10 Best Years In WWE History

9. 2012

Steve Austin Vince McMahon Raw 1997
WWE.com

2012 was the starting point of WWE's upturn in fortunes.

The retirements of Edge and Shawn Michaels, Batista's hiatus and Undertaker's even lighter schedule ensured that Cena was left alone atop the mountain, which WWE did its level best to cover in grease in 2010 and 2011.

During this time, R-Truth was considered an acceptable headliner. Nonentity Ezekiel Jackson was emblematic of WWE's push-big-men-at-all-costs policy. The company frittered away the hottest angle they had in years in the Nexus by feeding them to Cena.

There remained a reliance on part time mercenaries and glory-seekers in 2012, but one of them was Brock Lesnar, whose gimmick was to revel in that status, enhancing the realism and palatability of the box office tactic.

His classic with John Cena at Extreme Rules, the sort of match never produced under the WWE banner, was one of several the company presented that year. Daniel Bryan and CM Punk also shaped the in-ring language of WWE to come with a scintillating and realistic technical feast at Over The Limit.

WWE also significantly upgraded its star-maker machine. In addition to the aforementioned Punk and Bryan, whose careers were resuscitated during the summer months, the autumn launch and subsequent presentation of the Shield was faultless. Their match against Ryback & Team Hell No was among - if not the - very best debut bouts in the company's history.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!