It hasn’t exactly been a hot year for in-ring WWE action, but this was a weaker month than usual, a culmination of dead storylines, Money in the Bank not delivering, and a trend of shorter main roster TV matches. It’s a great top 5 and then it’s up to you really.
1. Matt Riddle vs. Adam Cole (NXT 5/8/19)
Matt Riddle is a very good babyface wrestler and he was that here. Matt Riddle and Adam Cole are very good at doing dramatic finishing stretches and they did that here. Riddle on offense brought fun matwork, strikes, and suplexes, while Riddle on defense had him all exhausted and sweaty and barefoot before he setup a comeback by just German suplexing Cole’s ass. Sometimes Cole’s whole thing just loses me, but opposite Riddle there were enough little touches that kept me in. Heck of a wrestling match.
2. WALTER vs. Jordan Devlin (NXT UK 5/1/19)
I hear these two have had a few epics in the past, and you can tell that’s the truth from this, as it’s a 10-minute TV match that probably wasn’t meant to accomplish much more than a tease of something between them in the future, and it ends up being kind of a small epic. It felt like one of those “every second counts” type of matches that got a story across really tightly. Devlin plays the undersized cocky guy early, taking his time avoiding any interaction with WALTER, and when he’s finally caught it feels like a huge moment. Between Devlin’s astute leg work and WALTER’s subtle selling, they do a great job of making Devlin competitive throughout, which leads to some wild near falls at the end too.
3. WWE U.K. Title: WALTER [c] vs. Pete Dunne (NXT UK 5/22/19)
It was missing the Big Fight Feel of the TakeOver: Blackpool match, but these guys seem comfortable reminding you once a month or so that they are some of the best doing it. There were so many good bits here – tight holds, counter after counter, the teases and then deliveries of WALTER’s terrifying chops. They play with Dunne’s momentum in a smart way throughout too – several times he almost finds an opening for offense, but WALTER keeps chopping or booting him on his ass. Once he does get his opening, him working over WALTER doesn’t feel silly either – there is what feels like a half-foot and nearly 100-pound weight difference between these two and while Dunne’s got WALTER down on the mat bending his hand I’m like, “My goodness, WALTER might not pull through.”
4. WWE Universal Title: Seth Rollins [c] vs. AJ Styles (Money in the Bank 5/19/19)
This was a good championship match that got to that second gear a lot of big AJ Styles matches have been missing since he became a proper WWE Main Event Superstar, but it’s also a match I’m conflicted on because it’s both a statement match for and possibly an indictment against what has become this WWE main event style of hybrid world-traveled guy molding their stuff into something Kevin Dunn can shoot. Everything here is executed brilliantly and they cap it off with some tremendous spots and near falls. Don’t believe WWE when they try pushing it as the Match of the Year come December, but it was very good.
5. Rey Mysterio vs. Cesaro (RAW 5/13/19)
When you’ve got a talent roster like WWE sometimes you’re just going to fall into these matches. Rey and Cesaro don’t need a story. And you just know know Cesaro saw Rey do the over-the-top-to-the-floor electric chair spot with Andrade earlier this year and said, “I need to do that.” There’s all kinds of ridiculous stuff here that showcases all the things that make pro wrestling a wonder – power, precision, surprise.
6. Fatal 4-Way Match: Jack Gallagher vs. Humberto Carrillo vs. Mark Andrews vs. James Drake (205 Live 5/14/19)
The 205 Live Fatal 4-Way is a little cliche these days, recalling memories of Ring of Honor’s Four Corner Survival matches where they were all Pretty Good but not many stood out as any better than the other. This had the benefit of some fresh faces though, with James Drake absolutely applying a chinlock in the middle but also doing cool stuff like catching an Andrews backflip on the outside which led to a tornado DDT. Andrews and Carrillo seemed game to be in the same ring too, and brought all kinds of unreal and complex athleticsm.
7. Men’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Finn Balor vs. Ricochet vs. Ali vs. Randy Orton vs. Andrade vs. Baron Corbin vs. Drew McIntyre (Money in the Bank 5/19/19)
There were some wild individual performances here but the Money in the Bank gimmick match is past the point of being redundant. Ali, Ricochet, and Balor all took a bunch of insane bumps, especially Balor who seemed determined to get a few months off via injury, and everybody brought the expected crowd-pleasing but kinda empty spots. All-time buzzkill of a finish too.
8. No DQ Match: Mike Kanellis vs. Akira Tozawa (205 Live 5/7/19)
This was a weirdly dramatic match that managed to pull a very reluctant crowd into the excitement. They threw hands and chairs, Tozawa did a tope into Mike’s boot, and there’s a Frankensteiner to the floor through a table. The kind of match that the 205 Live crew will point to in a few years and be like, “See! We were TRYING.”
9. WWE Title: Kofi Kingston [c] vs. Daniel Bryan (RAW 5/6/19)
Their WrestleMania match was one I rated five-stars for a lot of factors outside of the ring: atmosphere, length, the great unknown of Kofi actually winning. This here was actually pretty similar in-ring but lacked all the factors that brought that match to another level, plus it came at the end of a really, really crap episode of TV. Still though, Bryan rules at beating a guy up and Kofi rules throwing hands on a comeback and taking big bumps to the floor.
10. The Usos vs. Daniel Bryan & Rowan (Money in the Bank Kickoff 5/19/19)
A good solid tag match, with a tremendous beatdown dished out and hot tag set up by the always-on Dan Bryan. He and The Usos pull off a hot closing stretch here, but Rowan is the sneaky steady ingredient – he’s big and mean and there for every spot, but also adds a dynamic that doesn’t exist if another guy that could keep pace with the other three is in his place. Brilliant finish setup too.
11. Jack Gallagher vs. Humberto Carrillo (205 Live 5/28/19)
An occasional side effect of 205 Live is fun wrestlers get to fuck around with each other for 20 minutes. These two did just that here, with Humberto getting to show that in addition to being a high-flyer with dimples, he can go on the mat. A fun mesh of two styles.
12. Jack Gallagher vs. Kassius Ohno (NXT UK 5/28/19)
A cool match where they busted out all kinds of cool classic technical wrestling tricks you rarely see on WWE TV, but there’s something a little too performative about WWE going full World of Sport sometimes, even if the participants have credibility. Like, alright, cool – you did the stuff. What else? Besides that, a good time.
13. KUSHIDA vs. Drew Gulak (NXT 5/28/19)
Another good introduction match for KUSHIDA, as he occasionally plays chess with and occasionally gets the shit stretched out of him by the always-entertaining Drew Gulak.
14. Mia Yim vs. Bianca Belair (NXT 5/28/19)
Just a good solid 10-minute TV match that didn’t insult ya. These gals laid everything in and the finish feels big.
15. KUSHIDA (debut) vs. Kassius Ohno (NXT 5/1/19)
This month featured KUSHIDA’s NXT TV debut and it went well, with a lot of stuff packed into what was basically a 10-minute enhancement match. KUSHIDA did all the things – cartwheel dropkick, Hoverboard Lock, handspring countered into something crazy. He even busts out a thing or two you might not expect. Also dug Ohno refusing a handshake early only for KUSHIDA to force one on him later after he kicked his ass.
16. Seth Rollins vs. Sami Zayn (5/27/19)
A wild Seth Rollins vs. Sami Zayn match just appeared out of nowhere to end a RAW and it wasn’t the worst way to kill 20 minutes. They went pretty by-the-numbers for a bit, though as professionals they tacked on some decent stuff at the end to presumably send the folks home happy.
17. Johnny Gargano & Matt Riddle vs. The Undisputed Era (Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish) (NXT 5/22/19)
A good match that just seems a lot better if Roderick Strong is in Fish’s place. Riddle was the standout here, bringing enough fire to take a pretty exciting but standard tag team main event to another level.
18. SmackDown Tag Team Title: The Usos vs. Daniel Bryan & Rowan (SmackDown 5/7/19)
This didn’t get much time, and ended up more fun match than legitimately good match you must seek out. Still though – very fun. Bryan is a bastard, Rowan is menacing, and The Usos sell their butts off before a great finish that’d pop even the most reluctant live audience.
19. Tony Nese vs. Ligero (205 Live 5/14/19)
This felt like Nese’s freshest match in years, with Ligero adding a little charm to the usual stuff by playing a convincing but maybe one-step-behind threat to the Premier Athlete’s designation as THE Premier Athlete. They also do a referee handshake spot, and when WWE is as crap as it is right now that stuff stands out.
20. Triple Threat Match – WWE Title: Kofi Kingston [c] vs. AJ Styles vs. Sami Zayn (SmackDown 5/7/19)
These guys kept things hot and strung all their big stuff together well and whatnot. They had a solid match that was just a little meaningless.
21. Ricochet vs. Baron Corbin (RAW 5/13/19)
Ricochet is on a run, and though this is lower on the list as an individual performance its’ top-tier. Like any good WWE employee he does similar stuff match-to-match, but he manages to stand out by clearly putting thought into looking credible against big guys and because the same stuff he does every match is pretty insane to begin with. A match like this also shows what a guy like Corbin is capable of – he’s a boring system guy, but kept up with every crazy Ricochet spot.
22. Raul Mendoza vs. Riddick Moss (NXT 5/8/19)
I don’t know where this one came from but Riddick Moss made a random return to NXT TV with a new look and had what was a much-better-than-average enhancement match with Raul Mendoza, who is so sneakily the greatest. He got a few nice moments in like flexing early on or throwing down Moss’ water bottle, and Moss kept his end of the bargain by catching a springboard crossbody that could’ve easily been dropped. They follow the usual formula and setup what appears to be a pretty straightforward finish, and then… well.
23. The Usos vs. The Revival (RAW 5/20/19)
The first Usos vs. Revival match taking place in the midst of an all-time bad stretch of RAW’s as a result of an angle that involved back-shaving in the shower and it going under 10 minutes was… not ideal. They still pulled off a solid match that included Jey yelling “come on bitch!” but man oh man did they have a lot working against them.
24. Ali vs. Andrade w/ Zelina Vega (SmackDown 5/21/19)
I kind of lowered my expectations going into this as I assumed that these guys would have one of those fine matches where they’re impressive but the best I can say is that it was a solid example of what they usually do. But because it’s these guys they take the 8 minutes they have and pack in the usual but also some awesome surprising stuff, including Ali leaping for a crossbody into an Andrade dropkick and Ali doing a tope suicida into Andrade’s BACK. The way Andrade takes Ali’s tornado DDT is visual poetry too.
25. Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Bayley vs. Natalya vs. Naomi vs. Ember Moon vs. Dana Brooke vs. Carmella vs. Mandy Rose vs. Nikki Cross (Money in the Bank 5/19/19)
Not a stand-out in what must be a million Money in the Bank matches at this point, but at the very least it had some fun performances and wild spots from talent that doesn’t normally get a showcase. Nikki Cross, Naomi, and Ember Moon in particular stood out, and they did a fine job of building to the Everybody Falls Off the Ladder spot too, a very fine job indeed.
Honorable Mentions: 3-on-4 Handicap Match: Roman Reigns & The Usos vs. Shane McMahon, Daniel Bryan, Rowan & Elias (SmackDown 5/14/19), Ricochet vs. Cesaro (RAW 5/27/19), Kofi Kingston vs. Kevin Owens (SmackDown 5/28/19), Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre (RAW 5/6/19), Fatal 4-Way Match: Finn Balor vs. Ali vs. Randy Orton vs. Andrade (SmackDown 5/14/19), Ricochet vs. Cesaro (RAW 5/20/19), The Miz vs. Drew McIntyre w/ Shane McMahon (RAW 5/20/19)
NXT UK Title #1 Contender Fatal 4-Way Qualifying Match: Ligero vs. Jordan Devlin (NXT UK 5/15/19), Moustache Mountain vs. The Hunt (NXT UK 5/8/19), Mia Yim vs. Bianca Belair (NXT 5/8/19), NXT UK Tag Team Title: The Grizzled Young Veterans [c] vs. Noam Dar & Kenny Williams (NXT UK 5/8/19), NXT UK Title #1 Contender Fatal 4-Way Qualifying Match: Flash Morgan Webster vs. Joe Coffey (NXT UK 5/8/19), KUSHIDA vs. Kona Reeves (NXT 5/15/19), Lucha House Party (Kalisto & Lince Dorado) w/ Gran Metalik vs. The Revival (Main Event 5/15/19), Ilja Dragunov vs. Jack Starz (NXT UK 5/15/19), Dominik Dijakovic vs. Mansoor (NXT 5/1/19), Heath Slater vs. Mojo Rawley (Main Event 5/1/19)
