10 Highest WWE Win Percentages In 2017

Wins don't matter in WWE, so why am I bothering to this article? It's simple, it's because they still matter to me, dammit!

Road Dogg once infamously said that victories don't mean a thing in wrestling because what we're seeing inside the ring isn't real competition. I don't know about you, but I laughed when I first saw those tweets of his and I still laugh now.

Of course WWE isn't real competition, but it's certainly simulated combat presented as if it were real. Why would fans be invested if there was no difference between their favourite Superstar winning and the implications of them losing? Why would wrestlers get in the ring and battle for championships if wins and losses didn't matter and all places on the card paid the same? Surely instead of simulating combat as if it were real and killing themselves by doing so, they'd see who could hop for the longest amount of time or something... it'd be far less painful. There are way more questions I could pose here but I really don't need to. You know the score here. Dogg's standpoint still baffles me, as I'm sure it does you.

Despite the SmackDown Live head honchos' opinion, there are still those stars who are booked incredibly strong on a week-to-week basis. For me, winning plays a big part in building a star. I reckon that if Stone Cold or The Rock lost just as much as they won back in 1997, neither man would have gone on to become the megastar they became.

Here are the 10 best win percentages in WWE throughout the entirety of 2017... And sorry to Nikki Bella (94.7% wins) but we're only including those Superstars who wrestled over 20 matches last year. It would be unfair to do otherwise. Thanks to Stefan Gorges of the

for collating these statistics.

10. R-Truth (84%)

Yes, this is a thing that actually happened last year. I know, I can't believe it either.

Thank goodness for house shows, hey? If they didn't exist then you'd have to believe R-Truth would have been struggling to reach eight matches throughout the entirety of 2017, never mind winning 84% of his 83 bouts during the last 12 months.

On television, well, we didn't see much of Truth. This will please some of you, while it will upset others. However, despite this lack of TV time - much of it down to shoulder troubles later in the year -  it was still a pretty monumental year for R-Trizzle as The Golden Truth tandem with Goldust came to a bitter end.

The likes of Truth play a pretty integral role for WWE. Superstars of his ilk are light relief, dare I say comedy, and are often booked to get a crowd-popping win early on in a house show. Got to send the fans home happy now, haven't we? And who doesn't love a good sing-song? Well done on a great year, Truth.

9. Kairi Sane (84.4%)

The Mae Young Classic winner wrestled more times for WWE than you would have imagined during the course of 2017.

Sane won 27 of her 35 matches last year, with a large chunk of them taking place in the MYC and on NXT house shows. A lack of television time hasn't stopped The Pirate Princess from making significant waves on the yellow brand as she took part in the Women's Championship match at TakeOver: WarGames - where Ember Moon came out on top in a match that also featured Nikki Cross and Peyton Royce.

It certainly looks like the impressive win percentage Sane achieved last year will be continuing in 2018, with a big push and strong performance in the first-ever women's Royal Rumble match seemingly on the horizon.

8. Naomi (84.9%)

If 2016 was a breakout year for Naomi then 2017 was the year where she proved she's bonafide top-tier talent on SmackDown Live.

The gimmick tweak that saw her start to dress in neon colours has worked, and then some. As well as ending a prolonged period of inconsistency and a considerably sized streak of being passed around unsuccessful acts, Naomi exceeded expectations by capturing SD Live Women's Championship gold in February by defeating Alexa Bliss at Elimination Chamber - becoming the first African American lady to capture the title.

Injuries - both legit and kayfabe - really hampered the rest of Naomi's year, but at least she managed to win her title back in her hometown at WrestleMania 33. She ended the year with 107 wins from her 127 matches, losing only 19.

7. Seth Rollins (85.2%)

2017 was a bit of a damp squib for Seth Rollins as a singles star. After losing his spot in the Royal Rumble to Sami Zayn, The Architect's feud with Triple H was ramped up and culminated in a match at WrestleMania 33 that had no rules - despite this, Rollins decided not to use the flaming stick he had for his entrance to his advantage. He would have saved himself a lot of trouble, I'm sure you will agree.

After a brief feud with Samoa Joe - The Samoan Submission Machine injuring Seth's leg earlier in the year, of course - things really started to pick with that 'will they won't they' storyline with Dean Ambrose. Spoiler: they did. Dean got off the plane.

With a common enemy in The Miztourage getting on everybody's nerves, three-and-a-bit years after disbanding, The Shield got back together. Everyone was happy, even those male smarks who boo anything and everything just because they're cool like that.

The Hounds Of Justice were booked as strong as they ever were, Kurt Angle became the world's happiest dad to win a father son fancy dress competition at TLC and everybody had a great time. All of this joy and soggy hair contributed to two tag team title reigns for Rollins - one with current love interest Jason Jordan - and 127 wins from 150 matches.

Quite a year, under the circumstances.

6. Dean Ambrose (85.7%)

He might have lost his crown of WWE's bonafide Iron Man to Jimmy Uso recently, but that didn't stop Dean Ambrose from having a mightily impressive 2017.

The Lunatic Fringe was an ever-present once again until a triceps injury suffered on the December 18 episode of Raw ruled him out for nine months. He was able to cram 169 matches into last year, winning 144 of them.

After a 27-minute stint in the Royal Rumble and an appearance in the WWE Championship Elimination Chamber match, Ambrose's year was about four main feuds. The first with Baron Corbin (including an attempted murder by the Lone Wolf with a forklift), a seemingly never-ending series of matches with The Bar alongside Seth Rollins, The Miz, and The Miz and The Miztourage and their pals as part of the Sheild.

Plenty of entertaining matches, but an absolute sickener to round off the year. It's going to be interesting to see what kind of Dean Ambrose we get when he eventually returns with rumours of a massive heel turn already circulating.

5. Roman Reigns (86.6%)

You what? You're shocked this isn't 100%!? Oh, you...

Despite still being Vince McMahon's golden goose, Roman Reigns lost a staggering 18 matches during the course of 2017. This is a statistic dwarfed by 116 wins, but still, that's more losses than I thought he'd have.

With the likes of Samoa Joe proving to be his equal in the ring, the latter part of 2017 has seen Reigns brought back down to earth a bit after a silly start to the year. I know you're still trying to forget that number 30 entrance in the Royal Rumble after competing for the Universal Championship earlier in the night, but I have to mention it. That felt like WWE were rubbing our faces in it at the time, but actually proved to be an effective tool to make Randy Orton's win feel better than it was.

At the end of the day though, Roman Reigns seemingly retired The Undertaker at WrestleMania 33. There's no real point in mentioning the rest of his year because it doesn't get any better than that. It's something he'll be able to dine out on for the rest of his life.

He won more than he lost. Arguably the most popular team of the decade got back together of which he is a part of. It's been another good year for The Big Dog, so good for him.

4. Finn Balor (88.9%)

The fourth most wins in the company last year and he

still

isn't over? And you don't see countless message boards on the internet bemoaning the fact he's shoved down our throats despite the fact he isn't? There's something not right here...

(he is over)

Because of the injury suffered at SummerSlam 2016, Finn's 2017 didn't start until late February when he assisted Shinsuke Nakamura in a battle against Bobby Roode and Andrade "Cien" Almas. He took part in a few house matches over the next month or so before making his television return on the Raw after WrestleMania 33.

Since then, it's all been a bit 'meh' for the leader of the Balor Club. He's had fleeting feuds with the likes of Bray Wyatt and Elias, and came within touching distance of the Universal Championship at Extreme Rules. He still managed to win 112 from 127 matches last year though...

I suppose we have his surprise match with AJ Styles at TLC and the reformation of his version of Bullet Club to savour - and the fact we didn't actually get to see The Demon take on Wyatt... it would have been awful, I think we're all in agreement on that. But I look back on the cancellation of that match with a hint of sadness. It would have been like driving past a pretty hefty car crash. You know you shouldn't look, but you do anyway. Oh well...

3. Drew McIntyre (89.9%)

You look at the likes of Baron Corbin making waves on the main roster while Drew McIntyre is down in NXT and all you can do is sit back and scratch your head. He's the complete package, and is enjoying the kind of success his hard work over the three years prior to his re-signing deserves.

Despite severely injuring his bicep in the match against Andrade "Cien" Almas at TakeOver: WarGames, it looked like the finish went as planned. You'd have to believe that without the NXT Championship, Drew would have been promoted to the main roster. I'm not saying he's wasted in NXT, I'm just saying he's capable of doing his thing on a far larger scale.

I believe the reactions he received while he was champion proves he's a main roster talent. That's not because they were deafening, quite the opposite. Look at the likes of Elias thriving on Raw after doing nothing in the yellow brand to see what I mean here. While the likes of Adam Cole and Tommy Aleister End Black are what those Full Sail crowds crave, McIntyre isn't. That's no knock on Drew, it's just a case of horses and particular courses.

So yes, he made it back to WWE, won the NXT Championship, lost the NXT Championship, and suffered a pretty big injury. Taking the sour ending out of the equation it was a fantastic year for Drew, who won 62 of 69 matches wrestled for his new employers.

2. Aleister Black (91.6%)

Aleister Black is a cool cat, isn't he? He's a cool cat who had arguably the biggest year of his storied career in 2017.

After a shocking appearance at the United Kingdom Championships in a showcase match with Neville at the very start of the year, Black finally made his televised NXT debut at TakeOver: Orlando, capturing the imagination with one of the best entrances in the company today. It's worth noting he defeated Andrade "Cien" Almas in that match - the current NXT Champion.

After that, 2017 was a tale of two main rivals for Black, winning the respect game against Hideo Itami before giving Velveteen Dream the respect he deserved by finally

saying his name

at TakeOver: Wargames.

This Superstar has been simmering for long enough now. I think it's time we brought him to the boil.

While the majority of his matches came at NXT house shows, Aleister still managed to win 87 of 95 matches throughout 2017. With his feet well under the table after a pretty prolonged period of settling into life in Orlando, you'd expect The Dutch Destroyer to win numerous championships - whether they be in NXT or on the main roster - over the next 12 months.

1. Asuka (97.9%)

Quelle surprise, as the French would say. Asuka didn't win every single one of her matches in 2017 as two of the 94 were ruled no contests. That's still a pretty decent record though...

There isn't too much to say here other than this is a very impressive woman doing very impressive things. While a select number of Superstars came sorta close to ending her record-breaking undefeated streak, it was never really under any real threat. It'll be interesting if things get ROWDY with Asuka as 2018 rolls on...

That was terrible, I know. But Ronda Rousey is surely the women to end the streak, isn't she?

Match Merit

WWE/NXT

NXT’s card was thrown into a slight bit of disarray following Wes Lee’s injury, meaning the MSK vs. Lorcan & Burch Tag Title match will have to wait. Luckily, Tomasso Ciampa and Timothy Thatcher stepped up, but the champs got the win after a distraction by Imperium. 

Sticking with tag action, Dusty Cup winners Dakota Kai & Raquel Gonzalez took on WWE Women’s Tag Champs Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax. Full disclousre; I’m not much of a fan of Kai, but she played the babyface in peril well. Well, I think they were babyfaces, it’s still not entirely clear. Shenanigans reigned supreme when Baszler got the win with the Karifuda Clutch on Kai, despite Kai not being the legal wrestler. The ref who called it was a Raw ref sent out by 'Scrap Iron' Adam Pearce after a ref bump. Interesting…

Ember Moon went over Aliyah in quick fashion, and Cameron Grimes beat Bronson Reed thanks to interference from LA Knight. Looks like we’re getting Reed vs. Knight for the former Eli Page’s first feud.

And the main event saw Finn Bálor and Roderick Strong batter each other for over 15 mins, until the Prinxe got the win with a gorgeous 1916. Apparently this was their first singles bout in NXT. I’d like to see more.

———

AEW promised us a supershow heading into Revolution, and wasted no time by kicking off with Cody & Red Velvet vs. Jade Cargill & Shaq.

Now I was expecting a car crash, but Shaq was great. Wearing a crisp pair of Reebok Shaqnosis, he actually looked half decent in the ring, slugging Cody with a beautiful Brodie Lee powerbomb, and taking bump of the night when Rhodes splashed him off the apron through two tables. Cargill got the win for the heels though, and it was the right choice.

Rey Fenix & PAC turned up, battered John Skyler & D3 in about a minute then buggered off again, whilst Max Caster punched his ticket for the Face of the Revolution Ladder Match, beating 10 after Jack Evans boomboxed him in the face on behalf of Matt Hardy. A nice showcase for both men, but to be honest it could have been a tad shorter, and for my money they were both fighting over a spot that should arguably have gone to someone like Joey Janela.

We had the finals of the AEWWWCET as Ryo Mizunami went over Nyla Rose. Rose looked strong in defeat, but I don’t have much hope in Mizunami beating Hikaru Shida for the strap. I like Shida a lot, but this reign is more than stale. Still, it'll be a damn good match if given time.

Adam Page & Meatman John Silver defeated Marq Quen & Matt Hardy in a fun encounter, Big Money Matt playing the cautious coward is always fun. And my personal match of the night saw FTR & Tully Blanchard defeat Jurassic Express. Just seeing Tully hit a rebound suplex and a spike piledriver was enough to make me happy, but this was straight up good ol’ tag wrasslin’, done AEW style.

Winner: AEW. Close call this week, but AEW’s best matches were just more fun than NXT’s. Particularly the opener and the FTR bout. 

Promo Performance

AEW

In true WWE fashion, NXT opened up with some mic time as Roddy Strong and Finn aired their grievances. Strong isn’t exactly great on the mic, and Finn has been a bit of a knob in recent weeks, but they got their points across.

Ciampa and Thatch had a quick word after their loss to the tag champs, with Tomasso saying Thatch’s past with Imperium is just that - the past. Give me these two teams murdering each other in a ring soon. I beg you.

Swerve Scott was in a recording studio saying he has had to claw for very opportunity whilst Leon Ruff keeps landing on his feet, and Kayden Carter is fuming that Xia Li injured Kacy Catanzaro. They’ll face off next week.

Cameron Grimes was on top form again, cursing Ted DiBiase when he couldn’t buy his way out of a match with Bronson Reed, and LA Knight came to the ring and said he was really really good, even better than Tom Brady. 

The spine of the show though saw The Way in therapy and it was pure gold. Indi Hartwell says she wants to be Dexter Lumis’ friend with benefits, and Johnny ‘my middle name is calm’ Gargano was apoplectic when Austin Theory tried to defend Dexter. In the end it was all a set-up by Johnny who had paid the therapist to tell Austin that Lumis can’t stand him, and The Way went for pizza and arcade fun at Chuck E. Cheese.

———

AEW were in full-sell mode for Revolution, and let the matches do most of the talking.

We did hear from Chris Jericho and MJF who delivered a press conference, fielding questions from Barstool Sports, hey hey it’s Conrad Thompson, and Eazy E himself Eric Bischoff. Bisch said Jericho was stupid for attacking Papa Buck and riling up the Young Bucks. He does have a point. The Bucks then came out, cut a whitemeat promo about being decent lads thanks to their dad, then said if it weren’t for their dad AEW probably wouldn’t exist, and Jericho would be curtain jerking at the Performance Centre. Ouch.

Miro was backstage without a shirt on, yelling in Bulgarian and vowing that he would not be in chill gamer mode at Revolution, and Sting had his weekly contractually obliged chat with Tony Schiavone. Stinger said the big powerbomb from the other week woke him up, Team Taz’s Ricky Starks says he respects that but still slapped him, then Darby Allin showed up as all parties had a big fight.

Paul Wight debuted and promised that a big ‘Hall of Fame worthy singing’ will join at Revolution. And Atsushi f*****g Onita appeared via video to hype up the Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch.

Winner: NXT. I’m loving The Way being a bunch of utter morons, and seeing Indi get her chance to shine is a welcome addition to proceedings. Jericho and MJF’s press conference was good, and Paul Wight’s revelation is titillating. He did say the signing is ‘not who we think it is’ so therefore I’m putting my money on Sid Vicious. It’s obvious…

Storyline Development

WWE/NXT

The fallout of Adam Cole being a nasty little man continued, with Roddy acting as the crux of the story this week. While Strong’s promo wasn’t very… strong, his match with Bálor was unsurprisingly really good, and it was announced for next week’s NXT that Cole will face Finn for the title. If Kyle O'Reilly doesn’t show up I’ll eat Cameron Grimes’ hat.

Toni Storm vs. Io Shirai will also take place next week, in what is shaping up to be a super stacked edition of NXT. No Xia Li this week, but Kayden Carter kept things ticking over with an update on Kacy, and some fire in her quest for vengeance. Good luck pal.

The Swerve vs. Ruff feud continues, and I’m really liking where it is going. If it doesn’t eventually end up being a feud over the North American title, then I’l eat… someone else’s hat I suppose. Speaking of which, no Kushida yet again.

Santos Escobar turned up to batter a few people and snarl down the mic, and The Way vs. Dexter Lumis shows no signs of slowing down. Very intrigued to see where it leads.

———

Where to start with AEW eh? As this was a go-home show there was a ton of story development.

We have the second-to-last competitor confirmed for the Face of the Revolution ladder match, and with Ryo Mizunami defeating Nyla Rose we have our number one contender for Hikaru Shida’s title. The two competitors even had a good natured scrap because why not.

Sting and Darby vs. Team Taz rumbles on, and while I am looking forward to the match, this whole angle has had far too much TV time. 

Matt Hardy’s vow to hurt the Dark Order stayed intact as he and Jack Evans cost 10 a spot in the ladder match, while Hardy's post-match beatdown of Adam Page after the main even was pretty good too. Oh and then seemingly the entire tag division ran out for a huge punch-up.

The most welcome bit of storyline development concerned FTR & Tully. With the returning Shawn Spears definitely part of the fold - never mind JJ Dillon being out there - could we finally be seeing AEW’s much rumoured Four Horsemen? Arn Anderson flashing the four fingers to JJ was intriguing too. I hope they do something with Spears though, I’d like to see him sniffing around the TNT Title.

Winner: AEW. This week was stacked, and there was a ton of stuff I didn’t even manage to talk about, like Scorpio Sky saying The West Texas Rednecks were right. Revolution is shaping up to be a hell of a show, but the fallout edition of Dynamite faces stiff competition from next week’s loaded NXT.

Watercooler Talk

AEW

I suppose for NXT the big talking points were the huge title matches confirmed for next week. We already knew about Io vs. Storm, but adding Cole vs. Bálor into the mix too is huge. In terms of noteworthy stuff from last night’s action, then the main talking point was The Way in therapy.

The appearance of Adam Pearce during the Women’s Tag Title Bout was interesting, doubly so when they showed him and William Regal in heated debate from afar. Will Kai and Gonzalez get a rematch at TakeOver? Maybe even Mania?

———

AEW this week was all about one man; Shaq. The biggest talking point heading into the show, never mind his surprisingly competent display in the opening match, Shaq is getting a lot of praise and deservedly so. Oh and he disappeared into thin air after being placed in an ambulance. The man is 7’1” and weighs over 325lbs, that's just amazing.

Deathmatch aficionados will be buzzing about Onita giving his seal of approval to the match he pioneered, while the teasing of The Horsemen definitely has me very excited, and no doubt many more too. Like I said, get Sid signed, no-one wants Ole or Paul Roma, and big Barry Windham is unfortunately in no state to be on TV.

Winner: AEW. C’mon, it’s Shaq. Even Marge Simpson knows the power of the Shaq Attack.

The Whole Damn Show

WWE/NXT

NXT top-to-bottom was a very good show this week, but like AEW last week it felt like they had too much focus on next week’s edition rather than the show in hand. Case in point; William Regal promising earth shattering news on next week's show.

The Thatch/Ciampa vs. Lorcan & Burch match was good, as was the Women’s Tag Title Match. The main event too was a very good match, but it’s one that would have fared better with a little more promotion rather than the shock of “bloody hell we’ve just announced this for tonight!”

I’m fully on board with Cameron Grimes continually cursing the success of The Million Dollar Man though. Give me Grimes vs. Ted Jr. this instant.

———

AEW have been using their time very wisely in recent weeks, despite the lingering problems around the limited spotlight on the Women’s Division.

PAC/Fenix squash aside, everything built up towards the PPV, and the anarchic mass tag brawl to close the show was a nice unexpected way to go off the air. 

Still it’s crazy to think this was a go-home show, as it felt like a mini PPV. Should Shaq and Cody have been saved for Revolution? Maybe, but putting it on free TV made more business sense in terms of potential viewers.

Winner: AEW. Heading into this week NXT would have had to pull something truly special out of their arses to top AEW.

In Conclusion

AEW

Another pair of great shows this week, but AEW was truly unmissable. Ok so the Fenix/PAC squash achieved next to nothing, but everything else was worthy of your time.

Next week should be very juicy though; we’ll have the fallout from AEW: Revolution, and the possibility that one of Mox or Omega could still still be on fire, whereas NXT are going in all guns blazing with two huge title matches, plus hopefully a little more light shed on Adam Pearce’s involvement with the Black and Gold brand.

Week by week score: NXT - 2. AEW - 2.