well.

And I didn’t even mention how great Asuka is down in NXT. The women’s division is hotter than it’s ever been and it’s not going anywhere. Look for more great action from these talented females in the upcoming year.

Image via WWE

1. The brand split

2016 was a big year in WWE but there was nothing bigger this year than the decision to once again break up Monday Night RAW and Smackdown Live. Actually, the blue brand going live was an event on its own but the brand split is undoubtedly the biggest story of the year.

When I first found out that this was going to go down, I was a bit skeptical and I’m still not fully sold on the process. Even when WWE was doing this years ago, I wasn’t a huge fan. I don’t like the idea of multiple “world champions” as I think it devalues them a little bit but I understand why they do it. You don’t get the same storylines on each show during the week, and with a roster as big as what WWE has, you do want to see more guys get some TV time. You do get to have some of those RAW vs. Smackdown matches like we got at Survivor Series and see some matchups that we normally wouldn’t see. Plus you get to have two brands of house shows running at the same time, which obviously means more revenue coming in. Honestly, I think it is working thus far.

Sure, there are a few changes I’d make to each roster and each show but that’s what we do as wrestling fans. We second-guess EVERYTHING, don’t we? RAW still doesn’t need to be three hours and the cruiserweights should probably be on Smackdown Live, but overall I think the brand split is going to work, at least for a while. They’ve put together a new schedule of pay-per-views for 2017, with each getting their own show at least once a month and teaming up for the Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, SummerSlam, Survivor Series and Money in the Bank. So while there may not be a need for all of these pay-per-views, that’s what we’re getting and the WWE Network will likely benefit from this, which was likely the reasoning behind all of this anyway.

So we’ll see how this continues to play out, and if doesn’t end up working a couple of years down the line, we’ll just get another series of title unification matches.

There you have it. I’m sure there’s something I missed in there so please feel free to comment below on what you think the biggest WWE stories of 2016 were. And make sure to check back in with FanSided later this week for the top 10 NXT matches of the year and for all your WWE needs.