10 Best WWE Storylines Of 2017
7. Double Down
Prior to their SmackDown Live! trade, WrestleMania 'guest host' roles for Kofi Kingston, Big E and Xavier Woods disguised how desperately they needed a new creative direction if they wanted to continue milking those sweet sweet Booty-O dollars.
That direction came in the form of just being f*cking outstanding pro wrestlers in matches with The Usos.
The storyline thread was, as the best ones often are, brilliant in its simplicity. The New Day enjoyed a skylark more than most, with their hijinks getting under the skin of SmackDown Live! Tag Team Champions Jimmy and Jey. Stationed ringside munching cereal and generally getting up to no good, the triumvirate lulled the Samoans into a false sense of security and took their titles in grand fashion at July's Battleground pay-per-view.
Realising they'd been drawn into something far more serious, The Usos pledged to up their game in the rematch, and brilliantly, did just that.
Pr*ck heels they may have been, but Jimmy and Jey threatened swift justice and delivered it in one of the best contests of the entire year. Regaining the belts on the SummerSlam kickoff, their validation was short-lived following another trade on television three weeks later, but earned the respect of their opponents, the fanbase at large, and presumably WWE management when the claimed them conclusively in a grandiose Hell In A Cell payoff. The New Day had somehow gained new purpose, whilst The Usos had at long last gained respect.