What an incredible start to the year for the in-ring pro wrestling by World Wrestling Entertainment. January started off slow, with Reigns vs. Joe on the first RAW of 2018 the clear highlight and then a lot of good not great stuff. But then Royal Rumble weekend happened, Mixed Match Challenge and 205 Live stepped up, and hey look at that it’s WWE’s best in-ring month since April 2017. No Top 25 here – we’re going TOP 50.
1. NXT Title: Andrade “Cien” Almas [c] w/ Zelina Vega vs. Johnny Gargano (NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia 1/27/18)
Just a marvel of a wrestling match… angles and stories are fun, but when the in-ring hits a peak like this you’re reminded all over again why this stuff is amazing. This match had smooth beautiful intense hold-trading that made me go OH WOW WRESTLING IS GOOD, hyper-speed counter and strike-filled wrestling that made me go THIS IS INCREDIBLE, and a wildly dramatic finish with some all-time great near falls that made me go THIS MIGHT BE THE BEST MATCH I HAVE EVER SEEN. Johnny’s selling and timing + Almas’ aggressiveness and desperation = excitement, drama, WRESTLING. An absolute war for a championship, pro wrestling perfection.
2. WWE Intercontinental Title: The Miz [c] w/ The Miztourage vs. Roman Reigns (RAW 1/29/18)
Roman and Miz have such good chemistry and their matches are a total throwback – great characters, crazy hot crowd, minimal bumps, and every big moment counts. Tons of great little things made it all the better, including Miz’ reactions to Reigns no-selling his stuff, Reigns’ deadlift spots, and Miz’ leg work paying off. A couple of absolutely insane near falls put it over the top. So much wrestling fun here.
3. If Roman is DQ’d, He Loses The Title – WWE Intercontinental Title: Roman Reigns [c] vs. Samoa Joe (RAW 1/1/18)
I am trying to think of a non-problematic way of saying that this was so awesome because it was two Samoans beating the crap out of each other but I just can’t think of it. That’s what it was though. This is main event heavyweight wrestling, baby. Joe is a beast here, just wrecking Roman and trying to goad him into a DQ, while Roman just sells his face off. Some amazing sequences of wrestling leading to amazing near falls towards the end here too. All of their matches are high quality but this is the best so far.
4. Extreme Rules: Aleister Black vs. Adam Cole (NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia 1/27/18)
As far as the overplayed Extreme Rules gimmick goes, this was incredible. Violence, crazy bumps, and just fun as hell. Black was a bump machine and delivered on the intensity, while Cole finally showed why he’s here with a pretty amazing acting and selling job. At the end of this match, there were no ECW chants – it was N-X-T.
5. NXT Women’s Title: Ember Moon [c] vs. Shayna Baszler (NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia 1/27/18)
Told a simple story, executed it perfectly, and had a crowd completely losing its’ shit – what up, pro wrestling. Shayna Baszler as Minoru Suzuki was great, Ember Moon struggling for like 20 minutes in a cross armbreaker and the crowd being on the edge of their seat for it was special.
6. Men’s Royal Rumble Match (Royal Rumble 1/28/18)
What an incredible thought: an actual crowd-pleasing Royal Rumble from start to finish. WWE has such a strong, varied roster right now and everybody got a moment to shine and was used was used to their fullest here, from Jinder Mahal vs. The New Day to Heath Slater vs. Everybody to Almas and Balor as the Iron Men to the New Guard vs. Old Guard finish. Possibly the best Rumble final two ever as well, Nakamura vs. Reigns was a wonderful dynamic and Philly was hot for it.
7. Mixed Match Challenge – Round 1: Braun Strowman & Alexa Bliss vs. Sami Zayn & Becky Lynch (MMC 1/30/18)
Sometimes your tag match doesn’t need a heel beatdown; sometimes all you need is interesting characters interacting. This is a pure character-based match with a lot of greatness going for it: Braun being an over as hell monster, Alexa being over-confident because Braun is at her side, Becky Lynch being the super over birthday girl, and Sami Zayn being a cowardly jackass who alternated between rallying the crowd with HAPPY BIRTHDAY chants and pretending to not be able to tag in to help Becky because he was scared of Braun. Braun would just get more and more frustrated as he couldn’t get to Zayn, and when he did get a hold of him – oh MAN. A match that made me think, “All wrestling should be like this.”
8. Women’s Royal Rumble Match (Royal Rumble 1/28/18)
Another perfectly booked Royal Rumble match – surprises, cameos, moments, showdown. A moment in history type of match, one that spanned generations of the WWE women’s division but still had you knowing the stars of today are the real stars. So much fun.
9. Sasha Banks vs. Asuka (RAW 1/29/18)
A TV version of what would be an incredible main event. Did a great job selling Sahsa trying to out-wrestle Asuka and Asuka punishing for it, and there are a couple of all-time great bumps by these crazy cats too. You just know Sasha was telling Asuka to lay the kicks in too. Both laying down just completely exhausted post-match was awesome as well.
10. WWE Intercontinental Title: Roman Reigns [c] vs. The Miz w/ The Miztourage (RAW 1/22/18)
These guys didn’t even really do anything but it was still a tremendous match – great bumps, timing, stalling, selling. Absolutely insane near fall off the SkullCrushing Finale too.
11. Mixed Match Challenge – Round 1: Finn Balor & Sasha Banks vs. Shinsuke Nakamura & Natalya (MMC 1/16/18)
Two great mixed tag pairings here, with everybody tearing it up to get this tourney off to a hot start. Nakamura catching Sasha’s tope, the Sling Blade counter of the Kinshasa, and Sasha’s save off the sliding knee were highlights.
12. WWE Cruiserweight Title Tournament – Round 1: Cedric Alexander vs. Gran Metalik (205 Live 1/30/18)
A great kick-off to the Post-Enzo Cruiserweight Title Tournament, with both guys taking their time and milking their shit before they got to the craziness. And boy was it crazy. This match also features the first ever 2-0-5 chant.
13. Seth Rollins w/ Jason Jordan vs. Finn Balor w/ Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson (RAW 1/15/18)
Two of the more exciting young skinny fellers in the game today bringing the crowd to their feet with an excellent finishing sequence. I liked how they played with their signature moves here, and Balor’s selling made things all dramatic and stuff. Way better than the SummerSlam match, especially given the added benefit of Balor’s shoulder not being wrecked.
14. Asuka vs. Nia Jax (RAW 1/15/18)
An abbreviated version of the classic we know these two have in them because they had it back in December 2016 in Osaka, Japan. These two just work so well together – Asuka is a great ass-kicker, but she’s even better as an underdog. Her selling of a bearhug is pro wrestling.
15. Lars Sullivan vs. Lio Rush (NXT 1/10/18)
An AWESOME 5-minute match, with Lio running around all hyper-speed and Lars being all frustrated and pissed off before he CRUSHED. There’s a spot here where Lars throws Lio into the corner and Lio basically explodes and ends up on the apron. Incredible.
16. Cedric Alexander vs. Mustafa Ali (205 Live 1/23/18)
Great example of a cold match between two good guys that slowly built into an awesome. They went from matwork to a shoving match to crazy-ass spots to both guys just throwing blows and the crowd eventually being like, “Alright, alright – you got me.”
17. Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match: John Cena vs. Finn Balor w/ Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson (RAW 1/29/18)
Built slow with some wrestling, closed strong with some intensity, and had John Cena putting up a Too Sweet. Awesome more than anything for John Cena morphing into WWE’s Genichiro Tenryu, a grumpy aging star who’s tired of this kiddy shit. “I’m just trying to go to WrestleMania.”
18. NXT Title #1 Contender’s Match: Johnny Gargano vs. Velveteen Dream (NXT 1/24/18)
Awesome hold-trading early, hot crowd, Johnny selling, big near falls towards the end… what else do you want in your wrestling? Also liked how these two always seemed to be, more than anything, trying to out-wrestle each other. Dream’s effeminate tapout is the cherry on top.
19. 2/3 Falls – SmackDown Tag Team Title: The Usos [c] vs. Shelton Benjamin & Chad Gable (Royal Rumble 1/28/18)
Whenever an Uso gets revving, the wrestling gets special. I really liked how they had a bunch of hot near falls leading to the first fall here, as the WWE fan has been engineered to expect the first fall to go quick. Lots of neat stuff packed in here too – Gable’s tiger suplex, the stuff building to Usos’ double superkicks, and the nasty Hart Attack on the floor. Creative finish as well.
20. SmackDown Tag Team Title: The Usos [c] vs. Shelton Benjamin & Chad Gable (SmackDown 1/2/18)
A good Usos match along with a pretty incredible Dusty finish. Incredible athleticism, frenetic pace, hot crowd – The Usos rule, and Gable and Benjamin might not be over but damn can they keep up.
21. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Baron Corbin (SmackDown 1/23/18)
I bet Shinsuke got told he was winning the Rumble prior to this match and was like, “Alright, time to go to work.” A match that got some time that just kept getting better, eventually ending with a hot finish. Might be the best Nakamura has looked outside of the Rumble and Zayn match – his selling, speed, and kicks were all on point. Sweet End of Days counter here too.
22. Triple Threat Match – WWE Universal Title: Brock Lesnar [c] w/ Paul Heyman vs. Braun Strowman vs. Kane (Royal Rumble 1/28/18)
Just a big dumb WWE main event, a little off sometimes due to old man Kane but otherwise just the best case scenario – Braun wrecking shit, Braun and Brock shooting on each other, and fun spots with tables and chairs. Brock bringing in a chair, Braun punching the chair, Braun giving Brock a lariat, and Braun tossing Brock’s ass over the top was a great wrestling moment. Too bad it just kind of ended, but this was a blast.
23. Jason Jordan w/ Seth Rollins vs. Cesaro w/ Sheamus (RAW 1/1/18)
Another entry into the cool series of Jason Jordan working every top guy on the RAW roster. There were a couple flubs here but otherwise they had a fine, realistic-feeling TV match that actually got a point across of JJ hanging with Cesaro. Cesaro’s work over JJ’s leg was inspired stuff too.
24. WWE U.S. Title #1 Contender’s Fatal 4-Way Match: Kofi Kingston w/ Big E and Xavier Woods vs. Zack Ryder vs. Jinder Mahal w/ Sunil Singh vs. Rusev w/ Aiden English (SmackDown 1/30/18)
Just a bunch of fun stuff, any time the SmackDown midcard gets to run wild in these multi-man matches it’s a good use of TV. Liked Kofi’s crazy dive, Rusev firing up on Jinder, and Jinder’s hard boot to Ryder after the Broski Boot.
25. The Bludgeon Brothers vs. Chris Wylde & Rory Gulak (SmackDown 1/30/18)
This was like a mini-movie of a squash match and I loved it for that. There’s an awesome shot of Gulak trying to back away off the steps from Rowan, but he turns around into Harper who was waiting off-screen. SO COOL. Other than that, just great scary Bludgeon destruction.
26. Kassius Ohno vs. Raul Mendoza (NXT 1/10/18)
This has Raul Mendoza showing he’s the best under-the-radar newcomer in WWE with a bunch of awe-inspiring flying and Lucha tricks, and Ohno keeping up with everything because even if I hate his stupid basketball jersey bullshit he’s still a dynamic professional.
27. Samoa Joe vs. Rhyno w/ Heath Slater (RAW 1/8/18)
Fast-paced old fat man action, two big boys just throwin’ HANDS. Loved the finish with Rhyno managing to lift Joe before getting caught with the choke. A perfect simple squash match.
28. 2-on-1 Handicap Match: Roman Reigns vs. The Miztourage w/ The Miz (RAW 1/15/18)
The beatdown might’ve been a little tame, but this is still Big Match Roman we’re talking about – he sells his ass off and the crowd is going wild. Finish comes together real well.
29. Kalisto, Sin Cara & Lince Dorado vs. TJP, Jack Gallagher & Drew Gulak (Royal Rumble Kickoff 1/28/18)
Even though the arena was like 10% full, this was a better than usual cruiserweight match with all the usual cool stuff these guys do plus a little extra energy. Chain wrestling, flying, an awesome triple moonsault off the post, and Gran Metalik again showing he’s awesome.
30. WWE U.K. Title #1 Contender Match: Roderick Strong vs. Tyler Bate (NXT 1/31/18)
Bate brought the fluid but realistic-feeling wrestling, Roddy brought the chops and backbreakers. Just good chemistry between these two, and the folks were freaking out as they threw shots at each other towards the end.
31. AJ Styles vs. Sami Zayn (SmackDown 1/23/18)
This kind of felt like a 205 Live match, with a bunch of good bits wrapped inside a pretty apathetic package. Zayn was aggressive, AJ was bumping like a crazy person – on the stairs, in the corner, off a tornado DDT. And they got a sweet near fall off a pele kick.
32. Jey Uso w/ Jimmy Uso vs. Chad Gable w/ Shelton Benjamin (SmackDown 1/23/18)
Just a great little TV match, Jey is a quality talent but this was all about Chad Gable: big bumps, big moonsault, big Chaos Theory German.
33. Braun Strowman vs. Rhyno w/ Heath Slater (RAW 1/1/18)
Fun squash followed by a classic babyface angle, with Braun cutting an all-time great promo that started the GET THESE HANDS GIMMICK, and then destroying Rhyno and Heath with like fifty powerslams to raucous “ONE MORE TIME” chants.
34. Mixed Match Challenge – Round 1: Big E & Carmella w/ Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods vs. The Miz & Asuka (MMC 1/23/18)
The weakest of the three MMC matches in January but still a rollicking good time. Had a fun house show vibe to it, and Big E and Carmella really seemed to like teaming up – matching one-pieces, big foam “L” spot, etc. Extra credit to Carmella who always amps up the theatrics when she’s running away from Asuka.
35. The Ascension vs. The Bludgeon Brothers (SmackDown 1/9/18)
A 30-second crazy-ass sprint squash. Everybody went hard, felt like an MMA tag match or some shit. Awesome.
36. WWE U.S. Title Tournament – Semi Final: Xavier Woods w/ Big E and Kofi Kingston vs. Jinder Mahal w/ The Singh Brothers (SmackDown 1/16/18)
A fine 80s-style WWE enhancement match – got some time, built it well, kept it basic but it never wasn’t interesting. Xavier threw in a couple cool spots and bumps too. And Jinder’s decision to start the match with a kick to the head was very nice.
37. NXT Title: Drew McIntyre [c] vs. Adam Cole w/ Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish (Special Guest Referee: Shawn Michaels) (NXT 1/3/18)
Very much a house show type of match – light on energy, but high on stalling, Cole bumping around, and special ref HBK hamming it up. Nobody bought for a second Cole was winning, but everybody had a good time. Also has Drew doing a freakin’ swinging FutureShock DDT.
38. Handicap Match – WWE Title: AJ Styles [c] vs. Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn (Royal Rumble 1/28/18)
Kind of a bummer thanks to the stupid storyline, but it’s still AJ Styles on PPV and Owens was trying a little more than normal. Buncha great AJ spots, lots of quality wrestling sequences really but the wrapping paper is just so shit.
39. Gran Metalik vs. TJP (205 Live 1/16/18)
Color me shocked how much I am digging TJP in 2018, but here we are. He had three legitimately high quality matches in January, this being my favorite. It’s basically Metalik doing all his spectacular stuff, but TJP is THERE for it.
40. Gran Metalik vs. TJP (205 Live 1/9/18)
This is another episode of the Gran Metalik Show and it is very good, even if the TJP beatdown goes a little long. In addition to his usual shtick, Metalik brings a swanton over the stairs and a wild sunset flip powerbomb from the top.
41. Mustafa Ali vs. TJP (Main Event 1/17/18)
3 for 3 for TJP – lightning fast matwork that popped the crowd, TJ being an aggressive little shit, and a really really cool finish.
42. NXT Tag Team Title: Undisputed Era (Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish) [c] vs. The Authors of Pain w/ Paul Ellering (NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia 1/27/18)
Think I enjoyed the story they went for more than the actual match, but hey – it was a good story. Era stalled and bumped around, then used kicks and submissions to take down the big boys. TakeOver atmosphere helped a lot too.
43. Kalisto, Gran Metalik & Lince Dorado vs. TJP, Tony Nese & Ariya Daivari (205 Live 1/23/18)
A real average heel team, but the Lucha Guys did their thing and the heels bumped around. Metalik vs. Nese is completely insane, as Metalik vs. most guys tends to be. Couple awkward moments where they had to “tell a story” took me out of it, with Kalisto’s cringey “what are you doing!?” when he got distracted to set up the heat and TJP yelling at Nese which led to the finish.
44. NXT Tag Team Title: Undisputed Era (Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish) [c] w/ Adam Cole vs. Roderick Strong & Aleister Black (NXT 1/10/18)
The pre-match angle gave this a hook, the ReDragon beatdown was energetic, Strong’s hot tag was awesome, and I liked ReDragon’s bumping towards the end. A real solid match.
45. Nikki Cross vs. Lacey Evans (NXT 1/31/18)
A sweet 5 minutes or so – moved fast, crowd bought in, ended at just the right time. Nikki brought the intensity while Evans tried to keep up. Liked Nikki just punching Lacey into the deep depths of the ring apron too.
46. WWE U.S. Title Tournament – Final: Bobby Roode vs. Jinder Mahal w/ The Singh Brothers (SmackDown 1/16/18)
This isn’t exactly spectacular, but there’s something I like about WWE rolling with a total throwback like this – mean unlikable heel laying in a beating, one-note babyface popping in comebacks. This match is very much Good Enough.
47. Goldust & Cedric Alexander vs. Drew Gulak & Ariya Daivari (205 Live 1/2/18)
In which GOLDUST momentarily joined the cruiserweight division. An OK formula match made all the better by the sheer insanity of Goldust being a part and just rolling with everything. GOLDUST FLYING CROSSBODY!!! Hope Gulak got a bonus for the lumbar check bump he took here too.
48. Asuka vs. Alexa Bliss (RAW 1/1/18)
Right at the start of the year WWE decided that the best route with Asuka on the main roster might not be squashes, but instead 10+ minutes with the top gals on RAW. And gosh darnit they were right. Lots of good stuff here, even if Alexa working over Asuka and being impervious to submissions seemed kinda strange. Asuka’s backfist teases and fired up comebacks + Alexa selling fear and running away = money.
49. Roderick Strong vs. Fabian Aichner (NXT 1/17/18)
This is like 5 minutes long but has everything you need: Aichner again impressing as the CAW template you give all the cool moves to, some sweet Roddy backbreakers, a straight-up LIONTAMER for the tapout. Very good.
50. WWE U.S. Title Tournament – Round 1: Zack Ryder vs. Mojo Rawley (SmackDown 1/9/18)
Mojo looks aggressive and mean, the action keeps moving, Ryder loses. Real simple stuff that established Mojo as superior to his old partner.
Honorable Mentions: Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins & Jason Jordan vs. Finn Balor, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson (RAW 1/8/18), Akira Tozawa vs. TJP (return) (205 Live 1/2/18), Apollo Crews w/ Titus O’Neil and Alexa Bliss vs. Bray Wyatt (RAW 1/1/18), WWE U.S. Title Tournament – Round 1: Zack Ryder vs. Mojo Rawley (SmackDown 1/9/18), WWE U.S. Title Tournament – Round 1: Xavier Woods w/ Big E and Kofi Kingston vs. Aiden English (SmackDown 1/2/18), WWE U.S. Title Tournament – Semi Final: Bobby Roode vs. Mojo Rawley (SmackDown 1/16/18), RAW Tag Team Title: Cesaro & Sheamus [c] vs. Titus O’Neil & Apollo Crews w/ Dana Brooke (RAW 1/29/18)
TM61 (Shane Thorne & Nick Miller) (return) vs. The Ealy Brothers (NXT 1/31/18), Cedric Alexander vs. Tony Nese w/ Enzo Amore (205 Live 1/9/18), Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch & Naomi vs. The Riott Squad (SmackDown 1/16/18), Titus O’Neil & Apollo Crews w/ Dana Brooke vs. Cesaro & Sheamus (RAW 1/15/18), Goldust & Cedric Alexander vs. Drew Gulak & Ariya Daivari (RAW 1/1/18), Finn Balor, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson vs. Elias & The Miztourage (RAW 1/1/18), Dana Brooke w/ Titus O’Neil and Apollo Crews vs. Alicia Fox (Main Event 1/10/18), Akira Tozawa & Mustafa Ali vs. Drew Gulak & Ariya Daivari (Main Event 1/10/18), Bianca BelAir vs. Latoya Allsopp (NXT 1/24/18)
