The year 2016 was one of change for WWE. The company finally embraced talent that made its name in other organizations, split its brand in two, made SmackDown a live show and invested heavily into brand new sets while expanding its pay-per-view footprint.
With so much having gone down this year, it's only right to take a look at the 10 wrestlers who did the most to help WWE move forward in 2016.
10. Finn Balor: I almost considered leaving Balor off this list entirely due to his injury-shortened year, but it's impossible to overlook how over Balor was in NXT and that he was performing exceedingly well once called up to the main roster -- so well that he was chosen to take the torch as the leader of the "new" Raw brand as the first Universal Champion. An untimely shoulder injury -- which occurred during one of the year's best matches -- cut his rookie year in the big time short, but Balor is poised for a monster 2017.
9. Kevin Owens: If I had done a similar list in 2015, Owens would've been near the top, and even though he's taken over from Balor as the "fresh face" to hold the title, WWE has not done him many favors. Not only did Owens win the belt via interference from Triple H, he quickly jumped into a team with Chris Jericho. While that has made for entertaining television, it dispersed some of Owens' ferocity and made him more of a comedy heel act when he was previously a tough, no-nonsense bruiser. In other words, I wish Owens had been built up more as a strong heel, and had he been, he'd be higher on this list.
8. The Miz: It's easy to overlook Miz based on his character, but he made major strides this year, due in part to the addition of his valet and real-life wife, Maryse. From his shoot-like rant against Daniel Bryan on "Talking Smack" to some incredible matches with Dolph Ziggler, Miz has done a service for WWE and the new "SmackDown Live" brand as a strong Intercontinental Champion and great mic worker. Despite taking some time off to pursue other endeavors and being mired in irrelevancy coming off his long run in the main event scene a few years ago, Miz made sure you knew he was around while on the active roster in 2016.
7. Shinsuke Nakamura: Whereas Owens picked up where Balor left off on Raw, Nakamura carried his torch in NXT. His feud with Samoa Joe has been nothing short of spectacular, and he's done so well on the brand that -- even if you are not a regular NXT viewer -- you're probably not surprised to see him on this list because you've made sure to tune in for a couple of his matches. Nakamura, 36, will be on the main roster soon and will have a real opportunity to turn WWE on its head in 2017.
6. Sasha Banks: Injuries and uneven booking led to a strange year for Banks, but there's no denying that she was one half of the greatest women's wrestling rivalry in ... well ... a hell of a long time. She and Charlotte (who, yes, you will find later on this list) had some blown-spot issues in the ring, but Banks is a legitimate star and well deserving of her multiple (albeit short, more on that later) title runs. Banks and Charlotte fought in Iron Man, Falls Count Anywhere and Hell in a Cell matches ... in a span of less than two months. Is Banks indeed The Boss? You bet.
5. New Day: WWE's tag team division has been a wasteland for years, but credit the company for making a concerted effort to rejuvenate it recently. After some failed efforts and massive misses, New Day broke through and changed everything -- and they did it by bucking creative's initial plans for their team. New Day is so over in WWE that their product catalog exceeds many of the company's top singles stars, and it's actually lost on most how entertaining they are in the ring -- even when off the mic. They are now the longest-running tag team champions in WWE history for a reason: New Day carried the division on its back for more than a year.
4. Roman Reigns: Let's get one thing straight right off the bat. Reigns does not suck. Sure, his character is flawed, a heel turn would have done him an incredible service, and he still needs tons of work on the mic, but Reigns in the ring is still tremendous to watch. He can carry a feud with just about anyone, having worked with Brock Lesnar (and Dean Ambrose), Triple H, Styles and Rollins all up until being suspended for a wellness policy violation. Yes, that's another black eye on his year, but add that to all the negatives I've already mentioned and notice that he's still here in the top five. Reigns has most recently been pulling double duty as the United States Champion and a main eventer, and while the title has suffered because of that, he's also gotten some face rub from Rollins that should endear him to most WWE fans. Here's the short of it: Reigns wrestled in some of this year's best matches, and he's one of the most over performers in the company -- whether you "like" him or not, you should respect what he's achieving in the face of adversity.
3. Chris Jericho: In his last stint with WWE before taking time off to tour with his band, Jericho constantly put over WWE's young up-and-coming talent. So when he returned earlier this year, the expectation was more of the same. Wrong. Jericho was one of WWE's best performers no matter how he was booked -- as a face, as a heel, or in a comedy role next to Raw's Universal Champion in Owens. There's never been a doubt that Jericho could still get over on the mic, but at age 46, it was completely legitimate to question whether he could keep up in the ring. He did just that and then some, starting with a tremendous feud to open the year against AJ Styles before moving into one with Dean Ambrose. Unfortunately with Jericho, his time as a full-time wrestler will come to an end sooner than later, but he has a set coming up soon with Seth Rollins that should take Rollins up until his match with Triple H at WrestleMania. So for now, all you can do is enjoy the Gift of Jericho. Drink it in, mannnnnnnnnn.
2. Charlotte Flair: Charlotte was so dynamic for WWE in 2016 that the company decided to give her a last name just this month! OK, in all seriousness, are the women wrestlers still "divas" without the ascension of Charlotte and Banks to the main roster? Charlotte got some needed rub from Ric Flair to get her over with the most casual fans who still doubted women's wrestling, but even her storyline separation from her father was a starring moment for the company's signature female star. Charlotte has improved week by week as a heel with her ego and sense of entitlement growing along with her reputation.
As mentioned above with Banks, there are still kinks to work out in the ring, but the women earned legitimate and deserved spotlight in 2016 due in large part to Charlotte. WWE has even proven its dedication to her by giving her an undefeated mark in pay-per-view title matches, despite her having swapped the strap with Banks seemingly every month over the last half of the year. In fact, Charlotte has a legitimate case to be No. 1 on this list. Well, if not for ...
1. AJ Styles: Talk about a debut. Styles has literally owned 2016 from the very beginning, and I just so happened to be in attendance to watch him receive a stunning ovation on the Jan. 25 edition of Monday Night Raw after debuting with WWE just one night earlier at the Royal Rumble. Styles was so over so fast that he main evented a pay-per-view in a World Heavyweight Championship match against Reigns just over three months into his WWE career. While he was unable to beat Reigns in a series of title matches, he got clean wins over John Cena over the summer, and Jericho before that, that gave him all the credibility he needed to ultimately beat Ambrose for the world title at Backlash, seven-and-a-half months after his start with the company.
Styles has been so good that WWE smartly put him on a SmackDown roster desperately in need of talent, doing so even though it split him up from The Club, which needed work but had the potential to get over as a stable. Since then, Styles has simply dominated all comers. There's no signs of him giving up the belt anytime soon, which should take him all the way to WrestleMania as champion.
Five that missed the cut
Seth Rollins: Yeah, he was rolling as WWE's top heel at the time of his injury, and though he still gets major pops, he's been mired in lackluster storylines that have kept him away from being a legitimate universal title contender (even when fighting for the championship) while delaying a feud with Triple H that should result in a WrestleMania match. Rollins has done more to help Reigns than himself in 2016. And plus, he was out half the year.
John Cena: Still a workhorse, Cena is a tough guy to leave off this list. But considering he missed five months to injury, spent more time away from the ring to film TV shows and commercials and wound up on the losing side of most of his rivalries in 2016, it was impossible to put him on it even though he put forward some great matches. A sort-of-heelish turn may -- finally -- be coming soon if his comments on SmackDown this Tuesday were any indication.
Dean Ambrose: Ther