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2017 is all but gone. During this year we saw some heated rivalries, controversial title changes, annual releases, intriguing debuts and new PPVs. As we bid adieu to this year, let us look back at 5 things for which 2017 shall always be remembered by the WWE Universe.
#5 The veterans of wrestling finally make their WWE debut
Samoa Joe and Shinsuke Nakamura, two superstars who bagged honors in every promotion they worked for, were finally performing in a WWE ring in 2017. Although both of them had debuted already on NXT, it wasn't till they moved to the main roster that the world finally realized that 'The Samoan Submission Machine' and 'The King of Strong Style' were a part of the WWE Universe.
Samoa Joe made an explosive debut on RAW playing Triple H's henchman and punishing Seth Rollins. The agile big man was then seen choking many top stars including Roman Reigns, Finn Balor and even Brock Lesnar using his dreadful Coquina Clutch. Though he fell victim to the Beast at The Great Balls of Fire, he looked like a credible threat to Lesnar's championship in the build-up to their match. With this year coming to an end, he looks to carry his momentum forward in 2018 with an upcoming program with Roman Reigns.
On the other hand, Shinsuke Nakamura made his much-anticipated debut on the blue brand. His immense popularity could be judged from the ovation he received from the crowd who chanted his theme music along with Lee England Jr's fiddle. From there, Nakamura went on to defeat top superstars like John Cena, Randy Orton, and Dolph Ziggler. Although he lost to Jinder Mahal, the rumors are he is going to face AJ Styles for the WWE championship at Wrestlemania.
#4 The return of Starrcade
The premier event of NWA and WCW, Starrcade, made an emotional comeback after 17 long years at its very home in Greensboro, North Carolina. Although being a live event it was not available for the TV audience, it was a great success. With a cameo from one of the legendary 'Four Horsemen', Arn Anderson, and a touching return of Dustin Rhodes, the show brought back the nostalgia associated with its name.
The wrestling fans who were unaware of the glorious past of the event enjoyed it as much as the patrons. With such a great legacy associated with it and its recent success, it will be a missed opportunity for WWE to not bring Starrcade as a proper PPV in 2018.
#3 The Hardys are back and Matt is 'woken'!
There were rumors that the Hardy Boyz would ultimately land in WWE once they were done with Impact Wrestling. However, no one expected them to make a return at 'the grandest stage of all', Wrestlemania. The crowd exploded when their music hit and the brothers, Matt and Jeff, made history by reclaiming the tag titles after a long period of about 10 years.
They had some great matches following Wrestlemania before Jeff got injured. However, this ultimately made way for Matt to revive his extremely popular 'broken' gimmick. The night he lost to Bray Wyatt and started chanting 'delete', the crowd went nuts. He proclaims to have 'woken' and if rumors are to be believed, brother Nero is going to join him soon.
#2 First ever Miss Money in the Bank is tainted by James Ellsworth
WWE fans were excited by the idea of first ever women's Money in the Bank ladder match. Everyone was pinning hopes on either Charlotte or Becky Lynch to come out as the victor and the first ever Ms. Money in the Bank.
The match itself played out nicely with some high-risk spots. However, the match hit rock bottom when James Ellsworth pushed Becky off the ladder, climbed up, disentangled the briefcase and literally dropped it to Carmella. It was a shameful sight. All the build-up and excitement was capped off with a dull end.
Although the aftermath of the event did lead to a rematch and a clean finish, it definitely made the ladies look bad. Had Carmella won it cleanly the first time, the spectacle would have been really awesome.
#1 The rise and fall of Jinder Mahal
Okay, you all saw this coming. 'The Jinder Mahal Experiment' has to be the most memorable thing of 2017. No one ever expected a guy who had a terrible gimmick of an air guitarist and lost all his matches would suddenly be the WWE champion.
Mahal shocked everyone when he earned the No. 1 contender's spot in a six-pack challenge on SmackDown live. He generated, even more, shockwaves when he actually defeated Randy Orton at Backlash to become the 50th WWE champion. However, what followed was a lacklustre title reign marred with poor booking. Although he successfully defended his title against Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura, he always got help from the Singh Brothers and even the Great Khali.
Many people saw Mahal's elevation as a bid to woo Indian customers (Jinder Mahal is of Indian origin). However, despite Mahal putting a lot of effort, he could not get himself over with the fans. The numbers probably didn't do well in India as Mahal lost his championship to AJ styles right before WWE's trip to India. The rematch, though his career's best match so far, saw Mahal tap to the calf crusher from AJ Styles, a clear signal that WWE had lost faith in his credibility. The dream run Mahal had with the title will definitely be talk of the town for many years to come.
Picking only 5 was really very difficult. Let me know in the comments section if I missed some other memorable moments of 2017.
