WWE SummerSlam 2016 Winners: Biggest Stars of the Night

WWE SummerSlam was a mixed bag of great wrestling, scary spots, high intensity, low energy and blood. 

Some big stars delivered in high-profile matches, while others fell short. In the end, a select few WWE Superstars stood out in a show that will be memorable for both the right and wrong reasons. 

AJ Styles and John Cena's tour de force somehow made bigger stars out of both legends. Brock Lesnar's legacy of fear and dominance evolved after bloodying Randy Orton in a chaotic main event. SummerSlam 2016 was far from WWE's best outing in the storied history of the franchise, but a handful of individual performances certainly helped its cause.

Finn Bàlor

Perhaps the real star in this equation is WWE, as it continues its commitment to Finn Balor. He is not there yet in terms of being a WWE main event. There didn't seem to be much demand for his WWE Universal Championship win, and therefore, the celebration in the Barclays Center seemed a bit subdued.

But if WWE continues to show patience for Balor and his budding Demon King character, WWE fans should begin to latch on to this persona the way NXT fans did. His in-ring performance against Seth Rollins was high-caliber as expected, and as long as WWE continues to emphasize the larger-than-life mystique of the Demon King, his size will not be as much of an issue.

Future feuds against homegrown WWE talent like Roman Reigns and even Braun Strowman will also help tell a story that is more than just dog-whistling that only hardcore wrestling fans can hear.

Charlotte and Sasha Banks

Sasha Banks took a scary bump early in her Women's Championship match against Charlotte. The match may not have lived up to the lofty expectations that continue to rise in the Women's division, but lord knows Banks and Charlotte tried.

The Women's Championship match included way too many risky spots. Many on Twitter were legitimately worried of whether Banks was seriously injured. But the handful of high-risk stunts between these two women created suspense that was supported with strong mat wrestling and very physical striking.

Banks and Charlotte clearly have a chemistry that transcends even the scariest mistakes. It's safe to say this won't be the last time these two compete against one another, and scaling back a bit will lead to the type of instant classics both WWE Superstars are capable of.

Roman Reigns

One of the biggest lies in professional wrestling is that the WWE Universe hates Roman Reigns. Sure, Reigns is booed heavily in "heel towns" when his music hits. But once he kicks up his physicality in to high gear, fans quickly forget why they were mad at him in the first place.

Even those who do not like him dedicate a significant amount of passion and Tweeting to the former WWE champion, and this was apparent when the Barclays Center came alive during Reigns' abbreviated match against Rusev.

The energy in the Barclays Center evaporated for quite some time after a mood-killing WWE World Championship match between Dean Ambrose and Dolph Ziggler. As the energy came and went, fans seemed to begin feeling the fatigue of a four-hour show. But the very physical brawl between Reigns and Rusev helped re-energize the crowd, especially after Reigns' running Spear on Rusev.

WWE was wise to end the match between Rusev and Reigns before it started. The two already had a lengthy match on Raw, and nothing outside of the main event had a chance of competing with the masterpiece put together by John Cena and AJ Styles.

WWE was also wise to focus on Reigns' intensity, rather than his comedy, during a brief yet effective brawl.

AJ Styles and John Cena

John Cena's affinity for classic matches has always been an underrated part of his legacy, and yet, another flawless performance against AJ Styles was just business as usual.

Cena and Styles' back-and-forth affair was a suspenseful, crowd-pleasing spectacle that personified sports entertainment. I bought nearly every pinfall in the second half of the match. The emotional investment and unparalleled wrestling was a gift and a curse, as nothing was able to follow it for the rest of the show. 

Cena losing a match clean isn't surprising these days, but losing a second-consecutive match to AJ Styles was. Hopefully Styles can use this momentum to challenge Dean Ambrose for the WWE World Championship and inject life into WWE's tepid silver-medal division.

Brock Lesnar

Nobody can portray a legitimately scary monster like Brock Lesnar.

WWE has done all it can to make Braun Strowman look like an unstoppable force. And while it has largely succeeded, there will always be a cartoon element to such a large man stacking up victories against smaller competitors who are somewhat comedic in their downfall.

Lesnar, on the other hand, is just a big bad dude who beats up main eventers and makes them bleed for real. Is blood necessary to get WWE Superstars over? No. Does it add to aura of Lesnar, whose accomplishments in mixed martial arts are well documented? Absolutely.

It'll be interesting to see who, if anybody, is eventually booked to dethrone Lesnar. But it sure is fun watching him run roughshod over the WWE roster. Hopefully Randy Orton is okay after being busted open the hard way, and the Viper should be commended (and, at the same time, scolded) for volunteering to be part of such a graphic stunt that seemed to get out of hand.

Shane McMahon is known for similar bravery that, at times, borders on stupidity. After taking an F5 to end the show, one could only imagine what lengths he'll go to in a potential program with Lesnar.

Alfred Konuwa is a Featured Columnist and on-air host for Bleacher Report and Forbes. Like him on Facebook.