Top 10 WWE Storylines of 2019

WWE had a pretty average year, with lots of highs and lows. The main roster product was not at its best, but there were still several great feuds on RAW and SmackDown. Just like every year, there were a few storylines that stood out over others.

Whether they were on RAW, SmackDown or NXT, fans were captivated by top-class storytelling as well as some excellent action. NXT, in particular, had a stellar year with every Takeover event being a massive hit.

Despite a probable dip in quality of WWE's main roster programming from the prior year, the company did produce some gems as they always do.

Here are the ten best WWE storylines that happened in 2019.

#10 Daddy's home

This storyline is nowhere near complete, but it has already been compelling enough to warrant a place on this list. After Tommaso Ciampa heartbreakingly vacated the NXT Championship, he turned babyface almost immediately by celebrating with Johnny Gargano after he defeated Adam Cole to win the vacant title at NXT Takeover: New York.

He returned to NXT at the start of October, staring at his precious "Goldie". Ciampa's chase to reclaim the NXT Title still has a way to go, but he did get one up on Adam Cole, the current champion. The former DIY member led his team of warriors against the Undisputed Era in a hellacious War Games match at the namesake Takeover last month.

The surprise appearance of Kevin Owens was one of the highlights of said match, but it was Ciampa who stole the show by hitting Cole with an Air Raid Crash off the top of the cage through two tables. He is due for a championship match and while this story will likely climax during WrestleMania weekend, NXT has done a fantastic job to keep the fans invested in it so far.

#9 Io Shirai's descent into darkness

She has been phenomenal throughout the year.

Io Shirai started the year as the ultimate babyface, flying all over the place and winning her matches with seamless finesse. She looked like the one who would dethrone Shayna Baszler as NXT Women's Champion. Shirai faced Baszler at Takeover XXV, but lost an agonizingly close contest. Her frustrations boiled over in the following few weeks.

After an unlucky defeat in a steel cage match to the Queen of Spades, Shirai turned heel by attacking Candice LeRae, who had helped to even the odds for the Genius of the Sky during her championship battles. This brought out a new dark side to Io Shirai, with a change in look, music, and overall presentation.

She defeated LeRae in a spectacular match at Takeover: Toronto in August and is now drifting across the upper echelon of the hottest division in the entire wrestling industry. Even though circumstances have not allowed her to become the champion yet, Io Shirai's move from good to bad has been nothing but a rousing success.

#8 Ripley ends Baszler's reign of terror

After a year of domination by Shayna Baszler, up stepped Rhea Ripley to take a shot at the NXT Women's Championship. Just like the previously mentioned Io Shirai in the first half of 2019, Rhea had become the woman that everyone expected to end Baszler's reign of terror. Unlike Shirai and the rest of the women who made attempts over the course of Shayna's 416-day reign, however, Rhea was able to beat her with the gold on the line.

The feud began with the rest of the NXT women's division involved, resulting in a War Games match. Rhea's strong personality and fearlessness earned her the spot as team captain on her side, and Team Ripley faced Team Baszler inside the double cage structure. Ripley was able to come out victorious despite half of the team not making it into the match. Rhea pinned the Queen of Spades herself to claim victory, staking her claim for a title opportunity.

She was granted one on the 18th December edition of NXT and made good on it, pinning Baszler after an avalanche Riptide. It was a terrific way to end a compelling fight between an evil champion and her most menacing challenger. Whether or not this feud is done, Rhea Ripley vs. Shayna Baszler has been one of the best programs on the yellow brand this year

#7 Brock Lesnar vs. Rey Mysterio

A few days before his WWE Championship match against Kofi Kingston on SmackDown's premiere on FOX, Brock Lesnar savagely attacked Rey Mysterio and his son, Dominick. It seemed like a simple exhibition for The Beast, a beatdown that he perpetrated just to show that he could do it, but it became much more than that. After his quick victory over Kingston, Lesnar was confronted by an injured Mysterio and a debuting Cain Velasquez.

The program was highly intriguing even though the match between Lesnar and Velasquez at Crown Jewel was disappointing. However, it turned out that the real feud was indeed between Lesnar and Mysterio. Paul Heyman's client quit SmackDown the following night and moved back to RAW so he could fight the Master of the 619. This program brought the best out of both men.

Mysterio was the ultimate underdog and Lesnar proved his worth as a universal danger as well as a convincing seller. The match at Survivor Series saw Mysterio come incredibly close to winning the WWE Championship, as he and Dominick hit a double 619 on The Beast in the No Disqualification match. While Lesnar retained the title, Mysterio carried this wave of momentum forward and captured the US Title one night later.

#6 Rise of The Man

The Man has risen to unbelievable heights.

Honestly, this should be much higher on this list but the convoluted nature of the women's main event scene on the Road to WrestleMania halted a lot of Becky Lynch's momentum. This still holds up thanks to the historical significance of The Man's victory at WrestleMania and the fact that women main eventing the Show of Shows was nearly unthinkable prior to 2019.

After Becky won the Royal Rumble match in thrilling fashion, she immediately challenged Ronda Rousey for the RAW Women's Championship at WrestleMania 35. This was an alteration to WWE's likely original plan of Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte Flair as the main event of the Show of Shows, making The Man's ascent even more remarkable. The company was forced to put her in the match, even if they wanted the Queen to be involved.

Becky, Ronda, and Charlotte all shared boiling hatred for one another and their tussles were always intense, dating back to the previous fall. In the end, it was the Irishwoman who stood tall at the end of 'Mania with both the RAW and SmackDown Women's Championships. It was an unbelievable culmination of a story that was filled with twists and turns galore.

#5 The Boss versus The Man

Although she lost the SmackDown Women's Championship not too long after WrestleMania, Becky Lynch has held the RAW Women's Championship since that monumental victory at WrestleMania. Her reign peaked towards the end of the summer. On the night after SummerSlam, Sasha Banks made her surprise return after a lengthy absence from WWE. She turned heel and revealed her new look, with blue hair.

This completely freshened up Sasha's character as she began to feud with Becky for her title. It was intense and compelling, with the two brawling all over the place. The Man proved just how good she is, especially when her opponent is of a similarly high level. Aside from the great promos and exciting build-up, the action was stupendous.

Despite their first match ending with a brawl into the stands, it was still the best match on the Clash of Champions card. Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch took it up a notch with their Hell in a Cell match. It was a classic, a vast improvement over the first-ever women's Cell match. The Man retained her title after giving everything she had. Just some really solid booking and spots. Sometimes, the best feuds are the simplest and most straight-forward.

#4 An Undisputed prophecy

After Adam Cole's loss to Johnny Gargano at NXT Takeover: New York, it looked like cracks were beginning to form in the Undisputed Era. Their promise of winning all the gold on NXT was further than ever from reality. However, they gradually recovered. Cole defeated Gargano in an epic rematch to win the title at Takeover 25.

Roderick Strong, Kyle O'Reilly, and Bobby Fish were all gaining momentum to eventually become champions. O'Reilly and Fish did so shortly after Takeover: Toronto, after dethroning the Street Profits. In the same month, Cole ended his feud with Gargano with another banger and Strong was getting closer and closer to Velveteen Dream's North American Championship.

On the first episode of NXT on USA, the Messiah of the Backbreaker defeated Dream to win the title and fulfill the Undisputed Era's prophecy of winning every championship on the yellow brand. Since then, they have been pretty dominant and all four will hold on to their respective titles heading into 2020. NXT did a superb job in making each crowning feel organic rather than a forced attempt to give a stable dominance.

#3 Hurting and Healing

The most perfectly built character in years.

Bray Wyatt's story is one that has a very visible past, an entertaining present and an equally compelling future. When the Firefly Fun House vignettes began to air, nobody believed it would lead to Wyatt becoming the biggest star in WWE. Through the subtle storytelling and flashes of genius, the former WWE Champion stole the WWE Universe's hearts.

The Fiend was born and targeted everybody who wronged him. This is a character that has been well thought-out by his portrayer. Whether he first appeared on RAW to terrorize Finn Balor, attacked any of the returning legends, or simply took the Universal Championship from Seth Rollins, The Fiend has been spectacular so far. Well, aside from that Hell in a Cell match.

The best thing is that Wyatt chooses the consequences for his victims, via the 'Hurt' and 'Heal' gloves. He used the 'Hurt' glove to finish off Balor and Rollins, both of whom turned heel in the near future, while the 'Heal' glove helped Daniel Bryan bring back the Yes Movement. The overall storytelling of The Fiend has been excellent and instead of a solitary storyline standing out, his whole run so far must be considered.

#2 NXT Takes Over

This year's Survivor Series would have been an extremely tired and illogical affair had it just been RAW and SmackDown fighting each other once again. Thankfully, the inclusion of NXT freshened things up. While the build-up to the show was littered with brawls all around the place, there was a lot of fun stuff as well. Think back to the night after Crown Jewel.

After the WWE crew in Saudi Arabia could not make it back in time for an episode of SmackDown, Triple H and his troops were called upon to fill in. It turned out to be a fantastic, memorable show, and the yellow brand looked amazing that night. Statements were made and big matches were won. Adam Cole retaining the NXT Championship over one of the company's biggest stars, Daniel Bryan, was the perfect way to end the show.

Over the next couple of weeks, through unlimited run-ins, on all three of WWE's brands, we got to see some dream matches like The Revival vs. Undisputed Era and Rhea Ripley vs. Becky Lynch. Finally, despite "literally" going through war a night earlier, NXT's soldiers came out on top at Survivor Series. A victory for Shayna Baszler over Bayley and Becky Lynch in the main event solidified the yellow brand's victory.

NXT had an incredible night at Survivor Series, one which has likely made them an official equal third brand. 2019 will be remembered as the year that NXT was truly put on the map, with their TV deal and Survivor Series. This truly was a great period for WWE.

#1 KofiMania

While the previous stories featured excellent storytelling, great action, and satisfying conclusions, the hottest storyline going into WrestleMania 35 had it all in abundance and tugged on the WWE Universe's heartstrings on multiple occasions.

After an injury to Mustafa Ali, Kofi Kingston stepped up to replace him in the Elimination Chamber match for the WWE Championship. What happened next was career-changing.

Kingston put on a spectacular performance in both a gauntlet match a week prior and the Chamber match itself. He came agonizingly close to defeating Daniel Bryan and winning the WWE Title but it just didn't happen for him.

While he was granted another title shot, the storyline was prolonged with Vince McMahon rejecting the New Day member as a main eventer on several occasions and giving him matches that were impossible to win.

Daniel Bryan's role as the heel in this storyline was tremendous, as he played the role that he was up against just five years earlier. The machine's champion. It was spectacular to see that versatility and brilliance from a generational performer, who was selfless in putting other people over.

The Ghanaian Superstar cut many impassioned promos, as did Xavier Woods and Big E. After another few gauntlets involving all three members of the New Day separately, Kingston finally got his match.

The match between him and Bryan at WrestleMania was incredible, possibly the greatest main roster match of the entire year and definitely the most emotional. Kingston put on a magical performance as he ended up winning the WWE Championship on the Grandest Stage of Them All.

Endings don't get much sweeter than this and thanks to the journey Kofi Kingston and Daniel Bryan took us on, KofiMania running wild was the best WWE storyline of 2019.