5 Superstars set to own the WWE in 2016

After capturing the WWE World Heavyweight Title recently, 2016 looks to be the year featuring the rise of the Roman EraSo the year 2015 culminates with a priceless mugshot of Vince McMahon in police custody, after losing his famous temper, and presumably returning just so that he could set himself up to screw Roman Reigns out of his WWE World Heavyweight Title to kick off 2016.This ploy may work in the short term as far as providing a fleeting bump in ratings, but expecting a 70 year old man to repeatedly put his body on the line just so that Roman Reigns can get over doesn’t exactly smack of forward planning from the WWE.While it certainly seems like the company has gone with all its eggs in one basket as far as Roman Reigns is concerned, there are a few other Superstars waiting in the wings, whose current status and manner of booking to close out the year puts them in strong contention to majorly affect 2016 as well.With Randy Orton and Seth Rollins indefinitely out with injuries, the Undertaker’s retirement possibly looming, the rumour mills conspicuously quiet on Sting and Daniel Bryan’s return up in the air, here is a look at 5 Superstars that are in prime position to steal the spotlight this upcoming year and help usher in a new era for the company.

#5 Kevin Owens

Having arrived with a bang on the WWE landscape, a fruitful year ahead lies for Kevin Owens if he can keep up his momentum

Although Neville was granted a surprising victory over Kevin Owens this past week on Raw, it was perhaps more angled towards vindicating his Breakout Star of the Year tag rather than burying Owens, who seems set to engage in a feud with Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose going forward.

After putting a depleted Ambrose through the announcer’s table later in the show, Kevin Owens closed out a successful year for himself, where he scored a clean pinfall victory over John Cena and held the Intercontinental Championship, with a strong statement of intent for the future.

Taking into account that Seth Rollins’ long term injury has opened up a spot for a top level heel in the company, there is a high likelihood that Kevin Owens may step up to fill that void given his in-ring dexterity and commendable mic work.

Although reports purporting that some of the top level executives in the WWE were less than pleased with his body type made its rounds a while back, considering their current laundry list of injured Superstars and Kevin Owens’ chummy relationship with Triple H, all signs clearly point to a fruitful 2016 for the former NXT champion in cementing his spot on the roster as one of its major players.

#4 Dean Ambrose

Capturing the Intercontinental Title to cap off the year has been a confirmation of Dean Ambrose’s popularity

Ever since Chris Jericho’s one-off return at the Night of Champions as the mystery partner of Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose, and his subsequent role in their defeat at the hands of the Wyatt Family, the rumour mills have been constantly whirring about a speculated program between him and the Lunatic Fringe.

Particularly considering that reports point to Wrestlemania 32 being an all-hands-on-deck affair, Chris Jericho’s presence at Texas in April could contribute greatly towards ensuring the stratospheric levels of success that the WWE want to event to scale.

If the feud does eventually come to fruition, Dean Ambrose looks set to receive a major rub from Jericho the likes of which CM Punk and more recently, Bray Wyatt himself, have benefitted prodigiously from.

Even apart from that, given that he has just recently embarked on his stint as the Intercontinental Champion and the inability of the upper mid-card roster in the WWE to throw up too many viable challengers due to its thinning depth, the fan favourite’s momentum that has been greatly augmented by Championship Gold seems odds-on to continue on an upward trend for the forseeable future at least.

#3 Bray Wyatt

2016 could finally be the year of reckoning for the unchecked destruction spewed by Bray Wyatt and his family thus far

Having evoked nostalgia amongst the more hardcore fans, pun unintended, after re-forming the ECW Originals, the WWE has engineered a situation where the Wyatt Family has looked nigh invincible off late thanks to their dominant victories over the Dudley Boyz and Co.

Especially with Braun Strowman being portrayed as an unstoppable force and difference maker, it is hard to think of any regular wrestler or indeed faction under the employ of the WWE that is capable of vanquishing the Wyatt Family on current form.

If by now the fans are thinking that it would take an inhuman effort to derail the Wyatts, and by extension its leader Bray Wyatt, then the WWE creative team has hit the nail on the forehead for once.

Enter The Beast Incarnate, Brock Lesnar.

If internet rumours are to be believed, a feud between Brock Lesnar and the Wyatt Family is being discussed for 2016, with Bray Wyatt apparently pencilled in as the opponent for Lesnar at Wrestlemania 32.

Assuming this were true, it is probable that the wake of destruction left behind by the Wyatts in 2015 would likely translate into the new year, with the New Face of Fear in the WWE very much at the eye of the storm once again.

#2 John Cena

As depicted in his shirt, John Cena is just 1 championship away from equalling Ric Flair’s all-time record of 16 World Titles

As long as John Cena possesses the merchandising pull that he currently does, coupled with the ballooning in ratings that his appearances entail, any hopes that he may be phased out completely from the spotlight in 2016 could still be considered as premature.

There is also the small matter of equalling Ric Flair’s overall tally of capturing the World Championship for the record-equalling 16th time, without which it seems rather unlikely that the WWE would demote John Cena from the top of the food chain quite yet.

Also factoring in that Wrestlemania 32 may be the Undertaker’s swansong and that thus far, the WWE has resisted the allure of pitting him against the Face that runs the Place on the grandest stage, all early indications seem to suggest that a program involving the two to close out the Phenom’s venerable career with the company is in the offing.

Either way, it is worth re-iterating that at the end of the day, the WWE is a business and as long as John Cena’s popularity and image can be used to rake in money for the company and further legitimize its mainstream appeal, he would likely end up being featured as a major draw yet again in 2016.

#1 Roman Reigns

After capturing the WWE World Heavyweight Championship to close out 2015, Roman Reigns may have to reckon with the Cerebral Assasin next

In a year that witnessed Roman Reigns come full circle, from being booed out of the building after his Royal Rumble victory despite being endorsed by The Rock, to capturing the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at the very same venue whilst being serenaded by chants of “You deserve it!”, it wouldn’t be untoward to assume that it is merely a case of onward and upward for the Roman Empire in 2016.

However despite having braved a gruelling program with Bray Wyatt that laid most of the groundwork for his eventual elevation into the World Title picture, coupled with Seth Rollins’ (un)timely injury, perhaps the real icing on the cake was provided when Roman Reigns finally snapped and laid Triple H to waste after TLC.

While this also provided the WWE with the perfect excuse to re-introduce Vince McMahon to TV programming, it almost certainly sets up an intruiging encounter between Roman Reigns and the Cerebral Assasin sometime in the future.

The WWE has thus far done its utmost best to ensure that Roman Reigns gains traction with the audience and every indication as of now, points towards 2016 panning out along similar lines, if not better, for the next top babyface of the company.