'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
#4 Championship hot potato
There was a running theme this year of WWE putting a title on someone just for the sake of a temporary change to the current atmosphere, only to change it back to the status quo relatively soon after.
Other times, it was even worse, with the belts going back and forth as if that was the only way to keep the title situation interesting or perhaps to meet some kind of quota.
In 2016, there were 36 title changes in WWE. In 2017, there were 51.
The United States Championship alone contributes 8 of those, going from Roman Reigns to Chris Jericho, to Kevin Owens, back to Jericho, back to Owens, over to AJ Styles, back to Owens, back to Styles and finally at Baron Corbin.
The Cruiserweight Championship was another that bounced around, going from Rich Swann to Neville, who held it for quite a bit before momentarily dropping it to Akira Tozawa and immediately winning it back, only to drop it to Enzo Amore who would do the same quick turnaround with Kalisto and end up with the belt again.
This is most often indicative of lazy writing as relying on surprising title changes to spark interest in the product is a quick and easy way to get fans excited without having to put in more effort, particularly if that former champion wins the belt back because that's the person WWE really wanted to hold it, to begin with.
It's interesting to look at how The Bar kept winning the Raw Tag Team Championship or how Alexa Bliss switched from SmackDown to Raw and somehow spent most of the year as a champion with four reigns to her name, rather than just holding one of those titles for a longer stint or two.
Clearly, that means the creative team wanted Bliss and The Bar to be focal points, but couldn't think of enough interesting things for them to do other than temporarily drop the titles just so they could win them back and eat up a few weeks or months of time.
Hopefully, in 2018, the writers find some better ways to get around this issue and stop trading belts back and forth for cheap pops.
Do you love to play crosswords, Wordle or other exciting games? We'd like to connect with you. Fill the form here!
