Top 10 Best WWE Wrestlers of 2022
2022 was one of the craziest years in professional wrestling in recent memory and it will certainly go down as one of the most important years in WWE history as so many things have changed in the company from Vince McMahon retiring as CEO of the company to Paul Levesque, a.k.a Triple H, taking over the position of Head of Creative. For this list, WWE Superstars will be ranked for their accomplishments during the year 2022, whether it's related to their championship wins, their connection with the fans or the quality of their work throughout the year.Please note that tag team duos are eligible for this list as both superstars tend to perform equally all year.
Leati Joseph "Joe" Anoa'i (Roman Reigns) was born on May 25, 1985. He is an American professional wrestler and former professional Canadian football player.He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs under ring name Roman Reigns.
His finishing move is Spear and Moment of Silence... read more
The Tribal Chief, the Head of the Table, Roman Reigns is the undeniable number one WWE Superstar in 2022. The man has been Universal Champion since August 30, 2020 and is still the champion two years later. On top of that, he added the WWE Championship to his other shoulder this year by conquering Brock Lesnar in a Winner Take All match at WrestleMania 38, making him the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion. The most amazing thing about his unbelievable title reign is that fans are still strongly behind him and the Bloodline with no signs of their momentum slowing down. Acknowledge him!
The Usos have absolutely dominated the tag team division this year. Like their cousin, and Tribal Chief, Roman Reigns, Jimmy and Jey have added more gold to their shoulders by defeating RK-Bro for the Raw tag team championships, making them the Undisputed Tag Team Champions. Even more impressive is that they now hold the record for the longest single reign as tag team champions, beating the New Day's record of 483 days. Their dynamics with other members of the Bloodline have also been very entertaining, especially with the honorary uce Sami Zayn.
Rami Sebei is a Canadian professional wrestler of Syrian descent, currently signed to WWE under the ring name Sami Zayn, where he is a former NXT Champion... read more Sami Zayn has been for many WWE fans the best part of SmackDown ever since he joined up with The Bloodline. Seeing the different dynamics between him and The Usos was great fun, with Jimmy Uso taking a liking to Sami right from the start and Jey Uso not trusting Sami one bit which led to some great segments on weekly television like for instance the "Ucey" promo. Sami Zayn eventually gained both Jey Uso and Roman Reigns' trust at Survivor Series: War Games when he went as far as giving his old friend Kevin Owens a low blow to give The Bloodline the advantage in the match. The Honorary Uce ended the year teaming with Roman Reigns on SmackDown against Kevin Owens and none other than John Cena. Zayn is red hot going into 2023, looking forward to seeing what's in store for him.
Ever since defeating Becky Lynch at this year's WrestleMania and winning the Raw Women's Championship, Bianca Belair has been showing why she is the "EST of WWE", defeating opponents like Becky Lynch, Asuka, Carmella, Sonya Deville, Bayley and Alexa Bliss, carrying the women's division on Monday Night Raw forward. Biance is entering 2023 with the title, maybe she can become the longest reigning champion as well? We'll see.
Colby Lopez is an American professional wrestler and actor who is signed to WWE under the ring name Seth Rollins. He is the Current Intercontinental Champion. The Visionary Seth "Freakin" Rollins has been carrying Monday Night Raw on his shoulders in 2022, being the red brand's undeniably most popular superstar and having some of the best matches and promos to his name this year. On top of that, he won a title after two years on not having gold around his waist by winning the United States championship from Bobby Lashley, becoming a two time Grand Slam champion in the process. As an added bonus, he has found creative new ways to perform his finishing move the curb stomp on his opponents.
Gunther made his main roster debut for WWE on the 8 April episode of SmackDown alongside Ludwig Keiser. Only two months later, Gunther defeated Ricochet to win the Intercontinental Championship, making him the first Austrian to win the title, and he has held the title in dominating fashion ever since, entering 2023 as the champion. Gunther defended his title against multiple opponents such as Shinsuke Nakamura and Rey Mysterio, but the one that stands out the most is Sheamus with the two of them having matches so good one of them was in the lineup for the Match of the Year. It seems like no one can stop Gunther going into 2023, maybe he will be the one to beat the Honky Tonk Man's record for the longest reigning Intercontinental Champion?
Franklin Robert "Bobby" Lashley is an American professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, and former collegiate amateur wrestler and former United States Army sergeant currently signed to both Bellator MMA, where he is undefeated through four heavyweight fights, and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling,... read more Bobby Lashley had a strong year in 2022, starting the year off by beating the Nigerian giant Omos at WrestleMania 38. Lashley then began a feud with United States Champion Austin Theory, culminating in a match between the two at Money in the Bank, defeating Theory to win his third United States Championship. On the October 10 episode of Raw, Lashley lost the United States Championship to Rollins in a rematch after being attacked by a returning Brock Lesnar before the match. Lesnar vs Lashley then took place at Crown Jewel with Lashley dominating most of the match before losing to a roll-up pin. Furious, Lashley attacked Lesnar after the match, giving the All-Mighty a new attitude which carried over for the rest of 2022. At Survivor Series: War Games, Bobby Lashley had a banger of a match against Seth Rollins and Austin Theory for the United States championship. 2023 seems to offer many possibilities when it comes to the All-Mighty, with some rumors saying he might soon have another match against Brock Lesnar.
Stephen Farrelly is an Irish professional wrestler and actor. He is currently signed to the American professional wrestling promotion WWE, where he performs under the ring name Sheamus. Sheamus has become beloved by fans in the last few years of his career, getting some of the best reactions from the crowd due to his realistic, hard-hitting and top-tier matches. This year was especially good as he was paired with Ridge Holland and Butch (a.k.a Pete Dunne) forming the Brawling Brutes which has become one of the most popular acts in the company this year. Sheamus has had memorable matches and feuds against Drew McIntyre, Gunther and his group Imperium, as well as Roman Reigns and The Bloodline.
Kevin Steen is a Canadian professional wrestler signed to WWE, where he performs under the ring name Kevin Owens. Kevin Owens started off 2022 with a dream match against his childhood hero "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. What's even more impressive is that Kevin Owens singlehandedly made fans excited for the match every week on Raw with Austin only showing up at WrestleMania itself. The rest of the year was also strong with fun moments with Elias/Ezekiel and of course Owens finding every way possible to pick a fight with The Bloodline.
Rhea Ripley is entering 2023 on an entirely different level compared to how she began 2022. Being part of The Judgment Day did a lot of good for her career, making her look like a monster heel and always getting involved in her group's matches. Her on-screen relationship with Dominik Mysterio was meme worthy, but in a good way, and their pairing has led to some of WWE's most viral moments of the year. Ripley even had matches against male superstars and won. During the rivalry between The Judgment Day and The O.C., Rhea Ripley even picked Luke Gallows and slammed him, making her look like a beast. She is now a favorite to face one of the two women's champions at WrestleMania 39.
Cody Garrett Runnels Rhodes is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is currently signed to WWE. Rhodes is also known for his time in All Elite Wrestling, where he served as an executive vice president and was the inaugural AEW TNT Champion. Cody has admittedly only had 3 matches since his return at WrestleMania 38 and has been out with a pec injury since June of 2022, but his return and trilogy of matches with Seth Rollins have been so good and memorable that this alone grants him a spot on this list. The Hell in a Cell match he still took part in even though his right pectoral muscle was completely torn off the bone was one of the best WWE has ever produced.
Allen Neal Jones, better known by the ring name AJ Styles, is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE.
Gionna Jene Daddio is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE under the ring name Liv Morgan, performing on the Smackdown brand. On November 21st 2017 she moved to the SmackDown Live brand turning heel for the first time in her career. After a hiatus, she returned to WWE on Monday... read more In the last few years, Liv Morgan has been putting in the work to improve in every way possible and get the fans' support, and it all payed off when she became SmackDown Women's champion by cashing in her Money in the Bank contract on Ronda Rousey. After losing the title back to Ronda Rousey, Morgan has embraced her "extreme" side, giving fans many memorable moments throughout the year.
Rebecca Quin is an Irish professional wrestler currently signed to WWE under the ring name Becky Lynch, performing on the RAW brand, where she is a former SmackDown Women's Champion and RAW Women's Champion. Becky Lynch came back from injury this year right back where she left off by returning at Survivor Series: War Games, in the women's War Games match. As always, Lynch is a fan favorite, performs at a high level and knows how to look like a star. A steady year for "The Man", let's see what 2023 has in store for her.
Andrew McLean Galloway IV is a Scottish professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where he performs on Monday Night Raw under the ring name Drew McIntyre, where he is a two-time WWE Champion. Compared to the last few years, 2022 obviously wasn't Drew McIntyre's most memorable, but he has somewhat become what's called a "workhorse" in professional wrestling, always delivering in the ring and on the microphone. He was one of only seven performers to work more than 100 matches over the course of the year, and most of them came in high-profile feuds against the likes of Roman Reigns, Sheamus, and Karrion Kross, not to mention participating in the War Games match at Survivor Series.
Steve Austin (born Steven James Anderson on December 18, 1964, later Steven James Williams), better known by his ring name "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, is an American actor, media personality, producer, and retired professional wrestler who is signed to a legends contract for WWE... read more
Michael Gregory "Mike" Mizanin is an American professional wrestler, reality television star, and actor. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown Live brand under the ring name The Miz.
Brock Edward Lesnar is an American professional wrestler and former amateur wrestler, professional American football player, and mixed martial artist who is currently signed to WWE.
