10 Best WWE Wrestlers Of 2017
Time For Heroes
In a year that's offered wrestling fans some of the best action ever (the best, if Dave Meltzer's rankings are your guide), it’s harder than ever for performers to sustain plaudits on the main roster.
WWE’s present day super-service results in the talent wrestling all the bloody time, but that's just a small problem feeding into a much bigger one. The standard of work shooting up has simultaneously sent excitement levels plummeting. Grainy footage of grizzled 1950s crowds losing their minds over a ten minute headlock is now just about as big a joy to watch as a Seth Rollins singles match. In both cases, you know all the beats and rhythms long before they happen, but at least a less-than-comatose crowd give you a reason to keep watching. And less people spent months on the shelf through injury thanks to a particularly tight toe-hold.
Wrestling’s never been so good, but it’s never been so hard to be a good wrestler. It's subjective of course, but Vince McMahon's irrational and erratic decisions force the most incredible patience from fans that would even tolerate the TakeOver-to-TakeOver management of NXT as a worthy replacement to WWE's unending churn.
A spot with the organisation isn't even enticing well paid independent stars as much as it used to. It's all, if anything, further reason why these performers deserve as much credit as they do. Being the Best In The World is p*ss easy compared to being the Best In World Wrestling Entertainment.
10. Alexa Bliss
Aside from brief belt swaps with Naomi and Sasha Banks on SmackDown Live! and Monday Night Raw respectively, Alexa Bliss has maintained control of her brand's Women's Title for the entire year. Clearly a huge sign of trust from management, Bliss' in-ring efforts are gradually improving to match the outstanding character work that helped her break out of the pack as one of the division's two pillars this year.
And whilst Sasha Banks, Bayley and others have suffered horribly from bad booking, she's just about managed to avoid the poison of the pencil. In truth, the idiocy and abject failures of her contemporaries has only boosted her profile further as a legitimate Champion.
Fans back winners, and even as a heel the audience has taken her on as a credible contender quashing their favourites. A 'This Is Your Life' segment trashing Bayley was perhaps WWE's worst televised moment of 2017, but Alexa was categorically not to blame despite the company's decision to throw her under the bus for it a week later. Her delivery of p*ss-weak content was remarkably strong - arguably the most vital skill to master in the overwrought WWE of today.