15 Ups & 13 Downs For WWE In 2017

14. Hail To The King

Neville Cruiserweight Champion
WWE.com

It's a great shame that Neville may have wrestled his last match for WWE, as the Englishman was one of the company's biggest highlights prior to walking out. He's been missing since October 10th, but he'll still finish highly on many fans' WWE 'Wrestler Of The Year' lists, such was the strength of his work while active.

Neville took his game to a new level as 'King Of The Cruiserweights.' We already knew he was a great worker, and he justified this perception with excellent bouts against the likes of Austin Aries and Akira Tozawa in 2017, but nobody could've foreseen such a sharp upturn in his character work.

Evil Neville was a complete revelation. Turning heel allowed 'The King' to unlock vaults of personality that seemed non-existent before, and his bitter, sneering promos saw him finally become a truly three-dimensional act, bringing hopes of a stronger push on Raw or SmackDown.

This wasn't forthcoming, and Neville's understandable frustration is the main reason we probably won't see him on WWE TV again. Still, Vince McMahon's loss will be everyone else's gain: Neville's stock has never been higher, and he's going to kill it on the indies.

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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.