'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
2019 hasn't been an easy year for WWE fans. What looked like a promising start quickly sputtered out after the Royal Rumble. WrestleMania season was drab, comparatively speaking, with an underwhelming main event that didn't live up to the hype.
Afterward, things really started to take a nose dive, despite a popular set of champions. Formulaic booking reared its ugly head as fans tuned out in droves and a "wild card" rule was introduced which has only added even more confusion to the programming.
In this environment, any match of the year candidate is a welcome break, and thankfully, we have a solid set from the first half of 2019. Before we head into the back half of the year, why not go and take another look at these 20 matches?
Note that this isn't a ranking yet. That will come in December. These are simply the candidates that will be up for consideration when the Holidays come around. They are presented in chronological order.
#1 Rey Mysterio vs. Andrade "Cien" Almas (SmackDown, January 15th)
Even now at the end of June, this is probably still the best pure wrestling match on main roster television in 2019 so far. Superbly timed, Andrade came away from it looking like a million bucks, despite his tainted victory thanks to interference from his manager, Zelina Vega. That's what heels are supposed to do.
This was the closest Andrade has come to his best since the former NXT Champion got the "promotion" to the main roster last April. It was important indeed that he won here, even though it didn't do him much good in the long run.
Meanwhile, this was Rey Mysterio's best match in WWE since he made his return last fall. Injuries would, unfortunately, take their toll on his 2019 campaign, but this was the reason many fans were excited to see him back in a WWE ring. It's just too bad these two couldn't have a title match together.
#2 Ricochet vs. Johnny Gargano (NXT TakeOver: Phoenix)
It was going to be hard for anybody to live up to the nearly flawless campaign that Johnny Gargano had in 2018, but he was right back where he left off as 2019 began, pumping out a classic match with Ricochet for the North American Championship in Phoenix.
Johnny Gargano looked like he was going to fail again as the match went down to the wire, so he needed to channel his dark side. Taking a page out of Tommaso Ciampa's playbook, he slammed Ricochet on the exposed concrete and then hit his finisher in the ring to get his first singles title in WWE.
#3 Aleister Black, Ricochet, and Velveteen Dream vs. Tommaso Ciampa, Johnny Gargano, and Adam Cole (Halftime Heat)
Before WWE started taking its spring nosedive, it actually managed to steal Superbowl weekend. It stood in stark contrast to a Superbowl event and halftime show that most NFL fans found boring.
This wasn't a great psychological thriller. Because of the limited time it had, each guy needed to get their spots in. It was a spotfest, but it was a smartly-paced one, and a lot of fun in the heat of the moment. Go back and watch this again and tell me that it doesn't get your adrenaline up. You'd be lying.
#4 Tony Nese vs. Noam Dar (205 Live, February 12th)
Even more so than before, 205 Live is an underappreciated brand. As a result, many of you might have missed this match. If so, you should go back and watch it now. Tony Nese and Noam Dar had a hectic no disqualification match that never faltered.
The match featured an innovative use of weaponry that accentuated the strengths of the cruiserweight wrestlers. Both guys suffered severely, but Nese came out on top in the end.
Nese's hard-fought win set him up on the course to dethrone the dominant Buddy Murphy at WrestleMania 35.
#5 Gauntlet match (SmackDown, February 19th)
And thus, Kofimania was born.
Kofi Kingston wasn't ever supposed to be in this match. He took the spot of the injured Mustafa Ali. Despite this, he was the star of the match, lasting the longest and going through several opponents before finally succumbing to exhaustion.
The match instantly catapulted him in status. Fans remembered that this was a guy that had paid his dues and entertained them for a decade. Now he was in the Elimination Chamber match.
It was to be the start of a meteoric run that single-handedly saved WrestleMania season.
#6 Daniel Bryan vs. AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe vs. Randy Orton vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Jeff Hardy (Elimination Chamber)
This was easily the best Elimination Chamber match in years. Kofi Kingston, the unexpected entrant and hot from his astounding gauntlet match performance, was the talk of the town. Yet, even without him, this match would have been worthy of consideration on its own merits.
Everybody fought hard and sold the brutality of the Elimination Chamber structure. That said, the ending of this match is obviously going to be the thing we first think of when going over it. Kofi Kingston was so tantalizingly close but came up just short at the end of this brutal affair. His New Day brothers were by his side during the heartbreak as fans poured forth their affection.
That's how you get someone over. If only WWE could do it all the time.
#7 Johnny Gargano vs. Velveteen Dream (NXT, February 20th)
By virtue of his victory in the Worlds Collide tournament, Velveteen Dream got an NXT title shot of his choosing. Surprisingly, he chose to go after the newly-minted North American Champion Johnny Gargano rather than the NXT Champion, Tommaso Ciampa.
It wasn't an easy match. Johnny Gargano declared that he was "feeling dangerous." And still, Velveteen Dream managed to be kryptonite to Johnny Wrestling yet again. Both men gave each other everything they had, but Velveteen Dream's hand was raised in victory after several nail-biting near falls.
In the rafters, Tommaso Ciampa looked on disapprovingly. He had offered his help, was turned down, and true to his word, Johnny Gargano lost without him.
#8 #DIY vs. Undisputed Era (NXT, March 6th)
After losing his NXT North American Championship, Johnny Gargano finally accepted an offer to reform #DIY with Tommaso Ciampa, much to the chagrin of Candice LeRae. Their first task in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic wasn't an easy one. It would be to take on the former NXT Tag Team Champions, the Undisputed Era.
What we got was a fast-paced, action-packed affair, as we should have expected, given the talent involved in the contest.
Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa would win in the end. Tommaso Ciampa's proclamation - that when #DIY was together, they win - was starting to prove correct.
#9 Daniel Bryan vs. Kevin Owens vs. Mustafa Ali (Fastlane)
Daniel Bryan defending his WWE Championship against Kevin Owens was a prospect that excited fans by itself. Then Mustafa Ali came back unexpectedly to make this a triple threat match.
There wasn't any way this was going to be a bad match with these three involved in it and it lived up to the hype. The triple threat tropes didn't hamstring this match in any way. All guys got their spots in, but did so smartly.
Despite the offense that Kevin Owens and Mustafa Ali got, however, Daniel Bryan prevailed to remain the Planet's Champion.
#10 The Shield vs. Drew McIntyre, Bobby Lashley, and Baron Corbin (Fastlane)
Forget the house show from April. This was the real last stand of The Shield. That would be memorable enough on its own, but it was also Roman Reigns' first match back since his leukaemia went into remission. Goodwill overflowed through the arena. Fans realized they were witnessing the end of an era.
These circumstances managed to make this match feel much bigger than the main event of a filler pay per view, as the iconic stable did battle with the familiar heel trio of Baron Corbin, Drew McIntyre, and Bobby Lashley.
The action spilt all over the arena, as the six men brawled throughout the stands. Eventually, though, The Shield prevailed, of course. It almost feels like a different world now, but this match reminded us of everything we loved about The Shield when they made their legendary debut at Survivor Series in 2012.
#11 Aleister Black vs. Ricochet vs. Adam Cole vs. Velveteen Dream vs. Matt Riddle (NXT, March 20th)
The sudden injury of Tommaso Ciampa created a shock vacancy in the NXT Championship scene. Johnny Gargano was already set to go to TakeOver: New York to challenge for the title, but now he had no champion to challenge.
To determine the other man to vie with him for the vacant title, NXT held a fatal five-way match between five of the best in the business. Unsurprisingly, it ruled. There was no way it wouldn't. Four of the fabled "NXT 6" were in the mix, along with Matt Riddle who would soon begin taking over their torch.
This match was in a way, bittersweet, because NXT had just lost Ciampa, and it would soon lose Black and Ricochet, two of its other leading men. It was another end of an era, of sorts.
#12 Tag team gauntlet (SmackDown, March 26th)
Kofimania was in full swing by this point. Yet, it didn't seem like the New Day member would make it to WrestleMania after all. To get him there, his brothers would have to fight for his cause.
This was a match that had everything. It had high stakes and drama before the bell rang. It had great wrestling. It had a great callback to the New Day's story with The Usos, who forfeited the contest in a show of respect to their longtime rivals turned friends.
The New Day prevailed and sent Kofi Kingston to WrestleMania. It was one of the highs of the year.
#13 War Raiders vs. Aleister Black and Ricochet (NXT TakeOver: New York)
What a show-opener this was. Aleister Black and Ricochet went toe to toe with the more powerful War Raiders, but what put this match on the map was the contest of agility between Ricochet and Hanson. It seemed surreal, but Hanson was indeed matching Ricochet flip for flip.
Aleister Black and Ricochet nearly had the match in the bag, but everyone knew that this would be their NXT swan song, and they went out in the best way possible. After a hard-fought loss and a show of respect between them and the champions, they took their bows and left NXT behind.
Little did we know that the War Raiders would soon follow them.
#14 Velveteen Dream vs. Matt Riddle (NXT TakeOver: New York)
The Dream is a real phenomenon. At 23 years old, he is quickly becoming one of the best ring performers in the world. Not only that, but he also can add atmosphere and flavour to a match in ways that no one else can. He has a natural knack for telling stories in the ring.
His match with Matt Riddle intersected these two aspects of professional wrestling. The former UFC star dominated most of the match and the roles were slowly reversing. Dream came in as the arrogant heel figure, but in the middle of the match, he became the fighting underdog as Riddle became more arrogant.
Riddle was clearly the superior combatant, but Dream's showmanship and a knack for psychology saw him pick up the win from behind.
It's sure to be one of the best storytelling matches you'll find all year.
#15 Pete Dunne vs. WALTER (NXT TakeOver: New York)
All good things must come to an end. 685 days after he won the UK Championship in WWE's 2017 match of the year, Pete Dunne's time was finally up.
It wasn't easy for WALTER. Despite his size and power advantage, Pete Dunne used his gritty wrestling style for maximum leverage, going after his opponent's weak spots. No matter how big you are, having your fingers bent in unnatural ways is always going to hurt.
Still, WALTER was more enduring, and he wound up winning the war of attrition. It was the most appropriate way to end a legendary reign.
#16 Johnny Gargano vs. Adam Cole (NXT TakeOver: New York)
This was the first match in WWE history to get a rating of over 5 stars in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, but that's surely absurd. This wasn't better than Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Bret Hart, for example. It also had some tropes that are annoying in modern wrestling. The constant finisher kickouts, including double team ones, bordered on the absurd.
What saved it, though, was that everyone expected this to finally be Johnny's big night after a two-year journey full of the highest highs and the lowest lows. As he himself put it, he was "starving."
Despite all the odds against him, Johnny Gargano prevailed. It was as good a substitute for a triumphant win over Tommaso Ciampa as could be found. The odds needed to be stacked absurdly against Johnny that night and they were.
#17 Daniel Bryan vs. Kofi Kingston (WrestleMania 35)
It all came down to this. Kofi Kingston had overcome all the obstacles and the heartbreak to get to WrestleMania. Now he had to really win the big one. It wasn't an easy task. Daniel Bryan was a formidable, ruthless champion.
Nevertheless, Kofi Kingston won.
It was basically full circle from Daniel Bryan's own cathartic victory at WrestleMania 30 five years prior. The place came unglued as Kofi Kingston celebrated in the ring with his two sons.
This should have been the main event of WrestleMania. Nothing else that night came close.
#18 Seth Rollins vs. AJ Styles (Money in the Bank)
This basically felt like Vince McMahon throwing a bone at fans, because he knew that they wouldn't appreciate the three Baron Corbin title matches in a row that were coming afterwards.
Though the build to this match was decidedly lacklustre, the action was everything that fans had been hoping for. Styles and Rollins are two of the best ring workers in the world and they showed it that night. It was just the kind of Universal Championship match that fans had been hoping for once the red strap had finally been liberated from Brock Lesnar.
#19 Matt Riddle vs. Roderick Strong (NXT TakeOver: XXV)
This was just a rock-solid wrestling match. It was about each man breaking the other's body until one of them couldn't fight anymore.
For a while, it looked like that was going to be Matt Riddle. Roderick Strong went to work on his back, delivering some brutal backbreakers. Matt Riddle was losing mobility. His back gave out when trying to perform some of his moves.
And yet, he grit his teeth and fought through the pain as adrenaline took over. That fighting spirit would eventually bring him victory in a thriller.
#20 Johnny Gargano vs. Adam Cole (NXT TakeOver: XXV)
Despite pretensions to the contrary, this was better than the first one in New York. The wrestling was more psychologically sound and the stakes were higher. Everyone knew that New York was going to be Johnny's night. This one was much more in doubt.
As it turned out, for the second time in a row, Johnny Gargano failed to defend a championship on the first try. Adam Cole didn't even need reinforcements, though he made motions of calling the Undisputed Era out as the referee was down.
It was just a bluff. Adam Cole outfought Johnny that night. He became champion on his own, ending his own two-year journey.
What makes Sting special? His first AEW opponent opens up RIGHT HERE.
