Post by CMWaters on Dec 28, 2022 1:09:37 GMT -5
So with 2022 drawing to a close, and little to no chance of a title changing hands on the final Smackdown of the year, let's grade each of the champions on WWE and NXT (yes, I know at least one hasn't had a match as champion yet but still). I'll list them out with their start date as champion and make a brief paragraph description.
WWE UNDISPUTED UNIVERSAL CHAMPION ROMAN REIGNS
REIGN START: August 30, 2020 (Universal), April 3, 2022 (WWE)
Coming in from his already long (or over-long in some eyes) Universal title reign, Roman was given the go to hold both titles starting at WrestleMania. Through the year he's has some big billed matches, some we may have thought were the perfect ending point but didn't happen (Looking at you, Clash at the Castle), one unique one vs. Logan Paul, and otherwise just staying at the top of the card while also having a bit of fun with Sami Zayn joining his group. 2023 I think will be the end of it, which is a good last hurrah for him I would say as a major champion, since he's already drifted more into special attraction role.
WWE UNDISPUTED TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS THE USOS (JIMMY USO AND JEY USO)
REIGN START: July 18, 2021 (Smackdown), May 20, 2022 (Raw)
Despite spending a lot of their time being henchmen for their Tribal Chief, and the rivalry on camera between Jey and Sami Zayn, the Usos have had some great matches in the tag team division as well. This has been a case building to "when will it end" like Roman's run, and I think 2023 will begin the fall of the Bloodline, but even with personal backstage issues that I'm not going to get into, we've had a pretty good series of tag matches with them with various teams.
INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPION GUNTHER
REIGN START: June 10, 2022
After a slower start on the main roster, which came after a great NXT title match with Bron Breakker (more on him later), Gunther has built himself as a good force of an IC champion, including two great IC title matches with Sheamus, the first one a potential MOTY candidate.
UNITED STATES CHAMPION AUSTIN THEORY
REIGN START: November 26, 2022
After having the title, losing it, getting the Money in the Bank contract, then doing what many are saying is the dumbest cash-in yet, Theory's character was turned more serious where the two biggest traits are his new jacket and his hatred of being called a kid. He hasn't had any matches yet in his second run with the US title, but he did end the year by clocking Rollins in the head with the belt, so that's something, right? We'll see how deep into 2023 he'll go as US champion.
RAW WOMEN'S CHAMPION BIANCA BELAIR
REIGN START: April 2, 2022
Bianca's reign is a hard nut to crack. She's had great matches, yes, but until the start of this feud with Alexa started up at the end of the year, her title run has been based on two feuds: vs. Becky Lynch trying to recapture her spot after Mania, and vs. Bayley and by proxy Damage CTRL (more on them later). The trick is she's rarely made to look weak, even if her two title wins against Bayley were in ways that Bayley didn't have to be pinned or made to submit to win. Regardless, that feud seems to be put away for now while Bianca goes into 2023 against one of her allies for most of the Damage CTRL feud.
SMACKDOWN WOMEN'S CHAMPION RONDA ROUSEY
REIGN START: October 8, 2022
Rousey...has lost something since her first run in WWE. Maybe it's the star power she had before due to being closer to MMA career, maybe she just doesn't really care as much as she thought she would. Regardless, she got the title back after a mini-feud with Liv that has given Liv character development into a more crazed performer, while Rousey is going through the motions IMO. But hey, at least she gets to be with her friend Shayna more. Random aside, whatever happened to those other two ladies that Shayna hung around with in NXT?
WOMEN'S TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS DAMAGE CTRL (DAKOTA KAI & IYO SKY
REIGN START: November 5, 2022
After the initial hype of both ladies being called up to the main roster (and, well, rehired pretty much after Vince's outing), the two ladies have had an up and down year. Part of that is also the messed up year the Women's Tags have had because of the situation with Sasha Banks and Naomi, but also as Bayley's stable-mates they often crossed path with Bianca and her group, which hasn't often done well for them. That and the limited amount of teams for them to face at the moment for the Women's Tags (a constant problem that I'm HOPING improves in 2023) makes this second reign for them currently just...there.
NXT CHAMPION BRON BREAKKER
REIGN START: April 4, 2022
If we exclude the almost one month hiccup where Ziggler was NXT champion earlier this year, Breaker spent pretty much all of 2022 as NXT Champion. Some may mock him for things like the fishing vignettes and being character dull, but I've liked him as the closest thing we've had to a face top champion in this company in a while since Roman unified the titles. However, I do also agree that time may be running out for Breakker not only being the NXT top champ, but being on NXT in general. 2023 after WrestleMania should be his time to be called up. Still, unlike a good portion from what I've seen in NXT threads, I've liked him as NXT Champion.
NXT TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS THE NEW DAY (KOFI KINGSTON & XAVIER WOODS)
REIGN START: December 10, 2022
They just started their reign, and some may see it as a step down for them (or even a consolation prize for the Usos beating their longest reign), but in the short time that New Day have been NXT Tag Champs they seem to have an extra pep in their step, plus they had a great defense against Brooks and Jensen. I'm looking forward to seeing what they do on NXT in 2023.
NXT NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPION WES LEE
REIGN START: October 22, 2022
Wes Lee had a rough start to his year thanks to the stuff with his partner Nash Carter, which caused him to lose the tag titles without losing them. But he made up for it by the end, becoming a crowd favorite feel good story in a way with his ladder match title win and then two good to great title defenses to end the year against Carmello Hayes and Tony DeAngelo. Future is uncertain with how long they'll let him be NA Champion with Dijak and whatever other guys they put against him, but at least he ended the year on a high note, even ending the last NXT of the year standing tall as the camera faded out.
NXT WOMEN'S CHAMPION ROXANNE PEREZ
REIGN START: December 13, 2022
Had things gone differently backstage, I might have been talking about Mandy instead for this. But as it is, Roxanne had a good on camera journey to get to the title: having a failing the shot thanks to friend betrayal, dealing with that betrayal, then winning a first of its kind match. As champion thus far all she's done is have interviews so it's hard to truly judge yet, admittedly, how this reign is, and sadly there is the shadow of why she got the match when she did looming nearby, but here's hoping her reign is a good one in 2023.
NXT WOMEN'S TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS KAYDEN CARTER AND KATANA CHANCE
REIGN START: August 8, 2022
In the shadow of the aforementioned betrayal mentioned above, the two rave girls got a chance to finally win the NXT Women's Tags. And...they've been champions, yes. And they've had good matches, yes. But save for that mini rivalry with Zoey Stark and Nikita Lyons, they haven't really had anything to sink their teeth into as champions (and even that was mostly to set up Starks turning heel). Toxic Attraction is still around but they've been overdone potentially, so the NXT Women's Tag division has the same problem as the main roster one with lack of team depth. Hopefully we start building that up on both sets in 2023, even if it doesn't start happening until after Wrestlemania.
So yeah, there are your year end champions for 2022. Have at it with your opinions!
WWE UNDISPUTED UNIVERSAL CHAMPION ROMAN REIGNS
REIGN START: August 30, 2020 (Universal), April 3, 2022 (WWE)
Coming in from his already long (or over-long in some eyes) Universal title reign, Roman was given the go to hold both titles starting at WrestleMania. Through the year he's has some big billed matches, some we may have thought were the perfect ending point but didn't happen (Looking at you, Clash at the Castle), one unique one vs. Logan Paul, and otherwise just staying at the top of the card while also having a bit of fun with Sami Zayn joining his group. 2023 I think will be the end of it, which is a good last hurrah for him I would say as a major champion, since he's already drifted more into special attraction role.
WWE UNDISPUTED TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS THE USOS (JIMMY USO AND JEY USO)
REIGN START: July 18, 2021 (Smackdown), May 20, 2022 (Raw)
Despite spending a lot of their time being henchmen for their Tribal Chief, and the rivalry on camera between Jey and Sami Zayn, the Usos have had some great matches in the tag team division as well. This has been a case building to "when will it end" like Roman's run, and I think 2023 will begin the fall of the Bloodline, but even with personal backstage issues that I'm not going to get into, we've had a pretty good series of tag matches with them with various teams.
INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPION GUNTHER
REIGN START: June 10, 2022
After a slower start on the main roster, which came after a great NXT title match with Bron Breakker (more on him later), Gunther has built himself as a good force of an IC champion, including two great IC title matches with Sheamus, the first one a potential MOTY candidate.
UNITED STATES CHAMPION AUSTIN THEORY
REIGN START: November 26, 2022
After having the title, losing it, getting the Money in the Bank contract, then doing what many are saying is the dumbest cash-in yet, Theory's character was turned more serious where the two biggest traits are his new jacket and his hatred of being called a kid. He hasn't had any matches yet in his second run with the US title, but he did end the year by clocking Rollins in the head with the belt, so that's something, right? We'll see how deep into 2023 he'll go as US champion.
RAW WOMEN'S CHAMPION BIANCA BELAIR
REIGN START: April 2, 2022
Bianca's reign is a hard nut to crack. She's had great matches, yes, but until the start of this feud with Alexa started up at the end of the year, her title run has been based on two feuds: vs. Becky Lynch trying to recapture her spot after Mania, and vs. Bayley and by proxy Damage CTRL (more on them later). The trick is she's rarely made to look weak, even if her two title wins against Bayley were in ways that Bayley didn't have to be pinned or made to submit to win. Regardless, that feud seems to be put away for now while Bianca goes into 2023 against one of her allies for most of the Damage CTRL feud.
SMACKDOWN WOMEN'S CHAMPION RONDA ROUSEY
REIGN START: October 8, 2022
Rousey...has lost something since her first run in WWE. Maybe it's the star power she had before due to being closer to MMA career, maybe she just doesn't really care as much as she thought she would. Regardless, she got the title back after a mini-feud with Liv that has given Liv character development into a more crazed performer, while Rousey is going through the motions IMO. But hey, at least she gets to be with her friend Shayna more. Random aside, whatever happened to those other two ladies that Shayna hung around with in NXT?
WOMEN'S TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS DAMAGE CTRL (DAKOTA KAI & IYO SKY
REIGN START: November 5, 2022
After the initial hype of both ladies being called up to the main roster (and, well, rehired pretty much after Vince's outing), the two ladies have had an up and down year. Part of that is also the messed up year the Women's Tags have had because of the situation with Sasha Banks and Naomi, but also as Bayley's stable-mates they often crossed path with Bianca and her group, which hasn't often done well for them. That and the limited amount of teams for them to face at the moment for the Women's Tags (a constant problem that I'm HOPING improves in 2023) makes this second reign for them currently just...there.
NXT CHAMPION BRON BREAKKER
REIGN START: April 4, 2022
If we exclude the almost one month hiccup where Ziggler was NXT champion earlier this year, Breaker spent pretty much all of 2022 as NXT Champion. Some may mock him for things like the fishing vignettes and being character dull, but I've liked him as the closest thing we've had to a face top champion in this company in a while since Roman unified the titles. However, I do also agree that time may be running out for Breakker not only being the NXT top champ, but being on NXT in general. 2023 after WrestleMania should be his time to be called up. Still, unlike a good portion from what I've seen in NXT threads, I've liked him as NXT Champion.
NXT TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS THE NEW DAY (KOFI KINGSTON & XAVIER WOODS)
REIGN START: December 10, 2022
They just started their reign, and some may see it as a step down for them (or even a consolation prize for the Usos beating their longest reign), but in the short time that New Day have been NXT Tag Champs they seem to have an extra pep in their step, plus they had a great defense against Brooks and Jensen. I'm looking forward to seeing what they do on NXT in 2023.
NXT NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPION WES LEE
REIGN START: October 22, 2022
Wes Lee had a rough start to his year thanks to the stuff with his partner Nash Carter, which caused him to lose the tag titles without losing them. But he made up for it by the end, becoming a crowd favorite feel good story in a way with his ladder match title win and then two good to great title defenses to end the year against Carmello Hayes and Tony DeAngelo. Future is uncertain with how long they'll let him be NA Champion with Dijak and whatever other guys they put against him, but at least he ended the year on a high note, even ending the last NXT of the year standing tall as the camera faded out.
NXT WOMEN'S CHAMPION ROXANNE PEREZ
REIGN START: December 13, 2022
Had things gone differently backstage, I might have been talking about Mandy instead for this. But as it is, Roxanne had a good on camera journey to get to the title: having a failing the shot thanks to friend betrayal, dealing with that betrayal, then winning a first of its kind match. As champion thus far all she's done is have interviews so it's hard to truly judge yet, admittedly, how this reign is, and sadly there is the shadow of why she got the match when she did looming nearby, but here's hoping her reign is a good one in 2023.
NXT WOMEN'S TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS KAYDEN CARTER AND KATANA CHANCE
REIGN START: August 8, 2022
In the shadow of the aforementioned betrayal mentioned above, the two rave girls got a chance to finally win the NXT Women's Tags. And...they've been champions, yes. And they've had good matches, yes. But save for that mini rivalry with Zoey Stark and Nikita Lyons, they haven't really had anything to sink their teeth into as champions (and even that was mostly to set up Starks turning heel). Toxic Attraction is still around but they've been overdone potentially, so the NXT Women's Tag division has the same problem as the main roster one with lack of team depth. Hopefully we start building that up on both sets in 2023, even if it doesn't start happening until after Wrestlemania.
So yeah, there are your year end champions for 2022. Have at it with your opinions!
