WWE: 10 best matches of 2016

1. John Cena vs. AJ Styles – SummerSlam

Following their great match at WWE Money in the Bank, you knew that we’d get to see John Cena vs. AJ Styles at least one more time, and with WWE’s second biggest pay-per-view coming up, you had to figure it would be there. But they still had WWE Battleground to get through so they still had to get through that event. So they booked Cena to team with Enzo and Cass to take on The Club and Cena walked away with a pinfall victory in that one. But he still hadn’t beaten AJ Styles one-on-one and SummerSlam provided the perfect setting for this encounter. The two icons delivered one more time in what I believe was the best WWE match of the year.

I said it earlier but I’ll say it again. When John Cena needs to step up for a big match, he does so and he did so in a big way on this night in Brooklyn. Sure, we saw some of his usual stuff with the AA’s and STF’s and whatnot but he was also able to once again pull some new moves out of the arsenal and surprise us. And while he had a bit of a problem with this early in his career, Cena has gotten so much better at telling a story in the ring and even the biggest Cena haters have to admit that they were impressed with what he did here. He gave everything he had to beat Styles but AJ kept kicking out time after time after time. Watching Cena sit in the corner with a look on his face that said “I can’t beat this man” was perfect and one of my favorite moments of the year in WWE.

And let’s not forget how phenomenal AJ Styles is each and every night. Yes, pun was fully intended there but he has that nickname for a reason, and if WWE fans hadn’t caught on to how great he is by that point, they sure knew when this match was over. He pulled out his full arsenal of moves at SummerSlam with the dropkicks and forearm strikes and the Styles Clash and everything else he could muster to make this match look the way it did. Also,  all of the near-falls. I know that this can sometimes be overdone but I thought it was done so well here. It’s rare that John Cena ever loses a big feud or a big match, especially with no outside interference, but that’s what happened here and it was done so very well as Styles hit a second Phenomenal Forearm to get the 1-2-3 victory right in the middle of the ring. Beautiful.

What happened after the match only added to the story. After Styles left the ring, Cena placed one of his armbands right in the center of the ring before heading to the back. But as he walked out, he received a standing ovation. I don’t think it’s a secret that not everybody likes John Cena but wrestling fans know (usually) when to show respect and they did that following this epic encounter. Match of the Year.

Next: 50 Best Professional Wrestlers Of All-Time

We’d love to hear what you think the best WWE match of 2016 was. Feel free to use the comments section below to give us your thoughts and be sure to check back in with FanSided for all your WWE news, including a couple more top 10 lists as the week goes along.