10 Things WWE Wants You To Forget About 2017

6. The Monstrosity That Was The Beast Vs. The Monster Among Men

Triple H Jinder Mahal
WWE.com

This was yet another occasion on which WWE attempted to have its cake and eat it, too; the aura of the Braun Strowman act was dimmed considerably after this monumental disappointment of a No Mercy headliner. It existed to achieve just one goal: to reinforce the power of Brock Lesnar's F5 finisher, purely so that Roman Reigns benefits from kicking out of it in New Orleans. The contrivance was as irritating as the inevitable failure of the strategy. Equally, Strowman's awesome and uplifting SummerSlam stint was forgotten after yet more bi-polar booking.

In the aftermath, we were expected to receive Lesnar as an invincible storyline threat.

In the aftermath of the aftermath, WWE attempted to compensate for the clean and comprehensive loss by feeding Strowman to Kane - a tactic that caught Finn Bálor in the backdraft, ironically cooling him down in the process.

This disastrous domino effect represented the folly of Vince McMahon's dire long-term plan; Strowman's defeat was obscured with an hysterical spree of burials and bullsh*t, the stench of which lingered over the Demon to such an extent that McMahon himself found him repellent.

The match, ultimately, was an inconvenience to WWE - something logic and organic sentiment dictated must happen, but probably shouldn't have.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!