2016 was an interesting year for WWE pay per views. It started with one roster and ended with two. Instead of seeing the same 12 that we get every year, the WWE Universe got to watch fifteen! So I, Mr. Monday Night Raw, decided to rank them from worst to best!
Disclaimer.
Wrestling is subjective. While I enjoyed some shows more than others, you may have the opposite opinion. That’s the beauty of pro wrestling. So if you aren’t down with my rankings, I’ve got two words for ya… Please leave your thoughts and feelings in the comment section below, as I’d love to discuss what made 2016 the year it was in WWE, thank you so much!
Or was that more than two words?
Ranking All 2016 WWE Pay Per Views
15. FastLane
This pay per view was basically a really long episode of Monday Night Raw. It was full of filler and pointless matches, like Curtis Axel vs. R-Truth on the main card. It was the worst pay per view of the year because it didn’t really need to happen.
Best Match- Kalisto vs. Alberto Del Rio
A year ago, Kalisto was United States Champion. Hard to believe, isn’t it? Not only that, but he was in the middle of a feud with Alberto Del Rio. These two had a pretty solid match. While most of the card was just filler, this bout actually meant something, and it’s a shame that Kalisto’s run as a champion was so forgettable.
Worst Match- Big Show, Kane, and Ryback vs. The Wyatt Family
This match wasn’t necessarily awful, but the finish was. In 2016, Big Show and Kane didn’t need to be winning pay per view matches, especially not over young guys like the Wyatt Family. And while it’s true that the family didn’t really have direction heading into WrestleMania, they deserved more than this.
Best Moment- None
I went back and watched this pay per view, and while there were some really great spots, like Brock Lesnar suplexing Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose at the same time, there wasn’t really a great moment. Roman Reigns won the main event, as we knew he would, and the whole show was filler.
14. No Mercy
This match suffered from strange booking. Not just in the ring, but in the order of matches. John Cena vs. AJ Styles vs. Dean Ambrose for the WWE Championship could’ve been a WrestleMania main event, but instead it was the first match on an iffy pay per view. The show never really recovered from this match opening.
Best Match- Dolph Ziggler vs. The Miz
Oddly, in one of my least favorite pay per views, I had one of my favorite matches. It was Dolph Ziggler‘s career vs. The Miz‘ Intercontinental Championship, and most of us were sure Ziggler was retiring. But he didn’t. Instead the two went on an emotional journey that resulted in a win for the Showoff. But that didn’t close the show, and that’s the problem.
Worst Match- Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton
We’re talking about something that could ultimately end up the main event of WrestleMania this year, but it’s what closed the show, and it really shouldn’t have. Not because of the two men, but because the rest of the show. The crowd was totally out of it, and a screwy finish with Luke Harper didn’t help. Man, talk about foreshadowing.
Best Moment- Dolph Winning
Pretty open and shut case here, folks. Dolph Ziggler wasn’t leaving, and he was the Intercontinental Champion! It was a great moment, and it’s a shame that his title run wasn’t more memorable.
13. RoadBlock
Also known as Monday Night Raw: The Pay Per View. It was fine. Sheasaro ended the New Day‘s title reign, and the Women’s Championship was good, but the show just felt like an episode of Raw. Handsome Rusev beat Big Cass by countout, Sami Zayn survived a 10 minute match against Braun Strowman, and guess what, Kevin Owens ended a title defense via DQ.
Best Match- Charlotte Flair vs. Sasha Banks
So, this was a 30-minute Iron Woman match for the title, and it was fine. It wasn’t the best pay per view match the two would have, and ultimately, they struggled with the time. The problem with an iron man match, other than the fact that it will never be as good as a Batman match, is that people kinda know nothing is gonna happen until the end.
The match went to overtime, like most iron man matches do, and like we all expected, Charlotte retained, extending her pay per view streak. As a wrestling match, it was good, it just wasn’t great.
Worst Match- Rusev vs. Big Cass
This match wasn’t even five minutes long, and it ended in a countout. So, what’s the point? This whole feud was garbage anyway, but why have a five minute pay per view match?
Best Moment- The End?
There wasn’t really a huge emotional moment in this show. I guess the closest thing would be the reunion of JeriKO and then the Shield beat-down at the end? It was good to see the Owens and Jericho friendship resume and who doesn’t love a good ol fashion powerbomb?
12. Clash of Champions
The problem with Raw pay per views is that nothing really seems to ever happen. In this show, the United States Championship changed hands from Handsome Rusev to Reviled Roman Reigns, and that’s about it. It was just so uneventful.
Best Match- Kevin Owens vs. Seth Rollins
We hadn’t seen this match 600 times yet, so it still felt fresh. Throw in that Seth Rollins basically beat Kevin Owens, only for Chris Jericho to ruin the fun, and you’ve got yourself a solid match.
Worst Match- The New Day vs. The Club
This is where people started getting bored with the New Day. They had to cheat to retain their titles… against heels? It was kinda silly, and didn’t do anyone any favors.
Best Moment- Cesaro vs. Sheamus
This was the final match in their best of seven series, and it was thrown out because both of these manly men were just too manly. It made the series a draw, setting up a tag team I got to name, that WWE stole. That’s right, I invented Sheasaro, and you’ll be hearing from my lawyers, Kevin Dunn.
11. Payback
You wanna know what finish is hilarious and always makes the crowd happy? Redoing the Montreal Screwjob. Ha! And what’s even better? We’ll have Bret Hart at ringside, like he hasn’t had to talk about this terrible thing in every interview he’s ever done.
Best Match- Roman Reigns vs. AJ Styles
That’s right. Roman Reigns and AJ Styles easily had the best match of this card. They had crazy chemistry, and every time they fought, it was really, really, really fun to watch. I hope these two link up again sometime in the future, maybe after Triple H is put in charge.
Worst Match- The Vaudevillains vs. The Certified G’s
This isn’t anyone’s fault. Enzo Amore took a really, really, really ugly bump, knocking him out early. It’s a damn shame, because neither tag team has really had any momentum since, especially not the Vaudevillains.
Best Moment- None.
This wasn’t really a feel-good pay per view. There were a couple of decent matches, but there wasn’t a moment that made anyone at home chuckle. This show lived in pay per view purgatory, chilling between “another episode of Raw” and “surprisingly actually pretty good.”
10. TLC
We’ve turned the corner. From here on out, nothing but pay per views that I genuinely enjoyed in 2016. This was a good show, and an appropriate use of gimmick matches. Not to mention, there weren’t really any terrible matches.
Best Match- AJ Styles vs. Dean Ambrose
Dean Ambrose is solid. He’s awesome on the mic, and with the right partner, he can have a great match. AJ Styles might be one of the greatest of all time. Scratch that, he is one of the greatest of all time. This match displayed that. Styles did so much nonsense in this match, like the Springboard 450 Splash, that took my breath away. Kudos, Phenomenal One.
Worst Match- 10 Man Tag Team Match
This match was the worst on the show because it was just filler, it wasn’t even a terrible bout. The Hype Bros, American Alpha, and Apollo Crews beat the Vaudevillians, the Ascension, and Curt Hawkins in a match that wasn’t too long, but also didn’t really have meaning.
Best Moment- Ellsworth Turns Heel
I don’t care. Nope. I don’t care. I don’t care. While I can’t stand James Ellsworth, having him cost Dean Ambrose the match was kinda funny. I called it, it was predictable, but it was funny. Only because his reasoning was that he “had AJ’s number” and could win the championship. I chuckled.
9. Hell in a Cell
Yup. I said it, Hell in a Cell > TLC. Is this Raw bias? Perhaps. Or perhaps I just felt like this show was more rounded. All three cell matches were great, even the one with Roman Reigns, and though most titles were retained, it was a good show.
Best Match- Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks
Okay, so this is a controversial match. Two women, main eventing a pay per view, inside Hell in a Cell? Phew. Some people loved it, some people hated it, but everyone talked about it. Personally, I loved it. I think they did a lot of fun spots, and made it clear that women can main event a pay per view.
Worst Match- Bayley vs. Dana Brooke
Poor Bayley. As great as she is, even she can’t get a respectable match out of Dana Brooke. The whole thing was awkward and took too long, at just over six minutes. Dana Brooke got rushed up too early, and should definitely still be in NXT.
Best Moment- Friendship
Months before the duo would fall apart in hideous fashion, this was the best part of Jericho and Owen’s friendship. Even as Earth’s biggest Seth Rollins mark, it was outstanding to see these two gleefully terrorize the architect.
8. Backlash
It might not be outrageous to insinuate that the best moment of this pay per view is the reason it was ranked this high. But this was a really solid show. There wasn’t really a bad match, and it saw two brand new champions crowned.
Best Match- SmackDown Women’s Championship Match
This was a fun match, and it started a few stories that are still going. For instance, Naomi eliminated Alexa Bliss, the same woman she’d beat for the Championship. Nikki Bella eliminated Natalya, the woman she was feuding with until Tuesday night. And Becky Lynch was the first ever SmackDown Women’s Champion, finally overcoming the “bridesmaid” label. Good stuff, ladies.
Worst Match- Kane vs. Bray Wyatt
Randy Orton was too injured to compete, so instead Bray Wyatt had to wrestle Kane. Sure, Kane only won because Orton came out and hit Wyatt with an RKO, but it still happened. Kane doesn’t need to be winning pay per view matches, especially not over younger talent like Bray Wyatt, in 2016.
Best Moment- AJ Wins Gold
AJ Styles won the WWE Championship. Tell someone that in 2014 and see if they don’t immediately check you into the looney bin. Seeing the Phenomenal One carrying WWE Championship gold was almost surreal, and it’s something I’ll never forget.
7. WrestleMania 32
This is a controversial placing. Some will say that an event like Mania should be so, so, so much higher, and others will say the show was so bad that it should be at the bottom of this list. I’m a little torn. I live in the middle, and here’s why.
Roman Reigns winning the title sucked, in fact, a lot of the finishes were screwy. But there were also some good moments, and the matches were all pretty solid. It wasn’t as good as the previous two WrestleManias, but it wasn’t as bad as RoadBlock either.
Best Match- Women’s Triple Threat
Shut up. No question. This match was awesome. The “Diva’s Revolution” was a dumpster-fire, but this match right here is what changed WWE’s women’s division. It was fantastic, and at points, it looked like all three women had a chance to win the brand new title.
Worst Match- The Rock vs. Erick Rowan
Yeah. Remember when The Rock came back, lit his name on fire, and buried the Wyatt Family? Good stuff. Thanks Dwayne. Thanks a lot.
As far as real matches are concerned, Ambrose vs. Brock Lesnar was a dumpster fire too. They needed to decide if they wanted Lesnar to eat Ambrose alive or make him come up just short. They ended up somewhere between and it was a crap bout.
Best Moment- Zack Ryder
Nobody thought Zack Ryder was going to win the Intercontinental Championship. And even though he only held it for a day, watching someone that has overcome so much, and dealt with so much stupidity (See: Anything he’s ever done near Kane, Eve Torres, or John Cena), win on such a huge stage was awesome.
6. Money in the Bank
This was a fun show. WWE was finally starting to get healthy again, and their roster was stacked. AJ Styles and John Cena had their first match on this card, and it’s still not what comes to mind when you think of this show. It was a great pay per view, and it set up the brand split perfectly.
Best Match- Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins
This was Seth Rollins’ first match after coming back from injury, and it was awesome. He sold the ring rust, and Roman Reigns played monster. At points, it looked like WWE were teasing a double turn. This was the first time that Seth Rollins would reverse the spear into a Pedigree, and eventually regain the title that he never lost… for about a minute.
Worst Match- Apollo Crews vs. Sheamus
This match happened. Do you remember this feud? At the time, Sheamus‘ gimmick was that he hated the New Era, and to him, that was embodied by Apollo Crews. So they had a few matches, and none of them were anything to write home to mom about.
Best Moment- The Shield Wins Gold
Over the span of five minutes, all three members of the Shield were WWE World Heavyweight Champion. That’s pretty great. It was also great to see Dean Ambrose finally win the big belt, even if it was a little late, and his run was a little boring.
5. Extreme Rules
Best Match- Intercontinental Championship Fatal 4-Way
Roman Reigns vs. AJ Styles is a close second, but this match was just a ton of fun. Nobody thought the Miz was going to come away with the win (let alone become the best Intercontinental Champion in years), but he did! All four men looked like believable contenders and it’s a fun match to re-watch months later.
Worst Match- Dean Ambrose vs. Chris Jericho
This feud was bad, and that’s weird. Both guys are really talented, but their styles just didn’t mesh. The Asylum Match was a terrible addition too. This match was really, really boring, and adding some cheap spots at the end didn’t make it any more entertaining.
Best Moment- Seth Rollins Returns
After being gone for several months, Seth Rollins made his epic return at Extreme Rules. After retaining his title, Roman Reigns was standing tall in the middle of the ring. Suddenly, a figure slid into the ring and spun Reigns around. It was Rollins! He hit the Pedigree and picked up the title he never really lost, showing us all that he was back with a vengeance.
4. SummerSlam
I’ll go ahead and say it. The crowd ruined this pay per view. Absolutely ruined it. They were dead during great matches and their markitude absolutely spoiled a great match between Seth Rollins and Finn Balor. If you take a step back and look, this was actually a really solid show.
Best Match- Finn Balor vs. Seth Rollins
This was a fantastic match. Go back and watch it with the volume off. These two are incredible, and they did great work together, despite the fact that Seth Rollins looked like a highlighter. Consider that it was a good match and that Balor wrestled most of it with his arm hanging on by a thread.
Worst Match- Brock Lesnar vs. Randy Orton
Right, what was that? Brock Lesnar basically tried to murder Randy Orton, and it looks like he almost succeeded. Obviously Orton can’t beat Lesnar, but… come on man… That was the main event.
Best Moment- The Demon Wins Gold… Er… Red?
Finn Balor was the very first Universal Champion. He won the ugly red belt, and this should be a moment we remember fondly. His injury took the wind out of it, but the arena full of marks sank it.
3. The Royal Rumble
Best Match- Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens
It feels like Dean either puts on the best match or the worst match on a pay per view, doesn’t it? But Mr. CZW and Mr. ROH put on one hell of a Last Man Standing match. Little did both men know that later that year, both of them would hold World Championships.
Worst Match- Tag Team Turmoil
Mark Henry and Jack Swagger won a tag team fatal fourway that included the Ascension, the Dudley Boyz, and the strange team of Damien Sandow and Darren Young, with two Royal Rumble spots on the line. Henry and Swagger were both eliminated pretty easily so… why even have this match?
Best Moment- Roman’s Confused Face
By this, I mean the WWE debut of a Mr. AJ Styles. We all knew he was coming to WWE, and all assumed he would show up in the rumble match, but that didn’t stop this moment from being iconic. We didn’t know that AJ was about to have one of the best rookie years of all time, we just knew the Phenomenal One was finally part of the WWE Universe.
2. Survivor Series
Isn’t Survivor Series almost always great? Maybe not in 2015, because the show fell apart without Seth Rollins, but historically, it’s always a fun show. The brand split reinvigorated the pay per view, as brand loyalty was back in style.
Best Match- Team Raw vs. Team SmackDown (Men)
This match was nearly an hour long. WWE doesn’t go that long very often anymore, but they certainly pulled it off. So much happened in this match that it’s hard to recollect without missing stuff.
What about when James Ellsworth prevented Braun Strowman from getting back in the ring? The “List” disaster that got Owens eliminated and forced Jericho to eat an RKO? Who could forget the ungodly spear that should’ve retired Shane McMahon? There was a certain powerbomb… that I’ll discuss in a moment, and Bray Wyatt pinned Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns, a sign of things to come.
Worst Match- Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar
This is a controversial match. Because while it was the worst match on the card, it easily could’ve been the best too. We all complain about how predictable WWE is, but here they shocked the world. By having Goldberg beat Brock Lesnar in a minute and a half, they surprised everyone who watches pro wrestling.
I still think that they should’ve waited and transferred the heat from breaking the streak to a younger wrestler, but there’s no question that it immediately made Goldberg the unbeatable monster that will challenge Kevin Owens for his Universal Championship at FastLane. Again, wrestling is subjective.
Best Moment- Shield Reunion
I’m a mark. I’ll admit it, the second I knew that all three members of the Shield were going to be in this match, I knew that someway, somehow, there was going to be a triple powerbomb. That didn’t stop me from welling up like a child when Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins teamed up to free Dean Ambrose from the security guards trying to remove him from the ring. And when they triple powerbombed A.J. Styles, it was a spectacular moment.
1. Battleground
Disclaimer, I’m a little biased. I was able to attend this pay per view in person, and even going back and watching on the WWE Network, I’m still watching through nostalgia glasses. But also, it was a legitimately good card! Bayley debuted, Zack Ryder had the match of his life, and the brilliant bout between Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens stole the show.
Best Match- Natalya vs. Becky Lynch
This was easily, without a doubt, the best match I’ve ever seen. Mad? Okay, because obviously I’m just joking.
Best Match- Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens
This was, without a doubt, the best match I’ve ever seen in person. These two obviously love wrestling each other, and we love watching it. I never wanted this match to end. The way that Zayn took an ugly bump, and sold it like he was legitimately injured for the whole match? Brilliant.
And what about the closing moments? When Sami Zayn picks Kevin Owens up for the final Helluva Kick, and just glares at him. It’s a great wrestling match, fused with great storytelling, and why, oh, why isn’t Sami Zayn the Universal Champion yet?
Worst Match- The Miz vs. Darren Young
This match wasn’t bad, it just suffered from a hideously stupid ending. It was a DQ, because the Miz shoved Bob Backlund. Huh? It was just horribly stupid, and Darren Young never recovered.
Best Moment- Bayley Debuts
I’ve never forget this moment because I turned in to a 10 year old girl. Sasha Banks was about to introduce her surprise partner, and I saw stage-hands moving this round objects onto the stage. I tugged on my friend Conner’s shirt and started bouncing on my seat and pointing. “Wacky wavy inflatable tube men!” I gasped before shouting again so everyone in the arena could hear, “WACKY WAVY INFLATABLE TUBE MEN!”, and sure enough, Bayley’s music hit.
The whole arena absolutely lost their minds, and I still have the video on my phone to this day. Just imagine going to a pay per view so good that the main event was the Shield Triple Threat… and it’s an afterthought.
But that’s just me! Congratulations on making it all the way through the list… of Ry-icho, share it arouuund, maaaaan. Or you just scrolled to the bottom to see what number one is. Shame. Shame on you.
