Just as fast as it arrived, 2017 is almost already over. In the world of WWE, almost everything is different outside of Asuka still being undefeated. The end of the year is always a great time to look back and we will start the 2017 WWE review with a look at the male Superstars that had the best year.
This could range from overall performance to how much they were featured in high-profile segments to title runs. Since professional wrestling is not just about in-ring ability and skill, other factors may weigh into the list. With that being said, let’s get started.
10. Drew Gulak
While 205 Live may be underappreciated, it is still held in equal regard to WWE’s three other brands (Raw, SmackDown, and NXT). The Cruiserweight Division is still trying to find its footing in the WWE landscape, but there is one man who found the perfect gimmick: Drew Gulak.
Gulak’s breakthrough from “just another Cruiserweight” to a popular Superstar started when he turned his wrestling philosophy into a sort of political campaign. This started with a long rivalry where he tried to convince Mustafa Ali to stop being high-risk and high-flying, the two things synonymous with the division. This led to the start of Gulak’s Powerpoint presentations, something that seemed terrible on paper but would show how over-the-top his platform can be.
Ever since the Cruiserweight Classic, the WWE Universe has known that Gulak can hold his own in the ring, but this evolution over the past year showed that he might be the most charismatic Cruiserweight on the roster.
9. Johnny Gargano
In a few years, the WWE Universe will look back on 2017 as the year that helped Johnny Gargano become one of the best babyfaces of the modern era. Along with his former tag team partner Tommaso Ciampa, #DIY put on incredible matches with The Revival, The Authors of Pain, and just about anybody else they faced, then at NXT TakeOver: Chicago, Gargano’s best friend turned on him.
Gargano strived in NXT as a tag team wrestler but it was time for “Johnny Wrestling” to find his footing as a singles competitor. He would put on incredible matches against Andrade “Cien” Almas, but he would always just come up short. Even for a throwaway match against someone like Riddick Moss, Gargano would put his all into every performance like Shawn Michaels would, and he is arguably the face of NXT.
8. Tyler Bate
Throughout 2017, Tyler Bate has only wrestled a handful of matches on WWE television, but every one has been tremendous. January saw the inaugural WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament, which saw Bate step into a WWE ring for the first time, eventually becoming the first-ever United Kingdom Champion and the youngest champion in WWE history as just 19 years old.
The WWE Universe kept waiting for the start of a UK-centric show a la 205 Live, but that never started. The UK Championship would find a temporary home in the UK independent scene as well as NXT, which saw WWE.com’s top-rated match for the first half of 2017. Bate defended the UK Championship against current titleholder Pete Dunne in an incredible match that showed great technique while showing off his unique personality. Now only 20 years old, Bate is just starting his career but he has already made a name for himself.
7. Neville
Up until a few months ago, WWE’s Cruiserweight Division was reliant on one man: Neville. The appropriately named King of the Cruiserweights held the Cruiserweight Championship for most of 2017, putting on dozens of great performances against the likes of Gentleman Jack Gallagher, Akira Tozawa, and Austin Aries.
205 Live was created to showcase the best in-ring performers under 205 pounds, and in terms of being a WWE Superstar, Neville outclassed all of them. With 205 Live becoming the Zo Show (because of Enzo Amore as the Cruiserweight Champion), Neville has not been seen since losing the title to Amore even though he is still listed on WWE.com’s roster page. Regardless of how the year ended, it is impossible to say that Neville did not have a major impact on the year.
6. Chris Jericho
For 2017, Chris Jericho was only with WWE for half of the year, but his friendship-turned-rivalry with Kevin Owens provided some of the best moments of the year. Not only were both men gold together, but they put on arguably the best segment of the year when Jericho hosted the Festival of Friendship. This showed Y2J as his comedic best right before Owens snapped and assaulted him.
Jericho also managed to screw Roman Reigns out of the United States Championship by winning it in a handicap match, as well as distracting Owens long enough so he would lose the Universal Championship to Goldberg. As for now, Jericho has his sights set on New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Kenny Omega for their clash at Wrestle Kingdom this January.
5. Braun Strowman
2016 saw Braun Strowman leave the Wyatt Family to become his own man. This started with weeks of squash matches that would lead to the Monster Among Men destroying everyone in his path. 2017 was the year where Strowman transformed from a monster to the main event attraction.
Strowman’s had three key opponents in 2017: Brock Lesnar, Big Show, and Roman Reigns. Strowman’s feud with Reigns stands out the most because it lasted the longest, but it also provided huge moments almost on a weekly basis. Strowman’s saga with the Big Show proved that while he can be a dominant big man, he can outpower almost anybody on the roster while also having ridiculous speed and surprising technical ability.
Undoubtedly he would be higher on the list if he had a match at WrestleMania, but Strowman has helped make Monday Night Raw a more exciting show every week.
4. Roman Reigns
It is hard to call yourself the “Big Dog” if you haven’t accomplished anything, but Roman Reigns is the most accomplished WWE Superstar of the latest generation. Reigns never held the top title for Raw (that would primarily be held by Brock Lesnar), but he did hold the United States Championship to start the year. Also, Reigns completed the Grand Slam by winning the Intercontinental Championship from The Miz a few weeks ago.
To complement his title reigns this year, Reigns had a ton of big moments. Along with the previously mentioned feud with Braun Strowman, Reigns will remind you that he is one of two men to have defeated the Undertaker at WrestleMania, with the other being Brock Lesnar. The only difference this time is that it seems like ‘Taker might be done for good. To close out a great year, he reunited with Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose a couple months ago to reunite the Shield.
3. The Miz
He will tell you himself; The Miz makes every show he is on must-see. He started off the year on SmackDown Live and had arguably the best storyline going into WrestleMania this year with his wife, Maryse against John Cena and Nikki Bella.
After WrestleMania, Miz moved to Monday Night Raw and took the Intercontinental Championship with him. He fought off every opponent General Manager Kurt Angle through at him for months, created the Miztourage, and aligned himself with Sheamus and Cesaro to keep himself in power. He always creates interesting television and anyone who aligns themselves with him is guaranteed success.
2. Kevin Owens
Kevin Owens is one of four men to have held the Universal Championship. In a fantasy match against Goldberg, Owens only lost the title because of a distraction from Chris Jericho. Owens’ amazing feud with Jericho would then continue for another couple months, where he would capture and retain the United States Championship.
After losing the United States Championship to AJ Styles, Owens started his ongoing feud with Shane McMahon, who has a personal vendetta against him and Sami Zayn after Owens attacked Vince McMahon and defeated Shane McMahon inside Hell in a Cell. After Clash of Champions, Owens may not have a job for WWE depending on the outcome of his match, but he has had an incredible run for this year.
1. AJ Styles
To start the year, AJ Styles was WWE Champion and most like to end the year, Styles will still be WWE Champion. He didn’t hold the title for the full year, but he has an amazing year. His first high-profile match was at the Royal Rumble against John Cena, which is one of the best matches of the year (more on that another time). Styles then feuded with Shane McMahon, defeating the SmackDown Live Commissioner at WrestleMania.
The Phenomenal One would then turn face and capture the United States Championship from Kevin Owens. After losing the title to Baron Corbin, Styles became the only person to defeat Jinder Mahal in a championship match as he ended a poorly executed experiment with the Modern Day Maharaja as WWE Champion. If he keeps the title in their rematch, he will walk out of 2017 with the WWE Championship around his waist. Lastly, he had arguably the best match of the fall when he collided with Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series.
