The 2017 Wrestling Wishlist Revisited

Backstory

Back in January 2017, I wrote about some of my professional wrestling wishes for the upcoming year. Twelve months later, let’s take a look and see what we got…

2017 Wishes Revisited

Wish for RAW to move back to two hours – I am well aware of the television contract WWE has. I am well aware of the huge monetary gain. I am well aware of their sky rocketing stock price. I am well aware of the business side to the company. Save me all that noise, I write about it more than just about anybody else on the internet. I know WWE financials. That being said, I watched maybe two full Raw episodes in 2017. The rest were via Hulu and/or Youtube clips. Spoiler free always but still not the same as just sitting down and viewing the full show, getting the full experience. I wrote more about me cutting the (cable) cord in 2015 (on another website). Sitting here in 2018, nothing has changed. My easy solution is just give USA Network another hour on another night. Tough Enough again? NXT perhaps? Quarterly Saturday Night’s Main Event live specials? It may not replace the weekly hour viewership. However, it is a verrry fair compromise.

Wish for a great Royal Rumble in the AlamoDome – I thought it was so cool to see the Rumble back in the huge AlamoDome. While not 100% full and sold out, the place looked great. Excellent stuff.. Something WWE may want to try more often. Big events in big stadiums. The pay-per-view itself was entertaining with a wonderful WWE Title bout and a star studded Royal Rumble main event.

Wish for a sizable WWE Network subscriber boost – To be clear, everybody should WANT WWE to be successful. They better they are, the better we all are as fans. Given a quality product and for a cheap $9.99 per month? Uh, yeah. We should all want that. The company did get increases here and there but outside of WrestleMania 33, the numbers have not budged much. My guess is the XFL and independent promotions being added is their next trick.

Wish for a healthy roster – WWE got destroyed with injuries in 2016. It was bad. So bad in fact that Shane F’N McMahon was called up to save WrestleMania. I think 2017 was a little bit better, so that is a plus. Injuries are not really things you can plan for predict. Accidents will happen, whether we like it or not. I wish for the same in 2018. Please everybody be safe out there.

Wish for other companies to step up – Unfortunately, this fell flat on its face. With no television channels anymore, my rare viewing of Ring of Honor on affiliate local stations in Wisconsin stopped. TNA Impact Wrestling Global Force NWA further fell down into the dumps, so I didn’t watch much of that besides the Hardy Boyz drama. Then there were the independents. I saw one New Japan Pro Wrestling match all year. That was the much heralded Omega/Okada clash. Great match and all but nothing that made me look twice. Same with 2018 so far. I have watched ONE NJPW match, no Impact Wrestling, and zero from the independents. Still eleven months to go…please grab my attention…please…

Wish for NXT to regain its prominence – Eh, this is tough. The WWE roster is loaded. The NXT roster is loaded. However, the fact remains that a whole heck of a lot of talent have moved on to Raw and Smackdown LIVE. Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Charlotte, Becky Lynch, Bayley, Sasha Banks, Finn Balor, Samoa Joe, Hideo Itami, Big Cass, Revival, Chad Gable, Jason Jordan, Shinsuke Nakamura, Bobby Roode, Asuka, and a bunch of others have left NXT in recent years. Even with all the new signings, it is hard to stay at the top of the ball. Luckily, those Takeover live specials are still top notch with its ever rotating cast of stars.

Wish for a WWE Draft mid-year – The Superstar Shakeup was in April, a week after WrestleMania 33. That is when it used to be, so I wasn’t shocked to see the moved being made after their biggest show of the year. What was surprising was that the company just moved a few people and nobody THAT major. I mean, the biggest move (which I predicted) was Charlotte Flair going to the blue brand. At the time at least. What was the biggest flip? Jinder Mahal going to Smackdown and going from a two minute loss to Mojo Rawley to WWE Champion! Assuming 2018 also gets some kind of WWE Draft, I hope for more of a shakeup this time around. Some guys could really use the change of scenary.

Wish for less authority figures on television – Oops! Did I jinx it? Sorry. Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon became the focus on Smackdown LIVE. Triple H and Stephanie McMahon actually took a backseat on Raw, but that didn’t mean much when it was just replaced with Kurt Angle drama instead. At least he got back in the ring to kinda-sorts justify all the TV time. Just as his mystery story line delivered a payoff in Jason Jordan. Still to be determined on that whole mess. Long story short, I am writing this BEFORE Raw 25, but I shudder to think of all the past, present, and future (?) authority figures that will be highlighted during those three hours. Not like there is a major PPV on Sunday to promote or anything…

Wish for women’s revolution to continue – Oh yeah! Being one of the first and only writers on the internet to STOP using the term “divas” before WWE did so, it is great to see this not only keep going but going strong. The Money in the Bank match may have ended in embarrassment, but that can be forgiven for all the other GOOD being done. Such a strong roster and fanfare that January is playing host to the first ever Womens Royal Rumble. Amazing. Next up is likely the Elimination Chamber and a Ronda Rousey signing. The sky is the limit.

Wish for more guys to get a main event opportunity – I name dropped Ryback, Cody Rhodes, and Alex Riley as guys who need to mend fences with WWE and get another shot. A year later, I could probably still name drop them. In 2017, WWE gave us Jinder Mahal rising to the main event scene and promptly getting put back into his rightful place after that experiment crashed and burned. Besides that, Alexa Bliss improved leaps and bounds. Braun Strowman had a breakout year. Plus, there are many more who are on the fringe of getting the next main event opportunity. I love it. Some will sink (Mahal). Some will swim (Braun). That is the part of trial and error. You don’t know until you know.

Wish for a great 2017 – If you read my columns in 2016 (on another website), you would know that I did not think much of WWE’s on air product then. Lots of misses with very few hits. My belief is Raw and Smackdown LIVE bounced back in 2017. Not just with the $2.6 BILLION market cap but with the show’s quality. NXT was fun. RAW had plenty of memorable moments. Smackdown stumbled for the summer months but was fine otherwise. Then there were the pay-per-view events which was stacked nearly every month. Not to get too far ahead of ourselves…let’s just say 2018 is shaping up very nicely right now.

SUMMARY: What do you think? Were your wrestling wishes for 2017 fulfilled? Anything NOT happen that you wish did? Let me know below in the comment section.

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