WWE: 10 Best matches of March 2019

March was vintage WWE. For the most part, the month felt incredibly underwhelming, with little excitement as we head on to WrestleMania 35. And yet, mysteriously, we somehow got some really great matches throughout it. Even the lackluster, unexciting Fastlane overperformed with great wrestling on the pay-per-view.

Notably absent from this month's list of best matches is anything involving the women's division, which has fallen off a cliff since the Royal Rumble. Charlotte and Asuka's title match on SmackDown this week was easily one of the best-worked TV matches this year, but the horrible booking and story behind it meant that I couldn't conscientiously add it to the list. Good work rate is necessary for a great match, but it isn't the only element.

What matches should you go back and watch from this month? Here are the best 10.

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#10 Aleister Black and Ricochet vs. The Forgotten Sons (NXT, March 27th)

This won't be the last time you see Black and Ricochet on this list. They carried the Forgotten Sons to a surprisingly good tag team match this week, and they've gelled quickly as a tag team despite them being a cobbled together alliance of singles stars. I suppose that shouldn't be surprising when these two are both among the best in the business.

The Forgotten Sons used their superior size to their advantage here, and they took control of the action for a good portion of the match, but they ultimately couldn't match the superior skill of Black and Ricochet, who secured the Dusty cup with their victory. They're now on their way to TakeOver: New York on Friday for what should be their last call in NXT. It will be a sendoff to remember.

# 9 Moustache Mountain vs. Street Profits (NXT, March 6th)

This was an excellent way to kick off the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. The Street Profits have improved as a team, and they took it to the always reliable Moustache Mountain in a high impact thriller of a contest. Even the weakest competitor in the match, Angelo Dawkins, had a surprising amount of good spots.

Tyler Bate and Trent Seven would eventually pick up the victory and move on to the next round, but this opened more eyes to the Street Profits, who I wasn't much of a fan of before this match. I look forward to seeing more of what they can do in a proper tag team title angle once the dust from TakeOver: New York begins to settle. With a little more fine-tuning, these guys can be more established players in the yellow brand's tag team division.

#8 The Revival vs. Aleister Black and Ricochet vs. Chad Gable and Bobby Roode (Fastlane)

Aleister Black and Ricochet impressed in their first main roster pay per view performance. This was one of only several matches which made Fastlane punch above its normal, underwhelming weight. The two NXT call-ups were the stars of the match as they did most of the things they've done best at Full Sail for the past year. Fortunately, it doesn't appear like the main roster has restricted their move sets.

As expected, they didn't win the titles that night, as Gable and Roode were there to take the fall, but the two NXT standouts flattened everyone in the aftermath of the match, including The Revival, who have been treated like jokes as champions. One suspects that their time with the titles is coming to a close. Hopefully, these two won't be a tag team for too long, though.

#7 Samoa Joe vs. Andrade vs. Rey Mysterio vs. R-Truth (Fastlane)

In a follow up of their first fatal four-way match which saw Samoa Joe secure the title, these guys did battle again at Fastlane, and as you would expect with the likes of Joe, Rey Mysterio, and Andrade in the match, this was explosive. Even the underrated R-Truth had his moments.

The match made Samoa Joe look like a menace, which is something that he needed after all those high profile losses in 2018. Mysterio, Andrade, and R-Truth all played their parts by keeping the action brisk, which meshed well with Samoa Joe's smash-mouth brawling style.

He walked out the champion and afterward declared himself unstoppable. We've heard that before and seen the opposite in every instance that it mattered, but he's on the right path again, at least. He's walking into WrestleMania 3with gold and going against Mysterio.

#6 Aleister Black and Ricochet vs. DIY (NXT, March 13th)

Aleister Black and Ricochet make their third appearance on the list, though that shouldn't be surprising, especially when they were up against two others in the celebrated "NXT 6." What can you say about this match? It was a great second main event in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic episodes of NXT, the tournament has started the week before.

DIY was doing surprisingly well as a team together, and then Johnny Gargano fell short...again. Or it seemed that way. Tommaso Ciampa had earlier proclaimed that he and Gargano won wherever they went together, only to be proven wrong.

But it was a ruse. Gargano pounced just when Ciampa thought he was vulnerable. Unfortunately, injury intervened and stopped us from seeing the climax in this two year story, which is tragic indeed. Nevertheless, this was a great match and angle.

#5 DIY vs. Undisputed Era (NXT, March 6th)

What a great main event this was for the first episode of this year's Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. With DIY taking on the Undisputed Era, you knew it was going to be.

The Era was the most dominant tag team in all of WWE for 2018, but they've been in a slump this year, which seemingly permitted the unlikely reunion of Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa to walk out of Full Sail with a victory that night. Nevertheless, DIY had to fight hard for it. The Undisputed Era didn't go down quietly.

DIY's victory seemed to lend credence to Tommaso Ciampa's prognostication - that they were unbeatable together, but as we just saw, those words would ring hollow. This was a great way for NXT to set up the ruse that was coming the next week. It was nonstop action that actually forced the Network into an overrun on time.

#4 The Shield vs. Baron Corbin, Drew McIntyre and Bobby Lashley (Fastlane)

Roman Reigns' triumphant return from cancer set this one up, and with Dean Ambrose's coming departure, emotion was hyped up that much further. Bobby Lashley, Drew McIntyre, and Baron Corbin, cobbled together though they were, made great foils for The Shield in their last ride.

The action went all over the place. It was the kind of no holds barred brawl that made The Shield so famous and explosive after they debuted in WWE in 2012. For a while, things looked like they might not go The Shield's way, but that was never a realistic possibility. The Hounds of Justice decimated their opponents one by one and did one final Triple Powerbomb to secure their victory.

It will be Dean Ambrose's last victory in WWE's annals, at least for now, but there was no better way for it to happen.

#3 Aleister Black vs. Ricochet vs. Adam Cole vs. Velveteen Dream vs. Matt Riddle (NXT, March 20th)

I think it's safe to say that Aleister Black and Ricochet were the MVPs of March, but when you add two more members of the "NXT 6" plus Matt Riddle to the equation, you knew you were in for a wild ride. That's what this was.

With Tommaso Ciampa's tragic injury, Triple H wasted no time in setting this matchup, and it gave us some explosive action and combinations. All of the guys came close to victory on several occasions, but it was Adam Cole who finally broke out of his slump and sneaked one out, ambushing Ricochet with the last shot and taking some measure of revenge on the guy who's been his boogeyman since last summer.

He thus won a shot at the vacant NXT title at TakeOver: New York. Meanwhile, we also saw a preview of Dream and Riddle's own match for that night and it certainly didn't disappoint us.

#2 Daniel Bryan vs. Kevin Owens vs. Mustafa Ali (Fastlane)

Kevin Owens has disappointed in big spots more than once, so I was tentative about this match, but he did more than fine across the ring from Bryan. Mustafa Ali's last minute entry was a nice touch too that picked up the action and turned it into a match of the year candidate.

Ali opened a lot of eyes with this match and we look forward to seeing where his career takes him from here.

All eyes were on Daniel Bryan, though, and he looked every bit the champion that he is with WrestleMania looming. Come what may, Daniel Bryan always has a way to win, even when the odds are against him, and that's what he did here.

And it will make his clash with Kofi Kingston next week, with the odds seemingly in his favor, all the more satisfying.

#1 The New Day's gauntlet match (SmackDown, March 26th)

There was never any doubt about this one. Kofi Kingston's second gauntlet match was disappointing, but this one performed in the way we all want a gauntlet match to. It had everything.

The New Day fought as hard as they could for their brother as they were brutalized by ruthless opponents. They still fought through the pain. There was a callback to their epic rivalry with The Usos and it came full circle, with the champions forfeiting out of pure respect for their opponents and Kofi Kingston.

Finally, they overcame Daniel Bryan and Rowan and at last secured Kofi Kingston's shot at the title at WrestleMania. The sheer adulation was palpable. This is everything professional wrestling should be. Vince McMahon should take notice and compare it without empty and overscripted he has made the women's triple threat main event feel in comparison.