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Depending who you listen to, WWE owner Vince McMahon is either a genius or he’s an old man who has slowly lost touch with what his audience really wants to see.
The 72-year-old’s defenders will point to the fact that none of us would be watching the product at all if it wasn’t for him, while his detractors will point to the continued success of NXT as proof that Triple H should be in control of the creative aspect of programming.
John Cena recently said in a media interview that, as far as his storylines go, he will never demand that he face a particular opponent in WWE, as that’s for Mr McMahon to decide. “Don’t play Vince if you’re not Vince” were his exact words.
Well, with respect to Cena, it’s fun to play the role of Vince sometimes, so here we take a look at 10 booking opportunities that WWE missed in 2017.
#10 Elias vs Rusev would have been epic
Survivor Series had more major ups and major downs than any WWE show of 2017 (more on that soon), and an early segment on the pay-per-view could have been even better had Elias had a different opponent to Matt Hardy.
The man formerly known as “The Drifter” sang a song to the Houston crowd on the kickoff show before being interrupted by Hardy, who he then defeated in convincing fashion in a relatively meaningless match.
So, why was this a missed booking opportunity? Two words: Rusev Day! Imagine if Raw’s guitar-playing sensation asked the crowd “Who wants to walk with Elias?”, only to be interrupted by the dulcet tones of Aiden English.
It could have led to a match between Elias and Rusev, albeit only on the kickoff show. Instead, “The Bulgarian Brute” wasn’t on the card at all.
#9 Mike Kanellis was barely given a chance
When a Superstar is signed by WWE, you’d expect them to go straight to NXT and work their way up the ranks before eventually joining Raw or SmackDown Live, just like Kevin Owens, Shinsuke Nakamura and many others have done in the past.
Mike Kanellis, however, presumably because of wife Maria’s prior spell in WWE earlier in her career, skipped the NXT process and was immediately brought in as a member of the SmackDown Live roster in June.
The “Power of Love” couple were big stars on the independent scene and big things were expected of them in WWE. But, perhaps due to the gimmick not being as popular as the company thought it might be, Mike has had just two televised matches in five months while Maria has been on maternity leave.
It’s a shame for the duo but especially for Mike, who has barely been given a chance in WWE since his initial feud with Sami Zayn.
#8 What was with Baron Corbin’s cash-in?
Rumour has it that Baron Corbin spoke out of line in a WWE meeting about concussions and that’s the reason why he was made to lose his Money In The Bank contract in shocking fashion on an episode of SmackDown Live in August.
Still, even if that was the company’s idea of punishing him, wouldn’t it have made sense for the failed cash-in on Jinder Mahal to happen on a bigger stage than a SmackDown Live show five nights before SummerSlam?
It added little to his feud with John Cena, which was over before it began, and it took away the risk of him potentially cashing in during the WWE Championship match between Mahal and Shinsuke Nakamura at “The Biggest Party of the Summer”.
Someone failing to win with their Money In The Bank cash-in is a pretty big deal, but this didn’t feel as epic as it maybe could have.
#7 They didn’t capitalise on the Alexa Bliss vs Sasha Banks feud
Sasha Banks cut one of the best promos of 2017 when she addressed the feud between herself and Alexa Bliss on the post-Great Balls of Fire episode of Raw Talk on the WWE Network in July.
After defeating the Raw Women’s champion via count out, Banks accused Bliss of making up “fake little stories” about how she grew up as a wrestling fan and claimed her opponent didn’t even know the difference between Matt and Jeff Hardy.
It blurred the lines between storyline and reality for many fans because of persistent rumours throughout the years of a real-life feud between the two women, dating back to their time in NXT when “The Legit Boss” apparently broke Alexa's nose.
Sasha’s promo that day was as heated as the rivalry got, however, and what could have been one of the most volatile feuds of the year ended up being just another series of matches over the Raw Women’s title.
#6 Shinsuke Nakamura was used terribly
Shinsuke Nakamura is widely regarded as one of the best in-ring performers on the planet. He was a megastar in Japan, a megastar in NXT, and a, well, “Rock Star” in WWE who has been booked terribly since his main-roster debut.
Ever since being called up to SmackDown Live in April, fans have complained about how “The King of Strong Style” has been handled compared to his days in NXT, where he was one of the brand’s most popular Superstars.
His rivalries with Dolph Ziggler, Baron Corbin and Jinder Mahal were underwhelming, while his wins over John Cena, Randy Orton and Kevin Owens could have been ‘statement victories’ on pay-per-views but occurred in one-off matches on SmackDown Live instead.
After a disappointing year, 2018 is almost guaranteed to be better than 2017 for Nakamura, especially if it begins with a feud with AJ Styles over the WWE Championship.
#5 Finn Balor should have received a Universal title match
You know it, we know it and WWE knows it: Finn Balor deserves a one-on-one match for the Universal title that he never lost and people will not stop going on about it until he finally gets it.
Generally in WWE, if you lose a title, you are guaranteed a one-on-one rematch for the title at a time of your choosing. But, for whatever reason, those rules don’t seem to have applied since the Universal title was introduced in July 2016.
Balor hasn’t had a rematch since giving the championship up due to injury, Kevin Owens never received a rematch after losing to Goldberg, and Goldberg hasn’t been seen since he lost the title to Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 33. That’s three title changes and zero rematches.
Vince McMahon apparently doesn’t believe the Irishman is ‘over’ enough to challenge Lesnar for the title in a one-on-one match, so don’t expect to see him finally get his championship opportunity until “The Beast” inevitably departs in 2018.
#4 Survivor Series should have created more new stars
As we previously mentioned, Survivor Series was one of the best WWE pay-per-views of 2017 until the men’s five-on-five elimination match in the final hour of the show.
Team Raw (Kurt Angle, Triple H, Braun Strowman, Samoa Joe and Finn Balor) faced Team SmackDown Live (Shane McMahon, John Cena, Randy Orton, Shinsuke Nakamura and Bobby Roode) in one of the most underwhelming matches you’re ever likely to see.
The match was all set up to create multiple stars of the future. Maybe Triple H could’ve been eliminated by Shinsuke Nakamura, maybe Finn Balor could’ve defeated John Cena, or maybe Samoa Joe could’ve destroyed Shane McMahon.
Instead, while Braun Strowman looked like a star at the end, the real story of the match surrounded the feud between Kurt Angle, Shane McMahon and Triple H, with the four former NXT champions in the match – and even Cena and Orton – made to look incredibly weak in the process.
#3 Still no women’s singles match at WrestleMania
The women of WWE have made history countless times over the last 2-3 years and will do so again in 2018 when the first-ever all-female Royal Rumble match takes place in January.
However, did you know that there hasn’t been a single one-on-one match between two women at WrestleMania since Melina defended her Women’s Championship in a short match against Ashley Massaro in 2007?
It’s a shocking statistic and a run that will surely come to an end when the Royal Rumble winner is granted a one-on-one title opportunity at “The Show of Shows”, but it’s still surprising that it has taken 11 years for this to happen.
As good as the Women’s Evolution has been, we haven’t seen anywhere near as many memorable one-on-one feuds as maybe we should.
#2 Luke Harper should have challenged for the WWE title
The WWE Championship match between Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt at WrestleMania 33 was the most disappointing on the card, and it could have been so much better had Luke Harper been added to the match.
The three men had been feuding since the Wyatt Family lost their SmackDown Live Tag Team titles in December 2016 and reports suggested it would culminate in a Triple Threat match at “The Show of Shows”, where all three remaining Wyatts would battle for the biggest prize in WWE.
Instead, despite his increasing popularity at the time, WWE decided not to put Harper in the match, which could have potentially main-evented the whole pay-per-view, and he appeared in the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal on the kickoff show.
It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Harper, now one half of the Bludgeon Brothers, and he may never get another chance to fight for the WWE Championship, let alone on the grandest stage.
#1 We didn’t see Brock Lesnar vs Chris Jericho
After Randy Orton was brutally attacked by Brock Lesnar in the main event of SummerSlam 2016, Chris Jericho thought “The Beast” had gone off script with his beat-down of Orton and the two had a real-life altercation backstage after the match.
That incident alone turned a potential Lesnar vs. Jericho storyline into a dream feud for many fans, and we could well have seen it had WWE not changed their plans in the lead up to WrestleMania 33.
Y2J has since revealed that the original plan was for him to defeat Kevin Owens for the Universal Championship at the event before losing it to “The Mayor of Suplex City” at a later date, which would have meant the Lesnar vs. Goldberg match would have been non-title.
Of course, Jericho lost his United States title to Owens at WrestleMania instead, while Lesnar defeated Goldberg for the Universal title.
