10 Worst Booked Wrestlers Of 2017

1. Rusev

Rusev Aiden English
WWE.com

It's hard to think of a single flaw in Rusev's game.

Having improved immensely from his green early days, 'The Bulgarian Brute' now sits only a level or two below the AJ Styles and Cesaros of the world between the ropes, though he's yet to deliver a career-defining singles match. He's charismatic, likeable, and comes packaged with a great gimmick. Furthermore, Rusev always does everything in his power to make an angle work, no matter how tiresome, hackneyed, cringe-worthy it may be, which extremely fortunate, as he's been served some terrible bull*** in 2017.

Starting the year at the end of a godawful feud that saw him somehow cast as the villain in a story revolving around Enzo Amore hitting on his wife, Rusev formed a tag team with a pre-push Jinder Mahal, then fell to Big Show at Fastlane. He lost a dreadful flag match with John Cena at Battleground, before Randy Orton squashed him at SummerSlam. Granted, Rusev returned the favour a few weeks later, but he lost the feud-ender at Hell In A Cell.

His double-act with Aiden English is wildly entertaining, but Rusev is going nowhere. He's a main event-level talent stuck playing jobber to the stars, and while he could be a genuine money-maker for Vince McMahon, the Chairman clearly doesn't see it that way.

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Channel Manager

Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.