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With WWE TLC, the last PPV of the year, right around the corner, it's always nice to have a look back at how the year went. It has in general been an up and down year for the WWE.
It was able to expand its boundaries and venture into new lands, while on the other hand, it has suffered its lowest ever ratings this year.
In a year where so much has happened, we do a countdown of the top 5 pay per views of the year.
#5 Money in the Bank
Money in the Bank has always produced an entertaining product ever since it was introduced, and this year it didn't disappoint.
It didn't have the best buildup for a pay-per-view, but the loaded card featured a fair share of stellar matches.
Braun Strowman and Alexa Bliss won their respective Money in the Back matches, and were the highlight of the evening.
The long-running rivalry between AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura also finally reached its conclusion in a Last Man Standing match for the WWE Championship. It was easily the strongest of their series of matches in the storyline, and finally saw AJ Styles come out as the victor.
The match between Nia Jax and Ronda Rousey was surprisingly good as well, as neither were very reputed workers at that time.
On the downside however, the Chicago crowd enjoyed hijacking the Roman Reigns vs Jinder Mahal match with chants for anything and everything but the competitors involved, and Sami Zayn vs Bobby Lashley was turned into a one-sided squash, while Asuka once again lost the title match due to interference from James Ellsworth.
#4 Survivor Series
Since the brand extension back in 2016, Raw vs SmackDown Live has been the theme of Survivor Series.
This year the exceptional in-ring action made Survivor Series worth watching, starting with the first two elimination tag team matches.
Seth Rollins and Shinsuke Nakamura burned the house down in their first-ever one-on-one encounter, before Buddy Murphy and Mustafa Ali took it to another level.
The AOP vs The Bar match was handy as well, but got overshadowed by Drake Maverick wetting his pants.
Brock Lesnar vs Daniel Bryan was a fast-paced action filled affair, with Brock winning, while in Charlotte vs Ronda, Ronda was handed the beating of a lifetime by Charlotte, which shocked one and all.
For sure, the blue brand getting swept by Raw 6-0 (apparently the pre-show doesn't count or matter) was strange, but all in all it was a good package put together by WWE.
#3 Hell in a Cell
The 2018 edition of Hell in a Cell had an amazing lineup from top to bottom, with a handful of excellent matches that made the tickets worth every dollar.
The night's first match between Randy Orton and Jeff Hardy was the perfect way to culminate their ruthless rivalry. Jeff ascended to new heights in an attempt to put The Viper away, only to miss by a distance, allowing Orton to score the victory.
Becky Lynch was able to finally get her hands on the SmackDown Women's Championship, while the remarkable Raw Tag Team Championship match pitting Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre against Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose was tag team wrestling at its finest, and one of the best matches of the year.
The mixed tag match allowed The Miz to snatch a win over Daniel Bryan, while Ronda Rousey vs Alexa Bliss was an improvement over their SummerSlam encounter
Much was anticipated for the match between Braun and Roman, but it fizzled out badly with Brock also getting involved and smashing everything in the ring to bits.
#2 Royal Rumble
For the first time since 2013, the men's Royal Rumble match was held in the middle of the show. The placement of the much anticipated Battle Royal hardly mattered as everyone involved had their time to shine. The match was filled with surprises, and Shinsuke Nakamura emerged victorious after by eliminating Roman Reigns, sending the crowd into a frenzy.
The triple threat Universal Championship clash between Brock Lesnar, Braun Strowman, and Kane was pretty disappointing (as was slightly expected from it), but both the SmackDown Tag Team and WWE Championship matches were good to watch.
The Bar was able to snatch the Raw Tag Team titles by beating Seth Rollins and Jason Jordan.
The highlight of the night was the women's Royal Rumble match. In addition to all of the ladies from Raw and SmackDown Live, many familiar faces from the past as well as NXT appeared for the Rumble, and helped contribute to what was an entertaining main event.
Asuka emerged with the victory, and then Ronda Rousey's shocking debut brought out a new sense of excitement for the division.
#1 Evolution
When it was announced that Evolution, the first-ever all-women WWE pay-per-view, would be held just a few days ahead of Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia, its sole purpose was believed to be distracting fans from the fact that the female wrestlers won't feature in Saudi Arabia.
Despite WWE failing to build up the PPV and create hype around it, the women put on an event for the ages. The seven matches that featured varied from good, to great, to amazing.
Trish Stratus and Lita returned for an outing against Alicia Fox and Mickie James. Nia Jax won the women's Battle Royal to earn a future title shot, while Toni Storm toppled Io Shirai to win the 2018 Mae Young Classic.
Sasha Banks, Bayley, and Natalya put together an amazing match against The Riott Squad, while Shayna Baszler regained the NXT Women's Championship from Kairi Sane.
Ronda Rousey and Nikki Bella's encounter also turned out to be better than expected.
But the best has to be the Last Woman Standing match between Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair, arguably one of the best women's matches in WWE history.
