Bray Wyatt, Shinsuke Nakamura and the Most Disappointing Stars of 2017

Hope filled the WWE air as Bray Wyatt won the world title and Shinsuke Nakamura sauntered onto the main roster. But sparks did not become flames in either case. 

The Eater of Worlds' narratives induced groans. Nakamura's matches were sleepier than anyone could have imagined. It was an underwhelming year for both men and for a number of other Superstars.

These wrestlers' disappointing years offered a look at how opportunity, booking and performance all dictate how much one succeeds.

For Wyatt, he has to be frustrated with the material he's been given. Rather than the script allowing him to become a monster, it's made him a corny also-ran.

Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp was spot-on when he tweeted: "WWE has been playing hokey pokey with Bray Wyatt being some horror movie guy who is in the A/V Club for damn near five years."

Nakamura can blame a low-grade opponent, poor writing and his own so-so performances for a 2017 that didn't live up to the hype.

The up-and-down Finn Balor and the underused Rusev deserve honorable mentions. But the following Superstars' work was less impressive. Blase bouts and tepid stories earned Wyatt and others a place on the list proper.

Note: Match ratings from Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t the Internet Wrestling Database).

Apollo Crews

To say Apollo Crews never took off is being kind. He was a non-factor on Raw, a replaceable body.

Given how much physical talent he possesses, that's a shame.

Crews arrived on the main roster in April 2016 as a prospect beaming with potential. He didn't tap into that last year and failed to do so again this year.

Crews simply hasn't stood out. 

No feud resonated. No promo proved memorable. And in the ring, he wasn't able to snag our attention with a standout contest.

He competed in four PPV bouts, not counting Battle Royals, in 2017. The average star rating for those contests is a paltry 2.12.

Even when paired up with Titus O'Neil as part of the Titus Worldwide stable, Crews' character didn't make a mark on Raw. Fellow up-and-comer Elias outshined him by being more interesting and unique than the former Uhaa Nation. Curt Hawkins was more entertaining. The Miztourage had more people talking.

Crews, meanwhile, ended the year looking like a candidate for reassignment to NXT.

Bray Wyatt

Early in the year, it looked as if WWE finally understood and valued the Wyatt character. He stormed through the competition at Elimination Chamber to win the WWE title. He moved into a prominent role on SmackDown, with Randy Orton as his adversary.

But poor writing and a number of misfires suddenly had 2017 looking less promising for The Eater of Worlds.

At WrestleMania, Wyatt used his powers to project unsettling images onto the canvas. He welcomed Orton to fight him in a rundown home in what was billed as The House of Horrors match. Later in the year, the cult leader morphed into a female spirit named Sister Abigail.

All of it hit the wrong notes.

The House of Horrors bout became a punchline. The Sister Abigail angle was so bad that WWE abandoned it and never mentioned it again after Wyatt took time off due to illness.

And his clash with Orton proved to be WrestleMania's worst-rated match. Even the hurried, jumbled SmackDown Women's Championship Six-Pack Challenge scored higher in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

In 2017, The Man of 1,000 Truths' promos became more muddled than ever. His motivations became less clear. He went from being a supernatural cult leader to an unthreatening ranting goof.

The year continued a disappointing ride for a talent who could be a company cornerstone. Hopefully, his burgeoning rivalry with the "woken" Matt Hardy will be the jump-start he needs.

Dana Brooke

Like Crews, Dana Brooke moved up to the main roster too soon. And much like her fellow former NXT prospect, she has yet to make a mark on Raw.

Part of that is due to lack of chances.

Brooke had exactly zero PPV bouts to her name this year. The Total Diva only wrestled in 17 televised matches, per CageMatch.net. 

Beyond that, she wasn't at the center of any sustained narratives. Brooke was a fish WWE threw into Asuka's mouth. And after turning babyface by attacking Charlotte Flair, a rivalry didn't ensue. Only in the past few weeks has she become a part of Titus Worldwide as the group's researcher, a role with potential.

But Brooke isn't blameless.

None of her matches did anything to disprove that she's been a bust. None of her backstage interviews showed that she's made significant strides in terms of charisma. 

The Mr. Olympia competitor looks more and more like a C-minus star in an era where the women's division is more flush with talent than ever before.

Dolph Ziggler

In 2016, Dolph Ziggler put his career on the line against The Miz in a scintillating Intercontinental Championship feud. In 2017, The Showoff didn't come close to reaching that level. Ziggler instead produced a string of forgettable fare.

Ziggler vs. Crews never surpassed the blah mark. His rivalry with Nakamura didn't meet expectations. His battles with Bobby Roode failed to stand out.

The former world champ removed layers of his gimmick as he began to mock other Superstars for needing bells and whistles to be popular. The act only worked to make him less interesting.

Former WWE Creative member Kevin Eck wrote for Sporting News: "Ziggler is doing his best to make it work, but I don't find the gimmick particularly entertaining."

That's being kind. The new Ziggler left little to snag onto. The anti-gimmick angle grayed the colors of his persona.

It was clear WWE decided to slot him lower on its food chain, and Ziggler didn't do enough to prove that to be the wrong move.

Change is in the air for him, though. After winning the United States title at Clash of Champions, he stormed off SmackDown without his new prize. That's a potential precursor for a shake-up to his character and a fresh start of some kind.

Lana

The formula to pro wrestling success is to find the role that best draws out one's talents. WWE did the exact opposite with Lana.

She began to compete in the ring rather than be the mouthpiece for others. The move made as much sense as coaches moving Tom Brady to linebacker would. Lana is a strong talker with plenty of presence, but she's a subpar in-ring worker.

Her transition from manager to title contender saw her deliver flat matches against Naomi and others.   

Steve Austin trashed her debut performance on his podcast (Warning: contains profanity). Of her showing at Money in the Bank, he said: "Naomi deserves better, the title deserves better. Lana wasn't up for this task at hand, at this point in her career."

WWE saw the error of its ways and slid her back to managing, but her partnership with Tamina hasn't been nearly as electric as her one with Rusev. The Ravishing Russian has led the way for Tamina, promising to be the missing piece for her. But that act hasn't made any kind of noise on SmackDown.

The days of Lana killing it as the enraged handler of The Bulgarian Brute feel like ages ago now.

Shinsuke Nakamura

Expectations soared when Nakamura arrived on the SmackDown stage.

He was a marquee star with New Japan Pro Wrestling. He was a beloved act on NXT. And now The King of Strong Style was poised to set the SmackDown world ablaze.

It didn't exactly happen, though.

WWE never seemed to understand what to do with Nakamura. It fumbled with its new star the way a fencer might trying to wield an oversized sword from the Final Fantasy video games.

Nakamura's promos fell flat time and again. His accent and speaking with his mouthpiece in didn't help, but garbage scripts were a big part of that.

In one interview, he told Mahal: "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." That line should have never been written much less given to someone with the cool factor of Nakamura.

In the ring, Nakamura didn't come through as often as someone of his caliber should.

His feud with Jinder Mahal straight up sucked. Joe Lanza (link contains brief profanity) of Voices of Wrestling summed up their SummerSlam match quite well: "It was more like a piss-poor low-level indie match between two guys who aren't very good and ran out of ideas, so they shrugged their shoulders and took it home early."

Meltzer didn't have to reach very deep into his bag of stars for Nakumura's matches. None of his one-on-one bouts garnered three or more stars.

• Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Dolph Ziggler: Backlash (2.75)
• Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Baron Corbin: Battleground (1.5)
• Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Jinder Mahal: SummerSlam (2.5)
• Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Jinder Mahal: Hell in a Cell (2.0)

Working with Mahal held him back. A toothless rivalry with Ziggler underwhelmed. And in the end, Nakamura's "rookie" year was mostly a wash.

That can't continue in 2018. He's too good not to be more special inside the squared circle.