A couple days ago, I started my list for the best WWE Superstars of 2016 with some honorable mentions. This included Raw Tag Team Champions the New Day, former SmackDown Tag Team Champion Heath Slater, former SmackDown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch, and former NXT Champion Samoa Joe. With all of them having great years, it’s hard to imagine how better it can get. Well, that is what I’m here to tell you. Here are five of the ten best WWE Superstars of 2016 (tag teams count as one).
10. Roman Reigns
To start off 2016, Roman Reigns was in his second WWE World Championship title reign. He would remain champion until Triple H captured it in the Royal Rumble, then Reigns became a 3-time World Champion in the main event of WrestleMania 32. His last, and current, title run this year was when he captured the United States Championship from Rusev at Hell in a Cell.
Aside from championships, Reigns has improved tremendously in the ring, which some fans (most fans) still try to ignore. While remembering the Roman Reigns of late 2014-early 2015, fans should enjoy the Reigns we have now. He has put on “Match of the Year” candidates against AJ Styles and in a triple threat against Dean Ambrose and Brock Lesnar at Fastlane. As much as he might have been forced into main event spots previously, Reigns has proven that he belongs there now.
9. #DIY (Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa)
Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa debuted in NXT last year in the first Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, but it wasn’t until this year that they have become massively popular with the NXT Universe. In the first half of the year, they would make sporadic appearances on NXT while finishing up independent dates with companies like EVOLVE.
What turned things up to 11 for #DIY was the Cruiserweight Classic. Both men entered the Classic, and ended up having one of the best matches of the year against each other in the second round. This would be happening at the same time as a program with the Revival for the NXT Tag Team Championships, which they ended up winning at TakeOver: Toronto. Their year has only gotten better and better, and going into 2017 as the NXT Tag Team Champions seems like just the beginning of what’s to come for DIY.
8. Dean Ambrose
Ever since he debuted with the Shield, Dean Ambrose has been improving time and time again. This year, Ambrose cemented himself as a main event Superstar by having tons of great matches against a wide range of opponents, while showing his comedic side in the process.
It’s hard to imagine a marquee event of 2016 without thinking of a great Dean Ambrose match. Here are some great matches of his just off the top of my head:
- vs. Kevin Owens at the Royal Rumble (Intercontinental Championship; Last Man Standing Match)
- vs. Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar at Fastlane (WWE World Championship)
- Money in the Bank Ladder Match
- vs. Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns at Battleground (WWE World Championship)
- vs. AJ Styles at Backlash & TLC (WWE World Championship)
- vs. AJ Styles vs. John Cena at No Mercy (WWE World Championship)
Almost every Pay-Per-View match Ambrose has been in (excluding Survivor Series and WrestleMania) has been for a championship at or near the top of the card. Alongside these great matches, he has some hilarious moments with Chris Jericho, AJ Styles, and James Ellsworth. Ambrose in 2016 has been the total package.
7. The Revival
The Revival is the best tag team in all of WWE, plain and simple. Sure, there is the New Day, the Wyatt Family, or Enzo and Cass, but they have all had downsides to their year. The Revival is the only team to win the NXT Tag Team Championships twice, tearing down the house at every TakeOver special with Enzo and Cass, American Alpha, and DIY.
What sets The Revival aside from other teams is the fact that they embody tag team wrestling. Most teams in WWE are singles competitors working together (Slater & Rhyno, The Hype Bros, even the New Day early on). Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder are first and foremost a tag team. They wrestle smart, cutting the ring in half and using tandem offense as much as possible. There isn’t the guy who gets beat up and the guy who gets the hot tag. Instead, they are constantly working together in and out to look out for the best interest of the team.
When Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder make the main roster, they are sure to shake things up (for real this time, unlike Gallows & Anderson).
6. The Miz
The Miz has had a very similar year to Roman Reigns. He main-evented WrestleMania 27, defeating John Cena for the WWE World Championship. Like Reigns, Miz was pushed too high too soon, which is irredeemable for some of the WWE Universe. When The Miz became Intercontinental Champion one day after WrestleMania 32, however, he was completely different from the Miz we saw five years ago.
Through MizTV, he did a phenomenal job (sorry for the pun) at putting over AJ Styles for a new audience. He would then hold the belt for over 100 days, while doing some of the best work of his career with Dolph Ziggler and on Talking Smack with Daniel Bryan. Other than Kevin Owens and AJ Styles, The Miz is the best heel that WWE has right now.
