Top 5 Series: Top 5 debuts of 2016
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This is the second edition of the Top 5 Series where I'm going to list down the Top 5 debuts of 2016.
To watch my first edition: Click https://wwewithchirag.blogspot.in/2016/12/top-5-series-top-5-matches-of-2016.html.
WWE has now become a land of returns rather than a land of debutants. WWE has now been following a policy of bringing wrestlers to its developmental territory: NXT and then making a shift to the main roster after they've firmly established themselves at WWE NXT. Therefore, the list includes only those wrestlers who performed at WWE (either NXT or main roster) for the first time and does not include wrestlers who simply made their transition to the main roster during the year.
There's no doubt that WWE has been hiring amazing talent from all across the globe. This year, too, WWE hired lots of talent. Some came straight to the main roster while some entered the developmental brand WWE NXT. So let's have a look at my "Top 5 debuts of 2016" -
Honourable mentions -
5. The Club (Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson) - Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson are easily the best tag team champions in the world. They have proved their metal at several occasions both in Japan as well as in the independent circuit. They made their long awaited debut after Wrestlemania 32 and joined A.J.Styles to continue with their faction at NJPW.
2016 was, however, not as good a year for "The Club" as it was for A.J.Styles. We saw Gallows and Anderson getting involved in main events, PPVs to help their buddy Styles win the WWE Championship. We even saw them destroying the classic encounter between A.J.Styles and John Cena at MITB. However, after their separation, The Club has not been able to perform well and is soon going to become rather irrelevant if WWE doesn't do something. However, keeping in mind the impact that these 2 wrestlers made, I have decided to include them in our Top 5 debutants of 2016.
4. Teddy James (T.J. Perkins) - T.J. Perkins shocked the world with his incredible performance at the CWC. I think it is because of wrestlers like Perkins, Ibushi, Alexander, Gran Metalik and many others that 2016 would be incomplete for WWE without the mention of CWC. T.J.Perkins performed exceptionally well and defeated Kota Ibushi in the semi-finals, the likely favourite to win the tournament. He even went on to win the tournament and became the novel owner of the new Cruiserweight Title.
He had good feuds with The Brian Kendrick on Raw and even participated in Dusty Rhodes Classic Tag Team Tournament along with Kota Ibushi. However, after he lost his title to Kendrick, things have gone downhill for the champ and he would be looking to change things a bit in 2017. However, debuting as a champ in WWE certainly makes you T.J.Perkins of the top debutant of 2016.
3. James Ellsworth "Jimmy" Morris - This must probably be an unexpected entrant for most WWE fans. James Ellsworth was introduced in WWE in a squash match where he was absolutely crushed by Braun Strowman. However, since then he's been on a role. His storyline has been one of the main pillars around which WWE World Championship feud was being built.
James Ellsworth was involved in the storyline for WWE World Championship for months and even got extremely close to even becoming one. He costed Dean Ambrose a second reign of WWE World Championship and even picked up 3 wins over A.J.Styles. He even played a pivotal role in Survivor Series elimination match by eliminating Braun Strowman. Ellsworth has to be one of the most unusual yet most entertaining debutant of the year.
2. Shinsuke Nakamura - Never before had any wrestler entered into NXT with greater hype like Nakamura did. He finally made his much awaited return at NXT Takeover Dallas and has stayed in NXT since then, obviously, as the NXT Champion. Shinsuke Nakamura, however, proved to the world that he wasn't just another hype with his extremely sensational performance at Dallas which is now regarded as a tough contender for Match of the Year.
Nakamura is brilliant. He is charismatic, edgy and is definitely one of the best wrestlers currently in the world. He has made a huge fan base already in the U.S. and has taken NXT to a completely different level. Even his entrance music has been at the No. 1 spot for many weeks on iTunes and has been widely appreciated by WWE audiences. Nakamura is a natural talent and "The King of Strong Style" deserves to be on the main roster as soon as possible. His wins over Sami Zayn, Finn Balor and Samoa Joe certainly make him one of the top debutant of 2016.
1. Allen Neal Jones (A.J. Styles) - A.J. Styles has to be at the top. The guy totally deserves it. A.J.Styles has won as many as 29 different champions in his illustrious career and is widely regarded as one of greatest wrestlers of all time. A.J. Styles finally made his official debut at the age of 38 at Royal Rumble 2016 and received a massive cheer! A cheer I believe no superstar had ever received on his debut. A.J. Styles has also had incredible feuds throughout the year. As many as nine of his matches have been rated 4+ my Dave Meltzer and he has the most victories by any superstar in the year 2016 (37).
A.J. Styles was, however, not utilised how he should have been with his feud with Chris Jericho which he eventually loss at Wrestlemania. However, since then, "The Phenomenal One" has never stopped. He had incredible matches with Roman Reigns, John Cena and Dean Ambrose and even made James Ellsworth relevant. However, this was not his first appearance in WWE. He had made an appearance as a local participant in 2002 but that was not a contract and it took 14 years for WWE to finally get the best back to where he belongs. A.J. Styles, the current WWE World Champion, certainly deserves to be the best debutant of WWE in 2016.
Do share your views in the comments below on who you feel were the best debutants of 2016. Keep subscribing guys! Next list coming soon.
This is the second edition of the Top 5 Series where I'm going to list down the Top 5 debuts of 2016.
To watch my first edition: Click https://wwewithchirag.blogspot.in/2016/12/top-5-series-top-5-matches-of-2016.html.
WWE has now become a land of returns rather than a land of debutants. WWE has now been following a policy of bringing wrestlers to its developmental territory: NXT and then making a shift to the main roster after they've firmly established themselves at WWE NXT. Therefore, the list includes only those wrestlers who performed at WWE (either NXT or main roster) for the first time and does not include wrestlers who simply made their transition to the main roster during the year.
There's no doubt that WWE has been hiring amazing talent from all across the globe. This year, too, WWE hired lots of talent. Some came straight to the main roster while some entered the developmental brand WWE NXT. So let's have a look at my "Top 5 debuts of 2016" -
Honourable mentions -
- Bobby Roode
- Kota Ibushi
- Eric Young
- Sanity (apart from Eric Young)
5. The Club (Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson) - Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson are easily the best tag team champions in the world. They have proved their metal at several occasions both in Japan as well as in the independent circuit. They made their long awaited debut after Wrestlemania 32 and joined A.J.Styles to continue with their faction at NJPW.
2016 was, however, not as good a year for "The Club" as it was for A.J.Styles. We saw Gallows and Anderson getting involved in main events, PPVs to help their buddy Styles win the WWE Championship. We even saw them destroying the classic encounter between A.J.Styles and John Cena at MITB. However, after their separation, The Club has not been able to perform well and is soon going to become rather irrelevant if WWE doesn't do something. However, keeping in mind the impact that these 2 wrestlers made, I have decided to include them in our Top 5 debutants of 2016.
4. Teddy James (T.J. Perkins) - T.J. Perkins shocked the world with his incredible performance at the CWC. I think it is because of wrestlers like Perkins, Ibushi, Alexander, Gran Metalik and many others that 2016 would be incomplete for WWE without the mention of CWC. T.J.Perkins performed exceptionally well and defeated Kota Ibushi in the semi-finals, the likely favourite to win the tournament. He even went on to win the tournament and became the novel owner of the new Cruiserweight Title.
He had good feuds with The Brian Kendrick on Raw and even participated in Dusty Rhodes Classic Tag Team Tournament along with Kota Ibushi. However, after he lost his title to Kendrick, things have gone downhill for the champ and he would be looking to change things a bit in 2017. However, debuting as a champ in WWE certainly makes you T.J.Perkins of the top debutant of 2016.
3. James Ellsworth "Jimmy" Morris - This must probably be an unexpected entrant for most WWE fans. James Ellsworth was introduced in WWE in a squash match where he was absolutely crushed by Braun Strowman. However, since then he's been on a role. His storyline has been one of the main pillars around which WWE World Championship feud was being built.
James Ellsworth was involved in the storyline for WWE World Championship for months and even got extremely close to even becoming one. He costed Dean Ambrose a second reign of WWE World Championship and even picked up 3 wins over A.J.Styles. He even played a pivotal role in Survivor Series elimination match by eliminating Braun Strowman. Ellsworth has to be one of the most unusual yet most entertaining debutant of the year.
2. Shinsuke Nakamura - Never before had any wrestler entered into NXT with greater hype like Nakamura did. He finally made his much awaited return at NXT Takeover Dallas and has stayed in NXT since then, obviously, as the NXT Champion. Shinsuke Nakamura, however, proved to the world that he wasn't just another hype with his extremely sensational performance at Dallas which is now regarded as a tough contender for Match of the Year.
Nakamura is brilliant. He is charismatic, edgy and is definitely one of the best wrestlers currently in the world. He has made a huge fan base already in the U.S. and has taken NXT to a completely different level. Even his entrance music has been at the No. 1 spot for many weeks on iTunes and has been widely appreciated by WWE audiences. Nakamura is a natural talent and "The King of Strong Style" deserves to be on the main roster as soon as possible. His wins over Sami Zayn, Finn Balor and Samoa Joe certainly make him one of the top debutant of 2016.
1. Allen Neal Jones (A.J. Styles) - A.J. Styles has to be at the top. The guy totally deserves it. A.J.Styles has won as many as 29 different champions in his illustrious career and is widely regarded as one of greatest wrestlers of all time. A.J. Styles finally made his official debut at the age of 38 at Royal Rumble 2016 and received a massive cheer! A cheer I believe no superstar had ever received on his debut. A.J. Styles has also had incredible feuds throughout the year. As many as nine of his matches have been rated 4+ my Dave Meltzer and he has the most victories by any superstar in the year 2016 (37).
A.J. Styles was, however, not utilised how he should have been with his feud with Chris Jericho which he eventually loss at Wrestlemania. However, since then, "The Phenomenal One" has never stopped. He had incredible matches with Roman Reigns, John Cena and Dean Ambrose and even made James Ellsworth relevant. However, this was not his first appearance in WWE. He had made an appearance as a local participant in 2002 but that was not a contract and it took 14 years for WWE to finally get the best back to where he belongs. A.J. Styles, the current WWE World Champion, certainly deserves to be the best debutant of WWE in 2016.
*Images Courtesy: WWE.com
*Videos Courtesy: WWE.com
Top 5 Series: Top 5 debuts of 2016
Reviewed by Elections 2024
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13:35
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Reviewed by Elections 2024
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13:35
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