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Over the years, WWE has turned into the BIGGEST commercial platform in the world of "Sports Entertainment" today.
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This is not to say that they have completely stepped away from having occasional five-star matches, as this is what reminds us the reason we became wrestling fans, to begin with. While 2018 has definitely had it's ups and downs in terms of the overall product, today we will be looking at 10 main roster matches that wowed fans and had them on the edge of their seats from start to finish.
Thinking back on moments like Shinsuke Nakamura failing to win the WWE Title at Wrestlemania 34, and among other dreadful moments, it makes it a bit challenging for the handful of great matches to get the credit they deserve.
Lucky for you, this article has picked out the best of the best for all to look back on and say "This was actually a pretty good year to be a wrestling fan." With this year slowly but surely coming to an end, here are 10 of the best main roster matches of 2018 (so far).
#1 Finn Balor vs Seth Rollins - IC Title - Raw, April 30th
At this specific point, Rollins and Balor had already faced each other a handful of times. This match proved that these two CANNOT have a bad match.
If anything, it proved to be the most entertaining of all. Both men had a spectacular showing here, especially because they already knew each other so very well leading up to this point.
Guys that have proven themselves in the face of adversity time and time again like Rollins are the perfect foe for guys with a real fighting spirit and an "Ultimate Underdog" mentality like Balor. Seth Rollins + Finn Balor = five-star match. Every. Single. Time.
#2 Asuka vs Charlotte WrestleMania 34
While many see this as a match that could've been a little longer, the outcome is still talked about til this day and it was still a great match overall.
Almost everyone in the building was rooting for Asuka to pick up the victory, as it made the most sense to let the Smackdown Women's Championship be the cherry on top of Asuka's undefeated streak.
But, as everyone knows, this was not the case as it was Charlotte who locked in figure 8, making Asuka tap out.
The story here was that Charlotte had never faced anyone like Asuka before in her career, but the EXACT same thing could be said vice versa. So, no matter the outcome, fans knew they would be in for a jolly good show either way.
#3 Men's MITB Match - MITB 2018
This match did not disappoint and was nothing short of entertainment
Despite it being painfully obvious that it was time for Braun Strowman to shine, this was still a highly entertaining match.
This is one of the rare occasions where audiences expect to be wowed right out of the gate. This is partly because of the stipulation of the match, but it's mainly due to the fact that everyone in the match has something different to bring to the table.
This often brings a unique level of excitement different from a standard singles or a tag team match.
Everything came together so perfectly here. Guys like Strowman, Joe, and Rusev were a lot of people's favorites to win this match, most likely due to their amazing strength and alpha male personas. No discredit to high flyers like Kofi and Finn Balor, who did more than making a statement in this match. Especially Balor, for it being his first MITB, he did an amazing job showing his lack of fear with that awesome Coup de Grace off the ladder.
The Miz, honestly, was a comedic refresher for a lot of people. Running to get the briefcase while everyone else is focused elsewhere was hilarious.
The face he made when Braun Strowman ran through the ladder was amazing. Kevin Owens looked so helpless falling off that ladder onto the table and taking nothing away from Bobby Roode who earned his spot like everyone else. This match did not disappoint and was nothing short of entertainment.
#4 Smackdown Gauntlet Match
This is another one of those rare occasions where the fans expect explosiveness from start to finish.
This gauntlet match is storytelling at its best. You have Big E, who did really well-letting everyone know that he could hold his own in the ring, reminding everyone that he was a singles champion once upon a time.
You have Samoa Joe, who looked ready to decimate any and everybody that stood in his way like always. The Miz, seizing the moment and taking advantage of a beaten up Daniel Bryan, furthering their rivalry.
You have Rusev, who always delivers when it comes to entertainment, but isn't afraid to get his hands dirty in the ring either. And lastly, you have the previously mentioned Daniel Bryan who was, according to a lot of people, the star of the match.
With Bryan lasting longer than any of the other competitors, Rusev won the fight, Daniel Bryan won the night.
#5 Seth Rollins vs Finn Balor vs The Miz - IC Title - WM 34
Disclaimer: More than one match on this list will feature the IC Title. These guys (The Miz and Seth Rollins) have done an absolutely amazing job with keeping the IC Title relevant and prestigious.
Thumbs up to Balor as well, who did an awesome job making everyone think he was really going to become champion for a second.
Although Balor didn't get the win, he played a huge part in making the match as entertaining as it was.
Let's be honest, each participant in this match is a worthy contender of that title and each man deserved the opportunity they received, but it was definitely Seth's time to shine here. To no surprise, he became an excellent fighting champion and the perfect example of what a champion should be.
Even if the person you wanted to win, didn't win, you can admit that this was still an amazing bout and nothing short of a classic that will go down in the history of our memories and the WWE Network of course.
#6 Seth Rollins vs The Miz - IC Title - Backlash
This goes without saying, but this match was the ONLY good thing about Backlash 2018. It had everyone on the edge of their seats, in the arena, and watching at home.
They really played on Rollins' injured knee a lot, causing everyone to really buy into a few of the false finishes, which made this match that much more must-see.
With a stacked card ahead of us, we really didn't know what to expect from the rest of the show, but it can be said that everyone knew this would be the match of the night.
Both guys literally putting on a show stealer, making it extremely hard to follow, and putting the rest of the locker room on notice with their unmatched talents.
Seth Rollins is already known as one of the most consistent workers in today's batch of superstars, and The Miz can really put on great matches when he's not cowering away in fear, hiding behind his wife.
This was just an all-around great match. To be honest, this could be on par with any NXT TakeOver match and it would still rank pretty high. Both men are just that good. Period.
#7 Raw Gauntlet Match
Don't get me wrong, the Smackdown Live gauntlet match mentioned earlier was absolutely phenomenal. However, the gauntlet match here was different. Not only because it had more people, but because it showed us what an iron man looks like in the form of Seth Rollins.
With a match that would take up most of the show's airing time, you'd think fans would get bored, right? Nope. These guys went out there and tore it up with amazing matches and great storytelling. Rollins and Reigns had a really solid opener, putting friendship to the side to handle business. Then came John Cena working over an extremely tired Rollins, with no success he tries to get Seth counted out, great work John.
Seth would eventually fall to Elias, bearing a record-breaking 1 hour and 5 minutes of wrestling. That's the longest in Raw's history. Similar to the Smackdown Live gauntlet, Braun Strowman wins the fight, Seth Rollins wins the night. Every man in this match was responsible for making this gauntlet what it was, amazing!
#8 AJ Styles vs Rusev - WWE Title - Extreme Rules
For a lot of fans, this match was a dream come true. You have Rusev, who has been extremely over for some time now. Then you have AJ Styles, who is one of the best wrestlers in the world. That way it's a win-win because no matter who picks up the victory, they both could be cheered and celebrated.
The storytelling of Rusev's leg being targeted was smart on Styles' part because obviously then he wouldn't be able to lock in The Accolade. They managed to keep a methodically consistent pace throughout the match.
When Aiden English removed the turnbuckle pad, most fans bought into the thought of "Hm, maybe Rusev could win". This was not the case as it only managed to work against Rusev, causing him to lose the match, and his chance to become WWE Champion.
Nevertheless, it was obvious that both men were willing to pull out all the stops and grab the gold.
Plus, any match that gets the "This is awesome!" chant, perfectly aligns with this list. Even though most fans were let down with the result, this was still an amazing sight to see. This was truly a masterpiece and a perfect example of high-end professional wrestling.
#9 Seth Rollins vs Kevin Owens - IC Title Raw, Aug 27th
If I told you that Seth Rollins vs Kevin Owens had an amazing match, you would say "Of course they did!".
Kevin Owens, who has had some pretty weird run-ins with Braun Strowman recently, felt that his life had become miserable because of that and that he needed the IC Title to recover.
You'd expect the match to be something of greatness, seeing that KO was extremely desperate and Seth being up for a fight at any time to defend his title.
And the match didn't disappoint, but although the match itself was perfection, Owens would eventually lose to Rollins. In this situation, seeing the look on his face after the match and hearing him utter those words "I quit", was very weird because he honestly didn't have anything to be ashamed of.
He put everything he had into that match and maybe on a different day, at a different time and place, he could've won. This match proved that these two men should be more than respected in the wrestling business. We hope that neither of them quit wrestling anytime soon.
#10 AJ Styles vs Shinsuke Nakamura - WWE Title - MITB
They are two of WWE's main guys on Smackdown Live
Wrestle Kingdom 10 was undoubtedly their best match, there's no denying that. But it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to say that this is a close second. Many thought that it would be Nakamura's time to shine as he failed every other time to take the championship from Styles.
And considering that he also failed to take the title from Jinder Mahal last year, many thought that Shinsuke would get the victory. So if we take out all the other matches except this one and the one from Wrestle Kingdom 10, would you be wrong to think that this feud would rank really high among legendary feuds?
Though not as good as Gargano vs Ciampa the night before, this match was still a testament to how far both men have come in the world of pro wrestling.
Also, who's to say where the WWE would be if AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura hadn't jumped ship when they did? They are two of WWE's main guys on Smackdown Live with AJ still running the camp, and Nakamura holding on to the U.S. Title. God bless Nakamerica!
