Join “Big Natural” Stoney Keeley as he closes the book on 2017. We’ve looked at the best tag teams, rivalries, breakout superstars, and matches of 2017. Time to polish it off with the WWE’s top 10 superstars of the year. The criteria is an admittedly mixed hodgepodge of championship success, kayfabe prominence, and the body of work (quality matches, solid promos, and overall good booking).
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before….but, A.J. Styles is fucking awesome. For my money, there’s simply no better in-ring performer than “The Phenomenal One.” I wanted so badly to put Braun Strowman in this spot, but the fact is the Monster Among Men didn’t hold a single championship in 2017, and Styles and Bliss both held multiple titles. That was the tiebreaker among the clear top three in my opinion, and I don’t think anyone had the same level of championship success that Styles had this year.
He kicked off 2017 with the WWE Championship, though he’d lose it at the Royal Rumble in another classic bout opposite John Cena. It wasn’t long before he found himself raising the United States Championship….something he’d do on a second occasion in 2017. Then, before Survivor Series, he defeated Jinder Mahal to win his 2nd WWE Championship. Now, it looks like he’ll be able to start 2017 and end 2017 as WWE Champion.
But, it wasn’t all just about the titles – the guy had yet another year of quality in-ring work. His match with Cena at the Royal Rumble is considered by many to be the match of the year in the WWE. He and Shane McMahon stole the show at Wrestlemania 33. He had a solid feud with Kevin Owens over the course of the summer that led to a few good matches. His program with Baron Corbin brought out the best in the Lone Wolf – the triple threat U.S. Title match at Hell in a Cell that also involved Tye Dillinger was one of the sneaky good matches of the Fall. The match with Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series was yet another instant classic from the man who seems he could produce them in his sleep. The best match of the ‘Jinder Mahal as a main eventer’ experiment came at Clash of Champions against Styles.
Styles’ prominence on each show shows how much respect WWE has for his ability….and, well, yeah – the fact that he sells a lot of merchandise certainly helps. All in all, it was yet another year of excellence for “The Phenomenal One.”
Championships Won: WWE Championship (2x), United States Championship (2x)
Pay-per-view Record: (3-8)
Signature Matches: vs. John Cena (Royal Rumble), vs. Shane McMahon (Wrestlemania 33), vs. Finn Balor (TLC), vs. Brock Lesnar (Survivor Series)
Signature Feuds: John Cena, Shane McMahon, Kevin Owens, Jinder Mahal
History of the SoBros Network ‘Superstar of the Year’ Award
2014 – Seth Rollins
2015 – Seth Rollins
2016 – A.J. Styles
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Alabama Crimson Tide football, the WWE, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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