10 Biggest Missed Opportunities By WWE In 2017 So Far
Cash-ins, title wins and dream bouts - just another day of fantasy booking.
As we approach the apex of WWE's summer programming, it's fair to say there's a been a few high points since the year began. From Golderg's final run as Universal Champion and The Undertaker's apparent retirement at WrestleMania 33 to Jinder Mahal's shock WWE Championship victory and the rise of Samoa Joe, 2017 has been a great year for new stars and old faces alike.
But for every one great decision made there's another missed opportunity. As it's often said, you can please some of the people all the time, all the people some of the time but you'll never please all the people all the time. Never is a statement more true than when it's applied to the wrestling business.
While WWE have undoubtedly hit right on the money with some of their booking methods - Goldberg vs. Lesnar at WrestleMania, for example, was pulled off to perfection - they have completely missed the mark with others. WWE have dropped the ball a number of times this year already and this list explores just ten of the biggest examples.
Facepalms at the ready, people. This might hurt...
10. Baron Corbin's Cash-In
Baron Corbin is an odd addition to the WWE roster. His stop/start push up the ranks has been questionable at times, yet none more so than his recent loss of the Money in the Bank briefcase.
Following the conclusion of the Jinder Mahal vs. John Cena bout on the 17 August episode of SmackDown Live, Corbin made the shock decision to cash-in his MITB contract on the prone champ, Jinder Mahal. Having just taken a huge Attitude Adjustment off the top, Mahal was in a bad way and ripe for the picking.
Unfortunately for Corbin, he would instantly get distracted by Cena the moment the bell rang, allowing Mahal to roll him up with a school boy pin for the three. With six seconds on the clock, that makes the Corbin MITB cash-in bout the shortest WWE Championship match in history.
Corbin now finds himself in the history books next Bob Backlund's eight second MSG loss to Diesel in 1994 and Daniel Bryan's ten second loss to Randy Orton at SummerSlam 2013. Not quite the kind of history he would have wanted to make in his first one-on-one WWE Championship match but history nonetheless.
The MITB title shot is a great tool to get someone over and adds the element of unpredictability to the booking. Throwing it away in the manner they did helped no-one - particularly Corbin.