Ranking Every 2017 WWE Pay-Per-View From Worst To Best

2. Royal Rumble

Undertaker Roman Reigns
WWE.com

The Good: WWE at long last figured a way out of the Royal Rumble curse - booking Roman Reigns as an out-and-out heel. As the unannounced #30 entrant, his p*ssed off tear through the knackered field was a highlight of the battle royal, particularly when he callously dumped sentimental favourites The Undertaker and Chris Jericho. That the match wasn't a complete and utter disaster alone was a huge step back in the right direction for the gimmick. John Cena's WWE Title win over AJ Styles has already aged badly against competition elsewhere in 2017 alone, but was still an outstanding feat by any regular standards. Neville defeating Rich Swann for the Cruiserweight Title foreshadowed a run of incredible - yet utterly meaningless - outings for the Geordie.

The Bad: Kofi Kingston's contrived comedy was a literally too close to the bone - he absolutely pulverised his own ribcage on the LED post dodging a Baron Corbin leg sweep. Chris Jericho did little of note as WWE again failed to actually think about how the year's 'Iron Man' would spend 60+ minutes in the Battle Royal. He was used far more effectively from the confines of a shark cage during Kevin Owens' Universal Title match against Roman Reigns.

The Ugly: The Club dethroned Sheamus and Cesaro on the lifeless pre-show. It foreshadowed the torrid year Gallows and Anderson would have, and recklessly misused the future 'Bar' having deigned them worthy of breaking The New Day's 483-day reign just a month earlier.

Contributor
Contributor

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