Ranking every WWE PPV in 2019 from worst to best

2019 is nearly in the books and what an eventful year it has been.

Through the constant spikes and struggles of WWE programming in terms of ratings and quality, the one constant has usually been solid pay-per-view action. Granted, not every major show hit the mark, but a fair amount of them have done a good job in proving that WWE is not heading into a crisis.

Even with some questionable creative decisions, today's WWE roster is arguably the most talented it has ever been. WWE sometimes suffers from a lack of general direction, so the build to various pay-per-view events have not filled the fans with confidence. This was a large factor in some of the later shows of 2019.

There were fourteen main roster pay-per-views this year, with two of them emanating from Saudi Arabia, and most of them ranged from decent to great. Here is every single one of them ranked, from the bottom to the top.

#14 Super ShowDown

Shows from Saudi Arabia have been very hit-or-miss.

Entering into their second year of a ten year contract, WWE's stadium shows in Saudi Arabia came off with a pretty lacklustre feel. Presentation-wise they rival WrestleMania, but in-ring action is not at quite as high of a standard. The third show emanating from the KSA might be the least entertaining yet. With the name recycled from 2018's Melbourne, Australia pay-per-view, Super ShowDown was not exactly super. A promised cash-in from Brock Lesnar against Seth Rollins was stopped in its tracks, while Shane McMahon shockingly became the first person to pin Roman Reigns since his return to WWE earlier this year.

Some of the high points included a Triple H vs. Randy Orton match that was good, although it wouldn't rival most of their other exciting encounters, and Mansoor, WWE's first Saudi Arabian Superstar, winning the biggest battle royal (51 wrestlers) in WWE History. However, Super ShowDown's legacy remains largely negative because of its main event. Initially a dream match, The Undertaker vs. Goldberg quickly turned into a depressing tale of two legends past their prime who shouldn't have been in a ring together. Both men nearly suffered career-ending injuries and the match was, admittedly by both men, less than stellar to say the least.

Fortunately, both men returned for one more match each in the next few months to clear everyone's memories of their, well, difficult encounter.

#13 Clash Of Champions

Not too bad, but it didn't do more than just exist.

While this wasn't a terrible show, Clash Of Champions was just not very good. Taking place in between a hot SummerSlam and the decisive WWE Draft, the September pay-per-view was always set to be unspectacular. Also, with so many championships in the company, the 'All titles will be on the line' was a difficult task to handle. There were a total of eleven matches, with two on the Kickoff Show, including an AJ Styles match. Most matches were okay, but felt like they would have fit better on RAW or SmackDown rather than on pay-per-view.

Some of the best matches included The Revival taking the SmackDown Tag Team Titles from The New Day and a Becky Lynch vs. Sasha Banks match ending into a no contest. The blowoff between Kofi Kingston and Randy Orton was a decent-at-best affair, while Erick Rowan pinned Roman Reigns with help from a returning Luke Harper. The main story of the show involved Seth Rollins and Braun Strowman, losing their RAW Tag Team Titles at the start of the show and then battling it out for the Universal Championship in the main event.

It was a decent match, with Rollins coming out on top. However, even 'The Fiend' attacking the Beastslayer to close the show could not make the show a big thumbs up affair.

#12 Hell In A Cell

With the hype behind WWE's Premiere Week, the company seemingly forgot that there was a pay-per-view that Sunday night. Only four matches were scheduled on the day of the show, with another four being added only hours before showtime. The main event between Seth Rollins and 'The Fiend' Bray Wyatt was certainly interesting, considered bad by many (or even most) fans, and ended in an anti-climatic referee stoppage.

Luckily for Rollins, his fiancée Becky Lynch saved the show with her incredible Cell match against Sasha Banks. Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns had a fun tornado tag match against Harper and Rowan. If it wasn't for these two matches, Hell In A Cell would have probably started this list, as the worst pay-per-view of the year. The only other memorable positive on the show was the Kabuki Warriors turning heel and winning the Women's Tag Team Championships.

This really showed the importance of planning ahead of time. Luckily though, Bray Wyatt's dark alter-ego was rescued in a few weeks' time on the next WWE PPV event.

#11 Tables, Ladders & Chairs

A few great matches and moments saved this show.

The last pay-per-view of the year did not exactly cover itself in glory, with the first matches on the card being announced only nine days before the event. TLC did have some great matches like the enthralling ladder match between The New Day and The Revival, as well as a great contest in Aleister Black vs. Buddy Murphy. There was also some solid character development in the match between The Miz and Bray Wyatt. Daniel Bryan's return after the match was a lovely surprise as well.

However, it was not all good. King Corbin defeated Roman Reigns in a TLC match in a decision that very few people expected and doesn't seem to have been that popular. Also, the main event Women's Tag Title TLC match between the Kabuki Warriors and the team of Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair was severely hampered due to Kairi Sane getting knocked out early on. The women did their best to put on a good match, but the circumstances were too challenging, resulting in a much lesser match than what all four women in good shape could have put together. All-in-all, another disappointing pay-per-view main event in the final months of 2019.

#10 Stomping Grounds

Like a couple on this list already, the build-up to this show was far from spectacular. The Wildcard Rule was making the product difficult to follow, with Superstars appearing on either brand's show with impunity. However, this show, taking place amidst all the chaos, was decent. Most of the matches involved some fun action, including the pair of tag team matches, pitting Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn against The New Day, and Heavy Machinery against the Planet's Tag Team Champions, Daniel Bryan and Erick Rowan.

The rest of the show was hit or miss. Samoa Joe and Ricochet put on a great United States Championship match, while Roman Reigns and Drew McIntyre had a solid outing together. Kofi Kingston vs. Dolph Ziggler inside a steel cage had slow action but a pretty cool finish. The main event storyline with Baron Corbin choosing the referee in his match against Seth Rollins was very frustrating. It prolonged two feuds that were already reaching their saturation point.

Rollins vs. Corbin was a program reaching its shelf life, as was Becky Lynch vs. Lacey Evans in their feud for the RAW Women's Championship. Maybe it was a mistake to pair the two together for a storyline?

#9 Elimination Chamber

This show may not be the most remembered one of the year, but it did play host to two completely different, yet fantastic Elimination Chamber matches. The night opened with a Chamber match to decide the first WWE Women's Tag Team Champions. Sasha Banks and Bayley went the distance, last eliminating Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville to become the inaugural female tag champs in WWE. After that, most of the mid-card was forgettable. Ronda Rousey squashed Ruby Riott on the way to headlining WrestleMania.

In other action, the Usos won the SmackDown Tag Team Championship from The Miz and Shane McMahon, and Finn Balor won a handicap match to become the Intercontinental Champion. But the biggest match, and moment, of the night was the WWE Championship match inside the Elimination Chamber. Daniel Bryan defended his eco-friendly belt against five of SmackDown's best, including Kofi Kingston, who was a replacement in the match for the injured Mustafa Ali. Little did we know the magic that would be created.

Following a super hot final sequence, Bryan pinned Kofi to retain his title. But this sparked the birth of KofiMania, truly a happy accident.

#8 Crown Jewel

Expectations for Crown Jewel 2019 were not high, especially considering the previous year's unexciting show. The involvement of big names from other combat sports helped carve out a different feel for the second and final Saudi Arabian show of 2019. While Cain Velasquez and Tyson Fury were not particular highlights in their respective matches against Brock Lesnar and Braun Strowman, Crown Jewel can still comfortably be called WWE's greatest Saudi Arabia. pay-per-view to date.

The show also made important history, when Natalya and Lacey Evans faced off in the first-ever women's match to take place in the country, in a moment that will surely bring hope to many. Elsewhere, Mansoor continued his hot streak by defeating Cesaro in a really good match. Hopefully he gets more opportunities on NXT TV in the coming year. Team Hogan, captained by Roman Reigns, defeated the Randy Orton-led Team Flair in a fun 10-man tag team match before the night was stolen by Bray Wyatt, in a Falls Count Anywhere match against Seth Rollins. 'The Fiend' would defeat Rollins for the Universal Championship, and on Halloween, no less.

#7 Fastlane

Fastlane may be the forgotten hit of 2019. This year saw a vast improvement from previous versions of the event, which has recently been the last PPV on the road to WrestleMania. There were multi-man matches galore, as the likes of Samoa Joe, Aleister Black, Ricochet, Andrade, and The Revival among others showcased their skills. Daniel Bryan defended his WWE Championship against Kevin Owens and Mustafa Ali in an incredible triple threat match before KofiMania would take storm.

The New Day member would face The Bar in a handicap match at the event, after being tricked by Vince McMahon into thinking he was added to the WWE Title match. Despite the dominance of the heels on the show, Fastlane ended with a feel-good moment. The Shield reunited once to take on the heavyweight squad of Baron Corbin, Bobby Lashley and Drew McIntyre. It would be their final televised match as a 3-person tandem, with emotions running high within modern WWE fans.

Roman Reigns returning after a battle with leukaemia as well as Dean Ambrose leaving WWE in a couple of months, made this a truly special moment.

#6 Money In The Bank

The first pay-per-view after WrestleMania 35 was a good show. The Miz lost to Shane McMahon once again, Roman Reigns squashed Elias within seconds and Rey Mysterio vs. Samoa Joe had to end quickly following a supposed broken nose for Joe, causing to have a short PPV match for the second show in a row (Joe beat Mysterio in one minute at WrestleMania). One of the more compelling stories of the night was Becky Lynch's back-to-back title defenses against Lacey Evans and Charlotte Flair.

The Man retained the RAW Women's Championship but fell to the Queen and lost the SmackDown Women's Championship. Sadly for Charlotte, she would end up losing her newly-won title to Ms. Money in the Bank, Bayley, just moments after defeating Lynch. The night's main events, though, were what impressed the most. Seth Rollins and AJ Styles brought the house down with an epic encounter for the Universal Championship, while Brock Lesnar crashed what may have been the greatest Money in the Bank Ladder Match of all time. Some of the spots in the match were insane, particularly involving Andrade and Finn Balor.

Money in the Bank was living proof that mediocre TV does not lead to bad pay-per-views, as the Wildcard Rule began a couple of weeks before this show.

#5 Extreme Rules

Fresh off the announcements of Paul Heyman and Eric Bischoff as the executive directors of RAW and SmackDown respectively, the WWE Universe was buzzing with excitement. Some of the buzz carried over to the Extreme Rules pay-per-view. While WWE had to conclude some unappealing storylines, they did so in the best way possible. The Undertaker returned to redeem himself following his Super ShowDown disaster, teaming with Roman Reigns to defeat Drew McIntyre and Shane McMahon in an Extreme Rules tag team match.

Various matches impressed, including Cesaro vs. Aleister Black and The Usos vs. The Revival. However, some other highly-anticipated matches failed to live up to expectations. AJ Styles vs. Ricochet for the United States Championship was good but not great, while Kofi Kingston and Samoa Joe's WWE Championship match failed to engage the WWE Universe.

#4 Survivor Series

The inclusion of NXT in Survivor Series surely spiced things up and made the show much more exciting. The black-and-gold brand's rise to prominence could be classed as one of the highlights of 2019, starting with the post-Crown Jewel episode of SmackDown. We saw a number of triple threats, with the champions of RAW, SmackDown and NXT going head-to-head-to-head, as well as 15-person elimination tag team matches, for both the men and the women. In the end, WWE did a pretty great job.

The show made stars out of Rhea Ripley and Keith Lee, while Adam Cole and Pete Dunne shared a tremendous Takeover-style NXT Title match on a main roster pay-per-view. It was incredible. Brock Lesnar also had an enjoyable No Holds Barred match against Rey Mysterio, who almost pulled off the upset with help from his son, Dominic. Unfortunately, the show ended on a bit of a down note as the triple threat match between Becky Lynch, Shayna Baszler, and Bayley was not on the level that people expected it to be.

#3 SummerSlam

SummerSlam edges ahead of Survivor Series due to the general satisfying nature of most of the matches. Becky Lynch kicked off the show with a splendid Submission Match with Natalya, before we saw Goldberg recover from the Super ShowDown disappointment by repeatedly spearing Dolph Ziggler out of his shoes. Also, Kevin Owens handed Shane McMahon his first loss in quite a long time.

Another Canadian, Trish Stratus, came out of retirement and wrestled her final match in front of her hometown fans in Toronto as she put Charlotte Flair over in a tremendous effort. However, the best parts of SummerSlam were the final two matches. Bray Wyatt made his in-ring debut as 'The Fiend' here, disposing of Finn Balor with ease. The entire presentation of the character was spot on, from the entrance to the match. After that, it was time for Seth Rollins to prove to the fans that he was still one of the best wrestlers in the world.

He did just that, putting on spectacular effort against Brock Lesnar, before eventually pinning him to win the Universal Championship for the second time in 2019. Rollins was so good in this match, that he made the entire arena cheer for him despite being universally booed during his entrance.

#2 WrestleMania

One of the most feel-good WrestleManias ever.

WrestleMania 35 was one of the most feel-good 'Manias in WWE history and had it not been for the extraordinary length and the 12-match line-up (not including the 4 Kickoff Show matches), it would have been at the top spot. The Show of Shows opened with the host, Alexa Bliss, who brought out Hulk Hogan. Their posing session was quickly interrupted by an impromptu Universal Championship match, with Brock Lesnar refusing to wait for hours to defend his title. He would lose the belt to Seth Rollins, just like what would happen four months later at SummerSlam, in exciting fashion.

From then, 'Mania had some solid action including AJ Styles vs. Randy Orton and a Falls Count Anywhere Match between The Miz and Shane McMahon. However, the magic lied in the WWE Championship bout between Kofi Kingston and Daniel Bryan. As if it hasn't been told before, Kofi pinned Bryan to win his first WWE Title on the Grandest Stage, creating one of the greatest WrestleMania moments of all time. Kurt Angle and Batista wrestled their final matches, with the Animal's brawl against Triple H a prominent match on the card.

The main event was a triple threat between RAW Women's Champion, Ronda Rousey, SmackDown Women's Champion, Charlotte Flair, and 2019 Royal Rumble winner, Becky Lynch. Both titles were on the line in this historic match. It truly felt like a major deal and the final shot of the Man holding the Red and Blue belts is truly iconic.

#1 Royal Rumble

What a pay-per-view, from top to bottom.

While you may think "Wow, WrestleMania 35 was awesome. Why isn't it number one on this list?", Royal Rumble was simply outstanding. Every single match on this show connected on some level, aside from AJ Styles vs. Daniel Bryan which happened right after the energy-sapping (in a good way) Women's Rumble match. It was still a fantastic wrestling match, nevertheless. The show kicked off with an incredible match between Becky Lynch and Asuka, a match we might get at Royal Rumble 2020 as well.

Becky lost, but she would gain redemption by winning the 30-woman Rumble match, last eliminating Nia Jax and Charlotte Flair. Sasha Banks and Finn Balor put on tremendous showings in championship matches,but came up short against Ronda Rousey and Brock Lesnar respectively. Also, The Miz and Shane McMahon won the SmackDown Tag Team Championship following a fun match against The Bar. If that was not enough, the 30-man Royal Rumble match was still left.

While not an all-time classic, the 2019 men's Rumble did provide some exciting entrants. From old-timers like Jeff Jarrett to NXT stars like Johnny Gargano and Aleister Black, plus even women like Nia Jax, there was no shortage of surprises. In the end, Seth Rollins emerged victorious to stand tall and end the show after a long night of non-stop action. The one thing that made Royal Rumble stand out was the complete lack of filler. While WrestleMania had a few cool-down matches, 2019's first pay-per-view went full throttle and did not stop for anything.

Teddy Long snaps when Swerve Strickland's race is brought up HERE