The top 10 WWE matches of 2018

WWE's last major event of the year, TLC, is now behind us, as well as the last set of NXT tapings of 2018. As we gear up for a new year, it's time to start looking back at the last one. 2018 was an odd year in the company. Booking-wise, it was arguably the worst since 1995, with numerous duds and dreadful angles, particularly in the months before SummerSlam.

At the same time, 2018 has unquestionably been WWE's best in-ring year ever, with a catalogue of classics outnumbering any other. Dave Meltzer, usually hesitant to give WWE matches five-star ratings, dished out four in 2018, which was twice as much as any other year. NXT shined the brightest, but the main roster also had its moments of brilliance - more than it had any right to, considering its lacklustre booking. That we had such quality is a true testament to how good WWE's current roster truly is.

Choosing a top 10 from this batch is a tall order. How would it even be possible to leave some of what we saw out? Nonetheless, let's give it a try. Out of all of the classics we saw this year, these were the best.

Honorable mentions:

• Tommaso Ciampa vs. Velveteen Dream (NXT TakeOver: War Games II)
• Brock Lesnar vs. Daniel Bryan (Survivor Series)
• Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre vs. The Shield (Hell in a Cell)
• Aleister Black vs. Andrade "Cien" Almas (NXT TakeOver: New Orleans)
• Cedric Alexander vs. Buddy Murphy (205 Live, May 29th)

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#10 Aleister Black vs. Tommaso Ciampa (NXT, July 25th)

"Tommaso Ciampa...is the NXT Champion?!"

Despite it not taking place at a TakeOver, this felt like the most important match in NXT of the summer, and one of the most important matches of the year, period. A big fight feel was in place well before the bell rang. It was only a matter of Black and Ciampa rising to the occasion.

This was a high-intensity match in terms of both work rate and character work. Ciampa was the consummate slimy heel throughout the contest, finding creative workaround methods to counter the ugly truth that he didn't want to admit - he was outmatched in a straight fight. Ciampa tried every trick in the book, including with underhanded tactics, but Aleister Black countered him at every turn.

There were huge spots and surprising kickouts throughout the home stretch of the match, including Ciampa failing to secure victory after using a crutch while the referee was distracted. Black had him dead to rights with the Black Mass, but Ciampa had torn apart the ringside area to expose the concrete, and the referee was down.

Then came the biggest shock of all. Johnny Gargano stepped into the maelstrom and tried to "help," but instead wound up costing Aleister Black the title. Ciampa's victory was one of the most shocking moments of the year and set NXT on an ominous, but enthralling new course.

#9 Seth Rollins vs. The Miz (Backlash)

The best opening match of the year!

Thankfully, this awful pay per view had one redeeming quality - this match to open the show.

The crowd loved Seth Rollins as soon as he came out, which is where you want one of the competitors to be to have a great match. Miz heeled it up to start the match with cheap, repetitive stomps, and mocking Rollins' Curbstomp taunt, to the jeers of the crowd. The first near fall came with a snap DDT from Miz to Rollins, and the match got much hotter from there.

Just as Rollins was beginning his comeback, Miz caught him and looked for a Skull Crushing Finale, only for it to be countered into a roll-up for a two count. Rollins started to go on a roll from there, countering Miz at every turn, including rolling through Miz's top rope dive and reversing it into a slam. He hit a Frog Splash afterwards, only for a two count. Just as he signalled for the Curbstomp, Miz rolled out of the ring like a coward to a chorus of boos!

Things started to turn back in Miz's favor when Rollins banged his knee on the turnbuckle after a battle on the apron. That's when we got the iconic moment of this match - the struggle in the Figure Four where Rollins and Miz's faces both told the story!

After a rope break, both guys struggled until Miz finally hit the Skull Crushing Finale, only for a two count! The two struggled atop the turnbuckle, where Miz turned Rollins' Superplex/Falcon Arrow attempt into another Skull Crushing Finale only for yet another two count!

Finally, Miz attempted a Skull Crushing Finale from the turnbuckle, but Rollins reversed it and attempted a Curbstomp from that position. He landed on his knee, selling it beautifully. A sequence of rollups followed until Miz was too slow and got hit by a Curbstomp after Rollins reversed his pin attempt. Selling his knee again, he struggled over to Miz's fallen form to get the pinfall and victory.

#8 Triple H and Stephanie McMahon vs. Kurt Angle and Ronda Rousey (WrestleMania 34)

An unexpected gift

To say that this match exceeded expectations would be the understatement of 2018. The ingredients looked terrible on paper - two wrestlers far past their prime, one non-wrestler, and a rookie with zero experience. What we got out of this concoction was possibly the best debut match in history which stole the biggest show of the year.

At first, things didn't look good. Triple H and Kurt Angle plodded along - but that was all for a reason. It made us want to see Ronda Rousey. Stephanie McMahon did her part in delaying it as much as possible, taking Kurt Angle off the apron. When she finally got in the ring, things exploded. Rousey was all over the place, quickly erasing any doubts about her ability in the ring.

Particularly memorable about this match was the ultra-rare intergender violence - and it wasn't just in one way, either. When it appeared Ronda Rousey had the match won, Triple H pulled her out of the ring. Eventually, we got an exchange where Rousey sent a flurry of punches The Game's way and then attempted to get him in a Samoan Drop.

Stephanie McMahon would put a stop to this, and she held out for a surprisingly long time against Rousey, which was part of the novelty of this match. She got some surprising offense in against Rousey, but couldn't get the job done.

Stephanie McMahon even got put into an Ankle Lock by Angle for her efforts! He would go on to hit an Angle Slam on Triple H for a two count. Eventually, Angle got The Game into an Ankle Lock while he tried to crawl over to Stephanie, who was in danger of being put in an armbar. The Game reversed Angle's submission, which caused him to crash into Rousey.

The climax of the match finally came with an attempt at simultaneous Pedigrees between husband and wife, but both were reversed, Stephanie McMahon finally got the armbar, and Rousey triumphed to conclude one of the most entertaining matches of the year.

#7 Johnny Gargano vs. Aleister Black (NXT TakeOver: War Games II)

"I absolve you of all your sins"

Talk about making the best of a bad situation. After Aleister Black's injury derailed what was sure to be an amazing triple threat match at TakeOver: Brooklyn IV, NXT spun it into a mystery angle about who laid out the former champion. It was none other than Johnny Gargano, the person you'd least expect to be involved in such a dark act.

So Aleister Black returned to the ring at War Games to show the wayward Gargano the error of his ways.

After an intense stare down, Johnny Gargano delivered an insolent slap to the face of his opponent, and the match was on.

What was so great about this match was its combination of pace and storytelling. Worked briskly throughout, the only time the action stopped was when a certain point of the narrative was conveyed. For example, Johnny Gargano displayed shades of Tommaso Ciampa throughout the match, from his facial expressions to his DIY mockery. The men taunted one another. One instance had Black making a mockery of Gargano by sitting down in the ring and inviting him to take his best shot.

When the action was going, though, it was at warp speed. Some amazing moves and counters were shown by both men, such as Gargano's slingshot DDT to the outside and Black's counter of a suicide dive attempt with a jumping knee strike.

There were no rest holds in this match. Sometimes, it resembled a kickboxing match instead of a wrestling one. The only thing that resembled a resthold was when Gargano had the Gargano Escape locked on. Black almost looked like he would tap to the second one, but he reversed it.

Eventually, Black hit not one, but two Black Masses on Gargano. Before the second one, he told Gargano that his sins were absolved.

The match was proof positive that Gargano's attempt to use the power of the dark side had failed. He was no more successful than he was when he was the ultimate good guy.

It will be interesting to see where this turn of events will take Gargano in 2019.

#6 Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Asuka (TLC)

Carnage everywhere!

Wow, did WWE decide to send out 2018 with a bang? As soon as this match was announced, fans expected a match of the year candidate, and that's exactly what we got. This was a brutal war, with the contestants at times appearing more interested in destroying each other than in winning the title. Destroy each other they did.

The match didn't take long to get started with weapons. After an initial striking exchange, Charlotte Flair brought a ladder into the ring while Becky Lynch brought a table. Both weapons would come back to haunt Charlotte, who initially attempted to climb the ladder and retrieve the gold, but Asuka was there to powerbomb her through that table for her efforts.

The action quickly devolved into a war of attrition - who could survive getting hit with all the toys hanging around outside the ring? Lynch mauled her competitors with chairs and then hit a legdrop through the announcer's table on Charlotte in a throwback to Evolution.

Asuka avoided that particular catastrophe, and got the better of a kendo stick contest that emerged thereafter, but couldn't capitalize. Charlotte speared her, denting the barricade in the process.

Charlotte fought like a demon throughout the match, looking like she might just win the war of attrition. Her and Becky's hatred was palpable, and Charlotte cannonballed her former best friend through a table.

Asuka had a cooler head throughout the contest, though. She was the least consumed of the three by hatred, and it paid off with some smart decisions. Tough enough not to go down, she prevented Charlotte from reaching the championship.

That's when Ronda Rousey got involved to pay both Charlotte and Lynch back for their attacks on her in November. Tipping the ladder they were both climbing, Asuka seized her chance and captured the title that long eluded her.

The ending both saved Asuka's year and set up the Road to WrestleMania in perfect fashion. Everybody won, including the fans.

#5 Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair (Evolution)

The best women's match since Sasha vs. Bayley in Brooklyn

While Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch had seen good matches together, none rose to the level of a classic - until this match, that is. The feud was on fire in terms of storytelling, but the matches didn't seem to live up to it - until this match, that is. This was not only a match of the year candidate but one of the best women's and last man standing matches in WWE history.

There was a big fight feel long before the bell rang and with the crowd firmly on the champ's side, all the elements of a tremendous match were in place. Now it was up to the performers to take advantage.

The action started at a fast pace, with neither being able to take control of the match. So, on opposite sides of the ring, the two began to throw chairs inside, taunting one another as they did so. Charlotte also brought out a table, which would play a crucial roll later on. Lynch, in the meantime, smashed Charlotte with a chair (even if the shots weren't totally convincing). Charlotte responded by suplexing her onto a pile of chairs in the ring. Lynch responded in turn with one of her own, after grabbing a table Charlotte had put into the ring.

However, it was Charlotte who wound up setting 'The Man' up on it, but it didn't break after the Queen landed a moonsault. A second attempt, this time a cannonball, was more successful. The selling of the two women was incredible in the aftermath. Charlotte soon brought in a ladder and locked the Figure Eight on Beck Lynch through it. The champ was tapping, but that didn't matter here! She used a chair to break it up, even if the shots were, again, unconvincing. Lynch was able to break the 10 count by rolling out of the ring and landing on her feet.

Lynch attempted to escape through the crowd. Charlotte chased her down and the two fought back to the ringside area, where the Queen started tearing apart the announce tables and set up a ladder. Becky hit her from behind with her title, and after saying that that hit would be "the only way you'll get my title" to Charlotte, Becky set her up on the announce table, climbed up the ladder, and jumped off, hitting a leg drop to drive her opponent through it.

Charlotte taunted Becky as the 10 count closed in, asking if that was all she had. Lynch responded in a rage, laying another beating on her and burying her under debris, channelling Tommaso Ciampa in the process.

Somehow, Charlotte got up before 10, and the looks on the faces of both competitors was priceless! And somehow again, Lynch weathered one final assault from the Queen until she was able to counter an attempted moonsault with a powerbomb from the turnbuckle through the table Flair had set up earlier. This finally settled the matter, though Charlotte made it a very, very close call, almost getting back to her feet before 10!

Either way, Becky Lynch walked out still the champion, much to the crowd's delight.

#4 Adam Cole vs. Velveteen Dream vs. EC3 vs. Ricochet vs. Killian Dain vs. Lars Sullivan (NXT TakeOver: New Orleans)

This WAS awesome

This was more than just an insane adrenaline rush to open a show. It was actually the best ladder match since TLC II at WrestleMania 17.

The match was perfectly designed from the beginning, as all six competitors had a role to play. Adam Cole was the slimy, sneaky competitor looking for any opportunity. EC3 was the jack of all trades. Velveteen Dream would be there to get as much attention as possible and take insane risks. Sullivan and Dain would be the monsters that ultimately cancelled each other out, and Ricochet was the high-flier tailor-made for this kind of match.

The crowd knew what they were in for, chanting "this is awesome" before the bell even rang!

Ricochet's springboard shooting star press got the action started nicely, and it was all adrenaline from there. Since it would be impossible to detail all of it, let's just go over a list of some of the insane bumps we saw in this match:

Lars Sullivan throwing a ladder to knock down all five of his competitors.

Ricochet attempting a sunset flip powerbomb off a ladder on Lars Sullivan, eventually getting assistance from Velveteen Dream, EC3, and Adam Cole to get the job done.

Velveteen Dream delivering a Purple Rainmaker elbow off the top of a gigantic ladder.

EC3 powerbombing Velveteen Dream from halfway up one ladder and onto another one in the corner.

Killian Dain Vader Bombing on to a ladder with EC3 under it and with Adam Cole on his back.

Ricochet turning Lars Sullivan's attempts at tipping him off the ladder into a moonsault to the outside on Killian Dain and Adam Cole.

Velveteen Dream hitting his Death Valley Driver on Ricochet on a makeshift ladder bridge.

Lars Sullivan hitting the freak accident on EC3, with Velveteen Dream underneath him and resting on another ladder bridge. The ladder broke. Mauro Ranallo jumped from his seat!

Killian Dain slamming Adam Cole and hitting a laying Ricochet with a legdrop on another ladder bridge. The ladder broke.

Ricochet delivering an avalanche neckbreaker onto Velveteen Dream from the top of the ladder, just as Dream was grabbing at the championship!

At the end of it all, Adam Cole's sneakiness prevailed. He tipped Ricochet over, climbed the ladder, and became the first NXT North American Champion.

#3 Johnny Gargano vs. Andrade "Cien" Almas (NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia)

NXT started an amazing year off with a bang

It was always going to be hard for them to beat their sleeper classic at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III, but they did all of that and more this time around. Immediately after the final bell rang, it was being hailed as one of the best matches in WWE history. In terms of sheer work rate, it was the best match in WWE this year, if not in history.

For Gargano, the title shot came at a time when he was just emerging out of a period of heartbreaking losses, which saw him come all the way back to be #1 contender. For Almas, he came in needing to prove his legitimacy as NXT Champion, after he shocked the world by unseating Drew McIntyre in shady fashion.

After wowing us with a few minutes displaying how technically proficient they were, Almas and Gargano upped the ante outside, showing off their agility until the latter was roughly thrown to the ground while attempting a flip.

Afterwards, the two continued to go back and forth. However, despite the amazing offense dished out by both, neither man was able to finish the other off. The selling of these two was unbelievable!

That's when Zelina Vega came in. She would be a frequent source of interference in the match, interrupting the Gargano Escape where it looked like Gargano finally had the champion beat. Finally, Candice LeRae had enough and jumped the barricade to tackle Vega, to one of the biggest pops of the night.

Gargano would go on to hit a slingshot DDT and lock in the Gargano Escape from there, only for Almas to get his foot on the rope. The heartbroken look on Gargano's face won't soon be forgotten.

Almas followed this up with double running knees on Gargano into the turnbuckle and then a Hammerlock DDT from the top rope, securing victory.

But heartbreak wouldn't stop for Gargano there. As he and Candice LeRae walked up the ramp to the adulation of the crowd, Tommaso Ciampa returned, smacking the battered Gargano in the back with a crutch, and thus, we were on the road to another classic.

#2 Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa (NXT TakeOver: Chicago II)

Johnny's descent into madness begins

Johnny Gargano may have won the battle, but Tommaso Ciampa vowed to win the war. After sending him to the hospital and hurting Candice LeRae, the next match between the two was made for Chicago - the city where this whole mess began a year earlier.

Things got started with a shot of Candice LeRae giving Johnny Gargano a crutch backstage and admonishing her husband to "kick Tommaso Ciampa's ass." Ciampa came out again to a chorus of boos, wearing a shirt that read "Ciampa takes over Chicago." He ran to the ring and the fight was on.

And by fight, I mean fight. This was no wrestling match. The two brawled all over the place and with all kinds of weapons. Wrestling moves were important in revealing Gargano's weakness in the early going, though - his previously injured neck. A series of German Suplexes from Ciampa exposed the vulnerable area. It would play a major part throughout. Ciampa wrapped a chair around his opponent's neck and slammed it into the stairs. Gargano writhed in agony.

Ciampa brought handcuffs in the ring but was unable to use them, as Gargano fought back, using his belt to vicious effect. Ciampa came back with Project Ciampa, but only got a two count out of it. A slam onto the steel steps only got Ciampa another near fall.

That's when he began to tear apart the ring, Nexus-style, exposing the wooden planks. Both men tried to slam each other onto them but were unsuccessful. Gargano would eventually, after taking another beating, realize the weakness of Tommaso Ciampa's knee, viciously assaulting it.

Ciampa eventually retook the upper hand and dragged Gargano up the ramp, admonishing his opponent "you did this to yourself." In a replay from TakeOver: Chicago the year prior, Ciampa slammed Gargano into the LED board at the top of the entrance ramp.

He stacked Gargano's body atop some crates. He took Gargano's wedding ring off, spat on it, and threw it away.

It was at that point that Johnny Gargano used Tommaso Ciampa's own move against him and slammed him into the tables below. At that point, he had the match won. The crew was going to take Ciampa away, to the hospital, but then Gargano looked at his empty ring finger, and his face twisted into an enraged parody of itself. He took Ciampa to the ring to lay a bigger beating on him, even handcuffing his former best friend.

At the very last second, though, Gargano's rage would cost him, as Ciampa hit him with a middle rope DDT onto the exposed wood for the three count. He did this even while handcuffed. The shocked faces in the crowd were a sight that will be hard to forget.

This out of the blue loss would be the catalyst to send Gargano into a dark period for the rest of 2018.

#1 Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa (NXT TakeOver: New Orleans)

An all-time great

After the ladder match to kick off this show, it was hard to envision anything that would top it, but this contest did. A year in the making, it lived up to the hype and then some. The perfect mixture of an action-packed adrenaline rush and supreme drama, it immediately and indelibly cemented itself as WWE's match of the year, and it remained so, despite the many classics we got in the eight months since. That feat is a testament to the quality of this story and the competitors involved.

High drama was in place before the bell even rang, with Tommaso Ciampa coming down to the ring for a match for the first time since May 2017. His only music was the thunderous jeers of the crowd. Meanwhile, Johnny Gargano came down to his usual uplifting melody, calmly, all too calmly. It was a true calm before the storm.

When the action finally commenced, it was magic from the get-go. Everything was high intensity, with the crowd creating a magic atmosphere by cheering Gargano and booing Ciampa with thunderous enthusiasm.

When Ciampa started to get the upper hand, the first masterful element of storytelling in this match was laid down - he removed the protective padding on top of the concrete floor. He wouldn't use it, though. We were kept in suspense as Gargano fought him off, moving the action to the announcer's table, from which Ciampa would suplex him off.

The pace slowed down, but Ciampa's character work meant that every move would become a sadistic display that had the crowd jeering at the top of its lungs, begging for Gargano's comeback.

The second element of storytelling came into play when Ciampa brought crutches into the ring after stealing them from an enraged fan - the same kind of crutches he was on for almost a year after tearing his ACL and which he used as a weapon on Gargano during his intense rivalry with Andrade "Cien" Almas. Ciampa swung and missed, though, and that's when Gargano came back. We were again kept in suspense, with Ciampa trying to suplex Gargano from the ring onto the exposed concrete. Gargano, however, eventually powerbombed his antagonist onto it. The concrete came back to haunt the person who exposed it! The crowd roared in delight, with booming chants of "you deserve it!"

The two men slowly got back into the ring, staring at one another in shock and pain from opposite corners. Then they crawled toward and struggled over the crutch lying in the centre.

Gargano won the crutch and began swinging in rage at Ciampa, hitting his previously injured knee. The look on his face was a story in itself. He would hit a slingshot DDT for a two count. He then exposed the turnbuckle, but wouldn't get to use it, as the two men struggled with Gargano on the apron. Ciampa would reverse an attempt at a second slingshot DDT with a flying knee and then hit a powerbomb to get a two count of his own. He followed up with a mockery of DIY, bringing back half of their old finisher, only to get another two count.

Following a struggle, Gargano finally locked in the Gargano Escape, and after a thrilling sequence with the crowd roaring for Ciampa to tap, he reversed it in a characteristic way - by raking Gargano's eyes and nose. Another brutal struggle followed, with Ciampa hitting Project Ciampa, only for Gargano to somehow kick out, to the relief of the crowd.

Ciampa gloated in Gargano's struggle, loudly proclaiming that it was "his moment," but the antagonized Johnny Wrestling somehow came back, hitting a superkick, sending Ciampa into the exposed turnbuckle, and then hitting two more superkicks, the last of which saw spit and sweat flying all over the ring. I thought it was over there, but Ciampa kicked out!

The crowd couldn't believe it either.

Shockingly, the two then struggled on the top turnbuckle, with Ciampa hitting Project Ciampa from there.

And then came the second unbelievable kick out of the match!

In desperation, Ciampa took off his knee brace, but that would prove to be his undoing, as Gargano slammed it into his hurt knee, and after one more extraordinary sequence, where it looked like the former DIY brothers might make up, after all, Johnny Gargano used the knee brace in an STF. Ciampa tapped immediately, and, for that triumphant moment, Johnny Wrestling had been avenged.

It had been not only the best match of 2018 but one of the best of all time.