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Chris Jericho - A career resurgence like no other! Jericho started of 2016 with a slow burner of a feud with AJ Styles, turning heel and scoring a massive upset win at WrestleMania 32. From there he had what could be considered a mundane feud with Ambrose that left most apathetic, including a bizarre "Asylum" Match.
And then, as with most cases in WWE, a random storyline thrown together with Kevin Owens turned Jericho into one of the freshest superstars on the roster. "The List of Jericho" is a thing now, and more over than 90% of the wrestlers, and he's constantly getting bigger pops than most faces. Jericho's always been comedic, but he's been on fire with his recent role as "Best Friend"!, and Its hard to imagine Jericho can remain heel for much longer. tHE later half of Jericho's 2016 may be the best part of his entire career, outdoing SRSBSNS Jericho! His interactions with everyone instantly bring out the best in them, from Owens to Foley, Rollins to Stephanie, even Strowman seemed to look infinitely better in the presence of Jericho.
Who knew all it would take for the “Year of Jericho” is a clipboard and a scarf..
The Miz - Talk about a turn around! The Miz started 2016 in a tail spin, with so little momentum it was hard to imagine him ever being relevant again. While sparks of brilliance remained from his act with Sandow, it seemed WWE had all but forgot about the Miz. And then the night after WrestleMania happend! Winning the Intercontinental Title from Zack Ryder, the Miz began a hot streak that could in large part be attributed to the return of Maryse, and together the pair became the best double act of 2016. Reinforcing how good a manger can be used in WWE, Maryse has played a pivotal role in giving Miz some must needed heat, and not since Heyman/Lesnar has a manger been more crucial.
But Miz has more than pulled his weight. His matches with Cesaro at Payback and Fatal 4 Way at Extreme Rules were great, but the Brand Split was the start of where Miz truly shone. His promo's between himself and Danial Bryan garnered much acclaim, and his feud with Dolph Ziggler, a feud many felt was done to death at this point in their careers, suddenly became as Miz would say, "Must See". A match of the year candidate at No Mercy only bolstered Miz’s standings, and a stellar Ladder match just gone topped it off. Could anyone have seen Miz’s 2016 coming, starting as a midcard jobber, ending it as potential contender for the WWE Title? If there weren't such a great heel ontop of Smackdown right now, it would be hard to argue why Miz isn't WWE Champion.
Charlotte – While 2016 saw career resurgences for Jericho and Miz, 2016 also saw a resurgence for woman’s wrestling, and its undeniable the #1 person for that is Charlotte. Starting the year off with Ric Flair in her corner, Charlotte went into WrestleMania 32 the certain underdog against Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch, and not only did the three ladies have what many consider the match of the night at the biggest attended and most watched Pay Per View of all time (And just let that sink in for a moment), Charlotte emerged as the final Butterfly champion and new Woman’s Champion. Expected? No! Deserving? Yes!
From there, she had a mediocre feud with Natalya that, while decent, didn’t seem to reach the full potential it seemed to promise. Indeed, it wasn’t until May when Charlotte dismissed her dad that her star began to really shine. Because while her mic skills in 2015 as a face were standard, as a heel Charlotte seems to be able to really get under the crowds skin. She’s grown in confidence as the years progressed, and become more and more over as the most hated woman in a long time. Stepahnie may be the only female in WWEE history to get more heat from a crowd. To add to this, her matches with Sasha have shown just how much of an impact Woman’s wrestling can have. Their SummerSlam and Hell in a Cell encounters have been very good (to some, great), but its their Raw matches that have shone brightly. Flawless in the ring, she seems untouchable as the "female worker" of the division. If the Iron Man match at Roadblock follows suit, it could be the best woman’s match WWE have ever produced!
AJ Styles – All 3 names mentioned above have shone in one major aspect above all else, on the microphone. And while AJ is no slouch on the microphone, its in the ring he’s most outdone everyone else, as he undoubtedly ends 2016 as the WRESTLER of the year. His shock debut at the Royal Rumble astounded most, but there was a certain “expectancy” WWE would screw AJ over as he’s a former “TNA” guy. Not to be, AJ was given every chance to succeed, and he’s done so on a level no one could have imagined.
His matches with Jericho, Reigns, Cena and Ambrose have all got “Match of the"Insert Pay Per View” stamped on them, and in some cases, match of the year. His feud with John Cena particularly stands out, as AJ showed what could happen if Cena is used in the right way to put other stars over. His WWE title win at Backlash, a concept most never even thought possible, only solidified AJ’s “Phenomenal” year, and from there he’s brought the best out of Ambrose in a series of matches and promo's that fans have found hard to boo AJ for. Even on the microphone, a skill even fans of AJ would admit he’s struggled on, he’s impressed and shown of how good of a heel he can be. Its hard to imagine anyone surpassing the year AJ has had.
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Four very worth winners that in different ways have outdone each other. But lets be honest, the biggest winner out of all of this is us, the fans! What a year to be a wrestling fan!
