Midyear Candidates for the Year's Most Valuable WWE Superstars

With 2015 approaching its halfway mark, the three former members of The Shield are battling it out for the right to be called WWE's Superstar of the year.

Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins are all performing at an MVP level. Tally up 2015's biggest moments, best matches and most powerful memories, and chances are at least one of those men was involved. 

WWE has leaned on its established stars in John Cena and Brock Lesnar as well, but these three young, promising talents have made it known that they will be the future cornerstones of the company. In many ways, Ambrose and company are also WWE's present.

Deciding who has contributed the most to WWE in this first half of the year requires a look at workload, standout matches, success in a headlining spot and overall entertainment value. It's a mix of the tangible (i.e., just how many matches he has wrestled) and intangible elements like star power.

That formula points to each of the three wrestlers who once composed The Shield as being invaluable assets; they are marquee stars giving marquee performances. 

Honorable Mention

• Kevin Owens
• Dolph Ziggler
• Randy Orton

Had Owens moved up to the main roster earlier in the year, it would be easier to make an argument to include him in this discussion. In just two months, he's rattled off a series of great matches, including two Match of the Year candidates against John Cena, and some big moments as well.

Attacking Machine Gun Kelly and staring down Cena on Raw are the kind of electric scenes that so far have pushed him past the underused and poorly utilized Bray Wyatt and workhorses like Kane.

Both Orton and Ziggler belong in the "hardworking but overshadowed" category.

Ziggler has worked 85 matches in 2015, many of which have been a thrill to watch. Aside from the WWE Intercontinental Championship ladder match at WrestleMania, though, none of them have been truly great.

As for The Viper, he's headlined more events than Ziggler and has a better collection of memorable bouts this year, including his WrestleMania showdown with Rollins and the Fatal 4-Way at Payback.

However, he hasn't been involved in a plethora of big moments. Throttling Rollins on Raw and fighting side-by-side with Sting stand out, but nothing beyond that does.

5. Brock Lesnar

• 2015 Match Total: 2
• Pay-Per-View Headline Bouts: 1
• 4-Star (or Higher) Matches: 2

Brock Lesnar is the most difficult wrestler to evaluate for this discussion. He's only competed twice and has appeared on TV just a handful of times.

It seems unfair to include Lesnar and not a guy like Cesaro, who has wrestled 90 times in 2015 so far. However, this is a situation where star power trumps hard work. Every time Lesnar has stepped onscreen, it has been a must-see event.

Whether he is trash-talking Roman Reigns or scraping a hole in Seth Rollins' skull with just a long stare, The Beast Incarnate has been magnetic.

And his two in-ring battles have been among the two best in 2015. Should he stick around more often in the second half of the year, expect him to climb this list. He has a date with Rollins next at Battleground, and one would assume something major is waiting for him at SummerSlam.

Both bouts are classics waiting to happen.

4. Roman Reigns

• 2015 Match Total: 100
• Pay-Per-View Headline Bouts: 3
• 4-Star (or Higher) Matches: 3

This year has been about proving his doubters wrong for Roman Reigns. After a negative response to his Royal Rumble win, he's seemingly been on a mission to show fans that WWE was right to put so much faith in him.

So far, that's led to a tremendous showing at WrestleMania, along with stellar matches against Daniel Bryan and Big Show on smaller shows. He's stepped up every time WWE has asked him to, not yet delivering a dud on a post-Rumble pay-per-view. 

Reigns has been a steady, consistent performer in the ring on TV as well.

His lack of contributions on the mic have him behind John Cena and company. While Cena can boast a list of emotional speeches and tense verbal showdowns, Reigns only has average promo work on his resume.

3. John Cena

• 2015 Match Total: 79
• Pay-Per-View Headline Bouts: 0
• 4-Star (or Higher) Matches: 3

Taken out of a headlining spot for the first time in recent memory, John Cena has still felt like a marquee star and has been a valuable asset all year long.

His open challenges for the United States Championship have consistently been the best matches on Raw each week. Whether working against Sami Zayn or Stardust, he has made that chase for the title feel significant. The U.S. belt hasn't felt so important in ages.

In terms of pay-per-view production, this has been one of Cena's best years.

He opened 2015 with a Match of the Year candidate against Brock Lesnar and Seth Rollins. All of his clashes with Rusev have been high-quality. And now in the midst of a feud with Kevin Owens, he's composed two of his career highlights, first at Elimination Chamber and most recently at Money in the Bank.

Throw in all his patriotic promos while feuding with Rusev and his mic work opposite Owens, in particular an electric interaction between them on June 1. 

Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins only just barely manage to move past Cena in this ongoing race. A part of that is because those younger men are asked to compete more, which allows them to produce a larger collection of in-ring action. And their feud against each other has led to more highlights than Cena's rivalries so far.

That is poised to change, though, with him and Owens just beginning to churn up bad blood between them.

2. Dean Ambrose

• 2015 Match Total: 102
• Pay-Per-View Headline Bouts: 3
• 4-Star (or Higher) Matches: 3

As WWE's newest anti-hero, Dean Ambrose has thrived. 

Early in the year, it looked as if he would be mired in the midcard, as he was asked to be a part of a silly storyline that involved him, R-Truth and others playing hot potato with the Intercontinental Championship. Once WWE gave him some direction, he took off running.

Now a hungry, desperate, relentless title contender, Ambrose has been one of the most entertaining elements of WWE programming.

From invading Raw in a stolen police vehicle to taking the WWE title hostage, The Lunatic Fringe has fired off some of 2015's biggest and best moments. His battles with Seth Rollins in and out of the ring have been top-notch.

He and his old ally can boast two Match of the Year hopefuls in their last two meetings. Add his contribution to the intercontinental title ladder match at WrestleMania and some quality TV bouts, and there's an easy case to make that Ambrose's total work in 2015 has surpassed what John Cena has done in that same span.

Unfortunately for him, Cena is going to have a tremendous feud ahead with Kevin Owens, while Ambrose may be stuck with whatever leftovers the WWE writing team has for him.

1. Seth Rollins

• 2015 Match Total: 101
• Pay-Per-View Headline Bouts: 5
• 4-Star (or Higher) Matches: 5

Seth Rollins has been omnipresent in 2015.

A good number of the year's highlights have included his grinning, cocky face. Brock Lesnar's highlights have been with Rollins, either hunting down the champ or suffering his sneak attacks.

Randy Orton, Kane, Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose have all benefited from battling the weasel. Recount each of their big moments of the year, and Rollins pops up again and again.

He has the most impressive collection of matches, especially when it comes to pay-per-view contests.

The Match of the Year conversation will be Rollins-heavy thanks to Rollins vs. Lesnar vs. John Cena at the Royal Rumble, Rollins vs. Lesnar vs. Reigns at WrestleMania and a brutal ladder match for the ages at Money in the Bank.

Rollins' growth as a talker as him in the lead for the top star of the year as well. He's been perfectly slimy and grating.

WWE has put him in there with a range of foes, from Jon Stewart to Kane. He has seized each opportunity.

With another showdown against Lesnar on the horizon and perhaps an eventual clash with Triple H at SummerSlam, Rollins is not yet done crafting his fantastic year. As WWE champ, with all the spotlight that brings, he will have plenty of shots at extending his lead in front of his peers. 

Match statistics courtesy of CageMatch.net. Star ratings refer to ratings in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter by Dave Meltzer (h/t ProFightDB.com). Match totals are accurate as of June 18.