20 Most Unbelievable WWE Moments From 2016

Wow! What a year 2016 was for professional wrestling in general, but especially WWE.

Think of the current landscape that is WWE. Think about the continued development of the WWE Network, the incredible caliber of WWE talents, the added value of the company's special events, the recent partnering with outside wrestling organizations, and the current split touring schedule the company is presenting. Think about where this landscape was just 12 months ago and it becomes very clear that 2016 was a crazy, unpredictable, exciting, and in some cases, long-awaited year for WWE.

From returning superstars to debuting ones, from new champions and new contracts to radical shifts in the company's strategies, the number of unbelievable moments that took place in WWE this year seemed to hit an all-time high.

There have been times with more shocking single moments that will go down as having a bigger impact on the business than anything that happened in 2016. There have also been years where WWE found greater success thanks to industry-changing decisions. But there may be no greater year than 2016 when it comes to the sheer number of moments once considered more than unlikely, nigh impossible, that ended up taking place on WWE television.

The industry and WWE changed drastically in 2016 thanks to the following 20 most unbelievable moments from 2016.

Many fans may be growing tired of the James Ellsworth experiment, but the idea of the jobber-turned-superstar was a great story in 2016 and the success couldn't have been predicted.

Ellsworth was first introduced to WWE audiences in July, losing a squash match to Braun Strowman on Raw. James' popularity sky-rocketed over the next several weeks, eventually earning him a contract as a full-time superstar on the SmackDown roster.

The idea of taking an enhancement talent and turning them into a bonafide superstar is nothing new to WWE. One of the earliest instances of such an introduction came in May '93 when the 1-2-3 Kid scored a shocking upset victory over Razor Ramon on an early episode of Monday Night Raw. A couple years later, WWE went back to the same well to deliver a similar story, this time featuring lifetime enhancement talent, Barry Horowitz, defeating Skip of the Body Donnas.

James Ellsworth has not only followed in those men's footsteps by scoring multiple victories over AJ Styles, he's actually surpassed their early successes by making it into SmackDown's main event picture, albeit in a likely temporary position.

Say what you want about WWE's use of James Ellsworth, but his spot on SmackDown alone is enough to begin WWE's most unbelievable moments of 2016.