#9 Jinder Mahal vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (SummerSlam)
2017 has been a disastrous year for the prestige of the WWE Championship, and to prove the point, this is only the first of several WWE title matches on this list, which is a horrifying legacy to add to the championship once possessed by some of the biggest legends in the business. A less spectacular WWE Championship match at SummerSlam than this one is truly hard to find.
This match also proved that excellent as he is, you can't depend on Shinsuke Nakamura to give you a good match in any circumstance, as you can from AJ Styles.
The promo and Nakamura's entrance were good. The crowd was on fire, firmly behind Shinsuke. It all went downhill once the bell rang. A series of restholds from Jinder Mahal dampened the energy immediately. The action just never got off the ground before the final few minutes of the match, where Shinsuke tried to make something happen, prompting the usual interference from the Singh brothers followed by the anticlimactic Khallas finisher.
Throughout the match you heard the commentary team almost trying to sell you on Jinder Mahal's clunky performance: "He grinds you down. He doesn't fly with people that fly or box with people that box. It's not pretty, it's effective."
It wasn't a terribly good sales pitch.
After it was over, WWE was quick to show the flabbergasted reactions from the fans in attendance who it had seemingly trolled. In fact, Jinder Mahal's entire title reign might be characterized as WWE having trolled its fans.