WWE SummerSlam 2017 Results: Worst Booking Decisions from Epic PPV

The 2017 edition of SummerSlam featured several unforgettable moments and personal triumphs for many of WWE's top Superstars. It was headlined by a thrilling, chaotic main event and saw the crowning of several new champions.

It was a flawed pay-per-view, though, with its overall quality adversely affected by a handful of booking decisions that diminished some of its returns.

Whether it was the utilization of two villains once tapped to headline SmackDown Live or the placement of a prominent championship battle on the Kickoff Show, the broadcast had its fair share of questionable choices by WWE Creative that could do more damage than good.

The New Day vs. The Usos on the Kickoff Show

At WWE Battleground in Philadelphia, The New Day and The Usos tore the house down in the opening contest, delivering the best match on that entire pay-per-view broadcast. The prospect of a rematch excited fans and left them feeling confident about the card for Sunday's SummerSlam event.

When it was announced the two teams would battle on the Kickoff Show, disappointment set in.

How was Big Show vs. Big Cass penciled in for the main show, but a tag team match certain to be one of the better contests on the entire show was not?

Big E, Xavier Woods and the Uso brothers delivered a phenomenal wrestling match that had fans in Brooklyn hanging on every near-fall and dramatic false finish. It was, without doubt, the second-best match on the SummerSlam card, yet it was relegated to a meaningless Kickoff Show.

Yes, WWE uses that show to encourage last-minute WWE Network subscribers. At the same time, The New Day and The Usos' previous work earned them the opportunity to appear on the more prestigious segment.

Instead, their hard work and fantastic performances were shoved into a spot on the show that fans are unlikely to remember beyond the end of the week.

Baron Corbin: Buried

Credit: WWE.com

On the surface, it appeared as though Baron Corbin's failure to cash in Money in the Bank on Tuesday night was a plot device to inspire a meaner, nastier, more ruthless Lone Wolf than the WWE Universe had ever seen before ahead of a showdown with John Cena at SummerSlam.

Instead, the NXT product was treated as a complete and utter afterthought as Cena rolled over him en route to his first singles victory at the summertime spectacular since 2007.

Corbin took to Twitter to brush off any suggestions, such as those made by The Wrestling Observer newsletter (h/t WrestleZone), that he may be in the doghouse, but his recent bookings have been a loud indictment.

Regardless of whether or not Corbin is in or out of the doghouse or offended someone, suddenly erasing months of booking for the sake of punishing him for a few Twitter confrontations is childish and unnecessary.

It is an insult to everyone who helped him get to his current position, including the likes of Shinsuke Nakamura, AJ Styles and Sami Zayn, and renders their efforts obsolete.

Worst of all, it does long-term damage to a Superstar who, just one week earlier, appeared poised to rise to the top of the blue brand as its top heel by the time WrestleMania season rolled around. As it stands now, the former Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal winner and Mr. Money in the Bank is buried, waiting for the next opportunity he will have to rebuild himself into a potential marquee player in WWE.

The victim of a booking decision that can best be described as rash, if nothing else.

Rusev: Also Buried

The shovels were out Sunday at SummerSlam.

Just under an hour after Baron Corbin was sent six feet under by WWE Creative, Rusev attacked Randy Orton from behind before their scheduled match.

Then the bell rang.

He charged at The Viper, slammed into the turnbuckles and ate an RKO to end his night in embarrassing and humiliating fashion.

Rusev has been mishandled and poorly booked from the moment he lost the United States Championship to John Cena in 2015. He has been treading water, and no program with Roman Reigns or Randy Orton will help rebuild the credibility he lost two years ago since he is never allowed to actually win matches against those guys.

The definitive and comically insulting way he was treated Sunday night suggests a Superstar trapped even further in the deep, dark abyss of the midcard than anyone could have possibly imagined.

Perhaps he recovers and beats the unholy hell out of Orton on SmackDown Live Tuesday night, but even then, it will be a booking decision that rings hollow in the wake of another detrimental use of a super athlete.

Natalya Wins the SmackDown Women's Championship

Natalya winning the SmackDown Women's Championship was a much-deserved honor for one of the hardest-working, most unselfish stars in the WWE women's division. She has found herself at the center of unflattering storylines and the occasional embarrassing character development, but she has never allowed it to adversely affect her effort.

Her victory Sunday was seven years in the making.

It was a poor booking decision, though, in that there was little in the way of actual build to the moment.

Natalya surprised the wrestling world by winning the Fatal 5-Way Elimination match at Battleground, then spent weeks vowing to end the Glow Era of SmackDown Live. Despite a clean win over Becky Lynch on the final broadcast before SummerSlam, she still had little in the way of credibility with the audience.

No matter how immensely talented she was between the ropes, she had spent years losing more than she won and putting others over.

For her to suddenly explode from irrelevance into the title picture felt inorganic and ruined what could have been a truly special moment.

Title Changes for the Sake of Title Changes

SummerSlam featured five title changes over its six hours. More than half of the scheduled championship bouts ended with new titleholders. While some may expect that from major shows, too many of SummerSlam's championship shufflings felt like changes for the sake of changes.

That is detrimental to the overall creative direction of the show and proof of cheap, lazy booking.

Neville defeated Akira Tozawa to regain the cruiserweight title just six days after losing it for the first time since January. Why bother changing champions in the first place?

Ditto for The Usos' victory over The New Day.

Natalya's win appears to lack the forethought that would convince fans there are actually plans for her to dominate the division.

Sasha Banks won her fourth Raw Women's Championship by defeating Alexa Bliss in a match made just six days earlier and originally intended for Bayley.

At least Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins beating Sheamus and Cesaro paid off a month-long story of reunion.

The other title changes reek of desperate booking and an attempt to keep fans happy while booking world title retentions later in the night. There is no justifying those decisions, at least on the surface.