5 WWE superstars who were disappointing in 2017

While some superstars that don't exactly fit the mould of what WWE is looking for in a future champion and face of the company have been able to break through others have been bogged down and are quickly losing fan support due to sub-par booking and a lack of interesting storyline.

Maybe WWE lost faith in them or maybe WWE didn't have any faith in them to start with and fans are fighting a losing battle by even bothering to root for them in the first place. With that being said and the calendar year finally almost coming to an end, here are five superstars that WWE has given up on in 2017

---

#4 The Miz

After all, he brought attention to a mid-card title

Whether you like The Miz or not, you simply can't deny that the man radiates charisma wherever he goes. He is also very capable of having a great match inside the squared circle, which ultimately catapulted him to a WWE title reign in his younger years. Unfortunately for The Miz, he found himself shoved out of the main event scene and relegated to the mid-card.

Of course, The Miz again made the most of it by aligning himself with Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel to form The Miztourage, but even that has become a running joke with The Miz currently away filming movies. In the end, though, The Miz has shown that he has the talent to make a mid-card title great again, and that's why it's so baffling to see WWE give up on him like this.

Say what you want about how much he makes you want to punch him right in the face when he opens his mouth, but he just has a way with words that mimics that of CM Punk and WWE should really be utilizing that! However, WWE seems content to have him either film movies or float in the undercard. Both of which are below what he deserves.

#4 Jinder Mahal

Jinder Mahal making his way to the ring.

The Jinder Mahal experiment was probably one of the worst moves WWE made in 2017 and while it was a great way to freshen up the title picture a bit and do something new, it was for all the wrong reasons and with all the wrong people. With that being said, it was doomed to fail and it did finally fail when AJ Styles took the title back on Smackdown Live.

Of course, there are many rumoured reasons for the abrupt title change that took place on the go home show of Smackdown Live and the possibilities are really endless here. For example, some fans claim that WWE made the title switch because Mahal wasn't drawing well at house shows, while others believe it was so WWE could set up AJ Styles versus Brock Lesnar.

In the end, neither scenario really matters much. What does matter, however, is that WWE has finally given up on Jinder Mahal and his loss to WWE Champion, AJ Styles at Clash Of Champions only proves that point further. Where this goes from here is really anyone's guess, but it's pretty safe to say that he will be nowhere near the title scene for a while.

#3 Bray Wyatt

So much more could have been done with Wyatt

How a superstar goes from walking into WrestleMania 33 with the WWE title around his waist to mid-card fodder on raw is beyond comprehension, but that's exactly what happened to Bray Wyatt over the course of 2017. Of course, losing the title to Orton at WrestleMania 33 did help him either, but one has to wonder why this was done.

Furthermore, one has to wonder why Bray Wyatt was even moved to Monday Night Raw after WrestleMania 33 if they weren't going to utilize his talents either. Sure, Wyatt and Balor took part in a decent mid-card feud towards the end of the year, but the momentum was stalled when Wyatt contracted a viral infection and was unable to compete.

With that all in mind, it seems like WWE has no real plans for Bray Wyatt in the near future and he is definitely one of the biggest superstars WWE gave up on in 2017. In the end, maybe things could get better and maybe this is just pessimism on the writers part, but things aren't looking very good right now with the position he currently finds himself in.

#2 Bayley

The Huggable one, Bayley. #2 Bayley

What exactly is it about Bayley that made The WWE give up on her? Maybe it was her feud with Alexa Bliss for The Women's title, which culminated in Bliss dethroning Bayley in her hometown and then defeating her again in a kendo stick on a pole match. Then again, it could be the fan reaction she gets from anyone that's not a youngster or girl.

Either way, its no secret that WWE has given up on Bayley one as a legitimate main event star and has even relegated her to same mid card status that everyone else on this list finds themselves in. With that being said and the way her fall from grace unfolded, one has to wonder what exactly caused WWE to lose faith in her and what factors were involved.

For example, Bayley's fall from grace occurred almost simultaneously to the rise of the goddess, Alexa Bliss, who defeated Bayley shortly after the superstar shake up. WWE then had an angle that involved Bayley showing a more heelish side for a kendo stick on a pole match, but she was never able to bring herself to use it and lost as a result.

In the end, maybe the clean cut nature of Bayley's character is what did her in on the main roster. In fact, maybe Bayley would be better off just going to NXT and performing where she can be a crucial part of the show again. Either that, or continue to wander on the mid card until WWE finally has something for her.

#1 Finn Balor

Former Universal Champion, Finn Balor.

Isn't there an old adage about losing faith too easily?

Whether WWE wants to admit or not, that's exactly what they did to Finn Balor when he returned from his shoulder surgery the night after WrestleMania 33. WWE then teased Balor getting back into The Universal title picture to reclaim the title he never lost, but he ultimately lost a number one contender's match when he lost to Samoa Joe.

It only got worse when Balor started to feud with Bray Wyatt, who was close to debuting his new gimmick as the reincarnation of Sister Abigail and the two were set to do battle at an upcoming pay per view. Fortunately for both superstars, that storyline never came to fruition after Wyatt contracted a viral infection and was unable to compete at the pay-per-view.

This led to one of the only positive moments of Balor's run on the main roster this year, which was when he battled and actually defeated AJ Styles in a match on TLC. The two superstars even did The Two Sweet hand gesture and celebrated together after the match was finally done.

Of course, that wasn't even enough to get Balor off the starting blocks and he started to get destroyed by Kane and Samoa Joe on multiple occasions. He was later put in the five-on-five survivor series match for team Raw and was able to eliminate John Cena during the bout as well, but even that wasn't enough for WWE to do anything.

With that being said, Balor currently finds himself in mid-card hell and it doesn't look like that's going to change anytime soon. In the end, it's understandable that WWE would be weary after Balor's shoulder injury at Summerslam two years ago, but to deny a superstar like him a prominent spot on the roster is really just robbing the fans at this point.

Where things go from here is anyone's guess, but here's hoping 2018 turns out to be the year of The Balor Club!