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We're still several weeks away from WWE Royal Rumble 2017 on Jan. 29, but some of the big pieces are already falling into place. Goldberg and Brock Lesnar will both participate in the Rumble, Roman Reigns will take on Kevin Owens for the Universal Championship and John Cena will take on AJ Styles for the WWE Championship. That all sounds great on paper, but as WWE has proved in the past, the journey matters more than the destination. All three of those feuds are hot right now, but will they still be hot in one month's time? Here are the latest rumors ...

WWE put quite the bow on 2016 with the SmackDown Wild Card Finals and NXT's two-hour special from Osaka, Japan. An already stacked calendar crammed in a pair of big events at year's end. Each one delivered a number of engrossing title bouts. AJ Styles defended the WWE Championship in a scintillating Triple Threat match. Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano took on a pair of Japanese warriors. And The Wyatt Family faced three teams with eyes on the tag titles. The WWE Championship contest confirmed that Styles has been WWE's MVP this year. Nobody delivered more often than The Phenomenal One. Read on for a look ...

Johnny Gargano is among those WWE NXT stars who are charging into 2017 with momentum. On the final NXT of the year, the developmental brand traveled to Osaka, Japan, for a two-hour special. And a number of wrestlers closed out 2016 in impressive fashion. Gargano bolstered his already strong resume in a tag team title bout. Peyton Royce showed off her growing mastery of the heel role. Andrade "Cien" Almas looked right at home in a seesaw brawl. 2016 saw a flood of NXT talent leave for the main roster. But grapplers like Gargano are poised to fill in all the gaps left behind. Where do ...

The final week of 2016 brought with it two WWE brands headed in opposite directions as the new year approaches. One features a main event scene with the same four Superstars who have dominated headlines for the last four months, creating a staleness to the product that does not appeal to an exhausted audience. The other is riding a wave of momentum, delivering weekly programs that are compelling and interesting, despite the next pay-per-view being a month away. With just days until the end of the year, which brand was able to craft a show that fueled it to victory in the weekly ...

When he debuted in WWE back at the Royal Rumble in January, not even AJ Styles could have envisaged the success he'd have during his first year with the company. In a matter of weeks, Styles quickly became one of the most popular and relevant stars on the roster. Since the brand split, he's SmackDown's biggest and most coveted asset. On a wider scale, he remains potentially the best in-ring worker in WWE. And with WrestleMania being just around the corner, the choice of his opponent for the biggest show of the year is vital. Will Styles still hold the WWE Championship? Will ...

In a very special edition of NXT, the Superstars of wrestling's most buzzed-about brand traveled to Osaka for a live event in Japan on Wednesday. Shinsuke Nakamura challenged Samoa Joe for the NXT Championship in a match that has been aired before but would have a significant effect as 2016 comes to a close. Asuka would look to celebrate with her fellow countrymen as she defended the NXT Women's Championship against Nia Jax in a rematch of their TakeOver classic. The NXT Tag Team Championships were also on the line as Japan's Tajiri and Akira Tozawa challenged DIY's Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa. Oney ...

AJ Styles has run WWE SmackDown for much of 2016, but his reign atop the blue brand is suddenly in danger. John Cena's arrival may be poised to rearrange the SmackDown hierarchy. The powerhouse set his eyes on Styles' WWE Championship as soon as he stepped back onto the stage. As a result, Tuesday's SmackDown ended the year with uncertainty lingering around Styles' future.  The show left fans wondering about a good number of other developments, too. Who helped Alexa Bliss keep the SmackDown Women's Championship around her waist? Is The Wyatt Family doomed to fall apart? What does Carmella have in mind for her ...

John Cena's presence can widen WWE SmackDown's lead over Raw should the blue brand fully tap into his star power. Seconds into his first appearance on SmackDown in months, it was clear Cena is still king. The 15-time world champion revved up and deftly worked the Chicago crowd on Tuesday night.  A palpable electricity crackled through the Allstate Arena. The opponents he faces and the direction his story goes in will determine how big Cena's latest tenure can be. A smart blend of building on the past and building toward the future is the best route for the powerhouse heading into 2017. Cena's first order ...

1. Sami Zayn, Champion WWE's 2017 resolutions have to include crowning Sami Zayn, positioning him in the spotlight and allowing him to be the star he is capable of being. In short intervals during this year, WWE seemed to recognize the talent it had in Zayn. The company featured him in the Intercontinental Championship chase in the spring. It pitted him against his archenemy, Kevin Owens. And it has recently presented him as the never-say-die babyface willing to stand up to the monstrous Braun Strowman. Zayn thrived each time out. He showed off his elite in-ring storytelling skills several times over. And he resonated ...

The development of Braun Strowman as a star on WWE Raw's roster since the brand split has taken a significant step forward in recent weeks, but he is not quite ready for the main event scene on Monday nights. Although Strowman's mini-feud with Sami Zayn—and Mick Foley—has been just the tonic for stepping up the ladder from squashing jobbers, Strowman needs more competitive opponents before he steps up to the main event. Roman Reigns fits the criteria perfectly for a pre-WrestleMania feud that would tick all the boxes for Strowman. Given the way Reigns has been booked since winning the United States Championship, ...