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Compelling rivalries are the glue which binds a wrestling program together. Done properly, a feud provides entertaining content every week, builds up to a payoff in a huge match, and makes every participant involved look good in the process as they play a pivotal role. Done wrongly, a feud drags the content down and makes everyone involved worse off. These feuds were of the latter kind.
The year 2017 produced a lot of stinkers that drove WWE programming down, far more than should be acceptable for a supposedly premier organization. This has been a long-running problem and while the best was very good this year, the worst arguably scraped a bottom that hasn't been reached before.
The following 10 feuds were horrible for us and for the performers unfortunate enough to be involved in them.
#10 Roman Reigns vs. John Cena
This sounds like an absurd thing to say when you see the names on paper, but the Reigns/Cena program that spanned from the RAW after SummerSlam to No Mercy was executed very poorly.
The match itself was a letdown, as it was designed to be a manufactured "passing of the torch" moment, essentially by showing that Cena was all washed up in the face of the new guy on the block. The build to the match was also flat, consisting of various worked shoot promos that were much like junk food - satisfying in the moment, but containing no long-term nutritional value.
What the series of worked shoots accomplished was precisely the opposite of what WWE was looking for. They badly exposed Roman Reigns' biggest weakness in his mic skills, which couldn't measure up even a little to his predecessor as "the guy."
Worst of all was how forced and rushed the whole thing was. It was a waste of a WrestleMania main event in the making, one which would have been far more compelling and meaningful than Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar II, and in fact, could well have been the biggest WWE match since John Cena's "Once in a Lifetime" clash with The Rock at WrestleMania 28.
While it's likely that the two will lock horns again, maybe even in a WrestleMania main event, such a match will now never be what it could have been. Unfortunately, WWE creative is very skilled indeed at preventing something from reaching its full potential, which is what we saw here.
#9 The Miz vs. Dean Ambrose
The feud over the Intercontinental Championship that just went on...and on...and on! Both performers are excellent at what they do, so that was the saving grace, but the endless rematches and needless continuations of the rivalry damaged a feud that should have gone down in the history books as being much better.
For far too long, the two men were in a holding pattern, seemingly killing time because there was nothing else for them to do, trading the title back and forth. This pattern was eventually remedied by putting Dean Ambrose back together with Seth Rollins, paving the way for the full Shield reunion late in the year. The Miz, meanwhile, continued to remain mostly directionless, rarely defending the Intercontinental Championship on pay-per-view.
The rivalry closed with a few weeks of bear costumes in another mediocre attempt at humour from WWE. It was a sad end to a program that should have been much better.
#8 Braun Strowman vs. Kane
As 2017 went into its home stretch, Kane returned to the squared circle. His comeback has been nothing but harmful to everyone that's come into his crosshairs. Finn Balor has perhaps been the biggest victim of his momentum-sapping quicksand, but Braun Strowman is his primary target. It's taken the hottest act in the company and put him in an entirely destructive holding pattern.
Since their tussle at TLC, the two have gone 50/50 for over a month. Kane lays out Braun Strowman one week, the opposite happens another. It's the coldest Braun's been all year and while the idea is for the new monster to eventually bury the old, Kane's mystique has long since passed, the action in the ring has been agonizingly slow, and there have been few "OMG" moments like when Braun Strowman and the Big Show destroyed the ring.
If current rumours are to be believed, the program will continue all the way to the Royal Rumble, and the prospect of that happening is alarming, as it could seriously cool Braun Strowman off as he enters WrestleMania season.
#7 Bobby Roode vs. Dolph Ziggler
Dolph Ziggler has established a reputation as the kiss of death for an NXT graduate unfortunate enough to be dumped with him in a first main roster feud. His infamous match at Backlash with Shinsuke Nakamura has often been cited as being instrumental in the latter's disappointing year (more on that later). So when Bobby Roode debuted in August and his first rivalry was with Dolph Ziggler, it was understandable why people got nervous. When Bobby Roode was cast in the role of the babyface, the nervousness grew.
They had their match at Hell in a Cell, where Bobby Roode won in weak fashion after trading rollups with Ziggler and holding his tights. He was attacked with a Zig-Zag afterwards to further weaken his aura. The 50/50 booking didn't stop with that match though, as Ziggler would defeat Roode a couple of weeks later in the same fashion on SmackDown.
The feud would mercifully end with Bobby Roode defeating Ziggler more convincingly in a two out of three falls match and earning a spot on SmackDown's Survivor Series team in the process.
Though only lasting a month, it was an atrocious rivalry that only served to hamstring the former NXT Champion on the main roster right out of the gate. Ziggler now finds himself again embroiled with Roode in a triple threat match against United States Champion Baron Corbin at Clash of Champions. Though he's likely only there to eat the pin, his presence won't help the already struggling bout to get over.
#6 Big Cass vs. The Big Show and Enzo Amore
Enzo and Cass split up in June under rather stupid circumstances, The Big Show found himself involved, and for most of the summer, we were treated to one borefest match and segment after another as the three men got in the ring with each other. 50/50 booking was in full force. One week, Big Show knocked Cass out. Another week, the opposite happened
Big Cass is untalented on the mic. Enzo is a talented talker, but his rambling promos are far from entertaining. Big Show was there also, spitting lines when required but not helping anything. Enzo and Cass are both among the worst ring workers in the company and Big Show is far past his prime.
It sucked from top to bottom.
The nadir came at SummerSlam in one of the worst matches of the year, where Brooklyn finally voiced what we were thinking all along: "this is boring!"
The next night, in another totally unnecessary match with Enzo, Big Cass tore his ACL. He's probably set to return after WrestleMania. Who knows how much longer this would have lasted otherwise?
#5 Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Jinder Mahal
Jinder Mahal's 170-day WWE Championship reign produced nothing of value besides his loss of the title to AJ Styles. Every other match was dreadful. Every segment stunk.
The feud with Shinsuke Nakamura proved to us that the vaunted King of Strong Style can't just be stuck in the ring with anyone and be expected to carry the show. A stinker of a showing at SummerSlam and an only marginally better match at Hell in a Cell proved it.
Inexplicably, there was also a lot of promo work in this feud. Take Shinsuke Nakamura, whose English is fine but whose accent can make him hard to understand, and Jinder Mahal, who is quite bad on the mic, and have them do promos, and you don't have a recipe for success. The feud reached its nadir during the infamous Mr Miyagi promo, where WWE had to come out with statements to erase the bad PR it generated.
Through all of it, Shinsuke Nakamura went nowhere, beating John Cena and Randy Orton clean only to lose to the worst WWE Champion of the modern era...twice. If he is to be involved in a WWE Championship match with AJ Styles at WrestleMania, the company will have to do its best to heat him up in the coming months, to make him a believable Royal Rumble winner.
#4 Randy Orton vs. Jinder Mahal
Many questioned the wisdom of Randy Orton's title victory over Bray Wyatt at WrestleMania. It felt like a totally unnecessary title reign following an atrocious match and feud. The fact that his reign only lasted about a month and a half, where he would then drop the title to Jinder Mahal of all people, made the first few months of 2017 feel like a total waste - why would WWE put us through such a monstrosity if that was what it was going to do with Orton's reign?
Unfortunately, the contractual rematch clause, cancer to creativity, guaranteed the extension of this feud, which was the start of SmackDown's darkest period. Both characters were terribly out of place. Randy Orton, by his own admission, is much better as a heel than a babyface. Meanwhile, Jinder Mahal was the third foreign heel on the show including Kevin Owens and Rusev, and he was the least talented of the three.
The promos were dreadfully dull, the matches were dreadfully boring, and this dragged on for months. It all culminated in the truly terrible Punjabi Prison match at the worst event of the year at Battleground. The fact that the WWE title was involved in a feud like this should be an embarrassment.
#3 Finn Balor vs. Bray Wyatt
This was the feud that just seemed like it never ended. Every time it was supposed to conclude, we found that it lingered like a zombie that refused to stay down, growing uglier and uglier with each attempt to kill it.
It began in the buildup to SummerSlam, when Bray Wyatt, for some silly reason, decided that he didn't appreciate how Finn Balor was received by the public. After weeks of his signature tedious, rambling promos, and a match on RAW that saw the use of some stupid red goo that the Eater of Pins spilled on his opponent, Bray Wyatt took on the Demon Finn Balor at SummerSlam and was defeated. Seems like a logical conclusion to the story, right?
Unfortunately, you'd be wrong, as it was only the beginning. After SummerSlam, Bray Wyatt, through his rambling, challenged "the man" Finn Balor to a rematch at No Mercy, saying he was nothing without his demon. Finn Balor won that one too, despite a vicious early attack from Wyatt.
That must be the end, right?
You'd be wrong again! The feud continued needlessly in the build to TLC, where we got its most infamous moment, the revelation that "Sister Abigail" is a split personality of Bray Wyatt, who basically dressed in drag. Finn Balor's expression during the promo was priceless, looking like he had no idea what he was doing there, and the audible laughs from the crowd couldn't be suppressed.
A viral infection intervened, thankfully putting an end to the feud and sparing us from having to see Bray Wyatt in drag. For some reason, WWE came to their senses and called the whole thing off even after Bray's recovery, taking the opportunity to act as if the whole thing never happened. It was the smartest move they made with this feud.
#2 Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt
In a move that surprised a lot of people, Bray Wyatt won the WWE Championship in February's Elimination Chamber. Randy Orton, the Royal Rumble winner, was slated for a title shot at WrestleMania. The problem was that Randy Orton was then a member of the Wyatt Family, and after initially refusing to fight his master, he turned, and the match was on.
We got one ridiculous promo and segment after another for months, followed by a ridiculous title match and an even more ridiculous conclusion to the feud in the infamous House of Horrors match at Payback, which was without question the worst of the year.
I can't begin to describe all the bad things in this feud in any detail because I'd be here forever.
Perhaps the worst thing of all was the treatment of Luke Harper, who was getting very over and had a highly praised match at Elimination Chamber with Orton. Yet, he had no involvement in the marquee program. It was a perfect microcosm for some of WWE's most destructive tendencies - squandering hot acts while allowing stupidity to flourish.
#1 Alexa Bliss vs. Bayley
A bad feud can squander a wrestler's momentum, but it usually isn't fatal. Good booking afterwards can, in time, usually recover what was lost, and then some. The Alexa Bliss vs. Bayley feud, however, may have permanently damaged the latter, and its negative effects on the entire RAW women's division are still being felt as 2017 comes to a close.
When Alexa Bliss was sent to RAW after WrestleMania, she was immediately inserted into the title picture. As the recent SmackDown women's champion, that wasn't too out of the ordinary, but it did put a damper on any potential heel turn from Sasha Banks, which had been hinted at beforehand. This missed opportunity would have negative long-term effects for her, as she's currently treading water.
Meanwhile, Alexa Bliss steamrolled through the feud with the champion, coming out on top of every segment and every match, taking the championship from Bayley in her hometown and then humiliating her in the infamous Kendo Stick on a Pole match at Extreme Rules a few weeks later. Bayley looked like a complete idiot through all of it, acquiring a stain that she has still not managed to wash off.
At the beginning of the year, Bayley was a well-liked babyface that toppled Charlotte and had a promising future. In December, she's only one or two steps removed from an enhancement talent, and that's mostly thanks to this feud. With the return of Paige, the arrival of Asuka, and the debut of Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville, it's unlikely Bayley will be pushed prominently for the foreseeable future, at least on RAW, and even on SmackDown, she won't have anywhere near the buzz she used to. Feuding with Alexa may well have ruined her stock forever.
Of course, there was also the worst-of-all-time worthy segment in "Bayley: This is Your Life," which alone would have been worthy of putting this feud on a list of worst of the year, but added to everything else, it makes it the no-brainer Razzie winner.
