Which wrestler headlined the most pay-per-views in 2017?

WWE aired 16 different pay-per-view (PPV) events in 2017. Let’s take a look at all the wrestlers who competed in these main event matches and see which superstars appear with the highest frequency. For the purposes of this article, the “main event” match will be defined as the final match of the night.

Here are the 16 main event matches from 2017:

• Royal Rumble: 30-man Royal Rumble match
• Elimination Chamber: Cena vs. Styles vs. Ambrose vs. Wyatt vs. Miz vs. Corbin
• Fastlane: Kevin Owens vs. Goldberg
• WrestleMania 33: Undertaker vs. Roman Reigns
• Payback: Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman
• Backlash: Randy Orton vs. Jinder Mahal
• Extreme Rules: Balor vs. Rollins vs. Reigns vs. Joe vs. Wyatt
• Money in the Bank: Ziggler vs. Nakamura vs. Owens vs. Styles vs. Zayn vs. Corbin
• Great Balls of Fire: Brock Lesnar vs. Samoa Joe
• Battleground: Jinder Mahal vs. Randy Orton
• SummerSlam: Lesnar vs. Reigns vs. Joe vs. Strowman
• No Mercy: Brock Lesnar vs. Braun Strowman
• Hell in a Cell: Shane McMahon vs. Kevin Owens
• TLC: Angle, Ambrose, Rollins vs. Kane, Cesaro, Sheamus, Strowman, Miz
• Survivor Series: Balor, Joe, Angle, HHH, Strowman vs. Roode, Nakamura, Shane, Cena, Orton
• Clash of Champions: AJ Styles vs. Jinder Mahal

Before I tally the names, I am going to exclude Royal Rumble from consideration. The main reason I am interested in this exercise is to see which names dominated WWE’s main event scene in 2017, and giving credit to all 30 men from the Royal Rumble match doesn’t really offer much insight for that purpose. Perhaps I am screwing over some guys like Orton, Wyatt, Undertaker, Goldberg, Lesnar, and Reigns, who were featured stars at the end of that match, but I will leave it to the readers to make any adjustments to this list that fit their personal preference on this matter.

With that said, here is the full tally of which superstars competed in the most PPV main events in 2017, excluding Royal Rumble:

• 5 matches: Braun Strowman
• 4 matches: Roman Reigns, Samoa Joe
• 3 matches: Owens, Lesnar, Orton, Mahal, Styles
• 2 matches: Shane, Angle, Rollins, Balor, Nakamura, Wyatt, Corbin, Cena, Miz, Ambrose
• 1 match: Ziggler, Undertaker, Goldberg, Zayn, Kane, Cesaro, Sheamus, HHH, Roode

I am especially curious to see which wrestlers competed in the most one-on-one main event matches. The list of main event matches shows that some lesser stars like Ziggler and Roode can occasionally sneak into one of these matches in a group ladder match or team survival match. But the one-on-one main events are usually reserved for the very biggest stars on the roster.

There were 9 one-on-one main event matches in 2017. Here is the tally of which wrestlers appeared in these matches:

• 3 matches: Jinder Mahal
• 2 matches: Owens, Lesnar, Orton, Reigns, Strowman
• 1 match: Joe, Shane, Goldberg, Undertaker, Styles

So there you have it, Cagesiders. These are all the superstars who dominated WWE’s main event landscape in 2017. Some of the big changes from 2016 include the rise of Strowman, Joe, and Mahal. The lack of any female superstars also stands out, as well as Seth Rollins not landing a one-on-one main event match.

How do you expect WWE’s main event landscape to change in 2018?