WWE's Top Stories, Rumors and Buzz for Week of January 2

2015 was a year of ups and down for WWE, but that is officially in the past. It's a new year full of possibilities for everyone.

The Road to WrestleMania starts at the Royal Rumble, but with all the recent talk about the event, it already feel like we are on that journey.

Let's take a look at some of the things that happened on the final week of 2015.

WWE Announces First NXT Year-End Awards

Triple H announced on Twitter that fans would be able to vote for the winners of the first NXT Year-End Awards on WWE.com.

It's great to see the men and women of the developmental system have this chance after they were excluded from the Slammy Awards. So many people deserve to be recognized for their hard work.

Here's a quick rundown of the categories:

• Best Overall Competitor
• Best Male Competitor
• Best Female Competitor
• Tag Team of the Year
• Match of the Year
• TakeOver of the Year

It's interesting to note how Sasha Banks was involved in five of the 10 choices for Match of the Year, which is more than anyone else. She is also nominated for Best Female and Overall Competitor, so there is little chance she will leave without an award.

The winners will be announced during the January 13 edition of NXT, so cast your votes now to make sure your favorites win.

SmackDown Debuts on USA Network

After several years on the Syfy Network, SmackDown makes it's debut on the USA Network Jan. 7.

We got a little taste when WWE aired a live episode during WWE week, but Thursday will be the first time the blue brand settles into its new home.

Moving to USA is a great opportunity for management to rebuild the show as more than just a place where Raw's events are recapped and meaningless matches take place.

No matter how hard WWE tries, SmackDown has always been looked at as the B show. Titles rarely change hands and it has been taped in advance, giving people the chance to check spoilers ahead of time.

There's no word on if the show will start airing live at any point, but being on a bigger network will give blue brand more reach than it has had in years.

The Rock to Appear at WrestleMania 32

After months of wondering whether The Great One would return to the grandest stage of them all, we finally got confirmation that The Rock would be appearing at WrestleMania 32.

It doesn't sound like he will be wrestling an actual match, but after what happened at last year's event, there's a good possibility he will engage in some physicality.

He recently took to Twitter (@TheRock) to promise something special for the record-setting crowd that will pack into Levi's Stadium on April 3.

Unless he announced a return to the ring, whatever he has planned will fall short of expectations. People want to see him wrestle again, and anything less will upset the hardcore fans.

Sin Cara Injured

The Lucha Dragons were starting to gain a lot of momentum toward the end of 2015, but their push may have been stalled after Sin Cara's shoulder was injured during a match on Raw.

WWE.com confirmed the injury but did not mention how much time he is expected to miss. His shoulder was dislocated, which is an injury with a wide range of consequences.

You have to admire Cara for having doctors pop his shoulder back into place and finishing the match. Anyone who has had this kind of injury will tell you that it's no picnic.

While this is bad news for the Lucha Dragons' quest for tag team gold, it could be a blessing in disguise for Kalisto.

The former NXT standout has the potential to be the next Rey Mysterio, but it's up to WWE to give him the chance to reach that level.

It's no secret that Vince McMahon is a fan of powerhouses, so Kalisto has to work twice as hard to be taken seriously. If he can stay healthy and continues to impress with his performances, there's no telling what he could achieve.

Bleacher Report Writers Predict 2016

The great WWE writing team here at Bleacher Report have been doing expert panels for the last few pay-per-views, and we decided to do one predicting what's in store for 2016.

While we didn't agree on everything, a few categories saw most of us come to a consensus. Here are some of the things we agreed on:

• Kevin Owens and Seth Rollins are poised to rule 2016.
• Apollo Crews is the favorite to lead the NXT roster in the next year.
• Most of us felt the key to gaining subscribers for the WWE Network is more original content.
• Almost all of us thought the move to the USA Network will help SmackDown's ratings.
• We all agreed the chances of Ronda Rousey competing in a WWE ring this year are minimal at best.
• The Undertaker and Owen Hart are favored to lead the 2016 Hall of Fame class.

These are just a few of the things we covered. Check out the full article to see the things we didn't agree on. What are your predictions for WWE in 2016?

Thanks for reading, and follow me on Twitter @BR_Doctor.