10 Best Wrestling PPVs Of 2017
5. WWE Royal Rumble
![Finn Balor AJ Styles TLC 2017 Too Sweet](https://d2thvodm3xyo6j.cloudfront.net/media/2017/07/16f761ee4f025735-600x338.jpg)
A marathon Big 4 WWE pay-per-view that sprinted by, the Royal Rumble generated much in the way of drama, excitement and long-term world-building. The disastrous fallout of Randy Orton's Rumble match win may tarnish its reputation in retrospect - but on the night, at least, it promised the highest stakes for his once-promising programme with Bray Wyatt.
While Charlotte and Bayley bettered the opener a couple of weeks later on RAW, their match delivered in itself and with the sort of protective clean finish sorely missed in the company elsewhere. The middle portion of the card delivered two bonafide WWE Match Of The Year candidates. Kevin Owens Vs. Roman Reigns was a thriller, an overstuffed feast that nonetheless was palatable in its brutality, whereas John Cena's "record-tying" 16th World Title win at the expense of AJ Styles was a stunning Big Match John match, in which Cena wrestled as a character, not a caricature of the a la mode athletic showcase. The King, Neville, secured his crown in a gripping bout with Rich Swann which, while misplaced, did not misfire.
The Rumble match itself did its job - but the baseline requirement is still something special, all these years later, made all the better by virtue of it not being an antagonistic disaster.