Year-End Sports Recap: Best WWE Moments, Performers From Unforgettable 2022

WWE had one of its most memorable years in recent history with the many stars and matches that have helped the promotion maintain top-billing status.

Here are the best moments and performers for the premier wrestling company in the world in 2022.

Male Performer of the Year: Roman Reigns

Few male WWE stars had a better 2022 than Roman Reigns and while there is a case to be made for Seth Rollins to take this spot,"The Head of the Table" continued to reach greater heights.

Many have soured on Reigns being the top guy in WWE since they think it takes away from other performers from becoming a main event-level performer, but from a business standpoint, Reigns is still the most popular name.

Despite becoming a part-timer, "The Tribal Chief" was a must-see attraction for both his mic skills and the matches that he put on during pay-per-view events.

Reigns was able to successfully unify the WWE and Universal Championships at WrestleMania 38 Night 2 with a victory over Brock Lesnar while their hard-hitting Last Man Standing match at SummerSlam on July 30 garnered a ton of acclaim among the fans as they ended their long history.

He also had show-stealing performances at Clash at the Castle in September against Drew McIntyre and at Crown Jewel two months later against social media star Logan Paul before closing out the year with his faction at Survivor Series WarGames on November 26.

While Reigns is still known for his matches, his most noteworthy performances came on the microphone – a sour point early in his career.

Seth Rollins has a case for this honor as well, but Reigns' achievements and global appeal have him taking this honor by a hair.

Honorable Mention: Seth Rollins

Female Performer of the Year: Bianca Belair

On the women's side of things, there are a few contenders that could challenge for this honor due to having their own banner years, but 2022 was simply Bianca Belair's to lose.

Defeating Becky Lynch in the second-longest match of WrestleMania 38 Night 1, Belair successfully claimed the Raw Women's Title in what was the women's match of the year by a mile.

Belair and Lynch would engage in two more matches at Hell in a Cell in June and at SummerSlam a month later with the former continuing to prove why she is the "E-S-T of WWE"–a nickname that she carried over from her NXT days.

She would later be involved in a feud with Bayley and is now in a program with Alexa Bliss which likely take up most of her time.

Arguably the best women's star in the new generation, Belair is expected to banner them moving forward.

Honorable Mention: Liv Morgan

Male Prospect of the Year: Bron Breakker

WWE's developmental brand of NXT entered a new wave of optimism from fans with Triple H at the helm and NXT Champion Bron Breakker is arguably the company's biggest blue-chip performer entering the new year.

At 25 years old, Breakker continues to put on strong matches thanks to his explosive powerhouse style and is on pace to keep his hold on the title and extend his reign.

Breakker was criticized early in his WWE career due to similarities with his father, Rick Steiner, and perennial fan-favorite uncle Scott Steiner, but he has done well in 2022 to differentiate himself from them.

The former Kennesaw State University running back even channeled his uncle's charisma in a September 27 episode of NXT with a nod to his infamous "Steiner Math" promo from 2008.

While it would be sensible to bring him up to the main roster soon, keeping him in NXT is the best possible scenario for him since the main roster is still loaded with talent.

Showing the makings of what a main roster star looks like, 2023 could have an even bigger year in store for Breakker.

Female Prospect of the Year: Roxanne Perez

The newly crowned NXT Women's Champion Roxanne Perez had a 2022 for the ages in the industry.

Signing with WWE in March, the former Ring of Honor Women's Champion made her debut a month later against Toxic Attraction's Jacy Jane.

WWE appeared to have faith in Perez's potential as a future star when she became the eventual winner of the NXT Women's Breakout Tournament, defeating Kiana James and Lash Legend before beating Tiffany Straton in the final.

Another month passed and Perez would become one-half of the NXT Women's Tag Team Champions with Cora Jade who would eventually turn heel on her and a short feud that featured a one-off showing on the October 14 episode of SmackDown.

During NXT's inaugural Women's Iron Survivor Challenge to determine the new No. 1 contender for Mandy Rose's title, Perez outlasted Jade, James, Indi Hartwell and Zoey Stark – further cementing WWE's belief in her talent.

Three days after on the December 13 episode of NXT, WWE strapped the rocket onto Perez's back and had her defeating Rose in another solid bout that allowed the former to put her talent on full display.

At just 21 years old, the sky is the limit for Perez and her stint in NXT is only going to help her become an even better performer.

Return of the Year: Cody Rhodes

The majority of WWE's momentous 2022 featured a ton of returns, but none were as high-profile as that of the "prodigal son" Cody Rhodes.

Rhodes was building his own name outside of WWE, which culminated in the creation of All Elite Wrestling (AEW) in 2018 where he served as executive vice president since.

But in February, rumors of Rhodes returning to WWE started to circulate after AEW's official Twitter account released a thank-you message to both Rhodes and his wife Brandi, which prompted many to wonder whether he would actually return.

WWE later had a storyline for Seth Rollins wherein he would be having a mystery opponent at WrestleMania 38 and while insiders reported at the time that it was definitely Rhodes, the unpredictable nature of pro wrestling had fans still being skeptical.

On Night 1 of WrestleMania 38, Downstait's "Kingdom" blared through the speakers of the AT&T Stadium in Dallas, Texas following the now-iconic intro of Rhodes saying that "wrestling has more than one royal family."

Rhodes went on to pick up the victory against Rollins at the "Showcase of the Immortals," but the pair would go on to have an even better match two months later.

Honorable Mention: Bray Wyatt

Main Roster Debut of the Year: Solo Sikoa

WWE has placed importance on developing its future generation of stars through NXT, and Solo Sikoa making his main roster debut was a massive surprise.

During WWE's first United Kingdom pay-per-view at Clash at the Castle in September, Roman Reigns was out to defend his undisputed WWE Universal Championship against Drew McIntyre.

McIntyre had Reigns dead to rights after landing his finisher on "The Tribal Chief" before Sikoa pulled the referee out of the ring which allowed Reigns to retain his title.

Now serving as the full-time enforcer of the Bloodline, SIkoa has been a featured performer on the main roster and it has made him into a fan favorite.

Sikoa's silent charisma has him doing his talking inside the ring with his smash-mouth style of wrestling while being able to convey his thoughts with simple actions.

Though he only spent a year in NXT, Sikoa has the makings of a future singles champion and WWE just might give him a shot sometime in 2023.

Honorable Mention: Raquel Rodriguez

Match of the Year: Seth Rollins vs. Cody Rhodes (Hell in a Cell)

Building off their stellar WrestleMania 38 match, Seth Rollins and Cody Rhodes sought to have their blowoff match at the June 5 pay-per-view and fans continued to rave about it long after.

Ahead of the brutal match though, Rhodes suffered a torn pectoral muscle while lifting weights, but fans only got a glimpse of how bad it looked during the event itself.

After making his way to the ring, "The American Nightmare" took off his entrance attire to reveal the gravity of the injury as the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois fell silent with an in-character Rollins laughing at his opponent's misfortune.

The match soon began and fans were treated to a back-and-forth of epic proportions with Rollins, wearing a Dusty Rhodes-inspired ring gear, repeatedly targeting the injury as viewers continued to hope that it would end soon.

10 minutes into the match though, Rhodes would find his second wind and would finally get his hits in on Rollins which featured table spots, a bull rope, kendo sticks, steel steps, and a sledgehammer.

Rhodes would eventually pick up the win after 24 minutes of hard-hitting action and though the pain would have been unbearable for the normal man, the newly returned WWE star convinced fans that he will be giving it his all in his second stint to put on a show for the fans–for better or worse.

Their efforts inside the iconic structure would later be rewarded with a five-star match rating from renowned pro wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer.

Honorable Mention: Sheamus vs. Gunther (Clash at the Castle)

Event of the Year: Clash at the Castle

WWE had a Renaissance year with Triple H calling the shots and his first big show of the year was the company's first United Kingdom pay-per-view since 2003: Clash at the Castle.

The show started with two tag team matches which featured wins for the trios of Madcap Moss and The Street Profits and Damage CTRL, the faction of Bayley, Dakota Kai and Iyo Sky.

Next up was the undisputed match of the night and the near-winner of the match of the year, the hard-hitting match between Sheamus and Intercontinental Champion Gunther.

Both men left it all in the ring as fans were treated to a stiff showing that featured chops to the chest and strikes that thundered around the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, and was subsequently recognized as a five-star match by Dave Meltzer and the second under WWE's belt.

Clash at the Castle also featured Liv Morgan's defense of the SmackDown Women's Championship, Edge and Rey Mysterio defeating The Judgment Day, where Dominik Mysterio finally turned heel to join the latter faction and the blowoff match from Seth Rollins and Matt Riddle.

The main event featured Roman Reigns' defense of the undisputed WWE Universal Championship against hometown hero Drew McIntyre who had his "Broken Dreams" theme play over a short vignette of his career while the crowd sang the lyrics.

With Reigns' Bloodline faction neutralized due to travel issues being cited as The Usos' reason for missing out on the event, it certainly appeared it would be McIntyre's title to lose.

However, the main roster debut of Solo Sikoa ensured that the titles stayed on "The Island of Relevancy" while McIntyre was left reeling in the ring.

The Scotland-born star and fans closed out the show with a touching moment of heavyweight boxing star Tyson Fury serenading the crowd with renditions of Don McLean's "American Pie" and "Don't Look Back In Anger" by Oasis.

All in all, WWE gave fans in the United Kingdom and around the world a pro wrestling showcase of what the sport looks like on its best day, further earmarking just how stellar Clash at the Castle was from top to bottom.

Honorable Mention: WrestleMania 38

Moment of the Year: Vince McMahon Retires From WWE

Capping off one of the most momentous years in WWE's recent history, longtime WWE chairman and CEO announced his shocking retirement from the business in July.

It was revealed the month before in an exposé by the Wall Street Journal that McMahon had given out about $3 million worth of hush money to a paralegal in order to hide their affair, along with the latter signing a nondisclosure agreement that also implicated then-WWE head of talent relations John Laurinaitis.

As the investigation continued to heat up, McMahon announced his departure from the company in a simple tweet.

Laurinaitis was later replaced by Bruce Prichard in August before being fired from his post.

With McMahon out of the picture, Triple H was elevated to head of WWE creative– meaning that he now had full control of the company's weekly shows and pay-per-views.

Under his watchful eye, WWE fans have been welcoming back some familiar faces that were released from the organization during their many rounds of budget cuts.

Many have lauded Triple H's version of WWE as it gave off vibes of his time as the showrunner of NXT and the optimism only continued to grow from there, with the hope that the newfound breath of fresh air will generate even more momentum into 2023.

Honorable Mention: Sasha Banks and Naomi's Walk Out