'%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)
2017 has been a year of up and downs for WWE and while it may not have been the best of years, it certainly wasn't one of the worst. The company brought a whole host of new stars up to the main roster from NXT and added good quality of wrestlers from the independent circuit.
The year has ended on a high for WWE and Wrestling fans. There were a lot of Glorious moments in 2017. Let's take a look at the 10 best rated WWE matches of 2017.
#10 Brock Lesnar Vs AJ Styles at Survivor Series
They don't call AJ Styles "The Phenomenal One" for nothing.
Brock Lesnar defeated AJ Styles in a "Champion vs Champion" match. This was actually a last-minute booking. The original plan was to have Brock Lesnar fight Jinder Mahal, but a number of factors colluded to kill that. The fans hated the idea. They widely perceive Mahal as a transitional WWE champion, who only attained his spot because WWE has a growing Indian audience.
Soon after that, Mahal dropped the WWE championship, and AJ Styles, the man who won it from him, was slotted in Mahal's place at Survivor Series. Lesnar and Styles only had a week to plan out their confrontation. Complicating matters, Lesnar has a reputation for "laziness," depending on his opponent.
The match started as all Lesnar matches do, with complete and utter physical domination.This was followed by several suplexes, after which Lesnar took his time, stood around, and smirked. Typically most wrestlers eat suplex after suplex before taking an F-5 and getting pinned. But AJ Styles is not most wrestlers. After an initial wave of Lesnar dominance, Styles wove a classic David and Goliath tale for the rest of the match.
Ultimately, Lesnar's brute strength won the day. To escape from the Calf Crusher, he pounded Styles's head into the mat multiple times.Then, he caught Styles mid-air to finish the match with an F-5. Throughout all this, Lesnar never forgot to sell his injured leg.
#9 Kevin Owens vs Roman Reigns at Royal Rumble
Kevin Owens had reigned atop WWE Raw since August 2016, when he capitalized on interference from Triple H to capture the Universal Championship.
Owens and Reigns had a long rivalry for the Universal Championship. Reigns' first title shot against KO came at Roadblock: End of the Line in December, but he was stymied when Jericho interfered and hit Owens with a Codebreaker, which resulted in The Big Dog losing by disqualification and leaving the pay-per-view without the belt. That led to Raw general manager Mick Foley booking a unique rematch with Y2J trapped in a cage to prevent him from getting involved.
While that prospect seemingly terrified Jericho, he and Owens made the most of the build toward the Royal Rumble by doing everything possible to throw Reigns off his game. Owens even built up a tower of chairs at ringside, which didn’t come into play for a while. However, it ended up coming back to bite him when Reigns punched KO off the apron and knocked him into the pile of steel. The pain of this had to be about as real as it can get.
Owens pretty much fell out of it after this happened. He took a bunch of offence from Reigns and seemed to be on the verge of losing. Then came Braun Strowman, who ran in and attacked the Big Dog, power slamming him through a table set up in the corner of the ring. This left Owens room to pin Reigns and retain the Universal Championship.
#8 Elimination Chamber Match for the WWE Championship
Inside the unforgiving structure, John Cena defended his WWE Championship against Dean Ambrose, The Miz, Bray Wyatt, AJ Styles and Baron Corbin. The winner cashed his ticket to WrestleMania 33 and a spot in the main event against 2017 Royal Rumble winner Randy Orton. WWE champion John Cena and AJ Styles continued their epic rivalry at the onset of the Elimination Chamber bout, wrestling what was essentially a superb five-minute match until the others entered the ring.
With WWE you can always expect the unexpected as the last three members surviving were two former Champions and Bray Wyatt who had been booked badly at every major PPV. A high cross body block had Cena thriving until Wyatt delivered Sister Abigail and pinned the franchise star, eliciting the biggest pop of the night. Styles attempted another springboard attempt and Styles landed in the waiting arms of Wyatt, who delivered Sister Abigail and realized his dream of becoming WWE champion.
WWE ensured Wyatt's first title win was no fluke, allowing him to hit his Sister Abagail finisher on both John Cena and AJ Styles, pinning the men consecutively on his way to victory. There was no interference in the match as some expected, and Wyatt was build to look as strong as ever by winning the championship legitimately over the last two men to hold the belt.
#7 Bobby Roode vs Shinsuke Nakamura at NXT TakeOver: Orlando
Bobby Roode proved that his title reign is no fluke, as he beat Shinsuke Nakamura once again at NXT TakeOver: Orlando to retain the NXT Championship.
Ever since Bobby Roode won the NXT Championship from Shinsuke Nakamura, back at NXT TakeOver: San Antonio, Nakamura has been waiting for his rematch. That re-match happened in Orlando, and if Nakamura could get the win he’d become the first three-time NXT Champion. Nakamura was looking for revenge after a knee injury at the hands of Roode took him out of action for a few weeks.
Roode needed the win to cement himself as the top dog in NXT. Nakamura appeared well on his way to retaining the title, but he was compromised by a knee injury and was unable to capitalize after hitting Roode with his signature Kinshasa knee strike.
The Glorious One took advantage of the situation by locking Nakamura into a half crab and then finishing him off with the Glorious DDT.
#6 Fatal 5-Way at WWE Extreme Rules for WWE Championship
The Fatal 5-Way match at WWE Extreme Rules 2017 featured Raw's top Superstars, and while only one man could win, all five were elevated in a spectacular main event. In the climactic moments, Samoa Joe submitted Balor, who was on the verge of pinning Reigns before valiantly passing out to the Coquina Clutch.
After a masterful performance from all involved, nobody was damaged by this result. Reigns was at his usual dominant self. Rollins' array of stunts confirmed he's all the way back to 100 percent. Balor was robbed of a surefire victory before suffering a gutsy loss. And Bray Wyatt just may have a new heel partner in Samoa Joe, who was the No. 1 Contender for the Universal Championship and faced Brock Lesnar at Great Balls of Fire PPV.
#5 Asuka vs Ember Moon at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn
"The Empress of Tomorrow" entered TakeOver as perhaps the most dominant Superstar in WWE history. Her winning streak surpassed that of Goldberg in WCW, and it seemed as though nobody was capable of knocking her from her perch. Ember appeared to have her on the ropes, but Asuka used the referee to interrupt Moon's attempt to hit the Eclipse, which resulted in the Japanese Superstar retaining.
An injury prevented Moon from competing at NXT TakeOver: Chicago, but Asuka beat both Nikki Cross and Ruby Riot in a Triple Threat match. Asuka also beat Cross in a Last Woman Standing match on NXT TV, which created the need for a new challenger to emerge. Ember beat Riot in a tightly contested match, and NXT general manager William Regal decided to give her another shot at Asuka.
Moon came closer to beating Asuka than anyone ever has and even hit her with the Eclipse, but Asuka became the first Superstar to kick out of it.
#4 WarGames ( 3 vs 3 vs 3 ) NXT TakeOver: WarGames
The nine competitors involved in this war of attrition put themselves through hell. The aggression, intensity, and violence were at a high, and the heated rivalry between the three teams came to a suiting and appropriate conclusion. The Undisputed Era was the hot act entering the match and the most obvious pick to emerge victoriously, but it was Dain who was the breakout star.
The match picked up the pace when AOP got in and huge spots followed before Killian Dain and Alexander Wolfe got in the tables, chairs, kendo sticks and steel chains in the fray. Cole left perched atop the cage, stared down at Strong, who joined him up top. In another jaw-dropping spot, Strong superplexed Cole from the top of the cage onto the other seven Superstars involved.
A brilliant match. They did some incredibly insane spots and made great use of the two rings. The nine competitors involved in this war of attrition put themselves through hell.
#3 Fatal 4-way for WWE Championship at SummerSlam
Brock Lesnar vs Braun Strowman vs Roman Reigns vs Samoa Joe lived up to the massive hype. The battle began with the four hosses smashing each other, obliterating their surroundings.
They stopped at nothing to incapacitate one another. By the end, ring steps were left bent, tables were destroyed and "The Beast Incarnate" was thrown through two announcement tables and had one tipped over his head before storming back to defeat Braun Strowman, Samoa Joe, and Roman Reigns.And this was Strowman's latest star-making performance. He was the centrepiece of a collision for the ages
Lesnar got the win after an F5 to Reigns and landing the pin.There's no question in what he had to pull out plenty of tricks to ensure the win, including distracting the ref and breaking up a pin just before a three-count.
#2 John Cena vs AJ Styles at Royal Rumble
The electricity in the air when John Cena and AJ Styles first stood in the ring together was unparalleled by anything else we’ve seen out of the WWE. It was a moment many thought we would never bear witness to, two icons with similar careers across different realms of the wrestling industry.
It was suggested that had AJ Styles entered the WWE at the same time that John Cena did, the path that the bona fide future Hall of Famer embarked on over the last decade would have been much different. That electricity was recreated when the two took part in some of the most extraordinary one-on-one matches of each man’s respective careers – both at Money in the Bank and at SummerSlam with AJ winning on both occasions.
John Cena finally got the better of Styles at the Royal Rumble to win the WWE Championship and tie Ric Flair's record with the 16th world title reign of his illustrious career.Both stars exchanged finishing moves to no avail. But an Attitude Adjustment from the top rope was enough for Cena to secure the victory.
#1 Pete Dunne vs Tyler Bate at NXT TakeOver: Chicago
The Best match of 2017 was an NXT Match. At the end of every year, WWE fans will always look back at the Match of the Year. There’s usually a debate over this, with some years not having about that stands out the most, leaving many choices.
The rivalry between Bate and Dunne began prior to the finals of January's WWE United Kingdom Championship tournament. Dunne attacked Bate and left his status for the finals in doubt, but the then-19-year-old showed great resiliency in fighting through the pain to become the first UK titleholder in WWE history.
The match Bate and Dunne put on was a technical masterpiece and basically flawless. From the in-ring psychology to the properly placed spots, these two British wrestlers put on a performance for the ages. They had the crowd standing on its feet, doing duelling chants for these Superstars as everyone stayed invested in the action. For nearly 20 minutes, Dunne and Bate rocked the house.
Bate went for broke and attempted a leap over the top rope as Dunne stood outside the ring. Bate missed, though, hitting the floor. With Bate dazed, Dunne rolled him into the ring and hit Bitter End for the victory
Do you love to play crosswords, Wordle or other exciting games? We'd like to connect with you. Fill the form here!
