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Much like 2016, 2017 was an interesting year for WWE. There were some shocking title wins, big angles, factions united, teams breaking up, and more. Even though Raw and Smackdown may sometimes seem like a drag, there were still many surprises that happened in WWE throughout the year.
As a multitude of reports have stated over time, Vince McMahon does indeed love those shocking moments that will be remembered for quite a long time. With 2017 in the rearview, it is time to count down the top five biggest surprises of 2017.
#5 Kurt Angle & The Shield
This one is a combination of The Shield reuniting, with Kurt Angle joining in. Rumors began circulating a month ahead of the TLC pay-per-view that The Shield might be reuniting. Considering that they originally broke up a little over three years ago, it still felt pretty soon for WWE to do a full-on reunion.
They did indeed reunite, but Roman Reigns was taken out as a result of a "viral infection." Just days before the TLC show, WWE announced that Kurt Angle would be replacing Reigns.
At TLC, and we had ourselves a 5-on-3 TLC match in which Kurt Angle wrestled his first WWE match in over a decade. Nobody knew if Angle was going to be in in-ring shape, what gear he would wear, what music he would come out to, or how he would look. Needless to say, this entire saga felt like a fantasy booking session gone wrong.
"The Shield" ended up winning the match, with Angle sporting his Shield gear.
#4 Kevin Owens attacks Vince McMahon
Given how Shane McMahon found himself in the middle of the Kevin Owens-AJ Styles summer rivalry, it was not surprising that it resulted in a match between Owens and Shane McMahon.
What was indeed surprising was when it was announced that Vince McMahon was appearing on Smackdown. Nowadays, Vince McMahon appearing on television is rare, let alone on Smackdown.
On the forefront, Vince interacting with Owens was logical, as Owens was set to face Shane in a Hell in a Cell match. However, Owens attacking Vince was extremely shocking. Not just that, it was a pretty vicious assault, capped off by a Frog Splash onto a bloody Vince McMahon. Who thought that we would see Vince McMahon bleeding in 2017?
#3 Baron Corbin's failed cash-in
Prior to 2017, John Cena and Damien Sandow were the only two stars in WWE history to win the Money-In-The-Bank briefcase, and fail to successfully cash-in. Both instances were full-length matches, but neither resulted in a title change. In Corbin's case, he cashed in, and lost to Jinder Mahal in under ten seconds. Interestingly enough, it was reportedly due to real-life backstage heat with John Cena, as per the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. He rubbed the leader of the Cenation the wrong way and lost his world title push.
What really made it strange is the fact that it happened on the go-home Smackdown episode, right before Summerslam. Mahal had been in the main event against John Cena, and Corbin came out to attack both men. The bell rang, Corbin punched Cena, and then Mahal rolled up Corbin for the win.
What really made it all odd was the fact that Corbin had won the briefcase in a pay-per-view main event, yet he lost the briefcase in quick fashion, on a go-home episode of Smackdown.
#2 AJ Styles wins the US Title at Madison Square Garden
This one cracks #2 on the list because of how random it was. Title changes essentially never actually change at live events (even at Madison Square Garden). To put it into perspective, the last time that a men's singles title changed on a main-roster house show was in 2003, and that was due to Booker T needing surgery as soon as possible.
What made it even weirder is that this happened at a Raw live event. Styles pinned Owens clean in the middle of the ring, and even the MSG crowd was unsure as to how to react. The pop was decently big, but it definitely came with reservation.
The crowd did indeed get more into it once they realized that they saw a legitimate US Title change. It could very well be many years before there is another (main-roster) title change at a live event.
#1 Jinder Mahal becomes WWE Champion
Was there any doubt about this one? Back in April, Jinder Mahal was the last one eliminated in the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal, and that was perceived as a surprise. Up to this point, he had been nothing more than a jobber throughout most of his WWE career.
When there was a six-pack challenge announced on Smackdown to become #1 contender, fans were baffled that Mahal was even in the match. When Mahal won, the fans were even more baffled.
After all of that, when Mahal actually won the WWE Title, nobody could believe it. In under three months, Mahal went from jobber to WWE Champion. He would end up holding the title for almost six months. When pegging other stars as potential World Champions, Mahal will forever give the "anything is possible" vibe.
