10 WWE storylines in 2017 that made wrestling better

1. Braun Strowman is unleashed

The last entry on this list of great 2017 WWE storylines may not even be an actual storyline but just one big build as the year has gone on. It’s been more than two years since he made his debut on the main roster and even though he didn’t win a WWE title, this was still the year of Braun Strowman.

After a strong finish to 2016, Strowman began the year by getting into a major program with Roman Reigns, which actually resulted in the first pinfall loss for the monster as Roman was set to look indestructible heading into his WrestleMania program with The Undertaker. Not everyone can bounce back from a loss like that but Strowman kept moving forward and eventually found himself back into it with Reigns, which led to one of the coolest moments of the year when Strowman flipped over a freaking ambulance with his rival inside and followed that up the next week with a superplex on Big Show that broke the ring. That’s a nice couple of weeks to have.

After getting some payback on Reigns at the Payback pay-per-view (see what I did there) with a clean win, Strowman’s year looked to be over after it was revealed in May that he would need surgery on his shattered elbow, an injury that was supposed to keep him out of action for six months, which also scrapped plans for a July bout with Brock Lesnar, a matchup that the WWE Universe had been waiting for for quite some time.

Six weeks after the surgery, Strowman returned ahead of schedule and resumed his program with Reigns and once again defeated him, this time in an Ambulance Match at Great Balls of Fire. Roman didn’t take the loss well and trapped Strowman in the ambulance and rammed it into a production truck. Once again being built up, Strowman was said to have refused medical treatment and walked away from the incident.

He was then put into the Fatal 4-Way main event at SummerSlam and although Brock Lesnar won the match, Strowman won the night as he punished Lesnar like nobody had done in a long time and finally got his one-on-one match for the WWE Universal Championship at No Mercy. We all knew that Lesnar was going to win but Strowman is one of those guys where a loss doesn’t affect him like it does other people right now. He is so completely over with the crowd that he doesn’t even need the title yet. It’s going to come eventually and the face turn at TLC and the fact that he owned the end of Survivor Series is all just part of the arc.

There are few people in the business right now that aren’t even coming close to getting the pops that Strowman gets when the “ROOOOOAAAARRRR!!!” hits the speakers. His in-ring work has improved so much in the last year and every time he’s on the screen, you can’t help but watch. Roman Reigns may be crowned the official top guy in 2018 but 2017 belonged to Braun Strowman and he’s not going anywhere.

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What was your favorite WWE storyline of 2017? Please feel free to join in the conversation in the comments section below.