10 Things WWE Wants You To Forget About 2017

4. The Damage Inflicted On The WWE Championship

Triple H Jinder Mahal
WWE/WWE

The damage done to the WWE Championship in 2017 underlines just how quickly an institution can erode - even one buoyed by the security of years' worth of sound investment. It's a cautionary tale the teller should pay strict attention to.

John Cena wrested it from AJ Styles to equal Ric Flair's phantom record for no other reason than to break it; he lost the title in under a fortnight to Bray Wyatt, perhaps to add stakes to Wyatt's rivalry with Randy Orton - or to let a genuine headliner in through the backdoor. Who knows. The thinking was inscrutable, careless - and that is before the belt found its way around the waist of Jinder Mahal, a deeply average enhancement talent descended from WWE's next major market. His reign yielded apathy, most of all - fans were too mystified, jaded and plain bored to muster any real emotion.

Thank f*ck, then, for AJ Styles - the man so talented, well-liked and admired that his holding the WWE Championship in itself elevates it into the stratosphere from which the lowly Jinder plucked it. AJ Styles is everything a World Championship should represent. The title doesn't make the guy; the guy makes the title.

At time of writing, the WWE Heavyweight Title exits 2017, by more carefully-calculated design, as a genuine accomplishment - which, maddeningly, creates scope and precedent for WWE to lay waste to its prestige all over again.

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!