Figure Four Weekly 12/4/2017: Looking at WWE’s match of the year candidates

While there’s still some time for WWE to shape how the company’s 2017 will be remembered, the beginning of December marked the end of this year’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards calendar.

The insane output of high-end matches New Japan Pro Wrestling had during the voting period will rightfully lead to a strong showing in the Match of the Year category, but WWE’s in-ring year shouldn’t be forgotten. Though a full year of brand-exclusive pay-per-views and not having the Cruiserweight Classic may have led to a decline from 2016, WWE produced their fair share of matches that deserve to be in contention for best of the year.

Here’s a look at my top five WWE matches of the year:

1. Tyler Bate vs. Pete Dunne for the WWE United Kingdom Championship (NXT TakeOver: Chicago, May 20th)

Despite not being regularly featured on WWE programming, Dunne and Bate produced two of the company’s best matches of the voting period. They started 2017 strong in the finals of the United Kingdom Championship tournament and managed to top themselves at NXT TakeOver: Chicago.

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