Top Twenty Superstars of the Year
20) Sami Zayn
Kick starting my top twenty superstars of the year for twenty fifteen is the one and only, Sami Zayn. Just to clarify, the reason why Zayn is only in at number twenty not higher up in the list is simply because of how long he was out of action for this past year. If it wasn't for he's injury I'm sure that he would have been in the top ten and most probably a contender for top spot but of course he's shoulder injury meant that he spent most of the year out of action and away from the ring so he is this year kick starting the top twenty. The start of two thousand and fifteen was amazingly strong for Zayn as he was heading off in all the right directions. Right at the beginning of the year we saw Zayn compete in one of he's best feuds to date when he took on Kevin Owens. Throughout my of the year season I have mentioned this feud and their matches on several occasions so I don't want to bore you with the same stuff for another post. But going over the basics one last time; Owens and Zayn had a great, strong history. Working alongside and against one another throughout their careers before the WWE and it was from that the WWE were able to create an amazing feud between the two superstars with a really really well written, captivating story. The two went on to have several matches against one another and every single time they took each other on they delivered an outstanding match, one of witch was actually voted as my NXT match of the year (full blog post will be linked bellow). Zayn may have been able to defeat Owens and keep hold of he's NXT championship, but he's resilience once again had us all on our feet and admiring Zayn. The feud with Owens was without a doubt one of my favourites of the year and I cannot wait to see what the two bring in future feuds and storyline's later on in their WWE careers. Twenty fifteen also saw Sami compete in he's biggest match to date when he answered John Cena's United States Championship open challenge. Yet another phenomenal match, Zayn made he's early mark on the main roster without officially debuting. I did speak more about this match and moment in my top five shocking WWE moments of of the year and you can read more about that later on as the post will be linked bellow as usual. It doesn't really get much better than not only having your first ever singles match on RAW against John Cena for a championship in your home town and being introduced by Bret Hart. While out on injury Zayn had a couple of appearance here and there but of course it was extremely unfortunate and as I have already said, if it wasn't for the injury I'm sure he would have been much much higher in the list this year.
19) Sting
Up next, an icon. A man who a couple of years ago I would never have predicted would be featuring in my top twenty WWE Superstars of the year. Sting. Making he's WWE debut in November of twenty fourteen, Sting sent a huge message to the WWE Universe and the roster, making it perfectly clear he was coming after the authority and most importantly, Triple H. After Survivor Series and he's moment around the end of the year, the start of twenty fifteen saw Sting come back to the WWE to focus he's attentions once again on Triple H witch would eventually set up one of the most must see, iconic matches of this generation. At Wrestlemania it was Sting VS Triple H and as you would have seen in my Wrestlemania review (witch will be linked bellow) and other blog post in my of the year season, I absolutely loved this match! It was one of my personal favourites of the entire year. I loved the little surprises in between and throughout the match and I thought that despite not picking up the victory, Sting had an amazing all round performance. Later on in the year, Sting returned once again, still focusing on the Authority. However, this time he let the WWE universe know he had a level of respect for Hunter and was back this time to take out Seth Rollins, setting he's sights clearly on the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. The build up to he's match against Rollins was done really well and Sting was a stand out throughout, showing up on Monday night Raw almost on a weekly basis. We even got to see him compete on Monday night RAW witch of course was amazing! He went on to have another great match up when the two did battle at Night Of Champions. We may not have seen all that much of Sing this year but what we did see of him was so special, so well done and so amazing to watch that I could not have had him in this year's top twenty. He did a great job having classic feud with Triple and equally did a great job working with a young, up and coming talent, in Seth Rollins. He really did prove this year that he has still got it and even though I would have booked certain things differently, he had a great year this year working with the WWE as part of their roster.
18) Triple H
At number eighteen in my top twenty superstars of the year is Triple H. I'll be honest, I did really struggle in finding a place to put Triple H this year. I wasn't sure whether to go higher or lower in the list. He had done a lot this year and has been apart of so many amazing, top feuds and storyline's but with the top ten being so strong I didn't feel like I could put him up there so I have finally settled with number eighteen. Just like twenty fourteen, Hunter has played a vital role in some of the biggest storyline's in the WWE. Week in and week out we have seen the future hall of famer cut some outstanding promos and segments with and on multiple superstars, all of witch pushing superstars and storyline's even more. He's main focus this year has of course been working with Seth Rollins. Continuing to have Rollins pushed as their top guy, this year saw Triple H give Rollins a little taste of tough love after he forced the champ to prove himself time and time again while secretly setting up a future feud between the two of them. Something that I'm certain we will see continue and work into something later on in two thousand and sixteen. The segments between Rollins and Hunter were done so so well and we actually had some of my favourite segments of the year done by those two. This past year also saw an amazing feud between Triple H and Sting take place after Sting made he's return to the WWE setting he's sights on taking out the Authority. They of course had a great match witch saw Hunter not only have an epic entrance but also pick up a massive massive victory. Throughout the year we have also seen him push the buttons of the likes of Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose, playing the perfect heel boss role. He's kick started and closed several episodes of Monday night RAW. He's continued to do some outstanding work with the NXT talent, taking NXT to a whole new level, not to mention the great panel's and interviews he has conducted ad participated in over the year.Of course Triple H had to be in this years top twenty.
17) Kane
Kane is up next in my top twenty superstars of two thousand and fifteen and if I'm being honest, if you told me at the start of the year he would be featured in this particular blog post I would have told you you were insane! He had such an up and down twenty fourteen and the start of this year was far from strong for him. Becoming, dull, boring, and predicable, things were not looking great for Kane at all. He's storyline's were weak and lacked originality. You knew how every match was going to end before it even properly started. The turning point for Kane was without a doubt the split personality idea. It was such a success and so well done. Kane played the role so well and so convincingly, I couldn't fault it what so ever. I loved the idea right from the very start and it just seemed to get better and better as it went on. To be honest, I actually missed it a little when they stopped the idea. It was the best way to make him interesting and entertaining again and without the split personality he's feud with Seth Rollins would not have been half as good. This version of Kane and this storyline for him was personally one of my most entertaining parts of the year. We then of course last month saw Kane reunite with he's brother, the Undertaker to take on the Wyatt family in another great feud. Once again very well done, a great storyline and of course it was amazing seeing the brothers of destruction reunited. I grew up a fan of both superstars and of course the brothers of destruction as a tag team so seeing them reunite and start working together again this year, was so great to see and a real highlight of my year. Throughout twenty fifteen, Kane despite having a rough start to the year has worked some decent feuds and has had he's own stand out, strong moments. He has remained at the forefront of top storyline's and has played a big role on the roster once again.
16) Adrian Neville
Up next is former NXT Champion, Adrian Neville. Two thousand and fifteen has been yet another great year for Adrian Neville. He started out working on the NXT roster despite dropping the NXT championship at the end of last year. He spent a great deal of time at the beginning of twenty fifteen trying to recapture the NXT championship by competing in number one contender matches here and there. One of the most memorable matches was of course he's great match up against Finn Balor at an NXT Takeover event. Of course it was an absolutely amazing match that everyone enjoyed and I will make sure to link bellow the review for this show you can check out what I thought of the entire show including this match. It was one of many bouts this year that Neville proved why he is one of the best there is in the WWE right now. The night after Wrestlemania Neville was called up to the main roster, making he's official debut on Monday night RAW, wowing the crowd as per usual and even though they had changed a thew things up with him he still received a great reaction from the crowd and he kept he's character and he's ring as basic and close to what we saw from him in NXT as possible. Now, I didn't like the small changes they did make with Neville and what frustrated me with what they did wit him was how badly the booked him at times. There is no denying that he is one of the best there is in the WWE today and we all know that he is a main event talent, but for some reason they have managed to place him as a mid card superstar and as a result we're not seeing the very very best of him. However, despite the poor booking he has managed to compete in a handful of fantastic matches, some of witch are easy contenders for match of the year.Taking on the likes of Kevin Owens, Chris Jericho, Seth Rollins and more, Neville has proven that he is one to watch in the future and that he is more than capable of main eventing. I'm predicting a great twenty sixteen for Neville. He competed in he's first money in the bank ladder match this year but with the roster being the way it is right now and more NXT stars making their way up to the big leagues we can expect Neville to really start shining even more.
15) Samoa Joe
Two thousand and fifteen saw Samoa Joe shock the world when he debuted in NXT, confronting Kevin Owens right at the very end of an NXT Takeover event earlier on in the year. As a big big Samoa Joe fan and after hearing all the rumours I remember marking out like a crazy person when he arrived in NXT that night. I'm sure if you follow me on twitter you would know just how crazy my reaction was. The whole thing was timed so well and done perfectly. I didn't have a single bad word to say and it was such a big surprise. The NXT debut of Samoa Joe was easily one of the highlights and one of the most shocking, awesome moments of two thousand and fifteen. The two went on to compete in a great feud witch unfortunately never really ended the way I was expecting it to, I am however expecting the pair to reunite their feud when Joe gets the call up to the main roster at some point next year. Throughout a lot of he's time in NXT this year, we saw Joe team up with one of the biggest names on the roster, Finn Balor. The pair took on multiple challengers and teamed up to take on the likes of Rhyno, Baron Corbin, and Kevin Owens. They would then go on to team up to compete in the Dusty Rhodes tag team classic witch they did end up winning witch was a little surprise. Personally, I would have liked to have seen Jason Jordan and Chad Gable win the tournament but the fact Joe and Balor won just added to the reasons why Joe is in the top twenty list this year. A couple of weeks after winning the Dusty Rhodes tag team classic Joe had an amazingly well timed heel turn witch was another favourite moment of mine this year. It was such a great turn and made such an awesome story. In fact the Balor/Joe feud was probably one of my favourite feuds of the year. NXT did a great job building up a good, captivating story. At NXT Takeover London, witch I was lucky enough to go to, we saw Joe top the year off by defeating Balor in what was a phenomenal main event to become the new NXT Champion.
14) Sheamus
Right, up next, and in at number fourteen in my top twenty superstars of the year list is the current WWE World Heavyweight Champion, Sheamus. Anyone that has been following me for a while here on my blog and on twitter will know that I am the biggest Sheamus fan! I know I have said it a million times before, but I have been a fan of he's from day one right from when he debuted back in two thousand and nine in ECW and nothing has changed in the seven years. Now, even though I am a big big Sheamus fan, I can't deny the fact that he has had a rough couple of years full of injuries and weak storyline's but this year we saw the Celtic Warrior return to action sporting a new look and a new attitude. I will admit I wasn't the biggest fan of he's new look to start off with. In fact I hated it but I can now sit here in December and say that I love it. What I also loved this year was that Sheamus finally turnt heel. Honestly, I cannot tell you how frustrated I got waiting for him to have he's heel turn. It was extremely over due and there was a big sigh of relief when he got the turn. From that moment onwards things just slowly got better and better for Sheamus. There was a time where I was worried. It wasn't that he was having bad matches it was just that they were so repetitive and so predicable but it all helped him slowly gain momentum. He had some great matches against Roman Reigns throughout the year witch was pretty surprising. The pair developed a great deal of chemistry ad Sheamus really was able to push Reigns and bring out the best in him. One of the highlights of the year for Sheamus was of course he's Money in the bank victory. I was backing him one hundred percent heading into this match but in all honesty I wasn't actually expecting him to win so that was a great surprise for me and the rest of the Sheamus fans in the world. And then of course last month at the Survivor Series pay per view we saw him cash in on Reigns to shock as all again and become the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion. I know most of you were far from happy about the decision but trust me I went off to bed a very very happy girl that night. Two thousand and fifteen turnt out to be so much better than I was expecting to for Sheamus. He's new look and character ended up being exactly what he needed and a great success. He became a four time world champion and got right back on track after a rough couple of years.
13) Bray Wyatt
In at umber thirteen this year is Bray Wyatt. Twenty fifteen has been a real up and down year for Bray Wyatt. He has had some outstanding moments as well as some terrible terrible moments. By terrible I of course mean the god awful booking decisions. I know I have moaned about it before, but as a superstar who is bound to be a big name in the future of the WWE the company should be building him up much much stronger and while they may give him some great moments and storyline's, having him loose every single feud he competes in just takes away all he's momentum and does him no good what so ever and this year I don't think he has won a single feud. However, he has once again stepped in the ring with all time greats and put on some outstanding matches against several superstars. We saw him feud with the Undertaker on two occasions. In the build up to Wrestlemania he focused he's attentions on the dead man witch lead to the two colliding at the grandest stage of them all. Now, not many get to say their first to Mania opponents where John Cena and The Undertaker now do they? Later on in the year, Wyatt took on both Kane and the Undertaker again in what was another great feud but failed to see Wyatt come up on top. One of my favourite feuds of the year was actually Wyatt VS Reigns. It really was very very well written and done by both superstars and the feud ended amazingly well after an outstanding match up between the two. Wyatt really did have a great performance and it was defiantly one of those matches that made you remember just how much of a good wrestler Bray really is. Not to mention that this year we really did see some phenomenal promos from Wyatt. There is no denying that he is the best speaker on the roster today. He's mic work all year round has been unbelievably strong and consistent. The year also saw Bray, have a strong performance at the Royal Rumble as the most dominate superstar of the night. The development of the Wyatt family clan also contributed to he's placement in the top twenty this year. I'm hopeing that things get even better for Wyatt in the next year but for twenty fifteen it's the number thirteen spot for Bray.
12) Sasha Banks
Here is what I wrote about Sasha Banks in my top five divas of the year, the full blog post will be linked bellow: When you look back at the past year Sasha Banks has been the most talked about WWE diva and has played one of the biggest roles within re-defying women's wrestling. I don't even know where to begin when it comes down to recapping her greatest moment of the year. If we go back to late twenty fourteen we saw Sasha finally make her true mark in NXT after having great match after great match against Charlotte. We saw the boss chase after that NXT Women's Championship like her life depended on in it and when we reached February of two thousand and fifteen she finally found herself winning the big one and walking out as the third NXT Women's Champion in history. The match: a fatal four way. The contestants: Charlotte, Banks, Becky Lynch, and Bayley. This was the start of something completely different. We had already seen the NXT women make a statement and prove that women's wrestling is something very different there than it is on the main roster but there was something about this match that just upped the standard to a whole new level. Sasha found herself allying with Becky Lynch a couple of weeks before this very match and throughout the first five minuets or so of the fatal four way we saw the two of them work together to take out Bayley and Charlotte but once the match truly became every diva for herself Banks found herself fighting alone once again. Despite being the smallest of the four women Sasha was without a doubt one of the top stand outs. Whether if it was story telling, going through ropes, or selling like a true boss, everyone had their eyes on Sasha Banks and in those closing moments she was finally able to pin Charlotte to pick up the biggest victory of her career. From that night onwards Sasha became the new face of the division. It didn't matter if you loved her or hated her you had something to say about Sasha Banks and you wanted to see her wrestler. Throughout her title reign she proved to be a fighting champion. Taking on every challenger from Dana Brooke, to Becky Lynch to Bayley to Charlotte and every single one of her matches were of such an unbelievably high standard. Take her one on one against Becky Lynch at NXT Takeover Unstoppable for example. I remember watching this match and just being completely blown away. She once again upped her game and raised the bar even higher. I literally lost track of how many times I actually watched this match over the year. From that point onwards there was just no stopping Sasha. It was strong match after strong match and she became not only the face of the NXT Divas division but one of the most must see NXT talents taking gender out of the equation. One of Sasha's highlights of the entire year or in fact of her career was without a doubt her storyline with Bayley. Back at the NXT Takeover Brooklyn show the two of women had the most talked about match of the night and just when you thought women's wrestling couldn't get any better the they both managed to provide us with one of the best matches of the entire year. She may have dropped the title on the night but Sasha proved at this event why she for the past year has been called one of the greatest female wrestlers in the world. The Takeover match then led to something even bigger as Banks and Bayley made history once again becoming the first women to main event an NXT Takeover event and the first two women to compete in an ironman match. I have written about this match in a blog post uploaded last week so I will link that bellow at the end. Throughout that match Banks was on fire! She had everyone on their feet and saying something about whether if it was a good or a bad thing. I mean come on, how often do we see a heel go to such lengths as making a kid cry during the match? We then have her main roster work. It was in July that we saw Sasha get the call up to the main roster where she allied her self with Naomi and Tamina to create team B.A.D where she naturally took the leadership role. The fans were chanting for her every single week and whenever she was in the ring she had everyone paying attention. She pushed other divas to their limits forcing them to up their game when they were competing against her. She attacked Natalya, she defeated former divas champions, and really was the Boss of team B.A.D. This year there really has been only one true diva of the year. Sasha Banks. Whether you love her or hate her your speaking about her. At only twenty three years old Sasha has managed to become one of the best divas the WWE has ever seen and one of the best all round performers in NXT. Every single match she competes in whenever it be seven minuets, seventeen minuets, or twenty seven minuets she puts her everything into it and manages to come up the stand out regardless of the ending. Major WWE legends like Stone Cold Steve Austin and Chris Jericho have praised Sasha not to mention she had an amazing podcast interview with Jericho witch I will try and link bellow as well. She's main evented live specials and tour dates and earned the right to be names one of the best female wrestlers in the world, and at such a young age and with still so much left to accomplish in the WWE, I can only imagine what twenty sixteen holds for her but for now Sasha Banks is my official WWE Diva of the year for two thousand and fifteen.
11) Finn Balor
Here is what I wrote about Finn Balor in my top five NXT superstars of the year. The full post will be linked bellow:One of the biggest signings we saw in the year of two thousand and fourteen came from Finn Balor previously known as Prince Devitt. When I found out about him finally joining the WWE and most importantly joining NXT I could not have been happier. I'm someone who has been following Fergal's career for a long time and he's someone who personally is a huge inspiration. I knew what he could and would be brining to NXT. He's signing made everyone realise that what was once only a developmental brand was now the home of some of the best wrestlers in the world. Just like the rest of the world, I much anticipated Balor's debut and spent weeks and weeks hopeing it finally be the night he made he's arrival and in November of last year Balor finally made he's NXT TV debut allying himself with Hideo Itami, another major major signing. During the early stages of twenty fifteen, Balor continued working with Hideo taking out the longest reigning NXT Tag team champions in history, The Ascension. The two international superstars were able to knock off the NXT veterans almost every single time they stepped in the ring with one another but there was always one stand out. Finn Balor. Whether if it was he's mind blowing demon entrance of simply he's phenomenal wrestling ability, Balor found himself the star of the show and became one to watch throughout the year the moment he stepped through the curtain. To be honest, the WWE did take a slower approach with him than I expected but it worked perfectly. Instead of rushing him into the championship picture, Finn was able to work he's way up to the top. Allying himself with Hideo to challenge the Ascension put him in the spotlight anyway but that gradual build up allowed those who were not aware of him to understand him/he's character and he's in ring ability. At the second
So that is part one of my top twenty WWE Superstars of the year. Part two will be uploaded in two days time so watch out for that! In the mean time, you can let me know who has been your superstar of the year and diva of the year by leaving a comment bellow or by tweeting me at
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