The 10 Best WWE Matches of 2017

#2 AJ Styles vs. John Cena (Royal Rumble)

Even this wouldn't be enough to end this thrilling match in front of 50,000.

AJ Styles and John Cena already had two encounters worthy of the "dream match" moniker that so many had fantasized about for so long, but this one surpassed even those. Adding the title to the fact that Styles had already beaten Cena twice, and questions of whether he had it anymore, made for a sizzling atmosphere, and the crowd, over 50,000 strong, was on fire.

The action started off a bit slow, with the commentary team annoyingly arguing about "what John Cena has to do" to win for too long, but both men began to pick up the pace with a series of reversals. It was a high-impact affair throughout. The work rate was a bit slow, but the moves that landed were big, neither man gaining a clear advantage for the longest time. It was anyone's game. Both the Attitude Adjustment and the Phenomenal Forearm failed. The selling by both men as the match went on was fantastic. You really felt them hurting after each big move.

Things really began to pick up when the Styles Clash attempt was countered into an Attitude Adjustment try, to then be countered into the Calf Crusher, only to again be countered into the STF, with John Cena dragging his opponent to the end of the ring to make sure it was locked in nice and tight. The suspense really began to grow, which was heightened even more with another AJ Styles reversal into a pin attempt, then an STF of his own!

We then saw a sequence where John Cena powered out of the STF, stood up with AJ on his shoulders, and attempted another Attitude Adjustment. This was reversed into a hurricanrana attempt, which was reversed again into the Figure Four. The Ric Flair symbolism wasn't lost on anyone, and it added even more to the match. The Figure Four was of course, reversed (you expected that, I'm sure) into an armbar, which John Cena then reversed into a powerbomb. He went to the top rope, only to then be countered into the Styles Clash, which he kicked out of, and the crowd was going nuts. Yet, John Cena was still in it enough to put his knees up to AJ's stomach when he went for his 450 splash, then connected with a sunset flip powerbomb.

John Cena's advantage still didn't seem to be enough to put AJ away, as he would go on to kick out of the super Attitude Adjustment, and the crowd's roar of disbelief echoed from San Antonio to the Gulf of Mexico. AJ Styles proved he was still in it by hitting a Styles Clash, but his attempt at a Phenomenal Forearm was in vain, as Cena, perhaps in a bit of bad selling (but no one noticed with the euphoric mood they were in) countered into two consecutive Attitude Adjustments to finally pick up the win.

How do you know this was amazing from top to bottom? The crowd had a mixed reaction to Cena as usual when it began. After it ended, Cena received a unanimous, thunderous ovation.

"We have witnessed absolute greatness by both performers," JBL convincingly remarked. Unfortunately, the WWE Championship picture in 2017 would be all downhill from here, the decline being perhaps the steepest for a championship in WWE history.