The Top 5 Moments of 2016 (So Far)

During my debut piece last week, we started off with the proverbial “small potatoes,” as we took a look at the 10 most memorable moments from the Royal Rumble Match. This piece, however, we’re going to ramp it up a bit. It’s time for us to get serious. Today is going to be a special edition of 10 Count. It’s actually going to be an abbreviated version, entitled Five Count. We’re going to take a look at the top five moments of 2016, to this point.

Every year in wrestling, there are a handful of moments that fans remember from a specific year. For instance, when thinking of 2015, fans will immediately think of Seth Rollins cashing in his Money In The Bank contract at WrestleMania. The year before, fans will remember Rollins turning on his Shield brethren, aligning himself with Triple H. Moments like that become ingrained in your mind, and in some cases, will never be forgotten.

That being said, let’s get started.

5.) Tetsuya Naito Wins IWGP Heavyweight Championship: For the majority of his career, Tetsuya Naito has failed to “click” with the crowd. Whether it be as a singles wrestler, or as part of the “No Limit” tag-team with Yujiro Takahashi, he just could not get over. Time after time, Naito had fallen short in the “big match,” losing three IWGP Heavyweight Championship matches, a TNA World Heavyweight Championship match, two NEVER Openweight Championship matches, and a ROH Television Championship match. Well, losing the ROH Television Championship match in 2015 was the final straw for Naito, who stayed behind in North America, while his fellow NJPW performers returned to Japan. During his time in Mexico, Naito established a partnership with Los Ingobernables. Following his tour in Mexico, Naito returned to NJPW with a mysterious new persona, and declared the birth of Los Ingobernables de Japon. After almost a year of putting together the LIJ stable, and inadvertently becoming a fan favorite, Naito would win the 2016 New Japan Cup. Following the huge victory, Naito would go on to win the “big one,” by defeating Kazuchika Okada to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at Invasion Attack on April 10. While his reign was relatively short-lived, it will still go down as a star-making performance.

4.) A Phenomenal Arrival: Leading up to the 2016 Royal Rumble, rumors began to circulate that there was a quartet of elite talent leaving New Japan Pro Wrestling. It was eventually revealed that it was AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura, Luke Gallows, and Karl Anderson. Nakamura was a practical lock to leave for WWE. It was initially thought the same for Styles, Gallows, and Anderson. However, things got a little gummy in early January, when a report surfaced that they had an “agreement” with Impact Wrestling. After a messy, messy situation was finally resolved, Styles was finally focused on the WWE. Shortly after the issue with TNA was settled, AJ made his “Phenomenal” debut (yes, pun intended) at the Royal Rumble — only 20 days after wrestling at Wrestle Kingdom 10.

Who is @SashaBanksWWE's mystery partner at #WWEBattleground? https://t.co/NsSoJTQSvq

— WWE (@WWE) July 25, 2016

3.) The Boss & Hug Connection: As I elude to down below, it’s very difficult to keep things a surprise in the age of social media. Leading up to WWE Battleground in July, the WWE was promoting a tag-team match pitting Charlotte & Dana Brooke against Sasha Banks & a “mystery partner.” Now, all of the “smarks” that read the wrestling sites, practically knew Sasha’s partner was going to be Bayley. There were some that didn’t believe it, especially after Sasha denied it in an interview leading up to Battleground (Seriously? Did you think that she’d admit it?). Nonetheless, whether you knew it was coming or not, this was definitely a special moment. I can hardly think of a louder pop in wrestling history, than the one that Bayley got on this night, in our nation’s capital.

2.) Shane ‘O Mac is Back! : In the age of social media, it is extremely difficult, borderline impossible, for wrestling promotions to literally shock their audiences. Well, on February 22, 2016, the WWE did just that. Stephanie McMahon was set to be awarded the first ever “Vincent J. McMahon Legacy of Excellence Award.” Just as Stephanie was ready to recite her (totally pre-written) acceptance speech, the familiar tune of “Here Comes The Money” echoed throughout the arena. The crowd went insane, both Vince and Stephanie were left stunned, and I was one of the many, many people around the world to mark out when Shane McMahon made his jaw-dropping return to the WWE, after a nearly seven-year hiatus.

1.) Kenny Omega: The First Foreigner to Win the G1 Climax: What a year it has been for Kenny Omega! Following the departure of Style, Nakamura, Gallows, and Anderson back in January, it was decided by NJPW that Kenny Omega was ready to take the next step. On Valentine’s Day, Omega had a star-making performance, by defeating Hiroshi Tanahashi in a classic, to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. He would go on to lose the belt in a ladder match at Dominion 6.19, in yet, another instant classic, this time against Michael Elgin. As if his year couldn’t get any bigger, NJPW execs decided to strap a rocket to Kenny’s back. Omega entered the G1 Climax with no experience of any kind in the tournament, but went on to win Block B with a 6-3 record. In route to doing so, Omega had another match of the year candidate, against Tetsuya Naito to clinch the victory in Block B. Not even 24 hours after defeating Naito, Omega went right back out there, had another match of the year candidate, and defeated Hirooki Goto to become the first foreigner to win the G1 Climax. In the event that he hangs on to his IWGP Heavyweight Championship contract, Omega has the opportunity to solidify himself as a main-event star in NJPW by defeating Kazuchika Okada at Wrestle Kingdom 11 in January.

So, there you have it, folks. Obviously, when anyone puts together a list of “top moments,” it will be an opinion-based list. Not everyone will like it, not everyone will agree with it — but, that’s what makes the world go round. What would be the fun of a world, where everyone agrees with each other? It’d be pretty boring, I think.

As always, I encourage you to leave your opinions in the comments section below.

Be sure to check back next week…