10 Best WWE Storylines Of 2017

9. Failing Upwards

Maryse Nikki Bella
WWE.com

Enzo Amore is really really good at one aspect of professional wrestling, but titles are not given to wrestlers solely for being excellent on a microphone. Not normally, anyway. And certainly not titles almost exclusively designed for those that excel between the ropes.

But excelling was what Amore did on a regular basis before an allegedly awful backstage attitude resulted in several ego-checking storylines for the 'Smacktalker Skywalker'. Over and popular, the 'Enzo and Big Cass' pairing was diffused, diluted and dissolved with a view of pushing the seven-footer to the moon after he'd buried the little loudmouth six feet under. An injury in their final battle changed everything.

Unable to continue punishing Enzo with demeaning defeats and banal beatdowns, the company instead used their unloved Cruiserweight league to do it instead. Only, talent is talent, and Amore refused to turn down everything he genuinely believed got him to the stage in the first place. Over a period of weeks, Enzo cut through the entire roster of lightweights and in turn gave them all personas to finally cling to.

His current relationship with Drew Gulak speaks to his success. Now, several talented technicians and fearless fliers want to claw the belt away from him, but thankfully do so to an emotional response, rather than deafening silence. To this end, Enzo remains an unheralded and unlikely saviour.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 30 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz", Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 50,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett