I’ve done these for nearly five years, and since I jumped from Top 10 to Top 25 never had trouble actually amassing a Top 25. Call it over-exposure, call it seasonal depression, but this might have been the weakest in-ring WWE month since early 2016. The first 5 are keepers, the Top 10 are real good. The rest? Use your best judgment.
1. Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic – Round 1: Pete Dunne & Matt Riddle vs. Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster (NXT 1/15/20)
There has been a lot of NON-STOP CRAZY~! wrestling these last few years but this one felt like it even lapped that concept, with the format of an epic tag match that had so much tacked on at the end that it got got to the place where epic tag matches actually seem to be trying to go. I actually bought a Flash Morgan Webster near fall on Matt Riddle, and I’m still not sure the world we live in is the same after Riddle caught that dive into a cradle tombstone on the floor near the end. Dunne vs. Andrews remains one of the best pairings in wrestling too.
2. Men’s Royal Rumble Match (Royal Rumble 1/26/20)
The Brock Lesnar Royal Rumble, a frustrating exercise to watch play out live but one with an awesome payoff and a lot of great character bits with old and new Brock rivals. Rey Mysterio and The New Day teamed up against him, Shelton Benjamin embraced him, and Keith Lee practically gave him an erection. Also, Edge returned and an actually fresh guy won the whole thing. Great Rumble.
3. Aleister Black vs. Buddy Murphy (RAW 1/13/20)
Remember when Aleister and Buddy were deliberately introduced to the masses with a solitary feud that kept them dominant and focused on showcasing their ability? This was the end result, a build and blowoff that actually worked, a match that delivered so much it got Buddy a gig as Seth Rollins’ sidekick and almost convinced WWE to run with Aleister Black vs. Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania. This is not just pure work but absolute LABOR getting over in WWE.
4. #DIY vs. Moustache Mountain (Worlds Collide: NXT vs. NXT UK 1/25/20)
All the good stuff, a pair of fan favorites competing with an intent to both win and remind everybody why they are fan favorites. A blast of a dream match that delivered, with one of the bigger big time finishes.
5. The Undisputed Era vs. Imperium (Worlds Collide: NXT vs. NXT UK 1/25/20)
Alexander Wolfe getting actually KO’d minutes into this made for an awkward first 5 minutes, but it also gave the match a creepy feel of legitimacy, like yeah that was totally bound to happen when these two factions went at it. Then they made it The WALTER Show, with big NJPW vs. UWF vibes and awesome bits with O’Reilly and Strong as he continued his campaign to just dominate the entire Undisputed Era, who played their role to a tee.
6. Tyler Bate vs. Jordan Devlin (TakeOver: Blackpool II 1/12/20)
A great match that will somehow end up both overrated and underrated, and if anything a heck of a presentation from two exciting talents on their way up. It was a match with the pitfalls of one promoted by WWE as a possible “Match of the Year,” but still a heck of a match with a great atmosphere and two incredibly well-rounded pro wrestlers that blend fundamentals, the right charisma for their roles, and the capability of pulling off pretty much anything.
7. Fatal 4-Way Match – NXT Cruiserweight Title: Angel Garza [c] vs. Isaiah “Swerve” Scott vs. Travis Banks vs. Jordan Devlin (Worlds Collide: NXT vs. NXT UK 1/25/20)
It was awesome seeing these guys in various stages of WWE developmental purgatory just get a SPOT. They seemed to get the go-ahead to go balls to the wall and boy did they. Angel Garza got a star treatment too, though when doesn’t he?
8. Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic – Round 1: Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish vs. Wolfgang & Mark Coffey (NXT 1/8/20)
Everybody in this match has a tough guy gimmick but here they all actually came off as legitimate tough guys. They laid everything in, O’Reilly was bumping all over the place, Mark Coffey did a dive, and Wolfgang was busting his tail like a guy working on the USA Network for the first time. Absolutely astounding how good this is.
9. RAW Women’s Title: Becky Lynch [c] vs. Asuka w/ Kairi Sane (Royal Rumble 1/26/20)
Fun, exciting, mostly credible, and an incredible finish – problem is, these two set the bar HIGH last year. This is high quality, but merely “great” as opposed to that epic at Rumble 2019. We are spoiled.
10. Fatal 4-Way Match – NXT North American Title #1 Contender’s Match: Keith Lee vs. Dominik Dijakovic vs. Damien Priest vs. Cameron Grimes (NXT 1/8/20)
A wild, heated NXT match with Keith Lee having another superstar performance on top of all the other ones, while Cameron Grimes came out swinging as a squirrelly bastard who can not only work an NXT main event with established acts but do a German suplex hold so good you’d think he trained in the New Japan Dojo.
11. No DQ Match: Ilja Dragunov vs. Alexander Wolfe (NXT UK 1/2/20)
I dig these two fighting for holds as opposed to stunts, but they made the No DQ stip their own with extra nasty shots including a finger-break spot with a chair lip that felt nastier than anything Marty Scurll or Pete Dunne have ever done. The sweetest most logical finish too.
12. Strap Match – WWE Universal Title: The Fiend [c] vs. Daniel Bryan (Royal Rumble 1/26/20)
This had a lot of chunks that just felt drab and boring, but there was also some nasty strap lashing and an incredibly impressive counter of the Knee+. Making the improbable seems probable is what the best good brothers do, and there were more moments than I’d like to admit I thought Bryan was going to conquer The Fiend.
13. Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic – Round 1: The Time Splitters (KUSHIDA & Alex Shelley) vs. The Grizzled Young Veterans (NXT 1/15/20)
For now, the only reunion of The Time Splitters in NXT with all the greatest hits being hit in between Gibson and Drake reminding everybody this is reality.
14. Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic – Final: Pete Dunne & Matt Riddle vs. The Grizzled Young Veterans (NXT 1/29/20)
A good tag match that’s only drawback is it was a tournament final that didn’t quite feel like a tournament final. Still though – a good tag match!
15. WWE U.S. Title: Andrade [c] vs. Rey Mysterio w/ Zelina Vega (RAW 1/6/20)
This great pairing just killed it for 10 or so minutes before some storytelling made the finish stupid.
16. Ladder Match – WWE U.S. Title: Andrade [c] w/ Zelina Vega vs. Rey Mysterio (RAW 1/20/20)
Watching Rey and Andrade wrecking each other in one of the most overused gimmicks in WWE was kind of a bummer, though this platform at default is still going to be better than most things. That whole thing with Rey climbing over then powerbombing Andrade off the ladder into a ladder was something else, too.
17. Angel Garza vs. Tony Nese (205 Live 1/3/20)
Garza’s wrestling is so cool that despite acting like a cock he babyfaces himself, so Nese is in a role he is very comfortable in: guy applying bodyscissors. They had a miscue or two but otherwise this was real good, with a few rapid-fire exchanges that popped the always difficult 205 Live audience.
18. Falls Count Anywhere: Roman Reigns vs. King Corbin (Royal Rumble 1/26/20)
A slightly more interesting than normal WWE brawl all around the arena, mostly because it was in a baseball park and it ended with a spear on top of the dugout. Roman walking tall through the masses, fist bumping and posing for pictures as he beat that ass, is very much worth seeing.
19. Women’s Royal Rumble Match (Royal Rumble 1/26/20)
A Royal Rumble that had some incredible peaks at the start then settled into some deep dark craven valley of despair before rising back into a match that was kind of fun, mostly because of all the random NXT cameos. Bianca Belair’s long run, Kairi Sane being a nutcase, Shayna Baszler hurting people, Naomi’s return, and the Otis/Mandy spot were all strong highlights.
20. NXT Women’s Title #1 Contender’s Battle Royal (NXT 1/15/20)
A Battle Royal that setup or continued like 4-5 stories – great job. Once they cleared the ring a bit this got fun, with a shock elimination and big deal finish. Kacy Catanzaro is back!
21. Mia Yim vs. Kay Lee Ray (Worlds Collide: NXT vs. NXT UK 1/25/20)
Just a good solid opener, and not in that boring way but a respectable one. Even with that description you know these two will still pull out something crazy.
22. Rey Mysterio vs MVP (RAW 1/27/20)
MVP going for one last ride with Rey Mysterio is fine by me.
23. WWE U.K. Title: WALTER [c] vs. Joe Coffey (TakeOver: Blackpool II 1/12/20)
Love WWE throwing two heavyweights against each other, but the desire to put Joe Coffey in these half-hour epic title matches at the start of the year is becoming a strange tradition. They kept it physical and didn’t lose the crowd – they were relatively invested, in fact. But neither guy really had enough tricks to keep me in the loop.
24. Tyler Breeze vs. Angel Garza (205 Live 1/31/20)
Garza brings an intensity to a 205 Live lock-up you don’t normally see, a dynamic to a 205 Live heat segment you don’t normally see. Liked seeing it.
25. Aleister Black vs. Local Competitor (RAW 1/20/20)
Ding ding. Black Mass. 1-2-3. Ding ding.
Honorable Mentions: Finn Balor vs. Ilja Dragunov (Worlds Collide: NXT vs. NXT UK 1/25/20), Dominik Dijakovic vs. Damian Priest (NXT 1/29/20), Trent Seven vs. Finn Balor (NXT 1/29/20), Shorty G vs. Sheamus (SmackDown 2/1/20), Bomber Dave Mastiff, Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster vs. Imperium (Fabian Aichner, Marcel Barthel & Alexander Wolfe) (NXT UK 1/30/20)
