Most Overrated: Ryback
Ryback isn’t the liability in the ring he was in 2013 back when he was a botch machine and/or flat-out dangerous to work with, but he still has the lowest ceiling of any prominently featured wrestler in the WWE today. His character is stale as day-old soda and he can’t work a match for longer than five minutes. While he should be used as either a comedy figure (that’s not to hate on him, if you’ve ever seen him interviewed, he’s a big, lovable goof) or a hot tag guy, the WWE continues to package him as a top babyface…and it just ain’t working.
Honorable Mention: Charlotte
Best Storyline: Bayley Finally Wins the Big One
It may not have been intentional, but the “Bayley can’t win the big one” fruit has been low-hanging and ripe for a long while now. She had always been there for each big opportunity to win it, of course. She was in the tournament to belt the inaugural champ in 2013, losing to Alicia Fox and was there in 2014 after Paige vacated the title, losing to Sasha Banks. Oh, and the Fatal Four-way in 2015 at TakeOver: Rival? Yeah…There too. Over time, Bayley established herself as the one legitimate heel under the WWE umbrella. While John Cena, Roman Reigns and Ryback had all their cheers met with a comparable number of boos, Bayley was the one babyface that was received as such by the fans. So when she finally won the NXT Women’s Championship in front of a big, raucous crowd at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn after a four-star match with Sasha Banks, it was a one-of-a-kind moment.
Honorable Mention: Split-Personality Kane
Worst Storyline: The Divas Revolution
Hand-in-hand with Bayley and Sasha Banks becoming the leading figures of NXT, women’s wrestling hit what was arguably an all-time low in 2015. A tag-team match in the Bella Twins vs. Paige and Emma lasted 10 seconds and sparked outrage on Twitter that talented performers were being so blatantly stifled. The WWE called Sasha Banks, Becky Lynch and Charlotte up from NXT as a result and the so-called “Divas Revolution” started. Unfortunately, while Sasha, Becky and Charlotte were a big upgrade in terms of in-ring talent, Divas are no more prominently featured on cards, and no more developed as characters.
Honorable Mention: Viva MexAmerica!
Best and Worst Moves of 2015 Next:
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