FanSided WWE 2016 awards

PPV of the Year

Jack Jorgensen: It wasn’t necessarily a bad year for WWE PPV events, especially considering the brand split, but I think the consensus among us might be Money in the Bank back in June. This show had everything you could ask for from an amazing Money in the Bank ladder match, to a Seth Rollins-Roman Reigns title bout, and of course, the unlikely cash-in by Dean Ambrose to end the show. Oh yeah, and we also learned that John Cena and AJ Styles are freaking magic in the ring together for the first time. Top to bottom, this show just had it all.

Cody Williams: Admittedly, I’m a sucker for the Money in the Bank cash-in. So when you have Dean Ambrose cashing the briefcase in the night he won it in a brutal ladder match—on his former Shield brethren, no less—that’s always going to put that pay-per-view in the conversation for best of the year in my book. However, this card was loaded with some of the better matches all year in WWE. Rollins defeating Roman Reigns to win the title prior to the cash-in was a great example of storytelling and quality wrestling. Moreover, Ambrose’s MITB match win was also incredible, thanks largely to the likes of Cesaro, Kevin Owens, Chris Jericho and Sami Zayn tearing it down with Ambrose in the ladder match. Then, of course, you have the fantastic clash (one of many this year) between AJ Styles and John Cena. Those are just the ones you’d call “featured,” though, as there were a handful of others that were highly enjoyable. Top-to-bottom, there was no better card in WWE this year.

Rob Wolkenbrod: The second accolade for the Money in the Bank PPV is it being the best one of them all throughout 2016. It crushed WrestleMania 32, which may have been the worst show of the year next to Roadblock. MITB had Styles vs. Cena, Ambrose winning the briefcase, Rollins and Reigns having a very good match that gets lost in the shuffle and the ending of the Lunatic Fringe cashing in the night he won. The night turned out to be a great one before WWE went into the brand split, which has seen plenty of bland PPVs. Money in the Bank may have been over six months ago, but it still stands tall as the best Sunday night special that WWE put on this year.

Michael Whitlow: I’ve already awarded something to the NXT TakeOver: Dallas show in this award list, so I’ll go elsewhere with the main roster for this decision with a show that I really enjoyed: Money in the Bank back in June. Between the two contract ladder matches, AJ Styles beating John Cena in a classic and Dean Ambrose cashing in on Seth Rollins after Rollins beat Roman Reigns to win theWWE title, I thought this show was amazing with the quality of matches it contained.

Luke Norris: I’m going to go with Backlash, the first pay-per-view exclusive to Smackdown following the brand extension. The night kicked off with what I thought was a very impressive Six-Pack Elimination Challenge for the Smackdown Women’s Championship, and watching Becky Lynch get her big moment was a great thing to see. The Miz and Dolph Ziggler put on a good show for the Intercontinental Championship, and while Bray Wyatt losing to Kane left a bit to be desired, it did feed into the Orton/Wyatt program so I was okay with that. One of the hottest programs of the summer, the Heath Slater storyline, reached its peak as he and Rhyno captured the tag titles in a solid match with The Usos, and the night capped off with a great match between AJ Styles and Dean Ambrose for the WWE title. I thought this was a nice, compact show that didn’t need to go over the top to succeed.