5 superstars who had a horrendous 2017

Today is the last day of the year, and this eventful year is finally coming to an end. WWE is in a great place today, with a plethora of superstars at its disposal. RAW, Smackdown and NXT are filled with a tremendous quality of superstars, who give their best week-in, week-out.

However, not all these superstars end up grabbing the proverbial brass ring. Some are held down due to their crappy booking, while some have to attribute their lack of charisma towards their downfall.

We look at five high-potential superstars who can't say that 2017 was their best year.

#5: Bray Wyatt

Thankfully Wyatt never came out as Sister Abigail

A man who started the year in an interesting storyline with Randy Orton, won the WWE Championship, pinned John Cena and AJ Styles clean, shouldn't belong in this list. But that's not the case. The higher you reach, the bigger the downward spiral will be.

Bray Wyatt's lackluster match with Randy Orton at Wrestlemania brought a shambolic end to a terrific long-term story, and since then he hasn't found a way to bounce back. One of the worst matches this year in the form of House of Horrors didn't help the matters.

A five month-long feud with Finn Balor (more on him later) destroyed his credibility and his stock fell way lower than it has ever been.

We hope this unorthodox feud with Matt Hardy will revitalize the Eater of Worlds and make him a prominent star once again.

#4: Shinsuke Nakamura

The King of Strong Style debuted on Smackdown Live in April and has since then become "The Artist Known as Shinsuke Nakamura". He has become the "resident rockstar" rather than being the charismatic destroyer he was back in NXT.

Once again, he is a superstar who has pinned John Cena and Randy Orton clean as a whistle, but is still to find his stride on the main roster. A dull rivalry with the King of Dull Rivalries, Dolph Ziggler, followed by feuds with Baron Corbin and Jinder Mahal haven't helped Nakamura achieve the star status he deserves.

In a classic case of booking being bad, Nakamura is currently without any real rivalries since October. For two months he has been relegated to pointless tag matches week-in, week-out. 2018 could be the year when we see Styles vs Nakamura again, so lets hope for the best .

#3: Randy Orton

Why is his name on this list? As we said earlier, the criteria to make this list is bad booking or bad skills (or both). When you are booked against Bray Wyatt in a House of Horrors match, against Jinder Mahal in a Punjabi Prison match and Rusev in a six-second match, things aren't too bright for you.

One of the last full-timers left from the bygone era of WWE, Randy Orton is a phenomenal performer who is capable of producing classic and memorable matches. However his bland face run has not helped him reach the heights of his past career.

Randy Orton may be taking some time off next year and would probably be shifting to a part-time role soon, but the Legend Killer can still produce venomous performances.

#2: Finn Balor

A man who defeated Roman Reigns is facing the likes of Curt Hawkins now.

Welp. The first ever Universal Champion, Finn Balor, had a terrible year. He missed the first four months due to an unfortunate injury and ever since his return, had to face a name we mentioned earlier, Bray Wyatt.

His feud with Wyatt never got a closure, a random win against AJ Styles was followed up by a clean defeat to a fifty-year old Kane. He has floundered on the roster without any real purpose, quite similar to his NXT counterpart, Nakamura.

Reports of Vince McMahon not trusting him to face Lesnar made rounds last month and given the kind of matches Balor has featured in, those reports might well be true.

We hope the Demon rises again next year in full force.

#1: Bayley

Yet another NXT upstart who became a victim of main roster's terrible booking. She was one of the biggest babyfaces in WWE and received a thunderous ovation on her debut. But the same woman was booed by a wrestling crowd in 2017.

The mishandling of Bayley is a saddening sight to see, and this doesn't seem to change anytime soon. She is taking pins in a match featuring Mickie James. Her character is deteriorating day-by-day. It's a shame considering that many believed her to be a potential female John Cena who WWE would capitalise on for their PG ratings.

Let us hope Bayley is freshened up next year and one of the best wrestlers in the women's division is given a proper booking once again.

Send us news tips at [email protected]