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The worst feuds of 2017 were very, very bad. They were arguably the worst in years in terms of their sheer stupidity or their immense capacity to be boring. No performer involved in them was elevated.
Yet, the best feuds of 2017 were better than anything we've seen in the last few years, and more than a few bona fide stars were made this year as a result of them.
As 2018 draws rapidly nearer, it's time to honor the best WWE feuds of the past year.
#10 Kevin Owens vs. Chris Jericho
Chris Jericho was instrumental in Kevin Owens' lengthy Universal title reign. Without him, the championship run would have been very poor, which should be a surprising thing to say, given Kevin Owens' talent. The friendship between the two of them was consistently among RAW's best acts...until everything went wrong in the most awesome way possible.
In February, we got the best segment of the year in the Festival of Friendship. Things went from good to bad in a heartbeat as Kevin Owens betrayed Chris Jericho.
In doing so, the Universal Champion seemed to find himself, because his persona changed. Kevin Owens would lose the Universal Championship to Goldberg at Fastlane, thanks in part to Jericho's distraction, and a WrestleMania match was set.
Kevin Owens won the United States Championship off of his former best friend in Orlando, but the match didn't quite live up to the high expectations we had for it, and Owens' recent 365 special revealed that Vince McMahon agreed with us.
Because of the relative dud of a match, the rivalry wasn't all it could be, so it lands at #10 here, which, in truth, isn't bad at all!
#9 Asuka vs. Nikki Cross
Though it flew under the radar compared to another feud we'll soon get into, this was good for the second best women's feud of the year.
Nikki Cross first made her mark by attacking Asuka in the winter, which earned her a spot in a fatal 4-way at NXT TakeOver: San Antonio by the champion's own demand. Though she was unable to win the NXT Women's Championship that night, she had a strong showing and raised her profile further. A triple threat match at NXT TakeOver: Chicago had a similar result.
Things really began to get intense during a rematch under elimination rules a few weeks later. Ruby Riot was eliminated, leaving only Asuka and Nikki Cross.
In an ultra-rarity, Asuka failed to win the match, as Nikki Cross battled the champion so ferociously through the ringside area that the referee declared a no-contest. The brawl went backstage and both competitors fell through a table.
This set up a decisive encounter in late June. Nikki Cross took Asuka to her limit in the brutal first-ever Last Woman Standing match that the champion only barely won, putting an end to their feud.
Though she didn't win, this program elevated Nikki Cross in a major way, cementing her status as perhaps the most dangerous competitor in the NXT women's division, and it made Asuka look that much more unstoppable.
#8 Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose vs. Sheamus and Cesaro
The slow-burn reunion between Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins was one of WWE's hottest angles through the summer. When the RAW Tag Team Champions, Sheamus and Cesaro, found themselves involved, taunting the two, we had a good idea of what was coming, but predictability isn't always a bad thing. Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose reunited and captured the tag team titles at SummerSlam in a great match.
We've seen numerous rematches between these four competitors over the following four months. None has disappointed. The only bad thing to say about this feud is that it's been so repetitive, which is more of an indictment of the weakness of RAW's tag team division than anything else. Sadly, that repetitiveness does, however, prevent this program from rising higher on the list.
Also, may we never forget the sacrifice of Cesaro's teeth at No Mercy.
#7 Asuka vs. Ember Moon
As 2017 began, Asuka looked untouchable atop the NXT Women's Division. With a genuinely thin division throughout the months between TakeOver: Brooklyn II and TakeOver: Orlando, NXT did the wise thing in making its champion look a world apart from any feasible competition, beginning to promote her undefeated streak which would soon shatter Goldberg's record. Throughout the winter, we all knew that Ember Moon would eventually be the one to step up, we just wondered when.
In another wise move, it was decided that the clash would be saved for the WrestleMania TakeOver. Many thought that Ember Moon would be the one to dethrone Asuka as champion, with the big story behind the match being her devastating Eclipse finisher. If the move landed, we were told that Asuka's run would be at an end. It didn't, as Asuka shoved the referee into the turnbuckle to avoid the attack and pick up the victory.
After such shenanigans, a rematch was inevitable. NXT did the best at selling it by working a legitimate injury Ember sustained into the feud itself, furthering the idea that Asuka was afraid of her and the Eclipse. Things got personal. The feud boiled throughout July and August.
The decisive encounter happened in Brooklyn in one of the best matches of the year. To our astonishment, the hype surrounding the Eclipse proved to be just that - hype - at least as far as Asuka was concerned. She kicked out, shocking the crowd, and defeated Ember. Out of competition, Asuka soon vacated the NXT Women's Championship and moved on to Monday Night RAW.
Though the ending to the story wasn't the classically "happy" one that everyone expected, it put Ember Moon over as a sympathetic figure and showed the world just how good she really is, ultimately preparing the way for her big title win at TakeOver: War Games.
As for Asuka, this feud took her streak and overall run from record-breaking to legendary. Nigel McGuiness described her correctly as "an icon in her own time" and it was hard to argue with him.
#6 Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn vs. Shane McMahon
When this feud got underway in the late summer, it gave SmackDown a much-needed reprieve during a dark period. Between September and early October, the intensity grew explosively. Kevin Owens busting Vince McMahon open in Las Vegas remains one of the most memorable segments of the year. He made his crusade against Shane that much more memorable by name-dropping his kids. It was all very Attitude Era-like in its intensity.
Their Hell in a Cell match was among the year's best and also drew comparisons to Attitude Era clashes. It also provided a major plot twist by having Sami Zayn unexpectedly come to Kevin Owens' rescue, providing his career with a major shot in the arm with his heel turn.
Although the angle hasn't been as hot as it was in its first month, the two obnoxious rebels are still consistently one of the most entertaining acts on SmackDown, and we're even seeing hints of a double turn in the build to Clash of Champions.
This feud will probably extend all the way to WrestleMania and could well find itself on next year's edition of this list.
#5 Brock Lesnar vs. Goldberg
Goldberg's return was a massive success. After making a huge impact at last year's Survivor Series by squashing Brock Lesnar, everyone involved realized the angle was way too hot to be a one-and-done deal, so Goldberg found himself inserted into the Royal Rumble to answer Stephanie McMahon's challenge if he had another title run in him. Though he didn't win that match, his easy elimination of Brock Lesnar was certainly its most memorable moment.
After accepting Brock Lesnar's WrestleMania challenge, Goldberg's championship ambitions were realized, as he destroyed Kevin Owens at Fastlane and raised the title high. That now made his upcoming clash with the Beast a match for the Universal Championship.
Though the endgame was fairly obvious at this point, the match itself was blistering, making up for the terrible WrestleMania 20 match between the two 13 years earlier. It was less than 5 minutes, but it was an intense war throughout, and Brock Lesnar, in an unusual role, found redemption.
With good storytelling and intense promos and matches, it was a model for what a good feud should be, and even though some fans might not have liked the favor shown to two part-timers, there's no doubt it was the feud that elevated the prestige of the Universal Championship, which before then was something of a joke.
#4 Brock Lesnar vs. Samoa Joe
Though it was nowhere near as bad as SmackDown became, the post-WrestleMania season on RAW was far from good. Numerous problems were strewn throughout the show. Mercifully, Stephanie McMahon was gone, but not many other positives were to be found. The main event scene was directionless with no Universal Champion around and the mid-card was dominated by the endless Miz/Ambrose feud, while the women's division suffered from the worst feud of the year in Bayley vs. Alexa Bliss.
RAW needed a kick in the rear, badly. It got that with Samoa Joe.
Winning a match of the year contender at Extreme Rules, Samoa Joe became the challenger for Brock Lesnar's title, and when the Beast finally returned in June, sparks flew everywhere.
For a month, we got intense segment after intense segment. Samoa Joe was on fire as he ambushed Brock Lesnar and got the better of him numerous times, choked out Paul Heyman, and declared to the entire world that he didn't fear the Universal Champion. Joe showed just how good he is on the mic and Brock showed how great he can be at making other people look awesome as well.
To put it bluntly, RAW's main event scene, and the entire red brand itself felt like it went from 0 to 100 in seconds.
The match at Great Balls of Fire wasn't a classic, but it was a solid effort that did what it needed to do. Brock Lesnar barely escaped, which would ultimately lead to this feud intersecting with another great one, setting the stage for a colossal war at SummerSlam. In other words, RAW's main event would only get hotter.
Samoa Joe didn't have a prominent role before this. In fact, he wasn't even on the WrestleMania card. That won't be the case in New Orleans next year. He'll certainly have a big spot and it's partially thanks to this feud, which elevated him from an afterthought into one of RAW's key players.
#3 Aleister Black vs. Velveteen Dream
I can't say enough good things about this feud. Their match at NXT TakeOver: War Games came close to stealing the year, but that wasn't surprising, given how great everything was leading up to it.
Since his debut in Orlando, Aleister Black was booked as NXT's mysterious, dark, dangerous, fighter. The "Ominous Man from Amsterdam" didn't say much. He just kicked the heads off of anyone who got in his way. He was day and night, both fire and ice. You never knew what was on his mind.
That seemed to change in the fall, when he would address the NXT Universe for the first time. His speech was short-lived. He was interrupted by a young upstart. Velveteen Dream, whose flamboyance contrasted instantly with Black's stoic demeanour, wanted Aleister Black's attention but didn't get it. Vowing that he would get the Ominous Man from Amsterdam to say his name, Velveteen Dream did whatever it took to get his attention. Nothing worked, including direct attacks.
Finally, the struggle for attention moved into the big match itself, with Velveteen Dream doing everything he could to get his opponent to recognize him, from the Rick Rude-inspired tights to demanding that the referee tell Black to say his name while he applied submission holds.
Aleister Black would go on to get the win and then, at long last, say Velveteen Dream's name.
The psychology behind this feud was amazing, centring on a simple desire that we all have - the need for recognition. The two polar opposite personalities involved took that psychology to a fever pitch. Most importantly of all, it elevated Velveteen Dream, at the young age of 22, into the spotlight. When he's this good already, look for him to have a massive future with WWE.
#2 The Usos vs. The New Day
It might be surprising that a little over a year ago, The Usos weren't exactly the most well-received act. Now, they have a very good case for claiming that they're the best tag team in the world. Though they were beginning to get over after their heel turn, it was the feud with The New Day throughout the summer and early fall that really catapulted them to the stratosphere.
The warm months proved dismally cold for the blue brand. I don't think it can be exaggerated just how bad SmackDown was in the months following the superstar shakeup. You had Jinder Mahal boring the place to death with his torturous WWE title run, a women's division that had no direction and which shunted its biggest stars in Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair, and a mid-card that was a surprising dud, even though AJ Styles and Kevin Owens feuded for the United States Championship.
There were three foreign heels on one show. There was Shinsuke Nakamura being used to his weaknesses rather than his strengths. There was John Cena, who returned for a run that was notable only for an atrociously bad flag match at the worst pay-per-view of the year against one of the said foreign heels. There was the wrong Money in the Bank winner in Baron Corbin, who subsequently failed his cash-in in the most embarrassing manner possible when WWE seemingly realized it made the wrong decision.
It was bad. It was so bad that I stopped watching the show for months, only paying attention to one thing on the blue brand, it's sole bright spot.
That sole bright spot was the feud between The Usos and The New Day, and what a bright spot it was!
Every match between the two teams was not only great, they all were among the best of the year. The two teams had the sole good part of an awful Battleground, wrestled the best pure tag team match of the year that was criminally relegated to the pre-show at SummerSlam, and had a Hell in a Cell match that was both genuinely innovative and immensely entertaining.
The tag team titles changed hands numerous times, but the hot potato game only served to make the war more intense this time, as it was an open question as to who the best tag team in WWE, if not the world, was. The Usos finally won the decisive encounter at Hell in a Cell and provided us with the answer.
It was flawless. So why does it only come away with a silver medal? Because an even more important and equally excellent feud was going on at the time that would shape the course of WWE's main event for the foreseeable future.
#1 Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman
There was never any doubt. In a year that gave us many great feuds, this one was the clear gold medalist. Its ramifications will be felt for years to come.
Throughout the months these two were rivals, they tried to kill each other at every turn - literally. It was an intensity rarely seen in today's era and drew parallels with WWE's Attitude Era peak, which Roman Reigns subtly acknowledged in a promo after he backed an ambulance with Strowman trapped inside into a truck, crushing it.
Every match was brutal. The two competitors have great ring chemistry together and they never disappointed in any match or promo, and though it may have been bordering on repetitive, as it lasted on and off for two-thirds of the year, it was hard to notice because everything about it was so good, and each encounter gave us something new.
Most importantly of all, it elevated Braun Strowman to the main event level, a status that SummerSlam confirmed and made permanent. Roman Reigns, too, benefited immensely, as it was his best singles feud to date. Always a victim of being pushed too hard, too soon, Roman Reigns just wasn't ready to be "the guy" in 2014-15, but he is ready now, and this feud was arguably a major part of that.
Teddy Long snaps when Swerve Strickland's race is brought up HERE
