12 Ups And 22 Downs For WWE In 2015

Not a banner year for WWE, but some things to look forward to in 2016.

by Scott Carlson

It€™s time to write the epitaph on 2015 for WWE, and that means it€™s time to ask: How should 2015 be remembered? Will fans and critics look back fondly on all the memorable moments, or will they slap their foreheads and collectively groan at all the various problems WWE encountered €“ both unplanned and self-generated? There€™s no sugar-coating it: Even the most diehard wrestling fan has to be disappointed in the past year. If you€™re still wearing rose-colored glasses and think everything is fantastic in WWE, then you either are a true Bo-liever who channels New Day€™s power of positivity, or you€™re using the good stuff. Don€™t be mistaken, there have been some positive moments throughout the year, and the roster is talented enough €“ when healthy €“ to deliver a solid product that can entertain. There are several things WWE can do to right the ship and have a successful 2016, but we won€™t focus on those items today (several writers have tackled this subject repeatedly). There are plenty of moments that stood out during the past year, some we€™d love to relive and others we€™d just as soon forget. But regardless, they all weave together to form the tapestry of 2015. So what had its WrestleMania moment in the sun, and what got unceremoniously banished to the PPV kickoff show? Let€™s get to it€

Downs...

22. The Goat Of The Year

Few negative moments are bigger downers than the story of Daniel Bryan, who rose to the mountaintop of WWE in 2013-14, only to be knocked down by injury. Then, just when it looked like he would make a comeback, his return was scuttled just months into his run. Bryan had been shelved since May 2014, but he returned to action just ahead of the 2015 Royal Rumble and entered the match. It seemed like the storybook tale from 2013 was going to play out again. And then it didn€™t. WWE booked uber-fan favorite Bryan to enter the Rumble €“ in Philadelphia, no less €“ and then have him get eliminated midway through the match and have Roman Reigns win. Bryan€™s mere presence in the match was enough to overshadow everything else that happened. Unless Bryan won the Rumble, fans were going to crap all over it, and they did. Bryan then challenged Reigns for the #1 contender€™s spot at Fastlane, giving fans another glimmer of hope. That hope was then ripped away when Roman won the match. D-Bry got the consolation prize of competing in the Intercontinental Championship ladder match at WrestleMania, and while he won that bout, fans couldn€™t help but feel that it was a poor substitute for the title he never lost. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJ3m9waPHkA Bryan€™s injury that forced him to surrender the IC title this spring was the latest chapter in a confusing and disappointing 2015 for the goat-faced warrior. Now, his in-ring career appears to be in jeopardy, which would be a sad ending to promising career.
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.