5 WWE Superstars who suffered the most in 2017

WWE's roster is as large as its ever been. With that size comes heavy competition both on-screen and behind the scenes. There are only so many performers who can be featured prominently on television which can lead to tension backstage.

As a result of the quantity of talent available on their roster, WWE has already lost multiple Superstars this year. Austin Aries and now Neville both appear to have quit the company out of frustration regarding their on-screen roles.

With John Cena and Roman Reigns occupying the top spots of the company, there aren't openings for new main event stars at the moment and that is something which reduces the motivation of the rest of the roster.

In just the last year, there have been WWE Superstars who looked as though they were going to be the next big thing in the industry, only to now find themselves near the bottom of the card.

Here are the five WWE Superstars who have suffered the most so far in 2017.

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#5 Becky Lynch

Becky Lynch won the inaugural Smackdown women's championship on September 11th, 2016. It looked as though it was the beginning of a long and successful run for her.

She lost the title to Alexa Bliss that December, but it seemed as though Becky would always be in contention for the belt. In 2017, however, she has fallen completely out of title competition.

Lynch has wrestled for the SD women's title on three occasions this year (not including house shows) and she's lost all three times. In 2017, Lynch has fallen well behind the likes of Natalya, Naomi, and Charlotte in her division.

#4 Rusev

Not only was "Rusev Day" interrupted by Randy Orton, "The Bulgarian Brute" has also fallen hard in 2017. The Superstar who once went undefeated for an entire year can now barely ever win a match.

It didn't help that Rusev spent from March to July this year injured, but since returning he has gone on a rather epic losing skid. Since July, he has wrestled on television nine times and lost on seven of those occasions.

His only victories were a singles win over Chad Gable and a quick 10-second victory over Randy Orton off of a distraction from Aiden English. Orton has defeated him four times (including tag matches) and he's also lost several matches to John Cena, including a Flag match at Battleground.

Rusev asked Shane McMahon for a title opportunity earlier this year and was ignored. Considering his win/loss record, it's not surprising Shane McMahon never got back to him.

#3 Dolph Ziggler

Dolph Ziggler

Those who were still holding onto hope that Dolph Ziggler might one day become a main event level Superstar should probably consider giving up at this point. The 38-year-old even appears to have abandoned his own aspirations. His latest gimmick is certainly not helping things at all.

Ziggler is a former World Heavyweight champion, though granted this was during a time when the belt was viewed as secondary to the WWE Championship. Still, many thought that Ziggler had the potential to be a top guy. WWE seems very hesitant to put Ziggler in the ring with top stars like John Cena now, however.

Instead, Ziggler's role seems to be as the first bad guy new babyfaces take on when they first debut on Smackdown. That is what Ziggler did for Nakamura and that's what he's now doing for Bobby Roode.

And now, it's rumoured that Ziggler will be leaving WWE when his contract expires soon and go to Japan to wrestle.

#2 Matt Hardy

At WrestleMania this year, Matt and Jeff Hardy made a triumphant return to WWE. After reinvigorating their careers with the "Broken" gimmick in Impact Wrestling, the Hardyz were arguably hotter than they'd ever been.

An intellectual property rights battle with Impact's new owners and Jeff's shoulder injury has stopped all of their momentum, however.

After it became clear a deal to use the Broken gimmick was not going to be made with Impact Wrestling, the Hardyz just continued to work as a nostalgia act on Raw. They dropped the titles to Sheamus and Cesaro and eventually fell out of the title hunt altogether.

Then a shoulder injury took Jeff Hardy out of action completely. The last time we saw Matt Hardy, he was beaten soundly by Braun Strowman.

#1 Bayley

Can there be any doubt about how far Bayley has fallen in 2017? This might not be due to anything she has done per se, but all the same, her stock has dropped fast throughout the last calendar year.

When she had to be removed from the SummerSlam Raw women's championship match due to a shoulder injury, she was booed by the live audience while she made the announcement.

Fans seem to be getting tired of Bayley's cookie-cutter "Hugger" gimmick. There have even been hints a heel turn could be in the works for her. One thing is certain, she needs to do something to turn things around in 2018.