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With July almost on the horizon, it’s time to take a look at how WWE’s Superstars have been performing in the first six months of 2018.
There are currently 74 men competing on the main roster – 42 on Raw and 32 on SmackDown Live – and fans have witnessed over 300 matches across the two brands so far this year, but who stands out as the Best Male Superstar?
Finn Balor, for example, has been involved in some of the most exciting matches we’ve seen on Raw in recent months, but how does he rank compared to the rest of the red brand's roster?
And does AJ Styles, WWE’s most impressive in-ring competitor over the last couple of years, deserve to be at the top of the list? Or has his long-term rival Shinsuke Nakamura been a better performer over the last six months?
In this article, we’ve trawled through the Raw and SmackDown Live rosters to decide on our Top 10 male WWE Superstars of the year. Let us know in the comment section if you agree or disagree!
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#10 Matt Hardy
If we’d have predicted this half-year list at the start of January, there’s no way Matt Hardy would have been in the top 10 WWE Superstars. However, he has revitalized his career over the last six months, winning the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 34 before reclaiming the Raw Tag Team titles with Bray Wyatt.
Of course, the highlight of the year for Matt came in March when, for the first time on WWE television, he competed in an Ultimate Deletion match at the Hardy Compound, defeating – and, most importantly, DELETING – long-term nemesis Bray before throwing him into the Lake of Reincarnation.
Fast forward a few months and it’s simply WONDERFUL to see the two former enemies on the same page!
#9 Roman Reigns
Out of all the people on this list, Roman Reigns’ placing in the top 10 was the most difficult to call. Based on his career achievements this year, surviving the monstrous Braun Strowman at Elimination Chamber before main-eventing WrestleMania for the fourth year in a row, it’s not been a bad six months.
But when you look at the recent lack of excitement around his matches and storylines, it feels like “The Big Dog” hasn’t reached anywhere near the same level that he was at in 2017, when he recorded statement victories over The Undertaker and John Cena and won the Intercontinental Championship for the first time in his career.
#8 Rusev
Rusev has spent most of the last eight months in the SmackDown Live mid-card despite being one of the most popular Superstars on the show, so it’s great to see that WWE has rewarded him for his good work over the last year by having him face AJ Styles for the WWE Championship at Extreme Rules.
As far as the first half of 2018 goes, the fan support for “The Bulgarian Brute” hasn’t gone away even though WWE has continued to treat him as a heel for the last six months. If the audience reactions stay the same and Rusev features in more meaningful storylines between now and December, he could be a lot higher in this list by the end of the year.
#7 Daniel Bryan
If Daniel Bryan returned earlier than April of this year, there’s a good chance he would be much higher up in this list. The former World Heavyweight champion has been one of SmackDown Live’s top performers over the last three months and, following the conclusion of his rivalry with Big Cass, he has reunited with former Team Hell No tag partner Kane to take on The Bludgeon Brothers.
There was plenty of talk while Bryan was retired that, should he ever return, he would wrestle a much safer style. That has proven to be the case – we haven’t seen any diving headbutts, for example, or any unnecessary moves that are too dangerous – but that hasn’t taken away from the excitement of his matches.
#6 Finn Balor
There was a general feeling among fans that WWE wasn’t getting the best out of Finn Balor following his return from injury in 2017, with large sections of the audience being particularly critical on social media when, just one day after a show-stealing match against AJ Styles at TLC, he lost in seven minutes against Kane on Raw.
In 2018, things have been a lot better for the Irishman. Not only has he finally had his first WrestleMania match, but he has become a prominent member of the Raw roster who regularly appears in lengthy main events to close the show on Monday nights. If that’s not a step in the right direction, we don’t know what is!
#5 The Miz
This has been another stellar year for The Miz so far. He began 2018 by defeating Roman Reigns in consecutive weeks to reclaim the Intercontinental Championship. Then, although he lost the title at WrestleMania 34, his promos in the build-up to his match against Seth Rollins and Finn Balor were among the best we’ve seen in WWE this year.
Now a member of the SmackDown Live roster, there have been suggestions that “The A-Lister” could be set for a WWE Championship run and a high-profile match with Daniel Bryan in the not-too-distant future, so the future is looking bright!
#4 Shinsuke Nakamura
It just goes to show how much Shinsuke Nakamura has evolved and improved as a WWE Superstar over the last six months that, in our yearly summary last December, we ranked him as the 15th best performer on SmackDown Live in 2017 – below names including Baron Corbin, Sami Zayn and Carmella.
In 2018, “The King of Strong Style” has transformed from an underwhelming babyface to one of the best heels we’ve seen on WWE television this year. While it was unfortunate that he failed yet again to win the WWE Championship during his feud with AJ Styles, he is destined to win the gold one day if he keeps up the momentum he has built so far this year.
#3 AJ Styles
The WWE Championship was held by five different people in five months at the beginning of 2017, so it’s good to see that WWE has stopped playing hot potato with the title and allowed AJ Styles to retain it throughout the first half of 2018, defeating Superstars including Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn and, of course, Shinsuke Nakamura along the way.
“The Phenomenal One” was arguably WWE Superstar of the Year in 2016 and 2017, and it’s safe to say that, if he continues to perform in the way he has since joining WWE, he is currently on course to end 2018 as the top guy on the SmackDown Live roster.
#2 Seth Rollins
This time last year, Seth Rollins was mostly being used in mid-card non-title storylines with the likes of Samoa Joe and Bray Wyatt on Raw, and many people including “Stone Cold” Steve Austin were questioning how well the Shield member was performing as a babyface character.
Well, fast forward a year and, after being revitalised by his reunion with The Shield and recent show-stealing Intercontinental Championship matches, Rollins has become one of the biggest good guys in all of WWE, which didn’t seem possible when he was struggling to win sections of the audience over following his 2016 face turn.
#1 Braun Strowman
It was a close call between Seth Rollins and Braun Strowman for Best Superstar of 2018 so far, but “The Monster Among Men” just pips “The Kingslayer” to top spot due to his multiple achievements so far this year (Raw Tag Team champion, Greatest Royal Rumble winner and Money In The Bank winner).
The former Wyatt Family member was the most entertaining Superstar on Raw in 2017 and his popularity has grown and grown throughout the first six months of this year. Roll on his inevitable Universal Championship reign!
