2016 WWE Report Card
With just a couple of days remaining in the year that was 2016, I have decided to pause for a moment and reflect on the ups and downs, twists and turns, shocks and surprises and everything else in between.
Professional wrestling is a unique form of entertainment. For those of us who have invested much of our lives into the sport, we understand and appreciate the risks involved, the sacrifices made and the hard work that is put forth in order to create the spectacle that we all so dearly love.
From the set-up crews to the in-ring talent, from the weekend warriors on the indie scene to the top-tier WWE Superstars...we appreciate you.
2016 has been quite the year. We've seen the rise of new stars and the demise of stagnant talent. We witnessed the birth of a new era and said ‘so long’ to some unfortunate releases. All-in-all, the year gave fans a lot to remember and a lot we wish we could forget, but the wheels are still turning and the sun keeps rising for new opportunities.
With that said, before we completely bid farewell to 2016, let's hand out a few grades.
2016 Brand-Split Effectiveness
In 2016, we welcomed back the draft and brand-split. With this, the WWE took a huge gamble by splitting the main roster in half, sending half to Smackdown and leaving the others on Raw. There was also several NXT stars called up during the draft, in an effort to keep a level playing field.
Things started out a little rocky and at times confusing, but in the end, all the pieces fit together fairly nice and everything seemed to move forward relatively flawlessly. There was also the question of which brand would carry which Championship, but that issue was resolved by giving both brands their own set.
With all things considered, this year's brand-split seemed to work out just fine. In fact, many would argue that this particular brand-split went off somewhat better than in previous years. At the end of the day, the company has three brands all running effectively in Raw, SmackDown Live and NXT.