10 WWE Creative Success Stories In 2017
Diamonds in the rough.
Few companies demand as much patience from their consumers as WWE.
Committing to the product is a gruelling, frustrating grind that'll regularly have you questioning your commitment, such is the volume of complete garbage that makes it to television. This means it's extremely easy to feel negative about the company as a whole. Such bandwagons are contagious, but while, WWE's harshest critics would have you believe the promotion is a disaster, with Raw and SmackDown offering nothing of merit, this just isn't true.
Creative still knock it out of the park from time to time. Their 2017 has been typically inconsistent, but they've scored dozens of triumphs throughout the calendar year, delivering the characters, storylines, matches, and individual moments that remind fans why they persist through trash like Jinder Mahal's WWE Title push in the first place.
The company can't satisfy every demographic at once, but they still know how to reward your patience, provided you're willing to take the good with the bad. With that in mind, let's have a look at some of the very best things to crawl out of WWE's well of creativity in 2017.
10. Samoa Joe's Reinvention
Most of WWE's 2017 NXT call-ups have struggled for main roster momentum, but not Samoa Joe. Angry, intense, and genuinely intimidating, he has become a weekly highlight on Raw, and one of the most entertaining all-round performers in the company.
This isn't the Samoa Joe that was charging through Ring Of Honor and TNA, pulling off legendary bouts with AJ Styles, Kurt Angle, and CM Punk. No, this is a man whose athleticism is a fraction of what it used to be, and whose in-ring chops are greatly diminished from his prime years, but has found a way to prosper regardless. His character work is on another level right now. Joe is Raw's best promo, and his aura is strong enough to survive the odd clean pinfall loss every now and then - a rarity in the modern age.
The Brock Lesnar feud was Joe's biggest highlight. Presenting the former NXT Champion as a violent, ruthless killer, it put Joe over not only through his promos, but his cold-blooded assault on a helpless Paul Heyman on June 5th. There was even a clamour for Joe to take Brock's Universal Championship at Great Balls Of Fire, but alas, it wasn't to be.