12 Ups And 15 Downs For WWE In 2016

3. In-Ring Product

22 Sami Zayn Shinsuke Nakamura NXT Dallas
WWE.com

Pop quiz: What were the three best matches in WWE/NXT in 2016?

If you’re struggling to narrow it down and rank them, then you’re probably not alone. WWE probably has the deepest talent pool in terms of wrestling ability that it’s had in years, and the company produced some outstanding matches last year. From AJ Styles versus John Cena at SummerSlam to Sami Zayn versus Kevin Owens at Battleground; from the Intercontinental Championship fatal fourway at Extreme Rules to the WWE World Championship triple threat match on the last SmackDown of the year; and from the WWE Women’s Championship triple threat match at WrestleMania to any Charlotte Flair versus Sasha Banks bout from the past five months.

Throw in some incredible tag team, women’s and men’s championship matches in NXT and numerous bouts from the Cruiserweight Classic and you’ve got a bevy of world-class wrestling to choose from.

There’s a lot of things to criticize about WWE in 2016, but finding a great wrestling match to watch isn’t one of them.

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Contributor
Contributor

Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.