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It was the year where the creepy puppets ruled WWE. Seriously. That happened. For real. Who would have thought that at the beginning of the year?
WWE was certainly a mixed bag in 2019. We had some amazing and compelling storylines leading up to a very strong WrestleMania 35. It was also the year of Kofi Kingston. It was the year of interesting returns and very unlikely champions. On top of that, who would have thought a creepy children’s show host would rule the second half of the year? Yowie Wowie indeed.
As I am still figuring out why they felt they needed to tell us Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch where dating so much, I will try to distract myself and present my list of the top five most surprising moments of WWE in 2019:
#5 The First Ever Women’s WrestleMania Main Event
It was an interesting year to say the least for the women of the WWE in 2019. Becky Lynch held the RAW Women’s Championship for nearly the entire year. Ronda Rousey left the company after WrestleMania 35. Bayley turned heel and destroyed her Bayley buddies. Sasha Banks dyed her hair blue and turned evil. The entire Women’s Tag Division was forgotten about for a majority of the year until a very chaotic TLC main event in December. It was a true series of up and downs for the Women’s Division to say the very least.
But you cannot deny the historic nature of Ronda Rousey, Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch have the honor of the first ever women’s main event in WrestleMania history. We shouldn’t ignore the great storytelling that made all three worthy of this special honor. We can debate the match quality itself and especially its “interesting” ending but you cannot deny the true surprise to seeing three talented women ending the show at MetLife Stadium that cold April night.
#4 Seth Rollins becomes the biggest heel in WWE
How does one go from being the face of the company to being truly the most hated man in the WWE? Just ask Seth Rollins.
Seth Rollins was on top of the WWE world when he won his first Royal Rumble and went on to beat Brock Lesnar in the opening match of WrestleMania 35 to win his first WWE Universal Championship. The fans were completely behind Rollins that night. How quickly that can change.
It didn’t help that Seth was pretty obnoxious on Twitter for the better part of the year as well. Talking about his bank account and how rich he was won’t make him a sympathetic babyface to a majority of the wrestling fans. A really awkward angle where they told us he was dating Becky Lynch a million times didn’t help either. Burning down the Firefly Fun House and murdering a bunch of puppets was not a good look for the WWE’s biggest “good guy”. It was like they were trying to get him booed.
Thankfully, WWE seemed to finally listen to the audience and have turned Seth Rollins into the obnoxious heel he has been acting like the entire year. It is truly amazing to see that from a wrestler all the fans were behind just a few months ago.
#3 KofiMania
Kofi Kingston has always been one the most underrated talents in WWE. He has been with the company since 2008. Before 2019, he was a former 4-time Intercontinental Champion, 3-time United States Champion, 8-time Tag Team Champion and part of one of the best stables, The New Day, in WWE History. But he never was a main event player.
When Mustafa Ali got injured before Elimination Chamber in February, it was surprising to see Kofi Kingston added to the match. The surprising moment grew when he lasted over an hour in a gauntlet match to determine the last entrant in the Chamber itself. It was even more shocking when the final two men in the Elimination Chamber were the hottest babyface, Kofi Kingston, and the defending WWE Champion, Daniel Bryan. The crowd was completely behind Kofi as he sadly feel just short, but in the process, KofiMania was born.
The months leading into WrestleMania were the best of the year. Kofi's attempts to overcome multiple obstacles as Vince McMahon and Daniel Bryan told him he wasn't worthy of a WWE Championship match at WrestleMania 35 were inspiring. Having his New Day brothers win a tag team gauntlet match to get him his shot was amazing. And finally, defeating Daniel Bryan in a brilliant match at WrestleMania to win his first WWE Championship was the feel good moment of the year. The emotion of everyones faces was genuine. The good guy finally won.
Say what you will about the rest of Kofi’s WWE Title reign. The journey to get him to his first WWE Championship match was just about perfect storytelling. It was one of the most pleasant and unexpected surprises of the entire WWE year.
#2 Roman Reigns Returns to the WWE
It was one of the saddest moments in recent WWE history. Roman Reigns, the face of WWE and then Universal Champion, announced he had received the diagnosis of his second bout of leukemia on October 22nd. To see a popular and healthy athlete in his early 30s having to leave due to recurrence of cancer was a truly shocking and emotional moment. We didn’t know when and if he would return to professional wrestling ever again.
So when Roman Reigns announced in the most emotional promo in years that he was in remission for leukemia on February 25th, it was a truly remarkable moment. Roman Regins would go on to rejoin his Shield brothers, win a singles match at WrestleMania 35 and be the face of the SmackDown brand for the remainder of 2019. It is surprising to think that Roman Reigns hasn’t been a part of the World Title picture in 2019 but that fact that he even is wrestling this year at all is not a surprising moment that pro wrestling fans should ever overlook. Welcome back Roman.
#1 The Rise of Bray Wyatt
If you were to claim that when 2019 begun that Bray Wyatt would be either WWE or Universal Champion and the most popular wrestler in the company before year's end, you would be lying. His rise as The Fiend is the most surprising moment of 2019 in the WWE.
After Starrcade 2018, Bray Wyatt disappeared from WWE television. It was a shame to see such an amazing performer vanish from the main shows completely. But years of the cult leader losing nearly every major feud, certainly took its toll. He simply wasn’t believable as a threat anymore. Who knew his return would be lead by a bunch of creepy puppets?
After weeks of seeing those puppets, the Firefly Fun House debuted on April 22nd. It portrayed Bray Wyatt as a children’s show host. Anyone paying close attention could tell that something wasn’t right about this Fun House. It became the highlight of RAW with Mercy the Buzzard, Ramblin’ Rabbit, and Abby the Witch getting more screen time then most performers in the company. When we found out Bray secret in May of 2019, The Fiend was born. It was an amazing and scary creation. The mask Wyatt wore was created by the greats of the horror industry. Bray Wyatt had reinvented himself and in a truly amazing way.
The Fiend had a great debut against Finn Balor, defeating him at SummerSlam. Then the curious decision was made to hotshot The Fiend against Seth Rollins for the Universal Championship. After some controversy, it finally led to The Fiend winning the Universal Championship on Halloween from Seth Rollins. As we enter 2020, it is remarkable to think how far one amazing performer has come in such a short time.
