7 Worst WWE Title Reigns Of 2017
Can we list Jinder twice?
WWE’s rollcall of champions looks very strong as we close out 2017, although Sunday's Clash of Champions pay-per-view could yet throw a Jinder Mahal-shaped spanner in the works.
The biggest draw in the industry (Brock Lesnar), the best wrestler in the world (AJ Styles) and the face of the company (Roman Reigns) hold the three most prestigious singles titles.
Further down the card, a pair of teams who have produced career-best work this year are deserving RAW and SmackDown Live Tag Team Champions; the Women’s titles adorn the waists of two of the most well-rounded performers on either brand, and Enzo Amore has shown, in his own unique way, that there is life in the Cruiserweight division after Neville.
And, Baron Corbin - well, there could be far worse United States champions. He should probably thank Orlando Jordan for setting that curve.
However, the championship picture has not always looked so rosy throughout the past 12 months - and there are some title reigns that WWE will want to put behind them as we head into 2018.
Unfortunately, we may not be able to forget them as quickly as WWE do...
7. Dean Ambrose - Intercontinental Champion (January 3 - June 4)
‘The Lunatic Fringe’ badly needed The Shield reunion to freshen up his character after an underwhelming first half of 2017, in which he had a laborious Intercontinental title reign.
Ambrose’s rivalry with The Miz started off hot on SmackDown, with the reality aspect of the Renee Young involvement, but that the feud dragged over onto RAW defeated the whole point of the Superstar Shake-Up, when both men were in need of something new.
His WrestleMania programme with Baron Corbin had a decent narrative to it - that Ambrose kept costing ‘The Lone Wolf’ big opportunities. But it was Corbin who shone in the build up, memorably using a forklift to kayfabe squash the champion during a backstage attack - and the wrong man went over in an average bout that was bumped to the pre-show.
The mediocre match quality and cheesy humour on the microphone made this the worst run of Ambrose’s main roster career, and would not have inspired much confidence in WWE management that he can return to the top of the card.
At least, not as a babyface.