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As 2026 comes close to an end, another important year in professional wrestling has left fans with a fresh view of both WWE and All Elite Wrestling.
From the rise of Oba Femi to the return of Roman Reigns to the top of the business, WWE offered a fresh yet also familiar look at its current direction.
While Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks seemed to begin the final chapters of their careers and Will Ospreay finally became the top guy, AEW seemed to prepare for a new Elite-less future.
This and more established new truths about the state of the two biggest wrestling companies in the world.
It did not take long for Oba Femi to make an impression in WWE, but it was 2026 that clearly showcased that he is the man WWE can build the brand around.
It has become so clear that even AEW wrestlers like Swerve Strickland are taking time out of their day to put him over.
WWE has bet everything on The Ruler, and it is already paying off. The 28-year-old star won King of the Ring despite WWE not wanting him to be world champion yet, and fans did not bat an eye.
While Gunther retired three men in one year, Oba ending the career of Brock Lesnar made The Ruler look like the true Career Killer, defeating The Beast Incarnate at both WrestleMania and SummerSlam.
While WWE repeatedly plays it slow with young stars, Oba is the exception, and fans have welcomed that change with open arms.
No one is hotter in all of WWE, and the only disappointment is that WWE keeps delaying The Ruler's true ascension, dethroning Roman Reigns.
After letting go of both New Day and Motor City Machine Guns, WWE made a firm statement on its commitment to tag team wrestling.
The men's tag team division has been in shambles for a while as The Vision barely seem to notice their gold and The MFTs are feuding with the lowest standing stars on SmackDown.
The women's tag team division was a big part of WWE at the end of 2025 with the feud of Asuka and Kairi Sane vs. Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky.
However, WWE released Sane while Asuka went on hiatus followed by breaking up Ripley and Sky between brands. Since that time, it has been a hot potato that has gotten no one over.
Meanwhile, AEW picked up the teams WWE let go and delivered one of its best years for tag team wrestling, led by The Young Bucks.
As FTR and MCMG continued a Best of 5 Series and the newly named New Level have delivered one of the best feuds in the history of the World Trios Championship with Hangman Adam Page and Brodido, AEW is doubling down.
The women's tag team division is still developing, but Divine Dominion raised the bar with their title reign and finished their run with the gold in two brutal, memorable battles with The Brawling Birds.
It is clear WWE has decided tag team wrestling has no value to the current product, and AEW is the only company that will deliver consistently great tag team action for years to come.
Neither WWE or AEW hold the high ground currently when it comes to women's wrestling, massively outshined by World Wonder Ring Stardom where Saya Kamitani was the biggest star in all of Japanese wrestling.
Despite repeated lip service from WWE about the importance of women's wrestling, no matches have been reportedly cut for time more often including the infamous six-minute Liv Morgan vs. Stephanie Vaquer at WrestleMania 42.
WWE Unreal highlighted Liv backstage seeking praise from Triple H for saving time in-between the two men's matches that totaled over 40 in-ring minutes.
This juxtaposes with WrestleMania 39 just three years earlier where Charlotte Flair and Rhea Ripley delivered the best match of the whole weekend going over time despite backstage annoyance.
While AEW has given more time to the women recently, especially Mercedes Moné, it still feels like the women's division is a side concern for the company where many women disappear from TV for weeks to months while healthy.
While WWE did not following up on the excellent Evolution 2025, AEW still has yet to have a women's match main event any PPV in the company's history.
It is far past time that women in wrestling stand up for themselves and advocate for their ability to be major draws like Becky Lynch, Charlotte and Ronda Rousey once did.
If the women do not advocate for their own value, this business will quickly fall back into old habits where only women-only promotions truly shine the spotlight on what women's wrestling can be.
Fans have long talked about the importance of consistency and payoffs in wrestling, but 2026 showed that fans are hungrier than the surprises.
While it is nice to live in the payoff of Cody Rhodes finally winning the big one or The Bloodline imploding after years of arguments, the path to get there delivers many flat nights.
It is important to not just be stuck in the same cycle of will-they-won't-they Judgment Day drama but also create stars and move championships in shocking ways.
When it all comes together, it is special, but WWE and AEW were at their best in 2026 when the unexpected happened, even without strong build-up.
Sami Zayn may be the best example of WWE combining long-term payoff and surprise together as he finally won the world title not once but twice.
The first win was a genuine shock at Night of Champions, making that show feel more important than it was on paper.
Though he lost it to CM Punk just nine days later, he would avenge that loss on SmackDown two months later and shockingly regain the gold.
Both were the freshest moves WWE has delivered all year, and they both paid off Zayn's long-term drive to be world champion and came almost out of nowhere to get everyone talking.
AEW delivered its own special underdog world title win as Darby Allin dethroned MJF to go on an all-time run as Men's world champion, defending the title multiple times a week.
While AEW also delivered a major payoff with Will Ospreay finally winning the Men's World Championship in Wembley Stadium, the world title scene remained fresh until that victory with multiple big title changes.
Wrestling has no off-season. It is important to keep the scene fresh and never have shows where it feels like nothing is going to happen because a pay-off is needed six months down the line.
When Cody Rhodes dethroned Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 40, it looked like a passing of the torch moment where The American Nightmare would carry WWE forward.
Two years later, while Rhodes is still one of WWE's top guys, he is on par with multiple names including CM Punk and Randy Orton, carrying SmackDown by committee.
On Raw though, Roman Reigns has regained his throne and is clearly the biggest star. WWE has reunited The Bloodline and seemingly stated The OTC is still what matters most to the business.
The next man up to challenge Reigns for his spot will be Oba Femi, but all signs point to that story not playing out until WrestleMania 43.
Until that time, Reigns will be just about untouchable, and it is hard to imagine Rhodes will get back to the true top spot any time soon.
When AEW first started, the biggest star in the company was Kenny Omega. In spite of this, The Cleaner only got his second world title reign in 2026.
The next man that stepped up to be AEW's top star was MJF, who went into 2026 as a two-time world champion and added a third to his name during the year.
Both men though has suffered from multiple medical issues that have sidelined them from big shows.
Despite their absence, AEW has proved the depth of its roster by never feeling understaffed without two of the top men in the company's history.
Jon Moxley, Hangman Adam Page, Darby Allin and Will Ospreay all played key roles in driving the company forward in the past year and have fit seamlessly into a top role.
While AEW may have too many stars signed, it has led to a roster that can keep marching forward no matter what.
The only big name in AEW whose absence has been massively felt is "Timeless" Toni Storm as the women's division has yet to build as many top names to carry the weight as in the men's division.
When WWE bought Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide, many assumed the company would turn the company into NXT Mexico.
So far though, the company led by smart creative from Undertaker and Jeremy Borash has kept AAA a separate creative entity.
This has led to fresh stars like Mr. Iguana, Psycho Clown and La Parka to start selling themselves to a fresh audience.
The company has also revitalized stars like El Grande Americano and Rey Fénix. Even Omos has found a strong role on the show, helping make "Dirty" Dominik Mysterio look the star he should on Raw.
The commitment to lucha has even caused a shift in major WWE programming, especially the rise of Penta. His men's Money in the Bank win solidified that rise to stardom, promising a future world title reign is coming.
As Rey Mysterio is likely on his way to retirement, Dragon Lee has also gained a greater focus as one of multiple luchadors stepping up to fill his shoes.
WWE has never shown this much interesting in lucha libre beyond Mysterio, and it needs to continue as it adds to the variety of styles highlighted in American professional wrestling.
For better and worse, WWE only had one top man in creative for much of the company's life. When Vince McMahon was forced to retire, Paul Levesque stepped into impossibly large shoes.
The early years of Triple H at the head were promising, delivering a more focused and consistent product, creating all-time great moments in WWE.
However, that creative high has subsided, and the weekly product has grown stale.
WWE has delivered memorable moment in 2026, especially at premium live events, but outside of the Oba Femi breakout, nothing is must-see television.
Perhaps a full change at the lead position in the creative team is not needed, but WWE certainly needs fresh voices to push a stale roster into fresh positions.
It is time to figure out why most of the roster are stuck in neutral and better position younger stars to take the top spot away from the 40-year-old standard bearers.
Even if Roman Reigns, CM Punk and Cody Rhodes are still WWE's biggest names, it does not make for an interesting show to watch these same men go through the motions for months.
Whoever is going to step up, WWE needs to look at stars like Bron Breakker, "Dirty" Dominik Mysterio and Roxanne Perez to figure out what it is going to take for these stars to become the next big stars they were supposed to become years ago.
The number of major wrestling events WWE and AEW expect fans to commit to every year is growing absolutely absurd.
WWE has 15 premium live events scheduled for the year including four Saturday Night Main Events, not to mention the still-expected John Cena Classic. Both WrestleMania and SummerSlam were also two nights this year.
NXT has 5 premium live events of its own with likely at least one more to be added in Deadline. WWE has also promoted multiple major events for Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide, especially TripleMania and Noche de Los Grandes.
Meanwhile, AEW's Pay-Per-View calendar has ballooned to 10 for the year, and it seems like the company will keep adding more in future years.
It has been difficult to find a single weekend in 2026 where the expectation was not to watch some wrestling event on top of the weekly commitments.
Even for those only watching one of the two companies, this time commitment is too high. WWE could pull back on a few main-roster events to push fans to watch more NXT to get to know the future stars.
AEW started slow with the first PPV, Revolution, not until March, but the time between PPVs has shrunk to just three weeks for the summer-to-fall PPV schedule. This has led to obvious struggles to build a full card.
Between the price of ESPN+ and monthly PPVs, WWE and AEW are expecting too much of fans and will likely lead to lower viewership due to burnout.
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