Top 10 WWE Superstars of 2017 So Far (Part 1)
DIY
We kick start today's blog post off with one of my favourite tag teams (even though they are no longer an actual tag team) former NXT title holders, DIY. From the moment Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa arrived on the scene in the WWE the two have been making an impact, turning heads and proving why the spotlight should lay heavy on them. Throughout the past two years the pair have been apart of some of the best tag team matches I have ever seen and were a huge part of why my love for tag team wrestling was brought back to life. As a fan of both superstars prior to their WWE careers I was interested in seeing how their run in the biggest wrestling promotion in the world would play out. Both very easily were clearly massively over with the passionate NXT universe with strong crowd responses week in and week out whether it be at the developmental homeland of Full Sail or around the world for Takeover and live events. Two thousand and sixteen saw DIY at the peak of their tag team career winning gold and competing in not one but two of the best matches of the year against former champs the Revival. That's not to mention the one on one match against each other during the Cruiserweight classic last summer. Now, focusing on this year and Gargano and Ciampa have continued their run at the top and remain two of the most dominant, talked about, entertaining and talented men on the NXT roster. Continuing their feud with the Revival we were lucky enough to be treated to more brilliant matches there and effectively got to see more of their characters as the pair chased after their titles lost to the Authors of Pain. Talking of AOP the dominant team have found themselves feuding with DIY throughout the majority of the first half of the year and while the Rezar and Akam remain pretty green and still working their way up, Gargano and Ciampa have played vital roles in pushing the two young up and comers and a couple of very strong matches have come from the work between the two teams. At the most recent NXT Takeover show the four superstars main evened in the first ever NXT Tag Team championship ladder match. One of my personal favourite matches of the year so far DIY proved why the deserve the title as one of the best tag teams in the world today. Ironic considering it was on this night the pair split with Ciampa turning on Gargano. For me this was a bigger moment and a greater success than the festival of friendship. I enjoyed this more mainly because I didn't see it coming and I loved the brutality of the beat down. Now, the feud between these two is yet to really get kick started but we can expet to see some pretty epic work between them. A perfect, gripping story has already been set up and the fans are ready for this to kick. We have seen Gargano and Ciampa go one on one in the past and if we just take a look at what we saw from that the cruiserweight classic last summer you just know we are in for a real treat. I have already spoken about this feud and how I would have booked it so I'll make sure to link that bellow. With the pair destined to square off NXT Takeover Brooklyn next month we can be confident in the fact this could so easily be a match of the year candidate and while it broke my heart the pair split so soon I'm very very very excited to see what the next few months holds for both superstars.
Pete Dunne
So we just touched on the potential match of the year when talking about Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa but if we take a look at the match of the year so far there is no doubt in my mind that that award goes to Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate from the most recent Takeover event which saw the two collide yet again for the WWE United Kingdom championship. Now, I am going to be talking about this match in particular in a lot more detail in the coming weeks but this really has been one of the fan favorites in terms of match of the year. I know John Cena VS AJ Styles from the Royal Rumble pay per view is also high on the list but for me personally I just have to lean towards this one just a little more. Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate stepped onto one of the biggest stages of their careers and nailed it completely stealing the show. This was honestly one of the best matches I have seen in a long time, a total five star match and one I have revised several time since. Prior to this match I was always a bigger Tyler Bate fan but in the build up to this championship bout my opinions began to sway. Of course before this I had been a fan of Dunne anyway. He's someone over recent years I have been completely obsessed with and it's been amazing seeing him grow to become one of the biggest names and faces in the world of pro wrestling. But it was this match that had me totally in love with the guy! His performance on the night was phenomenal and thats not taking anything away from Tyler Bate who also was a massive standout on the night. However, the character, charisma, facial expressions, in ring psychology, crowd reaction and overall brilliant wrestling from Pete Dunne in this match is what had me obsessed with him and I knew that regardless he had to go on this list. Now, Dunne isn't just featuring for this one match. At the start of the year he was the standout guy of the WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament. While he didn't win he did come down
to the final two where he faced off against Tyler Bate in yet another amazing one on one match up. Throughout the two day tournament Dunne was one of the most talked about men and made a huge impact. If fans around the world were not familiar with him before this they were sure being left with every reason to want to know everything there is to know about him. No other man in the tournament made quite the impression Pete did and it was the effect he had here that truly contribute to why he is champion now. His work with William Regal was fantastic and opened so many doors for him. Honestly, I could sit here and talk about Pete Dunne all day, a brilliant heel with an old school yet modern vibe that allows him to connect with fans all around the world. His fan base is forever growing and I don't doubt for a single second that Pete Dunne will be one of the biggest names not only of twenty seventeen but of this generation.
Asuka
Up next we have the only women featuring in part one of this post, the current reigning, defending, undefeated NXT Women's champion, Asuka. Okay, so you've heard me say it a million times before, I have never truly jumped on the Asuka bandwagon. Way before she arrived on the scene here in the WWE I was always aware of her work and admired her for how talented and captivating she is as in ring performer. However, I haven't ever really been her biggest fan. Since arriving in NXT she has been nothing short of dominant. Making an impact from day one Asuka has been one of the biggest names on the roster and grown to become the most dominant and influential superstars of NXT taking gender completely out of the picture. What she has done for women's wrestling however is something we could save for an entire different post centered around her. From the undefeated streak that tops the record formally held by Goldberg and the title run that knocks Paige's run (the former longest reigning NXT Women's champion) out of the water. It's crazy impressive seeing the things Asuka has achieved and the records she has made and broken. As her NXT run does look to be coming to an end as talks of when and how she will be called up to the main roster are more active than ever before it's time to take a look at what she has done during her run as part of the NXT divison. Competing against some of the best names on the roster including Bayley, Nia Jax, Billie Kay, Emma, and Peyton Royce Asuka has faced them all and competed in the first ever Last Woman Standing match against Nikki Cross in what was one of my favourite matches of the year so far and another I will be talking about in more detail in the coming weeks. Now, it does look as though Asuka will be dropping her title to Ember Moon at NXT Takeover Brooklyn but regardless of what happens there Asuka will forever remain one of the most dominant and impressive superstars in NXT history. Now, I do believe that there is plenty more to come from Asuka and she will deliver that killer match that has us all talking very very soon and with her debut for the main roster still yet to come it looks as thought the remaining months of twenty seventeen will be as strong if not stronger than the first six.
Kevin Owens
It was only a couple of years ago I named Kevin Owens my WWE Superstar of the year and we sit here now in the middle of twenty seventeen listing the former Universal Champion as one of the best all round performers of the year so far. From day dot I have been a fan of Kevin Owens and I don't see my love for the guy fading away any time soon. Throughout his entire career he has proven to be a top all round star and during his run in the WWE he has been just that. Okay, so he still picks up quite a few loses but they are honestly so easily forgotten and unlike other superstars such as Bray Wyatt he is able to bounce back fine thanks to the WWE finding a way to keep him looking strong with brilliant matches, great storyline's and competition that allows him to shine and be booked perfectly. No one goes back at the end of the year and talks about the times Owens lost a match because they are completely taken out of the picture because of the work he has done all year round. Take his the Goldberg stuff for example. Personally, I had forgotten all about that dreadful time for Owens and have been so focused on his current work with AJ Styles. This year in particular I have been hooked when it comes to Kevin Owens. At the start of the year we saw him working as the WWE Universal Champion and while his run had flaws he was a consistent champion and his matches were never really leaning on the weaker side of the scale. Sure things could have been better and if the WWE made more of an effort with him and and his run than we would be talking about this in a more positive light but it's work with Chris Jericho that allowed him to bounce back. The festival of friendship was one of my favourite segments not only of two thousand and seventeen but at least of the last five years and Owens was brilliant. The turn on Jericho didn't come as a hue surprise, the whole thing was inevitable but it was still so massively entertaining and heart breaking at that. The pair had a decent match at Wrestlemania and since then Owens and his booking/storyline's have been making their way back up. His move to Smackdown LIVE was brilliant and totally the right call. Opening doors for feuds against the likes of Baron Corbin, Shinsuke Nakamura, Randy Orton and more the blue brand has become the perfect home for the now former US Champion. More recently we have seen a brilliant performance from him in the Money in the Bank ladder match and a gripping feud bound to be a highlight of the summer and SummerSlam pay per view this year against AJ Styles.
Samoa Joe
And concluding part one of today's blog post and making the top ten in my list of the best WWE Superstars of twenty seventeen is Samoa Joe. It's been a very up and down year for Joe but with those high moments looking so good and being so high we just have to include him in this post today. Again, like many I have mentioned in this post today I have been a fan of Joe's for a very very long time and his run in the WWE is something I have wanted to see for so long. It's been brilliant and such a relief to see the WWE actually use Joe correctly and treat him like the huge star he actually is. His run in NXT was fantastic making history by becoming the first ever two time NXT champion
And that is part one! As I mentioned in the intro, part two of this post will be uploaded sometime next week! As always, any recent blog post will be linked bellow and you can let me know who has been your WWE Superstar of the year so far by leaving a comment bellow or by dropping me a tweet over at @TezangiVictoria.
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