Most Frustrating Booking 2017

[The Lapsed ROHbot]

WWE's 2017 was littered with plenty of irritating creative decisions, for individuals and for entire divisions, from the top championship programs all the way down to NXT.

In this poll, we debate the individual or divisional booking that pissed us off the most in 2017. Was it a certain individual just treading water as creative pussyfooted around with him? How about the failure to hold onto the stars that were the backbone of the C-show division? Maybe it was the failure of the women's division on both brands to produce any matches or stories that came close to the 2014-16 work on both the NXT and main rosters from the HHHorsewomen.

You are to consider the entire year. So one act getting lucky for a month, you have to consider if it legitimately made up for the other 11 months that failed to be up to par.

Caveat: this is limited to creative misfires and lack of utilization. Perceived overexposure (even when it's inaccurate) is not qualified in this poll, thus explaining Jinder Mahal's overnight push being excluded.

[TheMediocreWarrior]

For me, Nakamura just barely edges out Bray Wyatt.

At least Wyatt had a good run for about a month.

Nakamura's potential was kind of squashed from the start. Then he lost to Jinder Mahal twice in a row. Eventually Smackdown got back on track with AJ Styles as champion, but I think the Nakamura/Mahal feud hurt Nakamura more than it helped Mahal for sure.

[BrodietheSlayer]

Definitely Bray.

[Allie Kitsune]

Nakamura.

Dude got completely sacrificed at the altar of Jinder Mahal.

[MolotovMocktail]

Nakamura. At least Bray got to defend the title at Wrestlemania.

[Final Countdown Jones]

Jan 17, 2018 0:14:19 GMT -5 MolotovMocktail said:

Nakamura. At least Bray got to defend the title at Wrestlemania.

Yeah, in what will go down in history as probably the dumbest, most ill-advised WWE title match Wrestlemania has ever had. Nakamura's been mishandled, but he can be rebuilt. Bray went from "Oh hey they're doing something concrete with him" to "Oh no god please make it stop this is horrible" and then they decided to push on with the Balor feud and make it even worse.

[King Devitt: What Plants Crave]

Jan 17, 2018 0:22:47 GMT -5 Final Countdown Jones said:

Jan 17, 2018 0:14:19 GMT -5 MolotovMocktail said:

Nakamura. At least Bray got to defend the title at Wrestlemania.

Yeah, in what will go down in history as probably the dumbest, most ill-advised WWE title match Wrestlemania has ever had. Nakamura's been mishandled, but he can be rebuilt. Bray went from "Oh hey they're doing something concrete with him" to "Oh no god please make it stop this is horrible" and then they decided to push on with the Balor feud and make it even worse.

It was so bad even the gods were like "nope, gotta put a stop to this".

[The Heartbreak TWERK]

Nakamura and then Balor.

[AlexaBliss4Life]

Gotta be Bray. Nak will probably win the title at Mania 34, so I'm not worried.

[rrg251]

Not sure if this would be disqualified under the "overexposure" caveat, but i was thrilled when Randy Orton said he would not challenge for the championship at WrestleMania. Then I felt cheated when he decided he wanted his title shot after all. Creative really misjudged how badly we wanted to see Wyatt/Orton and not, say, something with AJ Styles.

[Push R Truth]

If I thought Bray was actually not terrible I'd be frustrated by his own booking. Instead he frustrates me because everybody else gets pulled down to his garbage level and ends up worse than before their feud even started.


At least Kane and Big Show feuds end after like 2 months. Bray's never really have a clear endpoint. They linger on like a fart in church.

[Deleted]

Wyatt because after all he's done he should be bigger than he is. Wyatt wrestled Cena, Taker, Orton and had a segment with The Rock all at WM. After all of this he should be on a level of an AJ Styles superstar-wise but he's just a random upper midcarder. He's horrible.

Nakamura is fine if he gets the right angle. Wyatt has had the right angle numerous times and he's still f***ed.

[Tiger Millionaire]

I would have to say Bayley.

[MrElijah]

-Wyatt
-Nakamura
-Bayley

[Chainsaw]

Jan 17, 2018 0:11:10 GMT -5 BrodietheSlayer said:

Definitely Bray.

Here's the thing. We've kinda come to expect this type of garbage booking of Bray, with the spoopy nonsense that might be cool on anyone who hasn't been tainted like he has. Nak, man, this guy could be the hottest wrestler they could have on the roster, even having a limited English vocab for promos, and the way they've pushed him, he's been a complete non-factor in the company. I can't even name off the top of my head who he's feuding with right now.

Even if we get the rumored AJ/Nakamura feud at WM, it feels like it's too late for him, and he'd be better off being back in Japan at this point.

[nisidhe]

When Wyatt showed up on Raw for the Shake-Up to put Balor on notice, the place blew up because this was precisely the feud we wanted to see. Orton was not quite as good a fit, but Finn? with the renewed potential for appearances by the Demon King, for a new "supernatural" narrative to replace the Undertaker and for just off-the-charts-crazy-go-nuts entertainment, many fans were keen to see how it would play out. What we got would have made Cadwallader Bird deny any involvement. Two fourteen-year-olds writing fanfic plugging themselves into Sister Abigail as a Mary Sue would have done a better job of it. It not only sent both Wyatt and Balor into JTTS territory, it potentially ruined the Woken Universe before it's had a chance to get off the ground. It's possible that Matt could help pull them into his Universe and give them back that shine, but I'm honestly not holding my breath waiting. This was so far short of what was both possible and desired that I can't trust WWE with anything like this again.

[Woo]

Why was was Bray's 2017 any worse thsn why of the other years since 2014?

[The 1Watcher Experience]

Throw a rock. You’ll hit a winner. WWE has gotten that bad lately.

[Tiffany Stratton's Daddy]

Balor and Nakamura, I could see that. Either should have won a world title and when you realize Balor didn't win a single title, that's messed up.

205 Live was a huge disappointment from their Cruiserweight Classic. They are forcing them to adjust to the WWE style, and this will prove bad for Ricochet because even if he spends time in NXT, he's bound to get caught in this trap that Neville tries exiting.


I voted Bray Wyatt. He captured the world title (finally) and then dropped the belt to Orton at Mania. Then he's in a House of Horrors rematch that is suddenly made non-title, because he wins. He was an intricate part to SmackDown, move him to Raw, and they don't care to use him properly -- if at all. It's frustrating to see the drop-off.

[Deleted]

Jan 17, 2018 17:15:54 GMT -5 Woo said:

Why was was Bray's 2017 any worse thsn why of the other years since 2014?

Because for a few months in 2017 they actually got it right with Bray, which is something you can't say for 2016 or 2015. It seemed like he'd finally turned the corner with his booking, and then the Orton feud just completely put an end to that.