10 Things You Didn't Know About WWE In 2017

3. The Longest Pay-Per-View Match Of 2017

Paul Heyman AJ Styles
WWE.com

In a year full of explosive multi-man matches, main event epics and The Undertaker assembling something so sluggish with Roman Reigns that he could barely stand to watch it back, nobody got more time to tell their story on pay-per-view all year than Kevin Owens and Shane McMahon at Hell In A Cell 2017.

Truthfully, 39 minutes was too long, but the pair assembled a fairly worthy payoff to the first version of their programme, famously concluding with Sami Zayn saving longstanding rival Owens from 'The Money' as he flew from the top of the giant structure.

Only the Royal Rumble match itself went beyond 40, with even the Team Raw Vs Team SmackDown Survivor Series main event clocking in six minutes lighter at 33:20. Despite nepotistic motivations for at least 50% of the presentation, the allocation wasn't without merit - the pair had feuded for much of the summer, and Zayn's involvement ultimately brought Daniel Bryan into the angle and eventually back in to the ring in time for the four blowing the whole thing off at WrestleMania 34.

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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