WWE brought back the Brand Split during the Summer of 2016 and that meant twice as many pay-per-views every month.
With more pay-per-views came more pay-per-view matches to take into consideration for this list. Many of those matches were pretty forgettable but a number of the main events have found their way onto this list.
2016 had some bright spots for WWE so let us take a look at them. These are the eleven best WWE pay-per-view matches of 2016.
11. AJ Styles vs. Dean Ambrose – Backlash
Dean Ambrose’s WWE Championship reign was incredibly disappointing. There was a strong start with Ambrose winning The Shield Triple Threat match at Battleground but after that it was all downhill.
Saddled with a lackluster opponent for SummerSlam, Ambrose beat Dolph Ziggler in a incredibly forgettable match. After that, he ran head first into the white-hot AJ Styles at Backlash.
The two had a good match, yes, but the shine had worn off of Ambrose’s title reign.
The match is actually very solid. It shouldn’t be surprising considering the quality of Styles and Ambrose’s work but this match doesn’t get talked about a lot. Which is odd considering it is where Styles won his first WWE Championship.
10. Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn vs. Zack Ryder vs. Stardust vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Sin Cara vs. The Miz – WrestleMania 32
WrestleMania 31 saw WWE bring back a multi-man ladder match for the first time in five years to their biggest stage. At WrestleMania 32, they said “that went well, yeah? Let’s do that again”. And so they did.
At WrestleMania 32, Kevin Owens put his Intercontinental Championship on the line against a miriad of midcarders.
On a Raw before the show, Owens joked that Stardust, Zack Ryder and Sin Cara would get a shot because they all suck. So don’t come at me for calling them midcarders.
The match was excellent and a great way to open the show. There were tons of exciting spots and a very surprising winner as Zack Ryder claimed one of his only singles titles of his WWE career.
9. Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens – Royal Rumble
The Intercontinental Championship is going to continue to get a lot of love on this list. 2016 was a big year for the title with several classic matches on pay-per-view including this match at the Royal Rumble.
Kevin Owens and Dean Ambrose had been feuding over the title and their rivalry had to be blown off in a big Last Man Standing match. This stipulation can be hit or miss but this was definitely more of the former.
The two battled over big spots with both being put through tables multiple times over.
The Royal Rumble was very good this year and this was a fantastic way to start with Ambrose pushing Owens through two tables at ringside.
8. Roman Reigns vs. Dean Ambrose vs. Brock Lesnar – Fastlane
WWE managed to put on a great main event of Fastlane 2016 despite their own booking.
The main event saw Roman Reigns, Brock Lesnar and Dean Ambrose battle over a shot at Triple H at WrestleMania 32. The fans desperately wanted Ambrose to win this match. WWE had other plans.
This was the height of the “Push Roman Reigns” mindset from WWE. Nothing was going to stop them from putting him in the main event of WrestleMania again.
This match showed why that was the wrong mindset. Ambrose was such a star in this match, fighting off both Reigns and Lesnar before having the win stolen from him by Reigns. Ambrose could have been the guy but it was not to be.
A sidenote, Ambrose’s match with Triple H would be on this list but Roadblock was not a pay-per-view.
7. Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens vs. Cesaro vs. The Miz – Extreme Rules
The Intercontinental Championship is back with a fantastic Fatal 4-Way match at Extreme Rules.
The Miz had weasled his way into the title after WrestleMania 32 and now put the title on the line against Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn and Cesaro. This was such a fun match with two ongoing rivalries weaving throughout.
Owens and Zayn were in the middle of their “we’re destined to do this forever” run, while Cesaro was trying to wrest the title away from The Miz.
These two rivalries got equal time in this match while crossing over multiple times as well. This is among the best 4-Way matches in WWE history and one of the better matches for the IC Title as well.
6. The Miz vs. Dolph Ziggler – No Mercy
A general rule of thumb of the early 2010s is if you don’t know who the Intercontinental Champion is it is likely Dolph Ziggler or The Miz. Wade Barrett and Kofi Kingston also usually qualify.
At No Mercy, The Miz put the title on the line against Ziggler with Ziggler’s career on the line. These two have wrestled many times and most of the matches have been fairly average. That was not the case here.
It is entirely possible this is the best singles match of The Miz’s career. The emotion was present here that is usually absent from mid-card feuds. People wanted to see Ziggler win the title and they managed to pull off a truly special match.
5. Roman Reigns vs. AJ Styles – Extreme Rules
People have said that AJ Styles gained favor with Vince McMahon with this feud with Roman Reigns. To this point, this could very easily be considered Reigns’ best match.
After a solid performance at Payback, Styles and Reigns ran it back with an even better match at Extreme Rules.
This had plenty of interference from The Club and The Usos but more in a way that elevated the match with the chaos of it all.
These two also took their feud into the next gear with this match with Styles best WWE performance to this point as well.
4. AJ Styles vs. Dean Ambrose – TLC
AJ Styles won the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Award for Wrestler of the Year in 2016 and judging by how many times he appears on this list it is not hard to understand why.
After winning the WWE Championship at Backlash, Styles feuded with Dean Ambrose for the rest of 2016. At TLC, the two had their blowoff match in the best singles TLC match in WWE history.
Styles and Ambrose managed to pull off the balance of impressive spots while also giving everything the appropriate time to breathe. It is a hard balance to strike when there are only two people to carry the match.
Thankfully, Styles capped off his stellar 2016 with one of the best performances of the year. Even if it was with a little help from James Ellsworth of all people.
3. Team Raw vs. Team SmackDown – Survivor Series
Survivor Series had gone through a difficult stretch before the Brand Split. Only the WWE vs. Authority match from 2014 held any kind of significance in the years leading up to 2016.
While WWE wasn’t able to recreate the feeling of this Raw vs. SmackDown match in the years following this one, this match was still fantastic.
Given plenty of time, every man in this match was given a chance to shine. There were several ongoing storylines that weaved this match together as well.
The Shield had a brief reunion as Ambrose and Styles couldn’t work together, friction started with Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens, and Randy Orton saved Bray Wyatt leading to the finish.
This was maybe the best Survivor Series tag match in history and nearly the best match of 2016. However, there were two better.
2. Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens – Battleground
Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn are destined to fight forever. Considering this was supposed to be their “Final Match” and they are still wrestling on pay-per-view in 2021, I think fighting forever is their reality.
Having feuded in WWE since Owens’ first night in NXT, this was their first blowoff match since arriving on the main roster. At Battleground they had what may be their best match together ever, in WWE or otherwise.
Sami Zayn is one of the best sellers in the world and his performance in this match selling the beating he took from Kevin Owens was some of his best work.
He ultimately fired up and nailed Owens with two Helluva kicks to get perhaps the biggest win of his WWE career. This match had a sense of finality to it even if these men would go on to wrestle many times again.
1. AJ Styles vs. John Cena – SummerSlam
Hey, it’s AJ Styles again! SummerSlam became the place where John Cena would put over young talent once we passed 2010. In 2016, he wrestled AJ Styles in the best match of the year.
Cena has a very distinct style. It will be “hit a big move, kick out, lay there, repeat” for about 20 minutes. That being said, this style seems to produce some of the best crowd reactions in WWE today.
Maybe that is just because of Cena’s involvement but credit still needs to be given to matches like this.
Cena and Styles go back and forth hitting their biggest moves until someone finally could no longer continue. That person was Cena as Styles powered through an AA off the middle rope and hit a Phenomenal Forearm for the win.
This was Styles biggest win of his WWE run to this point and it propelled him to the WWE Championship a month later. One of the best matches of either man’s career, and the best match of 2016.
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