10 biggest missed booking opportunities by WWE in 2017
Depending who you listen to, WWE owner Vince McMahon is either a genius or he’s an old man who has slowly lost touch with what his audience really wants to see.
The 72-year-old’s defenders will point to the fact that none of us would be watching the product at all if it wasn’t for him, while his detractors will point to the continued success of NXT as proof that Triple H should be in control of the creative aspect of programming.
John Cena recently said in a media interview that, as far as his storylines go, he will never demand that he face a particular opponent in WWE, as that’s for Mr McMahon to decide. “Don’t play Vince if you’re not Vince” were his exact words.
Well, with respect to Cena, it’s fun to play the role of Vince sometimes, so here we take a look at 10 booking opportunities that WWE missed in 2017.
#10 Elias vs Rusev would have been epic
Survivor Series had more major ups and major downs than any WWE show of 2017 (more on that soon), and an early segment on the pay-per-view could have been even better had Elias had a different opponent to Matt Hardy.
The man formerly known as “The Drifter” sang a song to the Houston crowd on the kickoff show before being interrupted by Hardy, who he then defeated in convincing fashion in a relatively meaningless match.
So, why was this a missed booking opportunity? Two words: Rusev Day! Imagine if Raw’s guitar-playing sensation asked the crowd “Who wants to walk with Elias?”, only to be interrupted by the dulcet tones of Aiden English.
It could have led to a match between Elias and Rusev, albeit only on the kickoff show. Instead, “The Bulgarian Brute” wasn’t on the card at all.