Top 10 Male WWE Superstars of 2016 (Part One)
10) Rusev
Kick starting this year's top ten male superstars of the year is a personal favourite of mine in Rusev. Anyone that has been following me for long enough will know all too well that I am a huge huge Rusev fan and I have been now for a very long time. I spoke about him massively in last year's top ten superstars of the year and twelve months later I'm sitting her doing the exact same thing as he ranks once again as one of the top performers in the WWE today. The former United States champion has remained one of my personal favourite superstars of today and has yet again managed to fit in another year full of fantastic matches, feuds, performances and reigns. In all honesty, two thousand and sixteen was a tough start for Rusev with nothing big really happening for him. He found himself allied with King Barrett, Sheamus and Alberto Del Rio where the four of them would go on to compete at Wrestlemania and be a part of one of the standout segments of the night. As the faction began to break down Rusev found himself back on top and where he belongs. After becoming the US Champion once again he was back dominating and his work became stronger than ever. His feuds were as gripping and entertaining as ever before and his matches continued to show him as the amazing talent that he is. This year we also saw him actually connect with the WWE universe far more than ever before and that really did help him massively. We saw him have a lengthy reign as United States Champion and his feud with Roman Reigns saw some of the best matches from Rusev this year and some of my personal favourite matches of twenty sixteen. He may not be in the position right now at the end of the year but for the sheer fact I have not been able to stop talking about Rusev nor get enough of him he just had to feature in this years top ten male superstars of the year.
9) New Day
Up next and in at number nine is the current WWE RAW tag team champions, The New Day. Now, regardless, there was no way I could have written this list and not included these guys. Despite the fact that their character has been struggling a lot recently and they have managed to enter the stage of being rather stale they have been the most dominate tag team in the WWE and have been breaking records left right and centre. Not putting these guys on the list would have been crazy! Throughout the past twelve months, we have seen some brilliant matches from these guys both in singles competition and of course tag team action. They have faced off and defeated every single tag team that has stood in their way from the Usos, to Enzo and Cass, the Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows, no tag team has been able to knock off the New Day from their top spot and take away those tag team championships. Their babyface turn was timed perfectly and while I wasn't as big of a fan of their baby face work in comparison to their heel work they continued to dominate the division and keep me very very entertained. Their promos and all round mic work have remained the strongest part of about their character and every single time they have taken to the mic they have entertained me completely. They may have reached a hard moment in their run but the New Day have done nothing but dominate the division, provide fantastic matches and segments and break the record to become the longest reigning tag team champions in WWE history.
8) Chris Jericho
If the competition wasn't so stiff this year I'm confident that Chris Jericho would be featuring a lot-lot higher in this list but there was no way I wasn't going to fit him in somewhere. If you had told me at the start of the year that Jericho would be listed as one of the top performing stars of twenty sixteen I don't think I would have quite believed you. He has always been a favourite of mine growing up and that hasn't changed over the years at all but with the talent being so amazing right now and the WWE focusing so much on up and coming stars he's someone that has faded into the background for me personally. However, this year Chris Jericho has been the one man I have not stopped talking about, to the point where I'm quoting him to my friends who don't even watch wrestling or have any understanding of what I'm talking about or referring to. I think we can all agree that this year Chris Jericho has been doing some of his work in a very very long time and the changeup in his character has only pushed him more as a true legend and future hall of Famer. His work with the younger, up and coming talents such as Roman Reigns, Kevin Owens, Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose and more has been standout moments of the year and once again enforced him as someone the WWE really do need today and someone who can really provide a lot of help to those younger stars. He's feud with Dean Ambrose was an entertaining one and one that really did give him the push he needed with that new character. We also some brilliant work between Jericho and AJ Styles that saw Chris pick up the victory over the Phenomenal one at Wrestlemania. He's best work, however, has come from his alliance with Kevin Owens. These two have both done wonders for one another! Their segments, promos, interviews and even tag team matches have been nothing short of brilliant. No one has kept me quite as entertained as these two and I can honestly say I could watch them both for hours simply just talking. Not to mention the introduction of the list is one of the best things I have ever seen. Throughout the past year, we have seen Jericho play a huge part in several important, big, championship matches. He has been a part of some great matches and he has been working as one of the most entertaining superstars on the roster today.
7) Finn Balor
And up next in part one of my top ten WWE superstars of the year is former NXT Champion, Finn Balor. Now, before we get going I have to mention the fact that if Balor had not suffered an injury I'm sure he would have been much much higher in this list. However, right up until August Balor was the man everyone was talking about and easily one of the biggest stars in the WWE so I just had to feature him in the top ten regardless. Kick starting the year still down in NXT Balor was working as the face of the "developmental" brand still the NXT Champion. As time went by some went on to call him the greatest NXT champion of all time and midway through the year he broke Adrian Neville's record to become the longest reigning NXT champion in history. Throughout most of the start of twenty sixteen, we saw Balor continue feuding with Samoa Joe in what was one of the standout feuds of the year. The pair would have a series of fantastic matches including the first ever steel cage match to feature in NXT. We saw Balor successfully defend his title time and time again but it was at a live show that was not aired that he dropped the title to Joe. In his final months with NXT Balor competed to take pat in fantastic standout matches including that epic one on one against Shinsuke Nakamura. In the Summer he was one of the highest drafted superstars as he headed over to Monday night RAW, waving goodbye to NXT. He would very quickly make a huge impact up on the main roster and on his first night would compete in two brilliant matches both at the start and the end of the show where he would be announced as one of the men competing to become the first ever WWE Universal Champion. In the build up to Summer Slam he had the fans completely behind him and come the actual pay per view, we saw him and Seth Rollins deliver yet another match considered to be a serious contender for match of the year and on top of that Balor walked out as the first ever WWE Universal Champion. Unfortunately, during that match, Finn had suffered an injury and he announced the following night on RAW that he would be needing several months away from the ring. The timing could not have been any worse and it was such a huge shock and upsetting moment for both Balo and the WWE universe. Now, he is set to make his return within the new year and I don't doubt for a single second that upon his return he will be making his way right back on top and I'm confident twenty seventeen will be his year.
6) Seth Rollins
The end of two thousand and fifteen was not a good one for former champion Seth Rollins. After suffering a knee injury he was set to take several months out of action and boy did we miss him. This year, however, he did make his much-anticipated return at the Extreme Rules pay per view when he attacked Roman Reigns after his title defence match against AJ Styles. Picking up a massive reaction from the live crowd and making everyone mark out at home Rollins return was the standout moment of the night as every member of the WWE universe was beyond excited to see the Architect return to action. Rollins wasted no time making it clear that he wanted the WWE World Heavyweight
Championship, after all, he never lost it in the first place. The man holding that title, however, was former Shield-brother, Roman Reigns. In the weeks that followed, we sat back and witnessed some truly amazing exchanges between the pair from segments and promo's to interviews and when they stepped into the ring against one another they managed to provide us with extremely gripping and entertaining matches full of fantastic wrestling and amazing storytelling. Rollins would then go on to compete in yet another brilliant championship match this time in the most anticipated match of the past decade, the Shield triple threat. He may have been unsuccessful in capturing the title but he did walk away proving yet again just how much of a brilliant talent he is. In the Summer he was the number one draft pick for Monday night RAW and he would soon go on to compete to become the first ever WWE Universal Champion and main evented SummerSlam alongside Finn Balor. He was again unsuccessful inc capturing the title but with another brilliant match under his belt, Rollins continued to shine and remain a standout of the Monday night RAW roster. Weeks later we finally saw Rollins have his babyface turn when Triple H cost him the WWE Universal Championship and a feud with Kevin Owens, the man that won that much instead, kick started. The last few months of two thousand and sixteen have once again seen Rollins shine bright. He is still competing in some of the best matches around and continues to work as one of the top faces in the WWE today. With so many huge potential Storyline for Rollins within the next year I don't doubt for a single second that he will have yet another standout year in twenty seventeen and I cannot wait to see what awaits him for next years Wrestlemania.
And that is part one of my two ten male superstars of the year! Part two will be uploaded next week and will be the final instalment of my of the year season. Until then you can let me know who has been you male superstar of the year by leaving a comment bellow or by dropping me a tweet at @TezangiVictoria.
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And that is part one of my two ten male superstars of the year! Part two will be uploaded next week and will be the final instalment of my of the year season. Until then you can let me know who has been you male superstar of the year by leaving a comment bellow or by dropping me a tweet at @TezangiVictoria.
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