10 Absolute Best Matches WWE Could Present In 2017
And they haven't even given them all away already.
The Superstars have been Shaken Up, which - ignoring WWE bluster - basically means that a few like-for-like trades have taken place purely to make each brand less stale. In theory, anyway.
The optimism generated by the Shake-Up was literally trashed on Monday's episode of RAW. So many fans expressed relief that Kalisto had been rescued from the depths of SmackDown and helicoptered into his natural Monday night mainland - but he was booked as actual garbage when Braun Strowman casually (and hilariously) tossed him into a nearby bin during one of his trademark rampages. Elsewhere, the landscape hasn't even changed that much. Strowman has resumed his pre-WrestleMania rivalry with Roman Reigns. The Miz and Dean Ambrose might as well have not swapped brands, given that they are feuding with each other.
That said, the Shake-Up has at least guaranteed that Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton will not contaminate the summer months. Many better matches will emerge from the wake of that funeral of logic.
A notable omission here is AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura. That match is the blue brand's best contender for the WrestleMania 34 main event - but knowing WWE, they'll probably bang it out with no build-up on a throwaway Tuesday in June.
10. Kevin Owens Vs. Randy Orton
Kevin Owens can be accused of doing too much in his matches.
His frog splash looks as spectacular as it does brutal, but it's not his finish. It's more or less an empty and not altogether credible way of engineering a near-fall. It's as if Owens refuses to acknowledge that he is a proper physical threat purely because he has the ability to wrestle as if he's far smaller. Those matches are invariably very good - but his act would benefit from reining in the self-indulgence and accepting that he's something beyond the physical norm.
Conversely, Randy Orton can be accused of doing too little in his matches; his trademark methodical approach all too often results in tedium, even if his bouts are easier to believe in. Neither man has achieved the balance required to achieve true greatness, and while Orton's fleeting moments of greatness are conditional on his opponents, a match opposite Owens might represent a perfect reconciliation - a best of both worlds chemistry. Owens would also represent a gritty and much-needed antidote to the supernatural silliness that has been Orton's feud with Bray Wyatt.
They've fought on TV before - this is WWE in the modern era, after all, everybody has wrestled everybody already - but the pairing (more so than most) would benefit from raised stakes.