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2018 has certainly been a roller coaster ride of a year for the WWE. Daniel Bryan officially returned to in-ring action. we witnessed the 1,000th episode of Smackdown, Ronda Rousey entered the WWE, Becky Lynch became the new Stone Cold Steve Austin, AJ Styles tied the eighth-longest world title reign in company history, Shinsuka Nakamura and Bryan both had heel turns, and Roman Reigns had to relinquish the Universal Championship he worked so hard to win.
These were just some of the important moments in the WWE in 2018. A lot of those in-between moments were filled by the wrestlers who carried the WWE in 2018. Here are those wrestlers who carried the company.
Drew McIntyre
McIntyre returned the night after Wrestlemania 34 to lend a hand to Dolph Ziggler. As their relationship developed, it was clear that the partnership was more beneficial to ZIggler than McIntyre. The new McIntyre looks better, is great on the mic and is just as good in the ring. Ziggler has already reached his apex in the WWE.
McIntyre has not.
He's stood toe to toe with Braun Strowman, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins since his return. He's also rumored to be receiving a huge push in 2019.
WWE would be wise to push McIntyre to the top this time around. He wasn't ready in his first go around and he looked like a baby giraffe without the beard. McIntyre has also brought up the fact that he came back to shake things up because a lot of the 'boys in the back' are complacent and happy to just be there.
His fighting cry may justify his attacks on Finn Balor and others, including the disgracing of legend Kurt Angle. He's been the main event heel Brock Lesnar was supposed to be, as Lesnar only shows up sporadically to promote an upcoming match.
McIntyre has been on Raw every time since last April and will be a major player going forward.
Roman Reigns
Whether he is a favorite of yours or not, Reigns was (as he has always been) a huge part of WWE in 2018.
He's the main face in the WWE and closed out Wrestlemania again in 2018 for the fourth time straight with his Universal Title match with Brock Lesnar.
While he didn't win the Universal Championship, his journey to the title, sometimes ad nauseam, ran through the rest of the year until he wrested the title off the Beast at Summerslam.
With his win, the WWE finally had a champion who was a full-time wrestler and one that showed up every week. The trios' matches he always has with Ambrose and Rollins are always entertaining and feuds with Strowman, Ziggler and McIntyre provided good matches for the three.
Even though he and Strowman were shaping up to have a good match at Hell in a Cell, Brock Lesnar ruined that (and Braun's MITB cash-in) when he stormed the cage and attacked both wrestlers. While Roman's reign (hah) lasted for only a few months, he eventually was forced to leave the WWE for an indefinite amount of time to battle leukemia.
It was a moment that shocked and humbled fans and wrestlers alike but also that forced the WWE to reset the years of storytelling they had been telling with Reigns/Lesnar.
While Lesnar recaptured the title at Crown Jewel to the chagrin of many, Roman's battle with his disease has been used in the feud between Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins.
Rumors also are suggesting that it might be used in a potential Rollins/Lesnar feud for Wrestlemania 35.
Whatever happens between now and April, one thing is for sure - even absent from the WWE, Roman is impacting current storylines and will continue to do so until he returns.
Alexa Bliss
Alexa Bliss is such a good character on Raw. Her title reign defined the earlier parts of 2018 and was one of the main storylines going into Wrestlemania 34. She would lose the belt to former friend Nia Jax at the event, but would win the second-ever women's Money in the Bank match.
On the same night she won the briefcase, she cashed it in during a title match between Jax and challenger Ronda Rousey. With her regaining the Raw Women's title, it set in motion the immediate feud between Jax and Bliss once again.
Bliss retained her belt over Jax but Rousey was looming in the background. Rousey was suspended for 30 days after attacking Bliss on Raw, but she was rewarded with a title match vs. Bliss at Summerslam.
While it was a foregone conclusion that Rousey would win, Bliss was still an integral part of the women's division. She was so high up in the Raw women's hierarchy that she was slated to face Trish Stratus and later Stratus and Lita in a tag match at Evolution.
Unfortunately, she was unable to compete due to concussion issues. The match wasn't nearly as hyped without the Goddess of WWE in the match. Since she was still being protected due to concussion issues, Bliss then took on the captain role of the women's Raw Team for Survivor Series.
She manipulated Bayley and Sasha Banks with a potential team spot only to give it to Ruby Riott and Natalya. It was a great heel move. Unfortunately for Bliss, Riott and Natalya couldn't be within five feet of each other without ripping each others' heads off.
And thus, she was forced to go back to the two she bamboozled in Bayley and Banks. The two only accepted the spots for Team Raw and not for Bliss or Jax or the other heels.
Since she's still dealing with concussion issues, or WWE's reluctance to put her back in the fold, rumors have suggested that she might be the next Raw GM if Baron Corbin loses at TLC.
It would certainly be a good role for Bliss. Corbin's time as interim GM has been a mess and he's in need of new ring attire. Seeing her interact with all of the Raw wrestlers would be interesting.
Here's hoping she can return to the ring soon.
AJ Styles
When AJ Styles signed with the WWE, a lot of people were hesitant with how he would be booked in the company. He had a good run in his debut Royal Rumble in 2016 and had early feuds with the Miz and Chris Jericho. Although he lost to Jericho at Wrestlemania, he immediately challenged Roman Reigns for the WWE Championship.
And when the brand split occurred, he became one of the top players on Smackdown. He eventually took the WWE Championship from Dean Ambrose and was involved in the main event throughout his time without the belt. He had a marquee match against Shane McMahon and eventually turned face again after shaking McMahon's hand after Wrestlemania 33.
Since Jinder Mahal had won the WWE Championship off of Randy Orton shortly thereafter, a new face challenger was needed. At first it was Shinsuke Nakamura, and then Styles once again. In a shock move before 2017's Survivor Series, Styles won the title off of Mahal. The win catapulted him into a match with Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series. The match gave Lesnar one of his best matches in WWE since returning in 2013.
Styles held the belt for 370 days until he lost the title to Daniel Bryan on the Smackdown before this year's Survivor Series. During his record-setting reign, he battled Nakamura, Rusev and Samoa Joe. He carried the Smackdown men's division on his back for most of 2018 and is due for a bit of a break going forward.
Whatever he does forward, hopefully he can win the belt again either on Smackdown or Raw. It would be foolish for WWE not to re-sign him as he's proven that he's one of the best wrestlers in the world.
Becky Lynch
Becky Lynch's story of redemption has played out for most of 2018. She didn't have a big match at Wrestlemania but was always one of the first women to come to someone's aid when they were being attacked. Between WrestleMania and Summerslam, Lynch went on a winning streak claiming she was hoping that her new-found success would lead her back to the Smackdown Women's title.
Luckily for us and her, it did.
After Carmella was done 'beating' Asuka and Charlotte Flair, Becky was in line for a title shot at Summerslam. Of course, Flair interjected herself in the match as well after defeating Carmella in a match that would also give her a shot at the belt at Summerslam if she could defeat Carmella. She did, and Flair was victorious at Summerslam.
It was a letdown for everyone after all of the hard work Lynch had put in just to get back into the picture, but that was a part of the storyline. Her supposed best friend just showed up after having been temporarily absent and won one match to get a title shot. Well, we all know what happened after.
Lynch attacked her friend at Summerslam and continuously thereafter until the two former friends had a match at Hell in a Cell. Lynch wrested the belt from her former friend and became an antihero in the process. WWE intended for Lynch to become a full-fledged heel but the crowd refused to boo Becky.
Since she was gaining so much steam, Lynch was slated to face Raw's champion, Ronda Rousey at Survivor Series. The two exchanged barb after barb after barb and Lynch was clearly being treated like a conquering hero even though she was being booked as a heel. Nia Jax ended that when she recklessly punched Lynch in the face during Smackdown's invasion of Raw.
The heat between Rousey and Lynch was reaching epic proportions, so epic that the two ladies are rumored to be a part of the main event of Wrestlemania 35. It would be a great match and worthy of the status.
Seth Rollins
The Kingslayer. The Architect.
Seth Rollins has added 'Carrier of Raw' to his list of monikers. He has always been one of the top performers in WWE, and he reiterated that fact throughout 2018. He was the iron man of the gauntlet match on Raw to determine who would enter the Elimination Chamber match last. In the gauntlet match, Rollins lasted for over an hour, pinning John Cena and Reigns.
He also had fabulous match after fabulous match involving the Intercontinental Title His feuds and matches with the Miz and Finn Balor, Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre were often the main events of Raw and highlights of the brand.
He's approaching Shawn Michaels territory of in-ring performance for a career. Even in his matches as a part of the Shield showcase that Rollins is the true workhorse of the group and of Raw.
Recently, his feud with Dean Ambrose is set to be one of the stories to carry Raw until next April. Expect great matches between the two at TLC and likely more PPVs to follow.
In between the matches with the IC Title, Rollins has consistently stated that he's the one who's carrying Raw because he shows up week in and week out. It's clearly a jab at part-time champion Lesnar who shows up whenever he wants to set up a match for a PPV. The truth in the statement might possibly lead to a match with the Beast at Wrestlemania 35.
While he doesn't need the red belt to justify his statements, it would be fulfilling for Rollins and the fans to win the Universal Title from Brock and defend it as frequently as possible.
He also had one of the best matches at Survivor Series against United State Champion Shinsuke Nakamura.
He really can have a great match with anyone a la Daniel Bryan and AJ Styles.
Braun Strowman
Braun has had what has to be considered a disappointing year. He won the Raw tag team titles with a child only to give them up the next night. He won the Money in the Bank briefcase and vowed to announce his cash in to the current champion. While it felt like they were finally going to pull the trigger on Braun as champion, he turned heel after Summerslam.
He aligned himself with Dolph Ziggler and McIntyre but the partnership was rocky at best. The trios exchanged wins with the Shield before Strowman became fed up with losing (mainly Ziggler's role in the group). During the run, Strowman's cash in was set up for Hell in a Cell, killing any excitement it would have created had it been a surprise.
Strowman's cash in ultimately failed as Brock Lesnar attacked both Strowman and Universal Champion Roman Reigns, leading to a no contest. After that, Strowman battled McIntyre and Ziggler and then shifted focus to a triple threat between Strowman, Lesnar, and Reigns for the Universal Title at Crown Jewel. Due to Roman abdicating his throne in order to fight leukemia, the match became a one on one match.
Strowman ultimately failed to capture the belt once again and he was written off television recently in order to undergo elbow surgery. He's slated to face Baron Corbin at TLC and Lesnar at the Royal Rumble, but both matches are in jeopardy.
Strowman's year has been almost a waste and it seems like he, Bray Wyatt, Nakamura and Samoa Joe are in the same territory. They've each portrayed dangerous challengers to the top belts on their respective shows but never seen as good enough to be top champion.
It seems like a missed opportunity to create new champion-level stars.
Can he eventually be salvaged? Only time will ultimately tell.
