10 Things You Didn't Know About WWE In 2017

4. The Usos & The New Day Steal The Pre-Show

Paul Heyman AJ Styles
WWE.com

Inspired perhaps by a doubles renaissance on NXT the prior year, The New Day and The Usos stole not just this SummerSlam Kickoff but the entire summer of 2017 with their mesmerising series of title trades.

In typical WWE fashion, most people may have missed the best of the lot. This made a strong case for being the company's best match of the year.

A breathless brawl that topped their phenomenal effort at July's Battleground pay-per-view and glorious be-all/end-all decider at Hell In A Cell, the talented quintet were given just shy of 20 minutes to delight the half-full arena with an effort that will forever be lamented for not sharing a brighter spotlight on the August classic.

The tension grew in sync with the audience numbers - fans filing in couldn't believe what they were seeing as Jimmy, Jey, Big E and Xavier Woods destroyed one another in a match of such rich texture that the wrestlers would never have this unfinished atmosphere to worry about again.

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett