Photo Source: WWE.com
Another year is in the books for WWE Raw. Let’s take a look at the best and worst of what we got on Monday nights in 2017.
2017 was a strange year in the wrestling world. Superstars showed up in places you’d never expect to see them. People won championships you’d never expect to see them win. And matches once thought of as “dream matches” became commonplace. For the superstars on WWE Raw, it was a wild ride.
With the year just about done, and 2018 almost upon us, now’s a great time to look back at how far we’ve come. Over the past 12 months, the landscape of Raw is pretty far away from where it started. 52 weeks of episodes gave us numerous title changes, promos, debuts, returns, and matches. But in the grand scheme of things, is anything really that different?
The easiest way to review the year is to look at extremes. There were 156 hours of original content on Raw during 2017. A lot of stuff just kind of sits somewhere in the middle. It doesn’t stand out as either really great, or really terrible. It’s just there.
But if you can clearly remember something from all that wrestling, it’s either because it was amazing, or it was awful. So let’s dive into our recap of Raw for 2017 by looking at the best and worst of what was offered. We’ll look at the best and worst matches, promos, debuts, and overall superstar performance of the year. Obviously, this will be the only list like this that matters, so if you disagree feel free to sound off in the comments.
Worst Match: Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson vs. Heath Slater & Rhyno, Oct. 30
Gimmick matches based on a holiday are quite often the dirt worst. “Oh, it’s Easter? CRACK SOME EGGS ON YOUR OPPONENT AND HOP LIKE A BUNNY.” It’s terrible.
This year on Halloween Eve, WWE’s annual “Trick or Street Fight” pitted two of the most underutilized and misused teams on the roster against each other. In the midst of jack o lanterns, candy corn painted kendo sticks, and an apple bobbing tub, Gallows and Anderson took on Heath Slater and Rhyno.
As would be expected, it was not good. In fact, the best part of the whole thing was that Gallows and Anderson dressed up as Tex Ferguson and Chad 2 Badd from Southpaw Regional Wrestling for the holiday. I mean, it was countered by Rhyno as Mrs. Claus because reasons? It’s two months later and I still haven’t figured it out.
The less said about this, the better. (And don’t get me started on Miracle on 34th Street Fights, ugh.)
Honorable Mention: Enzo Amore vs. Big Cass, Aug. 21
This one deserves mention because trying to carry this match and feud to a satisfying conclusion for everyone literally destroyed Big Cass’s leg. How many times did Cass need to get a win over his former friend before both could go their separate ways?
24 hours after defeating Big Show with Enzo suspended above the ring in a shark cage (until he wasn’t), a Brooklyn Street Fight was booked between Enzo and Cass. With Enzo on the apron, Cass went for a big boot, tumbled over the ropes to the floor, and tore his ACL in the process. Unable to finish the match, Enzo won a street fight by forfeit, and Cass hasn’t been seen since – and will still be out of action for at least 5-6 months.
All because we needed just one more match between the dudes.
Best Match: Finn Balor vs. Seth Rollins vs. The Miz, May 1
Three very different superstars met with a chance to challenge Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose at stake. You had the grounded style of prototypical WWE Superstar The Miz in one corner. Next up was Finn Balor, who cut his teeth primarily in Japan. And then there was Seth Rollins, who was at one point Triple H’s hand-picked successor to the throne.
Even though I wrote at the time that Miz was the obvious winner going in, it really could have gone any way. In one main event match, WWE was able to set up a future Intercontinental Championship match, further two other storylines (Balor/Wyatt and Rollins/Joe), and logically build to a pay per view main event down the road. Not too shabby, if you ask me.
It may not have been a technically perfect match, but for a regular episode of television it was damn good. Any of the three competitors could be main event players, two of the three are former world champions in WWE, and all have a solid amount of fan support. It’s a recipe for success.
Honorable Mention: Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns, May 29
Seth Rollins quietly had a solid 2017 in the ring, didn’t he? Any match that he’s had with Cesaro and Sheamus could go here, too, but a singles match between Rollins and Roman Reigns with both on the side of good opened the door to a lot of possibilities.
Historically, this match is important because it’s the first time Reigns defeated Rollins in one on one action. Generally, it’s just another in the long list of “good Roman Reigns matches that too many smarks try to ignore because they badly want to hate him.”
Worst Debuting Superstar: The Revival
This isn’t the first time I’m going to write that I hate writing something in this recap. But man, writing “worst” anything with The Revival hurts my heart. Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder are one of the best tag teams in WWE, but their time as Raw superstars has been lackluster at best, and nonexistent more often than not.
On the Raw after WrestleMania, Dash and Dawson made their main roster debut, accepting the open challenge issued by The New Day and dominating the match en route to victory. Eleven days later, Wilder broke his jaw in his farewell NXT match, causing the team to disappear from TV for eight weeks. Upon their return, The Revival got caught in the middle of the Enzo and Cass breakup – not a good place to be.
Only a few weeks after returning, it was Dawson’s turn to go on the shelf with injury, rupturing a biceps tendon and needing surgery. It was just under five months before The Revival returned to action on December 18, then missed the final episode of Raw for the year.
The great thing about being a great tag team is rarely needing to wrestle singles matches. The bad thing about being a great tag team is if your partner is hurt, you vanish lest you become more of a singles competitor. The lengthy absence from The Revival in 2017 made it impossible for them to stand out. 2018 is poised to be their breakout year, though.
Honorable Mention: Sister Abigail
Only because Sister Abigail wasn’t really a separate superstar, the character gets honorable mention. I find it odd that Abigail made no attempt to show herself when Randy Orton burned her house down, but “Finn Balor is spooky” made her appear for the first time. The feud never really finished, thanks to the plague several WWE stars suffered from in the fall. But it’s been swept aside, hopefully never to be mentioned again.
Best Debuting Superstar: Samoa Joe
Full disclosure: I originally had Elias penciled in here, before remembering that Samoa Joe actually debuted in 2017. He’s been around so long, I just thought he had debuted before last New Year. Oops!
But rectifying that situation, there’s no way to have anyone but Joe in this top spot. Upon his debut, he literally wrecked Seth Rollins’s knee. He spent the next several weeks as Triple H’s “destroyer,” doing The Game’s bidding when necessary.
Following WrestleMania, Joe resumed his feud with a returning and healthy Seth Rollins. Because of the time passed, the feud never really clicked, but it put Joe on a path to enter the Universal Title picture. The image of Brock Lesnar turning purple while locked in the Coquina Clutch was classic, and it helped establish Joe as one of the most dangerous stars in WWE.
Heading into 2018, Joe is definitely in the midst of the main event, going up against Roman Reigns with the Intercontinental Championship on the line. It’s been a great first year on the main roster for Joe, and 2018 should be no different.
Honorable Mention: Asuka
Speaking of late debuts, the only thing preventing Asuka from being the top debut is missing the first ten months of the year in NXT and on the injury list. But credit to the Raw creative team – Asuka’s undefeated streak is still a big deal, and she’s been booked as the most dangerous woman on the roster. The Empress of Tomorrow is staking her claim for more championships today, and in 2018 she hopes to win the inaugural women’s Royal Rumble match to get that title opportunity.
Worst Promo: “Bayley, This Is Your Life,” May 29
The word “worst” doesn’t even begin to describe this train wreck. Alexa Bliss is terrific at playing the mean girl. Bayley is at her best when she’s the sweet, naive fangirl turned wrestler. All the elements were in place for this to be a winner, but it whiffed. Hard.
You would also think that playing off one of the greatest segment’s in Raw history – the original “This Is Your Life” segment about The Rock from 1999 – would work in favor of this. But the total disconnect between what made a loving homage from Mankind to Rock and this debacle from one wrestler to a threat to her superiority was staggering.
The whole childhood friend/ex-boyfriend thing was a nightmare, and everything just went on way too long before the confrontation happened. Like, why would Bayley stay backstage so long during this? “Better person” or not, if someone is using a national television platform to rip apart my life, I’m running out there to stand up for myself – not waiting what seemed like an hour before heading out to get beaten up.
This promo killed any momentum the Bliss/Bayley feud for the Raw Women’s Championship had. The payoff at Extreme Rules was terrible too, no doubt thanks to the stink of this segment. Moving away from it is the best thing for everyone.
Honorable Mention: The Makeover of Emma to Emmalina, Feb. 13
Never before has a 90 second promo been so utterly pointless. For months, WWE had been hyping up the “transformation” of Emma – a great character who had reinvented herself once before – into Emmalina – a terrible idea that was basically tailor-made for someone like Eva Marie, but was totally wrong for Emma.
Instead, the big payoff was Emma heading out on stage, basically thumbing her nose at the audience, and saying she was going to “transform” again. It was the right move, but it took way too long to get there, and it was an awful bait and switch kind of move.
Best Promo: Festival of Friendship, Feb. 13
The same night WWE Raw almost gave us their worst promo segment of the year with Emmalina, we were gifted with one of the greatest segments of the past ten years, easily. Everything about the Festival of Friendship was pure gold, and there are no two superstars who could have pulled it off quite like Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens.
In typical Las Vegas fashion, Jericho put together a way over the top celebration for his best friend in the world, Kevin Owens. Jericho was also trying to make up for the fact that he had accidentally accepted a Universal Title challenge by Goldberg on behalf of Owens. So there were no limits on what he did – Vegas showgirls! Artwork! Magicians! Presents!
Heck, Jericho even dragged out Gillberg – a lighter-than-a-cruiserweight parody of Goldberg – just so KO could beat him down. The segment lasted close to 20 minutes, if not longer, and it felt like it flew by. As bad as “Bayley, This is Your Life” was, this was twice as good.
Of course, the most painful betrayal of all at the end of the segment made all the good feelings disappear, but it truly enhanced everything. Jericho nailed the tone on, “Why is my name on this,” which hurt me as much as the first time I heard, “The Lannisters send their regards.” Truly amazing work from top to bottom.
Honorable Mention: Braun Strowman Moves An Ambulance, Apr. 10
Braun Strowman had so many great “promo” segments this year, if we consider a promo to simply be “a non-wrestling appearance.” Having such a variety to choose from makes it difficult to narrow down just one – and they’re almost all vehicle-related, too.
But I’d be remiss to ignore such a feat of strength as flipping a dang ambulance over with nothing but core strength from “best of 2017.” My biggest regret is skipping out on going to this episode – I was suffering WrestleMania travel hangover and just couldn’t bring myself to drive the 40 minutes to the Nassau Coliseum to see this live. I am shame.
Worst Superstar: Bayley
Ugh, the most disappointing words I have ever written in my life. I’ve gone on record before as saying I’m one of Bayley’s biggest fans from back in the day in NXT. But everything that worked for the Hugger in Full Sail has been forgotten, and many of her feuds this year were booked like garbage.
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At the height of Bayley’s popularity in NXT, it seemed like there was no possibility of her being anything but the top babyface in the women’s division. The brand split last summer seemed to make that a bigger possibility – Bayley could hold down one show, and someone like Becky Lynch could be top babyface on the other. But an extended stay in NXT – along with some injuries – slowed down her momentum.
In 2017, Bayley became number one contender for the Raw Women’s Championship, but lost her chance at winning the title at Royal Rumble. In a case of curious booking, super ultra babyface Bayley would win the title two weeks later on Raw with an assist from Sasha Banks. We already discussed the Alexa Bliss feud being trash, and since she returned from injury in the fall Bayley has been almost a complete non factor in the women’s division.
Going from Women’s Champion to cannon fodder for Absolution in less than 12 months is a rough showing. Hopefully 2018 is a better year for the Hugger.
Honorable Mention: Curt Hawkins
I mean, it’s his gimmick right now to be terrible, so I couldn’t fault him for that. And Gallows and Anderson were on Raw Tag Team Championship reign away from being here, too, so they’re not off the hookski.
Best Superstar: Braun Strowman
There was really no other alternative for this spot. From Royal Rumble to Christmas Day, Braun Strowman has been the absolute ace of WWE Raw. From fan support, to memorable moments, to in-ring ability, to total immersion into character, you can’t find another superstar who fits the bill like Braun.
Just take a look at what he’s accomplished these past 12 months. In January and February, he was still begging then-GM Mick Foley for “real competition.” By June, he was one of the top contenders for the Universal Championship. He became one of the studs on Team Raw at Survivor Series. And now, he’s again in position to challenge for the Universal Title in early 2018.
That doesn’t even scratch the surface of memorable moments. How many rings has Strowman broken in 2017? Or steel cages? He kicked Apollo Crews out of mid air. He died in a trash compactor and respawned a week later with ease. He walked away from a major automobile accident with but a scratch. Dude isn’t human, but he’s the greatest thing going in WWE.
Honorable Mention: The Miz
If The Miz had stayed on SmackDown Live all year, he very well could have been the top superstar over there. But Strowman is so head and shoulders above the rest that the best Miz could hope for is second best.
For all the work he did to elevate the Intercontinental Championship – both on SmackDown and Raw – Miz is definitely among the best superstars of the year. He’s as consistent as gravity, cuts great promos, and really gives off the impression that he loves the business and the industry. He’s enjoying himself doing what he does, and he’s soooooo good at it.
Next: 25 Greatest Pay Per Views in WWE History
Okay, folks – what did I get wrong?