4. Alexa Bliss
The most successful woman on the main roster, being the first to win the Smackdown and Raw Women’s Championships. What more can I say? Little Miss Bliss has the world at her fingertips, and it’s going to take something huge to dethrone The Goddess. Maybe someone who got promoted from NXT? She’s certainly come a long way since her valet days with Blake & Murphy.
3. Bobby Roode
While he’s now in a US title program (which some might think is a demotion), Roode took the “IT Factor” momentum from his TNA days and injected it in to NXT with a large dose of “Glorious”. Early this year he defeated Nakamura to become the oldest NXT Champion in history. It remains to be seen if he can reach the top on the main roster, but at his age I don’t think WWE will hang around too long. 2018 should be the year when he wins the WWE title; otherwise they are wasting his talent.
2. Asuka
I’ve talked enough about Asuka in my recent articles (see the “Is Asuka Overrated?” series), but again I have to feature her because of the records she broke with her NXT title reign. She’s still a bit of an unknown to some of the WWE Universe, but to those who’ve seen her work knows she’s going to win a lot of titles, and will entertain us for many years to come. Her legend is being forged, but it might take some time to kick off on the main roster as WWE’s building her up on the slow path.
1. Braun Strowman
Remember who eliminated Strowman in this years rumble? Baron Corbin. That’s how far the “Monster Among Men” has come in 11 months, there’s no way he’d be eliminated by Corbin again. Braun had his first championship match against Kevin Owens for the Universal title, but it wasn’t til his program with Roman Reigns did his career skyrocket. They worked a feud which should go down as one of the best of 2017.
Strowman transformed from being “the typical monster who squashes jobbers”, to being the guy who did what many others wished they could do .. relentlessly beat up Roman Reigns. The classic line of “I’m not finished with you!” will be replayed in highlights of his career. He got so over, management had to turn him face. He’s a natural, and the scary thing is he’s still improving. He was injured in May, which was unfortunate, but I guess it could be seen as a blessing in disguise as it gave fans time to miss what he brought to Raw.
His meteoric rise went one step further when he was given the chance to face Lesnar in the same ring at Summerslam. The encounter was so good he was given a singles match against Lesnar at No Mercy. He also won Survivor Series for Team Raw, with unwanted assistance from Triple H. And it seems likely he will be facing Lesnar again soon, as he feuds with Kane over who the biggest monster is. Needless to say, Strowman has had a really successful year filled with hard work and sacrifice. 2018 could be even better and cement his name in history if he is able to grab the Universal title.
And that’s all for today! I’m looking forward to bringing you more articles on the best of 2017. Got any suggestions? Did I leave anyone out? Leave me a comment and I’ll consider it. Thanks for reading! And see you again.
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