10 Things We Never Thought We Would See In WWE In The 2010s

AJ Styles arriving in WWE wasn't the only shocking event to have occurred this decade.

WWE hasn't been nearly as hot as it once was during the Attitude Era or even a decade ago, but there have still been some monumental moments over the past six years. This year has already proven to be historic for WWE, as AJ Styles made his highly anticipated debut in the 2016 Royal Rumble match a little over one week ago. Before the rumors broke at the dawn of 2016 that Styles and other New Japan Pro Wrestling stars were potentially WWE bound, no one could have ever expected The Phenomenal One to make the move to the Stamford-based organization. Widely regarded as one of the greatest wrestlers in the world today, he was perfectly content ripping it up overseas, but instead decided to take on a new challenge in signing with WWE for the first time as a main roster performer. Needless to say, just the thought of Style entering a Rumble match would have been unfathomable several years ago, but it is far from the first time something fans never thought would come to be ultimately did, and it likely won't be the last. The 2010s have been a decade of unprecedented happenings in WWE, and what is more exciting than anything is that they are only halfway over.

10. The Birth Of The WWE Network

If you grew up watching wrestling in the 1980s, 1990s or even the early 2000s, you would have killed for something like the WWE Network, which would have made it remarkably hard to ever left the house. 2014 was a roller coaster of a year for wrestling fans with The Shield splitting up and Daniel Bryan having to sit on the sidelines for most of it, but one of the best things to come out of that year was the birth of the WWE Network. Granted, it wasn't without its flaws at first, but by and large, at $9.99, it is an absolute steal of a deal. For that low of a price, you can watch every WWE, WCW and ECW pay-per-view ever along with original programming. We can complain about entrance themes being changed. We can complain about the edited, censored content. But at the end of the year, it is hard to complain about the endless entertainment it provides. The concept of the Network had been fantasized about for years, but it didn't become a serious topic of discussion until around 2011. WWE made the mistake of announcing the Network long before it actually launched, so there was a three year period where fans thought the whole thing had been abandoned. Thankfully, it came to be in February 2014 and has completely changed WWE's pay-per-view model. Say what you will about the service and its issues, but it has made watching the monthly events significantly easier for the average fan.
Contributor
Contributor

Since 2008, Graham has been a diehard pro wrestling fan and, in 2010, he combined his passions for WWE and writing when he joined Bleacher Report. Equipped with a master's in journalism, Graham has contributed to WhatCulture, FanSided's Daily DDT, Sports Betting Dime, and GateHouse Media. Along the way, he has conducted interviews with wrestling superstars like Chris Jericho, Edge, Goldberg, Christian, Diamond Dallas Page, Jim Ross, Adam Cole, Tessa Blanchard, Ryback, and Nick Aldis among others.