10 best WWE matches of October 2018

October was a month where the women shined. Many of the ten best matches of the month involved them, which is appropriate since the Mae Young Classic was ongoing and Evolution outperformed its mediocre card by all accounts.

October was also a month where we saw an all-time great heel turn on Monday Night Raw, one of the best WWE title matches of the past year on SmackDown Live, and NXT living up to its usual brilliance, despite TakeOver: War Games II being far away from most of the televised programming on the yellow brand. There was certainly a lot to like this month and it was sometimes tough to pick the ten best matches of the month, but it needed to be done.

Let's now take a look at the ten best matches of October.

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#10 Mustafa Ali vs. Hideo Itami

As usual, Mustafa Ali rose to the occasion in the main event on 205 Live. His rivalry with Hideo Itami stretched back into the summer, where Itami put him on the shelf with a concussion after repeated corner dropkicks.

This match took place under falls count anywhere rules. It was an appropriate stipulation for the occasion. Though the action, unfortunately, didn't go backstage (that's all too rare these days), it spilled all over the ringside area. Weapons came out and nasty bumps were taken by both competitors as they tried to score the decisive victory in their feud.

The match ended with Mustafa Ali hitting a 450 splash on Hideo Itami through a table outside the ring. It was one of the more memorable bumps seen in recent months and made the usually quiet 205 Live crowd come unglued. Seeing the velocity of the table shattering was also a nice touch here.

#9 Io Shirai vs. Rhea Ripley (Mae Young Classic, October 24th)

If anyone thought Io Shirai was going to dominate the Mae Young Classic field and have non-competitive matches, this bout was one which showed that she's just as good when she's being beaten as when she's doing the beating. Io is one of the best sellers in the business and we saw that all over the place here. Her slow, but a powerful comeback, definitely put this match over the top.

Rhea Ripley looked like a major star in this match as well. Her presence has improved dramatically in the past year and she looks the part. She was completely convincing in her domination of a wrestler that's known as one of the best in the world, despite the disparity in their experiences.

Ripley lost nothing in this semifinal. She's going to be a major star in the future, beyond even being the first UK women's champion.

#8 Pete Dunne vs. Noam Dar (NXT UK, October 17th)

This has become mechanical now. If you put Pete Dunne in the main event, you're going to get a match of the month contender, with 100% probability. It was appropriate because this was the first ever main event for the new NXT UK show and it was no surprise that the division put its best hand in the contest. It was certainly the right decision if you want to sell the division to the public.

Pete Dunne wasn't the only one involved, though. Noam Dar came across like a star in the division, too. His challenge was valiant, though unsuccessful, as Pete Dunne did what he does best - wearing down Dar through powerful strikes, painful joint manipulation, and ultimately, the Bitter End.

As good as this was, give these two a bigger stage and they could exceed it easily.

#7 Meiko Satomura vs. Toni Storm (Mae Young Classic, October 24th)

Toni Storm's Mae Young Classic matches were often disappointing, at least by the standards we would expect. This even included the final at Evolution, which was good, but not as good as it could have been.

This one wasn't disappointing, though.

Obviously, it helped that Meiko Satomura was involved (you'll see more of her later), but Toni Storm also played her part as she should have. She wasn't billed as the underdog in this match. In fact, she started it as the aggressor. From there, she and Meiko Satomura went on to kill each other, throwing the best each of them had until somebody lost.

That loser turned out to be Meiko Satomura, who finally went down after the second Storm Zero. There were too many finisher kickouts for me to rank this any higher, but it was an adrenaline rush.

#6 Mustafa Ali vs. Tony Nese (205 Live, October 31st)

Halloween was certainly a happy one for WWE Network subscribers, as this was a tremendous parting gift to see October out.

Again, if you put Mustafa Ali in the main event of 205 Live, you're going to get a match of the month candidate. This was what we saw last night, as Tony Nese went to work on his opponent's injured body, with Ali fighting through the pain. He's easily the best babyface on the purple brand and finally came back to win last night and secure his title shot against Buddy Murphy.

Hopefully, that match won't be the end of the feud. With this being the time that people inevitably look ahead to WrestleMania, in my mind, Murphy vs. Ali is the easy choice for the Cruiserweight title match. If this is the start of an extended rivalry, I'm on board, but if it's a one-and-done, it will be a mistake.

#5 Meiko Satomura vs. Mercedes Martinez (Mae Young Classic, October 3rd)

Though this wasn't quite the match of the year candidate it was being hyped as in the immediate aftermath, it was still easily the best match of the entire Mae Young Classic tournament, despite it only taking place in the second round.

It's a result that shouldn't have been too surprising. Meiko Satomura and Mercedes Martinez were the two women with the most experience out of the entire field. For two women that had never worked together before, though, they meshed beautifully. They went shot for shot on bone-crunching strikes and strong grappling manoeuvres.

They traded their big moves, with Mercedes Martinez hitting her Fisherman Buster and Meiko Satomura her Death Valley Bomb. Ultimately, it was the Scorpion Rising kick that finally put Mercedes Martinez away and allowed Meiko Satomura to advance to the third round of the tournament.

#4 Ricochet vs. Pete Dunne vs. Adam Cole (NXT, October 10th)

This didn't quite live up to the Ricochet vs. Pete Dunne match from September, as triple threat matches are rarely as good as top singles matches, but this was certainly one of the best triple threat matches we've seen in a while.

Pete Dunne, Adam Cole, and Ricochet all got their spots in, bringing their own unique characters and offence to the action. The ending of the match was one of the most memorable of the year. Pete Dunne looked like he had the match won and was going to become a double champion, but as he was pinning Adam Cole, Ricochet hit a 450 splash from the middle rope just before the three count, going on to pin Dunne and retain his North American title.

The pin was appropriate too because it leaves Adam Cole open to his one on one rematch.

#3 Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre vs. The Shield (Raw, October 22nd)

The brilliance of this match wasn't the action in the actual contest itself. In that regard, it fell short of the match that took place at Hell in a Cell in September, which was a real match of the year candidate.

Instead, what made this match stand out was the atmosphere it took place in and that unforgettable ending. After a hard-fought victory on a night when Roman Reigns announced he was battling Leukemia, Ambrose and Rollins won one for their brother and became the new Raw Tag Team Champions.

That was when Dean Ambrose turned on Seth Rollins. Though it was expected, it wasn't expected on that night. That was also what made it so brilliant and unforgettable. It's rare that crowds are that shocked in this era, but the expressions from fans in attendance didn't lie.

#2 AJ Styles vs. Daniel Bryan (SmackDown, October 30th)

This came early because Daniel Bryan refused to work Crown Jewel, for understandable reasons. It's only a shame that the price to be paid for that refusal was the need to air commercials because, without them, this could have become a real match of the year candidate.

Daniel Bryan and AJ Styles didn't disappoint in their lengthy match. Both men tried to find weaknesses in the other, but a suicide dive gone wrong on Bryan's part allowed Styles to capitalize. He attacked Daniel Bryan's injured knee throughout the match. Bryan tried to fight through it with adrenaline and sheer heart, almost succeeding, but once AJ Styles finally locked the Calf Crusher in the centre of the ring, it was over. Daniel Bryan had no choice but to tap out.

The follow up is what matters here. Daniel Bryan's pursuit of the championship is far from over.

#1 Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair (Evolution)

There was never any doubt.

Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair hadn't had a match that was as outstanding as their segments together. That changed at Evolution, where they rose to the occasion on the biggest stage of their rivalry.

There were some spots in this match that were awkward, such as when Becky used a chair to break out of the Figure Eight that Charlotte had locked in through a ladder. That clearly looked fake, breaking the illusion. For a while, it seemed that this match would fall prey to many last man standing matches that didn't perform as well as they could have.

All of that changed in the last third of the match though, where the build in the first two thirds culminated in a sprint with numerous table spots and raw, emotive acting on the part of both Becky and Charlotte.

Becky's final victory send the place into uproarious approval. It was the perfect finale to their feud.