WWE has been really hit-or-miss in-ring this year, but this was a fantastic month of wrestling. Almost the entire Top 10 is kind of interchangeable. Roddy & O’Reilly, Shayna Baszler, New Day, and Buddy Murphy all crushed it. And WELCOME BACK, Daniel Bryan.
1. NXT Tag Team Title: The Undisputed Era (Roderick Strong & Kyle O’Reilly) [c] vs. Moustache Mountain (NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn IV 8/18/18)
TAG TEAM WRESTLING!!! This felt like the culmination to their amazing run this year, bringing all the great stuff from their other classics and somehow building on them. Tag wrestling usually has a pretty basic formula, so it’s what you do with it, and they do some STUFF: great beatdown, cut-offs, bumping, babyface double-team offense, power spots, selling, and some all-timer near falls. TAG TEAM WRESTLING!!!
2. WWE Universal Title: Roman Reigns [c] vs. Finn Balor (RAW 8/20/18)
The best Universal Championship Match Since SummerSlam… 2017. The crowd was hanging on everything and Roman wrestled like a heel, which was incredible. All of Balor’s offense was crazy over, with every piece of it sold as a moment he desperately needed. Tremendous last few minutes too, with big action and both guys selling the need to win.
3. NXT Women’s Title: Shayna Baszler [c] vs. Kairi Sane (NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn IV 8/18/18)
These two have such a special dynamic, with Shayna’s dickish “I trained with Billy Robinson, bitch” act up against Kairi’s spunky underdog who will elbow you to death act. And they took that dynamic and stayed true to it from bell-to-bell. And it ruled. They did a great job teasing Kairi’s comeback only to keep pulling the rug out, and Kairi’s facial expressions and passion really put it over the top.
4. Kalisto w/ Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado vs. Buddy Murphy w/ Tony Nese (205 Live 8/28/18)
Such chemistry. Such insanity. Such a completely different feel from everything WWE is putting out these days. And it’s always special when these 205 Live guys actually have a crowd chanting not just This is Awesome, but 2-0-5. These two freaks just pulled out all their STUFF, highlighted by a billion wild hurricanrana variations and Buddy deadlift catching Kalisto with a vertical suplex not just once but twice.
5. Tag Team Tournament – Final: The New Day (Big E & Kofi Kingston) w/ Xavier Woods vs. Cesaro & Sheamus (SmackDown 8/7/18)
Great action, timing, and tag team work, complete with big pops and just genuine excitement any time New Day had a moment. The Bar’s tag work is glorious in how so simple and straightforward it is, whether they were throwing uppercuts or just pulling hair, anything to make their opposition feel hopeless. Hot hot hot finish too.
6. WWE U.K. Title: Pete Dunne [c] vs. Zack Gibson (NXT 8/22/18)
All hail Pete Dunne just casually having classic WWE U.K. Title defenses. Their match in the U.K. a couple months ago was good not great. This right here was great. Wristlocks, chops, selling, and a wild finish, all highlighted by Dunne being a special type of fired up babyface refusing to stay down against this dickhead. Also really appreciated how Dunne used the cute finger break and hand stomp spots as ways to win, not to pop the folks.
7. Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz (SummerSlam 8/19/18)
Perhaps not as spectacular as the matches above, but this is just such a good quality old school professional wrestling match, with the action building slowly and getting more intense as time went by, and spots like a top rope backdrop suplex feeling MASSIVE. I wish the crowd was more into it but the work was undeniable. And for a feud all about Bryan saying he wanted to punch Miz in the face, this actually WAS a match about Bryan throwing punches at Miz’ face! Maryse in the front row with a BABY STROLLER at her side was a nice subplot too.
8. WWE Title: AJ Styles [c] vs. Samoa Joe (SummerSlam 8/19/18)
Didn’t live up to the potential of 2008 but did live up to the potential of 2018. These guys aren’t their young selves and there might be something to say about them not really growing as in-ring performers in WWE, but the match was still great. It was all about the performance, whether it was Joe on the mic or AJ bumping big for Joe’s nasty kicks. All-timer uranage out of the corner too.
9. Candice LeRae vs. Shayna Baszler (NXT 8/1/18)
Candice’s big bumps and Shayna’s nasty arm work brought the sympathy, while the sleeper near fall and Candice actually going for the kill brought the drama. Shayna Baszler is just MEAN and Candice LeRae matches up well against that.
10. Tyler Bate w/ Trent Seven vs. Roderick Strong w/ Kyle O’Reilly (NXT 8/15/18)
It’s like these guys got told they had 8 minutes and were like, “Well shoot, man – we have 20 minutes of stuff.” So they went ahead and fit not just 20 minutes of action but STORY in. Incredible counters towards the end, and there’s an epic shot here of Bate looking just completely defeated after taking a Strong chop. This is such a WRESTLING match.
11. Daniel Bryan w/ Brie Bella vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas w/ Zelina Vega (SmackDown 8/28/18)
As fun as a first time Daniel Bryan vs. Andrade Almas match with no build could possibly be: slick chain wrestling, a DEEP Gory special, Almas’ big bump to the floor, and an awesome finish highlighted by a moonsault countered with the YesLock and the CHAOS of Miz and Maryse running in. Almas pivoting from a boot to his spinning back elbow was incredible too.
12. Tornado Tag Team Match: Lucha House Party (Gran Metalik & Lince Dorado) w/ Kalisto vs. Buddy Murphy & Tony Nese (205 Live 8/21/18)
A spectacular spot-driven match, with some insane car crash sequences that were strung together beautifully. Murphy felt like he was straight-up auditioning for Dragon Gate at points. Let these boys do this on a show people care about and we might have something.
13. Last Man Standing Match – NXT Title: Tommaso Ciampa [c] vs. Johnny Gargano (NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn IV 8/18/18)
A fun gimmick match – maybe even an epic one – hurt by this feud being dragged out too long. Tons of cool stuff, but just a little pointless-feeling and could’ve easily gone 10 less minutes.
14. WWE Intercontinental Title: Seth Rollins [c] vs. Kevin Owens (RAW 8/27/18)
A good 20+ minute match that the crowd loved, but it was also one of those matches that felt designed precisely to get a couple This is Awesome chants. The back half was undeniably hot though.
15. No DQ Match – SmackDown Tag Team Title: The Bludgeon Brothers [c] vs. The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) w/ Big E (SmackDown 8/21/18)
Brawling, selling, and a feel-good finish. Plus an office chair got thrown at somebody! Rowan also works this as a guy about to go under the knife, which I found interesting.
16. SmackDown Tag Team Title: The Bludgeon Brothers [c] vs. The New Day (Big E & Xavier Woods) w/ Kofi Kingston (SummerSlam 8/19/18)
Even in the midst of a 6-hour show, these guys went balls out and made their mark. Big E throwing The Bludgeon Brothers around, Woods’ big elbow drop to the floor, and two wild near falls for the Bludgeon Brothers made this a keeper.
17. Handicap Match: The Bludgeon Brothers vs. 3SK (Alechi Lee, Julio Rivera & Pavel Koslov) (SmackDown 8/7/18)
Incredible Bludgeon Brothers squash – they faced 3 guys, dropkicked 2 of them off the apron, beat the remaining guy, beat everybody’s ass outside, then dragged the remaining guy back in the ring and hit a Doomsday Device. WHOAAAA.
18. The New Day vs. SAnitY (SmackDown 8/14/18)
Just some pleasant 6-man tag team wrestling – New Day gets 10 minutes to play and takes the crowd on a ride. Birthday Boy Kofi was bumping huge too.
19. Kassius Ohno vs. Adrian Jauode (NXT 8/8/18)
This match was like 3 minutes long but it’s also as BattlARTS as WWE gets and that’s very cool. Ohno walloped Jauode with strikes while Jauode busted out a DEADLIFT BACKDROP SUPLEX.
20. WWE Intercontinental Title: Dolph Ziggler [c] w/ Drew McIntyre vs. Seth Rollins w/ Dean Ambrose (SummerSlam 8/19/18)
Incredible last few minutes preceded by a lot of Dolph Ziggler chinlocks for the first fifteen. Those last few minutes are real good though.
21. Mustafa Ali vs. Hideo Itami (205 Live 8/7/18)
Itami threw kicks. Ali was selling. There was a powerbomb. A tornado DDT to the floor. Ali went for the 054 but basically collapsed on the buckle, and Itami followed it up with three vicious running dropkicks to KO his ass. A good use of time.
22. NXT North American Title: Adam Cole [c] vs. Ricochet (NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn IV 8/18/18)
Heck of a finish for this match, even if the first half kind of lost me. The superkick counter of Ricochet’s springboard backflip was something else.
23. Deonna Purrazzo vs. Bianca Belair (NXT 8/22/18)
A very cool match that showcased both well, with Deonna delivering on her credible, confident technican gimmick and Belair delivering her ass-kicking, flipping around, and lady who does tilt-a-whirl gutbusters gimmick.
24. Zack Ryder vs. Mike Kanellis (Main Event 8/1/18)
Witness two barely used guys try their damndest to have a good match on the show nobody’s watching.
25. R-Truth vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (SmackDown 8/7/18)
46-year-old R-Truth might be the best squash guy in wrestling. This was some legitimately fun stuff before the inevitable.
Honorable Mentions: Ricochet & Pete Dunne vs. The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole & Roderick Strong) w/ Kyle O’Reilly (NXT 8/29/18), Akira Tozawa vs. Lio Rush (205 Live 8/14/18), Cedric Alexander vs. Jack Gallagher (205 Live 8/14/18), SmackDown Women’s Title: Charlotte Flair [c] vs. Carmella (SmackDown 8/28/18)
RAW Women’s Title: Alexa Bliss [c] vs. Ronda Rousey (SummerSlam 8/19/18), WWE Universal Title: Brock Lesnar [c] w/ Paul Heyman vs. Roman Reigns (SummerSlam 8/19/18), Moustache Mountain vs. Matt Knox & Brandon Taylor (NXT 8/1/18), Keith Lee (debut) vs. Marcel Barthel (NXT 8/8/18), Kairi Sane vs. Aliyah (NXT 8/15/18)
Roman Reigns vs. Baron Corbin (RAW 8/6/18), Jeff Hardy vs. Randy Orton (SmackDown 8/21/18), Dean Ambrose w/ Seth Rollins vs. Dolph Ziggler w/ Drew McIntyre (RAW 8/20/18), Ronda Rousey w/ Natalya vs. Alicia Fox w/ Alexa Bliss (RAW 8/6/18), Handicap Match: Seth Rollins vs. Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre (RAW 8/6/18)
