ProWrestling.Cool’s Worst of 2017
With the year firmly and finally in our rear-view mirrors, we can finally be honest about one universal truth: 2017 was a garbage year. Even if we ignore the abhorrent bigotry and hatred that came bubbling back to the surface of American society (which we really shouldn’t), 2017 was a year in which wrestling seemed to go creatively bankrupt. It was a year in which a company fired a talented employee for taking a selfie with his friends while another company trademarked two of their former employees’ new gimmicks to prevent them from working anywhere else; a year in which women that were once in contention for Superstar of the Year hit such lows that one has been excommunicated from the industry, while men we once criticized for criminal misuse became worse than we could imagine; it was a year in which Impact Wrestling—fucking Impact—not only lived but drained the life from yet another owner, surviving on nothing but antipathy for its employees; and a year in which WWE and other companies put on some of the worst wrestling matches we’ve ever seen. 2017 was not wrestling’s worst year, but when you consider that the current crop of talent in WWE and elsewhere is the strongest it has ever been, the depths of 2017’s mediocrity are both baffling and rage-inducing. Someone needs to pay for this; and it’s time for us to be the ones who make sure that happens.
Thus, ProWrestling.Cool is proud(?) to present the 5th annual Worst of the Year Awards (the “Dot-Droolies,” if you prefer) celebrating the most rancid professional wrestling in 2017. Once again, PW.C’s editors Owen Douglass and John Gawarecki-Maxwell were joined by EchoZone contributor/Twitch speedrunner Mystakin to determine the nominees and “winners” for each category. Those losers and the top two runners-up are listed below. If you’d like to hear how we came to these decisions, you can listen to our complete deliberations in our Worst of 2017 edition of Heel Turn. Patreon subscribers can also see the entire lists we started with here.
Without further ado, here are the wrestling moments of 2017 that weren’t cool, which is perhaps the understatement of the century:
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MOST EGREGIOUS MISUSE OF TALENT: Bayley
RUNNERS-UP: Finn Bálor | Shinsuke Nakamura
WORST NEWCOMER: Shayna Baszler
RUNNERS-UP: The Riott Squad | Mercedes Martinez
WORST SHOW: WWE Storytime
RUNNERS-UP: WWE Raw | WWE 205 Live
THE DOT-BULL$#!% MOMENT OF 2017: Michael Elgin is forced to sell Glory Pro because he is fucking trash
RUNNERS-UP: Asuka forfeits the NXT Women’s Championship without taking a loss | WWE goes ballistic over the Bullet Club and its affiliates
WORST NEW TREND: The Cruiserweight Division as dumping ground for faltering Superstars
RUNNERS-UP: Rushing storylines for television ratings | “Momentum”
WORST PROMO: Jinder Mahal, the “ironic” racist (WWE SmackDown Live 09/19/17)
RUNNERS-UP: Bayley: This Is Your Life (WWE Raw 05/29/17) | That Ball family MizTV Clusterfuck (WWE Raw 06/26/17)
WORST FUTURE ENDEAVORANCE: Jimmy Jacobs
RUNNERS-UP: Pentagon, Jr. & Fenix | Darren Young
WORST FEUD/STORYLINE: Finn Bálor vs. Bray Wyatt
RUNNERS-UP: Alexa Bliss vs. Mickie James | Jason Jordan’s New Dad
WORST NON-IN-RING PERFORMER: John “Bradshaw” Layfield
RUNNERS-UP: Stephanie McMahon | Jim Cornette
WORST TAG TEAM/STABLE: The Good Brothers (Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson)
RUNNERS-UP: The Welcoming Committee (Natalya, Carmella, Tamina & James Ellsworth) | The Riott Squad (Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan & Sarah Logan)
WORST FEMALE SUPERSTAR: Sexy Star
RUNNERS-UP: Shayna Baszler | Liv Morgan
WORST MALE SUPERSTAR: Bray Wyatt
RUNNERS-UP: Jinder Mahal | Baron Corbin
WORST EVENT: WWE Fastlane
RUNNERS-UP: WWE Extreme Rules | AAA Triplemania XXV
THE TEN WORST MATCHES OF 2017
- Sexy Star vs. Rosemary vs. Ayako Hamada vs. Lady Shani – Reina de Reinas Championship Match (AAA Triplemania XXV)
- Kairi Sane vs. Shayna Baszler – Mae Young Classic Finals (WWE Mae Young Classic)
- Alexa Bliss vs. Bayley – Kendo Stick-on-a-Pole Match for the Raw Women’s Championship (WWE Extreme Rules 2017)
- Jinder Mahal vs. Shinsuke Nakamure – WWE Championship Match (WWE Hell in a Cell 2017)
- Big Show vs. Rusev (WWE Fastlane 2017)
- Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt – House of Horrors Match (WWE Payback 2017)
- Jinder Mahal vs. Randy Orton – Punjabi Prison Match for the WWE Championship (WWE Battleground 2017)
- Big Show vs. Big Cass – Singles Match with Enzo Amore suspended above the ring in a shark cage (WWE SummerSlam 2017)
- Beauty & the Man-Beast (Heath Slater & Rhyno) vs. The Good Brothers (Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson) – Trick or Street Fight (WWE Raw 10/30/17)
- John Cena vs. Baron Corbin (WWE SummerSlam 2017)
