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 “Oh wow, this is incredible,” and a wildly dramatic finish with some all-time great near falls that made me go “Oh fuck, this might be the best wrestling match I’ve ever seen.” Johnny’s selling and timing + Almas’ aggressiveness and desperation = excitement, drama, WRESTLING. An absolute war for a championship, pro wrestling perfection.
2. 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!!!
3. Mae Young Classic – Semi Final: Toni Storm vs. Meiko Satomura (MYC 10/24/18)
I went the full five on this – exciting, violent, credible wrestling with some all-timer near falls and a young gal being put over by a professional wrestling legend. Storm’s STF choke that she wouldn’t let go of was epic.
4. Unsanctioned Match – Johnny Gargano’s NXT Career on the Line: Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa (NXT TakeOver: New Orleans 4/7/18)
The wrestling fan tolerates a lot of trash to get to this type of match, but when it happens it all makes sense. This had it all: the story, the atmosphere, the crowd, the emotion, the action, the viciousness, the everything. It was the perfect blowoff to a blood feud without one drop of blood, a 30+ minute brawl that never wavered, never had a moment where it seemed like these guys didn’t want to hurt each other, never had a moment where the crowd wasn’t hanging on every moment and pulling for Their Guy, Johnny Wrestling.
5. SmackDown Women’s Title: Charlotte Flair [c] vs. Asuka (WrestleMania 34 4/8/18)
A big huge great god damn stadium wrestling match. These two went hard and brought a pro wrestling that just felt on another level from anything else: fast-paced, stiff, realistic, INTENSE. These two brought some of the coolest hold-trading I’ve ever seen in WWE and the crowd was locked in from bell-to-bell. Charlotte’s moonsault leading to Asuka’s triangle was an all-timer too – that’s a spot that can look silly, but here it feels like a natural thing somebody would do.
6. Mixed Tag Team Match: Kurt Angle & Ronda Rousey vs. Triple H & Stephanie McMahon (WrestleMania 34 4/8/18)
A great match, both for longtime wrestling fans and folks who might be checking this weird thing out for the first time. It’s one of those WWE sports entertainment big event matches ala the first WrestleMania main event that was laid out for maximum fun. Ronda Rousey looks like a wrestling phenom, Stephanie goes all goofball MMA person, and Triple H goes back to 2000 with Kurt Angle before selling his ass off for Ronda which was so good it hurt. Had a great chaotic feel to it too, with the crowd hanging on everything.
7. Universal Champion vs. WWE Champion: Brock Lesnar w/ Paul Heyman vs. Daniel Bryan (Survivor Series 11/18/18)
In which the greatest wrestler of his generation goes up the greatest attraction and it actually delivers. It’s a dream match that not only completely delivered but was different from what was expected when it originally became a dream match in the first place.
8. Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte Flair (Survivor Series 11/18/18)
Sometimes two folks try to armdrag and dropkick their way into a reaction, sometimes two folks beat the shit out of each other and treat everything was legitimate and have everybody hanging on their every move. These two were always on and working – death stares throughout, struggling to hit every move, stiff shots on every strike, a bloody mouth. At one point Charlotte was using the chop like it was a shoot move. Tremendous professional wrestling match.
9. Gauntlet Match: Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins, Seth Rollins vs. John Cena, Seth Rollins vs. Elias, Elias vs. Finn Balor, Finn Balor vs. The Miz, The Miz vs. Braun Strowman (RAW 2/19/18)
An insane undertaking that completely delivered. A two-hour Gauntlet Match is wild enough but one guy working over an hour in it is something else, especially on Monday Night RAW. There was so much good here, but what really stood out is how WWE of all places decided to tell a story and get a guy over from an almost purely in-ring perspective. And it WORKED. It might have sputtered a bit after iron man Seth Rollins went down, but what an hour of professional wrestling from that guy – he went even brilliantly vs. Reigns, played underdog brilliantly vs. Cena, and was doing some of the most jaw-dropping strength spots after a freaking hour of wrestling. Seth is re-established as The Man, Big John continues to question himself, Elias gets bragging rights, Strowman scares Miz = amazing pro wrestling.
10. No DQ Match: Mustafa Ali vs. Buddy Murphy (205 Live 7/3/18)
This was a match that made me wonder if Buddy Murphy has something on WWE management. He is the only guy on this 120-man roster that they will allow to do the wildest stuff: bumps on top of his head, suplexes off of stairs, a Spanish Fly from the barricade to the commentary table. Leave it to Ali to take advantage of Murphy’s blank check and play along to create an incredible wrestling match. These two artists got 20 minutes to do whatever they wanted and told a classic story with Ali playing underdog and doing crazy dives versus Murphy being this spectacular juggernaut of a human man.
11. 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 was the best so far.
12. WWE Title: Daniel Bryan [c] vs. AJ Styles (TLC 12/16/18)
This was sublime pro wrestling – heel Bryan is a trip to watch, one of the only guys in WWE lately that doesn’t feel like he’s just running through his shit but is actually building on his character as he wrestles. He was awesome here, whether he was running through sweet wrestling sequences or selling for AJ or just lurking around and applying holds. This matched up with AJ’s act well, and credit to AJ who felt less like a guy providing a pleasant WWE main event match and more a guy actually trying to win. AJ’s nasty leg work and Bryan’s selling had the crowd going crazy for the potential of Bryan almost tapping out to a half crab of all things. It’s two of the best being the best.
13. WWE Intercontinental Title: Seth Rollins [c] vs. The Miz (Backlash 5/6/18)
Intense, dramatic, smartly worked, spectacular – these boys went 20 minutes and tore the house down. Rollins is having the run of his life and here he was opening up a pay-per-view with a guy who after 10 years of greatness still seems like he has something to prove. The crowd was biting on everything for the epic finishing stretch, complete with some brilliant work around Seth’s hurt knee, and I swear I saw tears of joy at the 3-count.
14. Rey Mysterio vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas (SmackDown 11/6/18)
This match was always going to happen, I’m just surprised it happened so fast. And it delivered more than anybody could have thought. Mysterio is having a RUN on SmackDown TV while Almas has been having a run for like two years, even if he only shows up once every few months. This was a random 10-minute TV match that was as good as most stuff this year, two geniuses hitting jaw-dropping spots and making it all make sense.
15. Triple Threat TLC Match – SmackDown Women’s Title: Becky Lynch [c] vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Asuka (TLC 12/16/18)
What a wild match, a perfect capper to a phenomenal year for women in WWE and especially for The Man, Becky Lynch. For the first time in a while, a TLC Match leaned into the chaos of the gimmick and the tables ladders and chairs felt less necessary gimmicks and more weapons used to hurt people. It didn’t hurt that there were chops and slaps being thrown in between that might’ve hurt just as bad. Also, KENDO STICKS!
16. Chicago Street Fight: Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa (NXT TakeOver: Chicago 6/16/18)
In which the Gargano vs. Ciampa feud got its’ Empire Strikes Back moment. They might’ve gotten a little stunt-showy at the start, but this thing delivered. The untouchable heated atmosphere, both guys being all intense, big nasty spots, the ring being torn up, and Gargano’s selling all came together to deliver something wild. The cinematic last 10 minutes and stunned silence at the brutal finish are keepers.
17. 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 this 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.
18. RAW Women’s Title: Nia Jax [c] vs. Ronda Rousey (Money in the Bank 6/17/18)
The pro wrestling is at its’ finest when it feels real. What a wrestling match this is. Nia Jax doesn’t always hit but from the matches with Asuka we know she is capable of playing a perfect monster when put in the right situation. Here she is put in that situation with Ronda Rousey, whose stuff feels more realistic than anything in WWE right now – the strikes, submissions, and selling were all great, and little stuff like the quick “whoa” as she found her balance on the top rope added to the presentation. The judo throw on her comeback was incredible too.
19. Aleister Black vs. Johnny Gargano (TakeOver: WarGames II 11/17/18)
This is a match with the speed and flow of a breakout spotfest ala Rey/Psicosis but with kicks and knees to the face instead of dives. Also, there are dives too. These two go balls out with jaw-dropping precision and speed from bell-to-bell and it’s special. The TakeOver atmosphere sure doesn’t hurt.
20. Kairi Sane vs. Lacey Evans (NXT 5/23/18)
A phenomenal wrestling match with not a second wasted, just 5 minutes of smash mouth to-the-point action. This had intensity times a million, Lacey just forcing Sane into holds, Sane throwing elbows any chance she got, and each lady at one point just grabbing each others jaw and chopping each other in the tits. Incredible stuff.
21. NXT Tag Team Title: The Undisputed Era (Roderick Strong & Kyle O’Reilly) [c] vs. Moustache Mountain (Tyler Bate & Trent Seven) (NXT U.K. Championship 6/26/18)
All these fellas have some excellent chemistry and it resulted in an excellent wrestling match. Strong & O’Reilly continued their epic 2018 tag run and Moustache Mountain were as over in London as prime Dusty in Florida. It started well with Seven selling big, got great once Bate got the hot tag, and got beautiful as they headed home. Some of the saves at the end here gave me Real World Tag League flashbacks. So good.
22. 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.
23. Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor (RAW 4/2/18)
Witness Rollins and Balor having the match everybody was sure they could have, even if it hadn’t been delivered on just yet. These two are just athletic freaks of nature and were flipping the crowd out with cool spots and counters that all felt like legitimate attempts to win a wrestling match. Some insane near falls towards the end too.
24. 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.
25. Ladder Match – NXT North American Title: Ricochet vs. Adam Cole vs. EC3 vs. Lars Sullivan vs. Velveteen Dream vs. Killian Dain (NXT TakeOver: New Orleans 4/7/18)
This had all the craziness of a big WWE multi-man Ladder Match but with the added aura of TakeOver opener buzz and the fact that all six of these guys come off as fresh, future superstars. There is just so much to flip out about in this match, and the three big bumps towards the end are mind-altering.
26. Johnny Gargano’s Career on the Line – NXT Title: Andrade “Cien” Almas [c] w/ Zelina Vega vs. Johnny Gargano w/ Candice LeRae (NXT 2/21/18)
These two have a special chemistry. This wasn’t as big and epic as their match at #1, but it was a perfect ending to their NXT feud, a quieter match that still managed to be spectacular and tell a compelling story. I feel like Gargano allows Almas to be the worker he wants to be – everything is so fast and so smooth that even weirdo high-flying wrestling moves feel completely legitimate. Great angle at the finish too.
27. WWE Universal Title: Roman Reigns [c] vs. Finn Balor (RAW 8/20/18)
This might be the best Universal Title match ever besides the 4-Way at 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.
28. WWE Title #1 Contender’s 5-Man Gauntlet Match: Daniel Bryan vs. Big E, Daniel Bryan vs. Samoa Joe, Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz, The Miz vs. Rusev (SmackDown 6/19/18)
Witness the spirit of the American Dragon return, having two great matches in a row with Big E and Samoa Joe that were all about his selling and fired up comebacks. This 40-minute match has got Big E and Bryan exchanging wristlocks, Big E chucking Bryan around, and Samoa Joe chopping Bryan’s chest until it looked like ground beef. Seriously man – Bryan’s selling here. All-time great stuff. Miz vs. Rusev at the end lost a little steam, but a solid 75% of this match was some absolutely captivating work by Daniel Bryan.
29. WWE Cruiserweight Title Tournament – Round 1: Mustafa Ali vs. Jack Gallagher (205 Live 2/20/18)
So much complex professional wrestling goodness. Ya don’t see something like this in WWE all the time. I loved how it went from sweet hold-trading early, then moved into a shoving match, then moved into good guy getting worked over by bad guy, then moved into a match that seemed like it might end by ref stoppage. Gallagher played just a mean piece of trash heel so well and Ali is such a great likable underdog, selling and firing up like a professional and also taking some insane bumps to the floor.
30. If Nia Jax Wins, She Enters the WrestleMania RAW Women’s Title Match: Asuka vs. Nia Jax (Elimination Chamber 2/25/18)
Asuka the Destroyer is great, Asuka the Underdog is something better than that. These two have a magical chemistry… Asuka is ducking and diving Nia and not able to get any momentum, while everything feels just a little bit stiffer and more reckless than normal. Such a great dynamic. Loved Asuka trying to take big Nia down with submissions too.
31. 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 Gibson won the U.K. Tournament 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.
32. WWE Cruiserweight Title Tournament – Round 1: Kalisto vs. Lince Dorado (205 Live 2/6/18)
SO. MUCH. FUN. It felt as close to a WCW cruiserweight match as 205 Live has gotten – not everything hit, but the stuff that did was gorgeous and the rest of the chaos was incredible to watch. That springboard reverse rana, man! It got real hectic towards the end too, like both guys really really needed the win.
33. WWE Cruiserweight Title Tournament – Round 1: Hideo Itami vs. Roderick Strong (205 Live 2/6/18)
This started a bit suspect but got so good – intense, snug work and counters that just willed the quiet crowd into This is Awesome chants. And these weren’t some bullshit This is Awesome chants – on 205 Live, you’ve got to work for those. Roddy’s selling here was tremendous and made this feel like a match he absolutely needed to win.
34. British Strong Style (Pete Dunne, Tyler Bate & Trent Seven) vs. The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Roderick Strong & Kyle O’Reilly) (WWE U.K. Title Tournament 6/25/18)
A match filled to the brim with wonderful content, a classic 6-man tag with the London crowd treating British Strong Style like GODS. This has Dunne kicking Strong’s ass, Bate flipping everybody out with his strength, and as they are to do, everybody throwing bombs at the end and the crowd losing their shit. An absolute blast.
35. Ricochet & Moustache Mountain (Tyler Bate & Trent Seven) vs. The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Roderick Strong & Kyle O’Reilly) (NXT 6/27/18)
NXT’s visit to the U.K. brought all kinds of Undisputed Era vs. Moustache Mountain and Friends stuff, including this match that happened a week later at Full Sail. This was a classic 6-man tag that did a great job of getting Ricochet more over. Fun early run by the good guys + an insane Ricochet hot tag + a big crazy finish with everybody throwing bombs and Ricochet almost pulling out a win over Adam Cole = awesome.
36. WWE Cruiserweight Title Tournament – Semi Final: Mustafa Ali vs. Drew Gulak (205 Live 3/20/18)
One part great cruiserweight match, one part straight-up brawl between two fellas who wanted to go to WrestleMania. It had all the mesmerizing professional wrestling these two are capable of with the added bonus of a bunch of punches to the head. Gulak beats ass, Ali bumps like he’s some kind of modern day Sabu, and they throw a bunch of epic moments in there and get the most out of every single one, from Ali’s big somersault plancha to Gulak just chucking Ali around on the floor.
37. WWE Cruiserweight Title Tournament – Semi Final: Cedric Alexander vs. Roderick Strong (205 Live 3/13/18)
This had a Dream Match feel with both guys showcasing everything they’re capable of, but it didn’t feel empty like some Dream Matches do. It had sweet hold trading and mat wrestling, big time urgency, and a couple epic moments to top it off. They did the whole “he has an answer for everything” thing so well and every big spot looked and felt spectacular. Cedric strung together so many moves here that all his flying around looked like completely legitimate offense too, like he could’ve won a bar fight with a springboard clothesline. The crowd was pretty quiet for a lot of this but there’s an insane bump Cedric takes that you can just feel everybody go “Oh, I should probably pay attention now” all at once.
38. 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 her 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. Plus it has Sasha biting it bad on a tope, which feels less botched spot and more Sabu crazy.
39. WWE Title: AJ Styles [c] vs. Daniel Bryan (SmackDown 11/13/18)
Even before the Daniel Bryan heel turn that this match will certainly be remembered for, it was so good. It was physical but graceful, realistic but fun – it’s everything that is great about pro wrestling from two of the best that have ever done it. They only went around 10 minutes but everything had a purpose and looked great.
40. Last Woman Standing – SmackDown Women’s Title: Becky Lynch [c] vs. Charlotte Flair (Evolution 10/28/18)
A gimmick match that actually paid off all the intensity and hatred the feud that led to it created. They brought the hyper-speed wrestling early and then it just devolved into a chaotic brawl with big time selling and WWE’s trademark weapons used to their fullest. Crazy, fun, ugly – an Actually Good Last Man Standing Finish.
41. Triple Threat Match – NXT North American Title: Ricochet [c] vs. Pete Dunne vs. Adam Cole (NXT 10/10/18)
Triple Threat Matches are tough to make flow, but these boys flowed. They flowed the entire time. Ricochet does some all-timer stuff here and Full Sail was flipping out even more than usual for all the big spots and near falls. Absolute insanity.
42. WWE U.S. Title: Shinsuke Nakamura [c] vs. Rusev w/ Lana (SmackDown 12/25/18)
Rusev feels like the only guy on the roster that Nakamura respects and Rusev the only guy on the roster who “gets” Nakamura in-ring. These two basically had a G1 Climax Night 5 main event with more working of the hard cam. They threw strikes and took their time and got dueling Nakamura/Rusev chants. Wild finish too, highlighted by not one but two epic Macha Kicks.
43. Gran Metalik vs. Buddy Murphy (205 Live 12/12/18)
Buddy Murphy and Gran Metalik had a decent but disappointing match earlier in the year and here they had what was basically the PPV match – Metalik got his shit in including a crazy hurricanrana off the barricade, while Murphy again freaked people out with his insane suplex catch. They did some hot near falls near the end including a Metalik Driver kickout, and the crowd was eventually buying everything these two were selling. It felt like a BOSJ semi final or something – great stuff.
44. 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.”
45. The Shield vs. Braun Strowman, Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre (RAW 10/8/18)
Could be the last great Shield 6-man: Roman sold big, Rollins and Ziggler killed it, Rollins sold big, Drew and Braun stared each other down, and everybody ran around for an awesome finish complete with a suplex over the top rope to the floor. And the Chicago crowd was there for EVERYTHING.
46. 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, 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.
47. NXT Title: Andrade “Cien” Almas [c] w/ Zelina Vega vs. Aleister Black (NXT TakeOver: New Orleans 4/7/18)
A great, stiff championship match with a crowd that was tentative early eventually just losing their shit. Everything at the end is just do dramatic and frenetic, and this is another incredible Almas big match performance.
48. Winning Team Captains the Survivor Series Tag Team Match: The New Day (Big E & Kofi Kingston) w/ Xavier Woods vs. The Usos (SmackDown 11/6/18)
A New Day/Usos classic for old time’s sake! Tremendous chemistry, tremendous match.
49. AJ Styles vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas w/ Zelina Vega (SmackDown 9/18/18)
This is pretty much a 10-minute finishing sequence and it is awesome. It felt like Styles was caught off guard the whole time and just barely keeping up with this fired up newcomer. Each guy threw big shots and Almas did a bunch of cool stuff, taking big bumps and doing springboard dropkicks and a double foot stomp onto the apron. Gorgeous finishing sequence too.
50. 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.
