2014 Year in Review: The Best and Worst of the WWE

While regular people would be hoping to get a new car or a new house in 2015, the wrestling fans out there would be hoping to see some better booking from WWE as 2014 turned out to be a disappointment to say the least.To get the facts right, there were a lot of great moments in the year but since the bad things outweighed the good ones, we could conclude with confidence that Vince McMahon screwed up big time this year.A New Year celebration might not be enough to change the view point of Vince but hope is always a good thing for the fans. But before we embark on the journey of 2015, here is a look at the best and worst from the year that passed by.

#10 Feud of the year

Almost all the feuds that WWE built this year had some immense amount of potential. It was the execution of the same that decided their faith. Daniel Bryan’s angle with the Authority or Bray Wyatt was among the best while the Shield vs. Evolution feud also produced solid action.

It required something extraordinary to outclass all the storylines and the Seth Rollins – Dean Ambrose feud did just that. Both men were charged emotionally after the Shield’s break up and the in ring action was top notch as well.

When it comes to the worst feud of the year there will be a plethora of candidates with the winner by a great margin being the Sibling angle between the Bellas. It lacked from the start itself and WWE buried it big time like the usual botches.

Best feud: Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins

Worst Feud: Brie Bella vs. Nikki Bella

#9 Tag Team of the year

The tag team division went downhill after a good outing back in 2013 thanks to WWE’s idea of splitting all the good teams. Real Americans and Prime Time Players were all on the casualty list of this habit while the likess of Rhodes Brothers and Usos stood tall amidst the chaos.

Usos in particular stole the show with two title reigns under their belt along with solid showing in the matches. Rhodes Brothers and Wyatt Family also got the job done when asked for.

Los Matadores on the other hand felt completely lost out there due to the gimmick. The feud with 3MB was their best part of the year and we all know how that turned out to be.

Best Tag Team: Usos

Worst Tag Team:

#8 Gimmick of the year

Some might argue that the wrestling business is free from gimmicks but 2014 was another year which proved otherwise. WWE brought out gimmicks that ranged from utterly ridiculous to good over the year and the best one had to be either Damien Sandow’s stunt double or Cody Rhodes’ Stardust.

Both gimmicks were a breath of fresh air for both the careers while they turned out to be a success story in the roster as well.

Worst one has to be Adam Rose’s Bunny. If the company pushing bull fighters and bulls weren’t enough, they came up with another animal in the form of a Bunny. Rose was a big failure on his own right and the Bunny made matter worse for Rose.

Best Gimmick: Damien Sandow’s Stunt Double

Worst Gimmick: Adam Rose’s Bunny

#7 Turn of the year

There wouldn’t be much competition to Seth Rollins when it comes to turn of the year. The Shield was having a great time back then and Rollins decided to end the faction was a pivotal point for all three men who were involved in the stable.

Rollins then went on to become a top heel in the company scaling all mountains when Reigns and Ambrose dominated the main event scene as well.

The worst turn of the year award goes to the World’s Largest Athlete for pulling off his 3215th turn at Survivor Series for no reason whatsoever. Show is still running around as a heel with no cause at the moment and WWE has no idea on what to do with him.

Best turn: Seth Rollins

Worst turn: Big Show

#6 Pay-Per-View of the year

As expected, it was the big four pay-per-views that stood out from the rest in 2014, Apart from the NXT ones that is. Survivor Series and SummerSlam told some great stories while being packed with good matches throughout the card.

But both of them couldn’t reach to the excitement that WrestleMania managed to throw in. Taker’s streak ending, a legendary reunion and Daniel Bryan’s win alongside a solid undercard made WrestleMania the most successful pay-per-view of 2014.

Royal Rumble meanwhile landed on a pit. No one wanted to see Batista winning the match or another Randy Orton – Cena encounter. The only bright spot was a Daniel Bryan vs. Bray Wyatt match and apart from that, everything fell apart.

Best pay-per-view: WrestleMania XXX

Worst pay-per-view: Royal Rumble

#5 Debut of the year

There weren’t any lack of debuts this year in the WWE paradigm. Paige led the way with her break out performance against AJ Lee on the night after WrestleMania while Sting’s debut broke the entire internet in half.

But the best one came down in NXT. Kevin Steen made his much awaited debut in the WWE squared circle at NXT Revolution squashing CJ Parker in a match that saw real blood. Steen then went on to execute a heel turn against Sami Zayn to end the night in style.

Worst debut of the year belonged to Charlotte for her two minute loss against Natalya on Raw. Vince McMahon is clearly the person to be blamed for this but what is done is done and that’s the bottom line.

Best Debut: Kevin Steen

Worst Debut: Charlotte

#4 Match of the year

A majority of the Match of the year contenders would come out of NXT because even their women delivered better than half of the WWE main roster. The best action from the main roster meanwhile came from the usual suspects like Cesaro, Dolph Ziggler, Seth Rollins, Luke Harper and Daniel Bryan.

However, one match that had all the ingredients in correct proportion was the Team Cena vs. Team Authority match. Everything excelled to the core and Sting’s debut capped off it perfectly.

When it came to worst matches, WWE had many. Everything that the Authority interfered belonged to this list. If one was to be picked for the occasion, then it would be the Lesnar –Taker showdown since these two men probably had the worst matches of their respective careers at WrestleMania.

Best Match: Team Cena vs. Team Authority

Worst Match: Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar

#3 Diva of the year

Just like all the years that went by, WWE didn’t give much time for booking the divas. Almost all the diva feuds looked nothing more than platen cleansers as they hardly got enough time to tell a story.

AJ Lee was the best from the lot since she was the back bone of the division once again while Paige followed closely. Bellas were booked strongly throughout the year unlike the other divas but as AJ once said, talent is not sexually transmitted.

Brie and Nikki would’ve easily been the worst divas of the year if it wasn’t for their Total Diva companion Eva Marie. There is nothing wrong with Eva in terms of looks but WWE is a wrestling promotion not beauty pageant contest.

Best Diva: AJ Lee

Worst Diva: Eva Marie

#2 Moment of the year

From Undertaker’s streak ending to Sting’s debut, there were a lot of moments out there in 2014 which forced the fans to jump out of their seats. All these were indeed great moments but the best has to be Daniel Bryan’s WrestleMania win.

Bryan’s run to the WWE World Heavyweight Championship was nothing less than a fairytale run and made us realize why we love professional wrestling in the first place.

Meanwhile, the Authority’s return in the last segment of 2014 is clearly the worst. No one wanted to see Hunter’s pack returning after delivering so much drama in Survivor Series. It cancelled out everything that happened at the PPV and reinstated everything that we hated.

Best Moment: Daniel Bryan’s WrestleMania win

Worst Moment: Authority’s return

#1 Superstar of the year

2014 turned out to be a great year for some superstars while it was forgettable for the rest. Names like Brock Lesnar, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose fell into the former category with Lesnar being the stand out performer thanks to being the one in twenty one and one.

However, if anyone deserves to be the Superstar of the year, it is Rollins. He started out as part of the Shield and then went on to establish himself as the top heel in the WWE ranks. Rollins did all these while regularly appearing on the WWE programming which gives him extra points ahead of Lesnar.

The worst superstars would be Adam Rose. He did have a great run down in NXT but WWE’s mismanagement and some ridiculous booking screwed up things for Rose even though he had a lot of potential.

Best Superstar: Seth Rollins

Worst Superstar: Adam Rose