BUT BIG VINCE DON'T GIVE A FUUUCK
There have been some great things this year and there have been some pretty bad things this year too. But what we can take from 2015, is that WWE has given a lot more attention to newer wrestlers this year. Maybe not "built stars" per-se, as The Shield were already considerably important guys in 2014.
However, they have certainly provided a strong group of mid-card talents who have only appeared in the last few years of WWE, and as we all know, Rome wasn't built in a day, and Roman Reigns trying to be built in a month backfired pretty heavily.
Overall, with all these relatively new talents getting some great exposure, there's bound to be some whose exposure has given them the chance to impress wrestling fans of all kinds. And this top five compiles the five most impressive wrestlers or groups of this year in my eyes.
#5. The New Day
Kofi Kingston, as a singles competitor for the majority of his career, faced adversity from hardcore wrestling fans for being the prototype "smiling, dancing babyface" we dearly hate. Paired with the fact he was the mid-card shoehorn - playing the role of a transitional champion multiple times in his career - it wouldn't be easy for Kofi Kingston to ever get these fans on his side.
Teaming with Big E, who had his own fair share of confused, awkward booking wherein he debuted and floundered with the short-lived pairing of Dolph Ziggler and AJ Lee without any true explanation outside of him being "AJ's friend"; after which, he dropped into obscurity until being brought back into the mid-card light as a one time and disappointing Intercontinental Champion and a contender for Rusev's US Championship.
Despite past experience and exposure to wrestling fans in his TNA run, Xavier Woods both in NXT and on the main roster was aimless and many expected nothing special. Treated as a jobber as his horrid debut storyline with supposed mentor R-Truth and Tons of Funk failed to be interesting, Woods joined Big E and, to a lesser extent, Kofi, in being forgotten about, and rarely being on Raw.
Even when The New Day was first teased, they were taken off of the air for weeks.
Upon debut, they were met with negative reaction.
With solid booking and the freedom to "be themselves" (which is what many believed Big E and Xavier Woods needed to break out), the trio quickly became one of the most consistently entertaining acts on a dwindling Raw. Ultimately, with one wrestler no one expected to grow out of his stagnant character and position, and two relatively new-to-the-main-roster, but uninspired and aimless team-mates, greatness was not expected, but greatness was achieved, making them the only full group on this short list.
#4. Roman Reigns
Kofi Kingston's years of adversity have nothing on Roman Reigns' first half of 2015. It seemed obvious that Reigns was going to get such a strong push as numerous dirtsheets and even wrestlers in WWE, slated Reigns as the next big thing - and the booking surrounding him, mirrored what was said.
A combination of immense love for Daniel Bryan and immense hatred for rocket-strap pushes, predictable booking, and insulting expectations of the audience, proved to be a damaging concoction for Reigns' career. Although now in November, most of this damage has been undone with slightly more careful booking, lower cards, and better opportunities to prove himself.
It is a common argument that many fans did not or do not want Roman Reigns to take the spotlight as they feel he is not a good enough wrestler to warrant that position as the "next face of the company", over much more talented performers such as Bryan, Cesaro, and even Rollins despite his somewhat negative reception as champion.
However, beginning with the Fastlane main event match against Daniel Bryan, a fantastic showing against Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania, and otherwise solid matches throughout the rest of the year, Reigns has proven many detractors that he is more talented than they give him credit for, and he may not be as bad a choice as many believe he would have been at the start of the year.
Whether the outcome of the WrestleMania main event was planned from the beginning or not is irrelevant, as Reigns has proven impressive since.
#3. Bayley
Long-time NXT viewers may remember Bayley being signed to WWE with a fairly large crop of talents. Being in such a group of people makes it hard to stand out, especially when you're not well known to any large portion of fans.
Since her televised debut in NXT in early 2013, Bayley has been consistently popular as she is accessible for kids, and cartoonishly fun even for people who strongly dislike such child-oriented characters. Her ability to put on a fairly decent match with other talented individuals made her a strong addition to NXT.
At the time when Paige and Emma were being touted as the next big things in womens' wrestling, Bayley as well as other divas were given a secondary position, as not even booking for women in NXT was as good as it is now. Though both Paige and Emma were promoted to the main roster in 2014, and Bayley herself had some decent showings in that same year, like her competitive match with Charlotte at NXT TakeOver: Fatal 4-Way, it wasn't until 2015 where she would break out.
Beginning with the first TakeOver event of the year, Bayley, along with Sasha Banks, Charlotte and Becky Lynch, had a stellar four-way match for the NXT Women's Championship. Unlike her singles match with then-champion Charlotte in late 2014, fans realised that it wasn't Charlotte who was the ultimate female competitor in NXT, carrying her opponent, and that all of the women were talented. That and, it was arguably a much better match overall.
With all the hype behind second generation wrestler Charlotte, former independent and well-traveled Becky Lynch, and prodigy Sasha Banks, Bayley was left out of the equation. Even being left behind in NXT as the other three climbed the ranks and debuted on Raw together.
Bayley eventually being (storyline) injured during this time lead-up to her initial championship match with Sasha Banks at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn.
This championship match proved to be what is almost entirely in agreement, the best women's match of the year, and even agreed to be among the top, if not the best women's match in WWE history.
The rematch a few months later back in Full Sail at NXT TakeOver: Respect also proved to be a very good match in itself, giving Bayley three extremely good matches this year alone, and has solidified her position in the REAL Diva's Revolution.
#2. Rusev
Debuting at the 2014 Royal Rumble when everyone expected, well, someone else like Neville or Sami Zayn, had even NXT fans confused with what was going on. Most viewers who were unaware of NXT or Rusev himself expected someone different, and unfortunately for Rusev, his Royal Rumble debut wasn't very special. Being targeted by multiple main roster wrestlers as the new debutee from 'developmental' was strange booking, which left me personally more confused than believing he was to be taken as a threat, which was clearly intended, but nonetheless.
Together with Lana, Rusev managed to become a staple in the mid-card as the foreign heel, but many people believed such a gimmick with such a character was "outdated", leaving many people to be detractors of Rusev as well as his ability, which at the time, wasn't proven. Detractors also believed that such a gimmick would have a short shelf-life, and that he'd be "done" when losing his first match.
Much to the surprise of many people, Rusev got a clean victory over Sheamus who, at the time, was protected as one of WWE's "top faces", and won his first US Championship.
Ultimately going the rest of 2014 and the beginning of 2015 with average bouts, much of Rusev's true ability was left to the imagination of wrestling fans.
It wasn't until that dreaded WrestleMania match against John Cena where Rusev began REALLY showing his talent. Despite being thrusted into a horrendous storyline he'd never win and losing his championship, Rusev didn't succumb to expectations of expiry due to a limited shelf-life. Even injuring his foot shortly after didn't put a damper on his career.
As the 'Bulgarian Brute who lost it all' including his manager and apparent girlfriend Lana, Rusev managed to prove he wasn't just a simple power wrestler, but actually had some acting chops.
Appearing on Raw unshaven, with crutches, a foot in a cast, and a general unkempt look, Rusev stalked Lana comedically, began cutting his own promos with a plethora of different emotions, and managed to take a storyline that was supposed to empower Lana, and flip it around, and make him look worthy of our sympathy, despite supposedly being the bad guy.
Throughout his relatively short injury, Rusev proved himself a talented individual outside of the ring, and upon returning, reminded people that he is still a beast inside, coming back with a strong victory over Kevin Owens and Cesaro in an awesome, lengthy triple threat match for an opportunity at John Cena's US Championship. And then that match happened immediately afterward, with Rusev beaten down and exhausted, but still ready to defend himself against a fifteen time world champion who had been warming up for the last twenty minutes, and almost winning in the process.
Basically, in his first night back, he had a fantastic triple threat match, and then had a different kind of fantastic singles match with Cena.
And up until his recent injury, Rusev has continued to be a strong, solid upper-mid card guy who impressed with his unexpected versatility.
#1. Sasha Banks
Signed in 2012, it took Sasha until late 2013 to get slight acknowledgement from NXT fans, and then until mid 2014 to be recognised as a seriously talented individual.
Despite bookings attempts to push Charlotte as the most impressive female from NXT, Sasha always managed to impress more when given the opportunity. It was always something obvious, but never tapped, as it seemed Charlotte being "the one" was purposely designed. Similarly to Roman Reigns' push on the main roster this year.
Akin to Bayley, Sasha's opportunity to prove herself to the NXT fans didn't come until late 2014, but didn't truly blossom until 2015. Sasha however, was given much better treatment than Bayley, as a storied enemy then friend then enemy again of Charlotte, and the heel to Charlotte's face, showed she was the rightful successor as NXT Women's Champion, putting her at the forefront of NXT as Charlotte was 'winding down' and readying for a main roster push (which seemed to be re-planned to accompany Sasha and Becky Lynch).
In 2015, Sasha had a very integral role in the Fatal 4-Way match between herself, Bayley, Charlotte and Becky Lynch, as she was essentially the storyline glue - the reason why everyone was so frantic, and the reason it became a four way match. Ultimately, Sasha won the match and began her reign as NXT Women's Champion, which involved her historic defences against Bayley at NXT TakeOver Brooklyn and Respect, which I covered with Bayley at #3 of this list.
Though Sasha is not as stellar on the microphone as she is in the ring, most divas are unfortunately lacking in this department anyway, and she's still arguably better than most divas too.
However, Sasha peaks all other wrestlers in this regard moreso due to her career only being slightly over five years at this point, paired with the amazing reception she garners from absolute star professional wrestlers like Stone Cold Steve Austin and Chris Jericho, as well as other professional wrestling entities such as Vince Russo, Paul Heyman and Good Ol' J.R.
Many Sasha Banks fans may have seemingly overhyped her in almost every way possible, but ultimately, it turns out most of it is truly warranted.
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