7 WWE Wrestlers That Reinvented Themselves In 2016
5. John Cena
To some, it might sound like a bit of an oxymoron to say that John Cena, who has long been criticized for never changing the core of his character, reinvented himself this year. But 2016 has been every bit as good to Cena as 2015 was, despite his less-than-stellar win-loss record on pay-per-view.
Following a near seven month absence from WWE programming, Cena returned to Raw on Memorial Day and immediately entered a feud with AJ Styles. The program brought the best out of Cena, and as much of a fan favorite as Styles is, there were points where he was receiving louder cheers than The Phenomenal One (which was obviously the intent considering Cena was supposed to be the babyface).
Their segments each week were always enjoyable, as well as each of their in-ring encounters at Money in the Bank, Battleground, No Mercy and especially SummerSlam. And in putting over Styles as many times as he did, he evolved. Putting him on SmackDown Live was the best thing WWE could have done considering he has now taken a backseat to the rest of the roster, and as a result, he feels fresher than ever before.
Besides, Roman Reigns has seemingly since taken over his "Superman" spot on Raw.