10 Recent Wrestling Matches WWE Built Up Properly

It's easy to criticize WWE's booking, and for good reason - whether it's because of the glut of television, too many cooks spoiling the broth, or simply out-of-touch decision-makers, the company seems to rack up way more misses than hits when it comes to storylines. For the past couple of years, fans (those who are left, anyway) have been treated to repeated attempts to push Roman Reigns as a babyface despite an overwhelmingly negative fan reaction, the latest chapter in the never-ending ubiquity of the McMahon family, and NXT stars being wasted on the main roster.

Nevertheless, there have still been exceptions to those increasingly rigid rules. Over the past several years - say, dating back to WrestleMania 28 - there have been a few programs that have been crafted well enough to really get fans invested, and the result has been the magic that pro wrestling is always supposed to have. It's impossible to know what made these feuds different behind the scenes when so many other headlining rivalries flopped, but they stayed simple and subsequently delivered the goods.

Here are 10 recent matches WWE built up properly - and just to keep things trickier, I'll be excluding NXT bouts from the list.

Roman Reigns's various runs as WWE World Champion turned out to be a flop, but that doesn't mean that there wasn't one bright spot in there - his program with AJ Styles, which started just after WrestleMania 32, was a well-execited feud that led to some much-needed great matches.

Unlike most feuds, this one actually became more compelling as it got more complicated. AJ Styles promised Reigns a fair fight, but the repeated attacks Reigns suffered at the hands of The Club - former allies of "The Phenomenal One's" from Japan - made Reigns skeptical. Eventually, Reigns elisted The Usos to help him, and the result was all-out war.

At Extreme Rules, Styles and Reigns had an excellent match, but it was made even better by the uncertainty. Who would interfere? Would The Club turn on Styles and pave the way for Finn Balor's WWE debut? And ultimately, which man would leave as WWE World Champion?