what are your picks..so far because 2019 is ongoing
It's tricky to single out full years as the best, because a lot of it has been mixed.
I started watching again regularly in 2012. Brock Lesnar returned and with him some edge was brought back to WWE, Punk was reigning as champ... but we had "People Power" and Alberto Del Rio being shit in main events.
2013 had the emergence of the Shield and Bray Wyatt, as well as the ascension of Daniel Bryan... but The Authority took over the second part of the year.
2014 had the Network launching and Wrestlemania 30... but Bryan got hurt and the Authority reigned over the year.
2015... I liked 2015. It was the year Reigns really ascended to main event status, and for all the hate he got as a character, I thought he worked extremely hard in PPV matches and delivered. NXT made the jump to indy super brand. Sasha & Bayley changed the game in Brooklyn. We got more Network specials as the streaming servive found its groove. Seth cashed in MITB and made a great Mania moment, plus he had a star-making performance in the Triple Threat at the Rumble. The Rumble match itself wasn't good though, and the Authority was still around... yeah, I think my biggest problem with the 2010s has been the played out Authority and the tired creative tropes surrounding that.
2016... AJ Styles debuted and we got the brand split back to help make Smackdown relevant again. NXT and the women's revolution were great, Summerslam was cool... gotta admit, I REALLY didn't like Mania, and as much as I defended Reigns before, he and Triple H stunk the joint up in the Mania main event... Mania 32 as a whole wasn't very good IMO, which hurts the rating of the year.
2017... I'll probably be kinder to this one as I went to Mania that year. Thought the whole Rumble PPV was great though, the Chamber PPV followed nicely, and while Reigns and Taker gave us another painful WM main event, WM33 was pretty good IMO. AJ vs. Shane, Neville vs. Aries, the return of the Hardys which was massive, Brock vs. Goldberg was a really fun sprint, and I liked Jericho vs. KO and HHH vs. Rollins even if it wasn't perfect. Thought PPVs and Takeovers throughout the year delivered- Summerslam especially. TLC was a cool surprise with Kurt Angle returning to the ring and Styles vs. Balor.
2018- the Saudi shows left a bad taste in my mouth, not just from a political standpoint, they were just bad wrestling shows. In the US, Backlash and Extreme Rules sucked. Rumble and Mania were good though. Rousey was a revelation. The second half of 2018 was actually stronger, I feel. MITB, Summerslam, HIAC... quality shows. Evolution came out of the blue and knocked it out the park. Super Show-Down was the first PPV in Australia, which automatically elevates it for me- but Cedric vs. Murphy, AJ vs Joe and Shield vs. McIntyre, Ziggler and Strowman were legitimately quality. Survivor Series, great. TLC, great. But man, those Saudi shows... Crown Jewel especially is up there as a WOAT PPV. Good thing December To Dismember was a thing.
So going through the years, it's 2015 or 2017 for me. I want to use my bias for 2017, but then again... Jinder Mahal was WWE Champion, which was worse than Alberto Del Rio. Because of NXT, the Network, Seth Rollins, some underrated Lesnar, Reigns and Taker work... ooh, as well as John Cena's re-invention as US Champ and feud with KO... 2015 wins.
It's tricky to single out full years as the best, because a lot of it has been mixed.
I started watching again regularly in 2012. Brock Lesnar returned and with him some edge was brought back to WWE, Punk was reigning as champ... but we had "People Power" and Alberto Del Rio being shit in main events.
2013 had the emergence of the Shield and Bray Wyatt, as well as the ascension of Daniel Bryan... but The Authority took over the second part of the year.
2014 had the Network launching and Wrestlemania 30... but Bryan got hurt and the Authority reigned over the year.
2015... I liked 2015. It was the year Reigns really ascended to main event status, and for all the hate he got as a character, I thought he worked extremely hard in PPV matches and delivered. NXT made the jump to indy super brand. Sasha & Bayley changed the game in Brooklyn. We got more Network specials as the streaming servive found its groove. Seth cashed in MITB and made a great Mania moment, plus he had a star-making performance in the Triple Threat at the Rumble. The Rumble match itself wasn't good though, and the Authority was still around... yeah, I think my biggest problem with the 2010s has been the played out Authority and the tired creative tropes surrounding that.
2016... AJ Styles debuted and we got the brand split back to help make Smackdown relevant again. NXT and the women's revolution were great, Summerslam was cool... gotta admit, I REALLY didn't like Mania, and as much as I defended Reigns before, he and Triple H stunk the joint up in the Mania main event... Mania 32 as a whole wasn't very good IMO, which hurts the rating of the year.
2017... I'll probably be kinder to this one as I went to Mania that year. Thought the whole Rumble PPV was great though, the Chamber PPV followed nicely, and while Reigns and Taker gave us another painful WM main event, WM33 was pretty good IMO. AJ vs. Shane, Neville vs. Aries, the return of the Hardys which was massive, Brock vs. Goldberg was a really fun sprint, and I liked Jericho vs. KO and HHH vs. Rollins even if it wasn't perfect. Thought PPVs and Takeovers throughout the year delivered- Summerslam especially. TLC was a cool surprise with Kurt Angle returning to the ring and Styles vs. Balor.
2018- the Saudi shows left a bad taste in my mouth, not just from a political standpoint, they were just bad wrestling shows. In the US, Backlash and Extreme Rules sucked. Rumble and Mania were good though. Rousey was a revelation. The second half of 2018 was actually stronger, I feel. MITB, Summerslam, HIAC... quality shows. Evolution came out of the blue and knocked it out the park. Super Show-Down was the first PPV in Australia, which automatically elevates it for me- but Cedric vs. Murphy, AJ vs Joe and Shield vs. McIntyre, Ziggler and Strowman were legitimately quality. Survivor Series, great. TLC, great. But man, those Saudi shows... Crown Jewel especially is up there as a WOAT PPV. Good thing December To Dismember was a thing.
So going through the years, it's 2015 or 2017 for me. I want to use my bias for 2017, but then again... Jinder Mahal was WWE Champion, which was worse than Alberto Del Rio. Because of NXT, the Network, Seth Rollins, some underrated Lesnar, Reigns and Taker work... ooh, as well as John Cena's re-invention as US Champ and feud with KO... 2015 wins.
