Most Improved WWE Superstars of 2016
Alexa Bliss
Kick starting my list of the most improved WWE Superstars of the year is Alexa Bliss. Now, I have already touched on during another blog post that this month I'm going to be talking about Alexa Bliss a lot. I have noted that she has become one of my favourite WWE Superstars and this year she has earned every right to be so heavily spoken about. Now, Alexa has always shown great potential. Anyone can look at Bliss and see that she has it in her to be the next big thing and follow in the footsteps of the likes of Trish Stratus who she has been compared to many times already. In two thousand and sixteen, she really did prove why she has been worth the hype and shown some of that potential perfectly. After years of waiting for fo her moment to shine she finally got the opportunity to take the spotlight and join the likes of Becky Lynch, Sasha Banks, Charlotte, Bayley and other successful NXT female graduates. She has always belonged in the conversation when it comes to some of the original standout women in NXT and now she has the attention she truly does deserve. Starting out the year still standing alongside Blake and Murphy she became the main attraction of the three sealing the spotlight whenever she was put in front of a camera. Backstage segments showed her to be the boss, calling the shots. Over time we saw Bliss become impatient with the former NXT Tag team Champions and it was only a matter of time until she parted ways with the duo. However, she very quickly proved that she didn't need anyone by her side to make it to the top. Making her way into the NXT Women's Championship picture she finally was given a title opportunity after waiting longer than expected. Stepping in the ring with Bayley, several segments and promos showed how far her character had come and it was clear she was one of the stronger heels on the roster. She went on to further prove herself during an NXT Women's Championship match against Bayley. A match that saw Bliss finally show what she is capable of in the ring, she brought a great deal of character and personality to the match along with fantastic spots that had everyone talking. She may not have walked out with the championship but she sure did gain a lot of respect and was the true standout of this bout. Throughout the year we saw her step in the ring with the likes of Carmella and Nia Jax also and during the Summer she was drafted to Smackdown LIVE where she continued to grow even more. She is without a doubt one of the standouts on the roster and over the past thew months we have seen her improve so much more. She has become more confident on the mic and in the ring and her work feels a lot stronger and now she sits at the top of the division as the Smackdown LIVE women's champion. Alexa is the star that jumped up out of nowhere this year. Everyone is talking about Bliss and to go from small matches in NXT to where she is now in the space of year means she more than deserves a spot on this list and I cannot wait to see where she goes in twenty sixteen as I'm sure she will only get better and better.
Dolph Ziggler
Now, you're probably reading this and wondering why on earth Dolph Ziggler has been added to a most improved list; after all, he is the definition of a WWE veteran with years of experience we have seen Ziggler on the scene for many years and has gone on to achieve amazing things throughout his career. However, two thousand and sixteen really did see the show off shine brighter than ever and I do believe we saw so many huge improvements from the former world champion. At the beginning of the year, we didn't really see anything different from Ziggler. He continued to work solid matches and small storyline's in the mid card section of the roster and he remained a strong fan favorite. In the past, I have spoken a lot about not being the world's biggest Dolph Ziggler fan. I have acknowledged time and time again that while he is a brilliant in-ring talent I have never been truly captivated by his character and never really understood the hype surrounding him. However, twenty sixteen saw a huge turnaround and I honestly cannot believe just how much my opinions of him have changed. I will admit that I'm still not as high on him as many other fans but I do now have much more respect and appreciation for him and this is all thanks to his work with The Miz. One of the best decisions the WWE made this year was drafting both these men to Smackdown LIVE. Now, when the pair kick started their feud I wasn't the biggest supporter. I wasn't expecting anything strong or truly amazing and so at first I didn't really pay much attention. However, this feud very quickly became one of the centerpieces of Smackdown LIVE and the brilliant work we were seeing from both men was something we couldn't ignore. Out of nowhere, Ziggler had found this passion that we just haven't seen from him. Sure we all have been able to see just how much wrestling and the WWE mean to him but during this feud, I really did believe everything he was saying. Almost every week we were seeing these captivating, heavy promos from Ziggler that left him as the standout of many shows. Throughout the years I have never seen Ziggler as passionate and strong on the mic. It was the first time I was honestly entertained by his character and what we were seeing from him out of the ring. This did turn into one of my favorite feuds of the entire year and it really did show just how far Ziggler's character has come over the past year and for that reason I just had to include him in this list today.Baron Corbin
Yep, you predicted it, Baron Corbin is up next in this year's top five improved superstars of the past twelve months. Now, I know I added him to this exact list this time last year but we just have to talk about the lone wolf and how far he has come over the past year. It's actually pretty crazy to think just how far Corbin has come. He started the year out on a high with victories coming in left right and center including a win over Apollo Crews at NXT Takeover London at the end of December of last year. Twelve months later and he is in a completely different place. As his popularity began to grow thanks to WWE Network special, Breaking Ground, Corbin was given more time in front of the cameras and in the early days of twenty sixteen we saw him focus his attentions on the NXT Championship and getting his hands on Finn Balor and a title opportunity. However, standing in his way were veterans Samoa Joe and Sami Zayn who both also wanted NXT gold. We saw Baron take both men on in a triple threat and despite falling short he soon bounced back and in a matter of months was in a place I don't think anyone could have pictured him in. Entering the Andre the Giant memorial battle royal at this year's Wrestlemania, Corbin walked in a fan favourite with the crowd firmly behind him also. Of course, me being a huge Corbin fan I was happy to see him in the battle royal alone and so seeing him actually walk out the victor and the third annual winner made me the happiest girl alive and I think I mentioned earlier in the year that this was one of the only things I liked about this years Wrestlemania. The following night Corbin made his first appearance on Monday night RAW where he had yet another dominant showing. He soon made a big impact with his size and dominate figure and captivating character everyone was talking about the lone wolf. Throughout the year we saw him enter feuds against the likes of Dolph Ziggler and Kalisto and while the booking decisions weren't always right he always managed to stay looking strong. Now, this year we really have seen Corbin grow in the ring. He does still have a lot to improve on when it comes to mic work and pushing his character more but his in-ring skills have improved massively and his popularity continues to grow.
Nia Jax
And finally and at number one in this year most improved, WWE Superstars of the year is Nia Jax. Again, anyone that has been reading my blog or following me for long enough will know all too well that I am a huge Nia Jax fan and I have been from the moment she burst on the scene. In two thousand and fifteen Nia Jax really finally debuted for NXT TV where she became a dominate figure very very early on. Her look and physical dominance allowed her to shine brighter than anyone else and she soon became an early favourite of mine. Taking out women left right and center she soon found herself having a title opportunity and her journey to looking to become NXT Women's Champion was an interesting one. While she did continue to impress me and many others it was clear she had a long way to go and had plenty of work to do on improving her character and her work in the ring. In two thousand and sixteen Nia took on board what she had to improve on and did just that and an entire year later she is in a far better position and is clearly a much stronger all round WWE Superstar. In the early days of two thousand and sixteen, we saw Nia form an alliance with Eva Marie that gave her the exposer and attention she really needed. It pushed her as a heel even more and
receive the heat and TV time she needed. Thanks to this alliance we got to see more of Nia and she was able to be involved in many more storylines. Eventually, Nia did go back to working on her own and once again focused her attentions on the NXT Women's Championship. It was around this time that Nia really did stand out more than she ever has done and her improvements were so massively clear. She moved much quicker in the ring, her move set was far wider and she was picking up a much bigger reaction from the crowd week in and week out. We genuinely were getting strong matches from her that I really did enjoy watching. We also saw her once again feud with Bayley and this time she had a much bigger impact after taking the former champ out of action for several weeks. I did actually enjoy their second feud this year far more than what we saw from them last year. Now, she may not have got her hands on that NXT Championship but she did have a brilliant all round year She was called up to the main roster and drafted to Monday Night RAW in the Summer and has since been nothing short of dominate. She has continued to grow in the ring and show massive improvement and I honestly would love to see her crowned as champion within the next year. We really have seen her push herself in and outside of the ring and seeing how far she has come and how much she has improved over the past year has been amazing to see.
And that is my little list of the most improved superstars of two thousand and sixteen. I had so much fun writing this blog post and I really do stick by my choices. As always I would love to know what you think and tell me who you believe is the most improved WWE Superstar of the year by leaving a comment bellow or by dropping me a tweet over at @TezangiVictoria.
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