2019 Matches of the Year
2019 is now behind us, and it left behind a few bright spots
in the world of WWE. I watched almost
all the programming-with the exception of NXT UK, but I did review the higher
praised matches to make sure my list was as accurate as it could be.
As is the norm, I’m sure many will say, “what about this match?”
or “why did you pick that one?” And that’s
totally cool. It’s all subjective folks.
Here’s my matches of the year for 2019 in chronological order.
1/15/19 and 1/22/19
Smackdown Live
Rey Mysterio vs. Andrade (2/3 Falls on the 22nd)
These matches had serious buzz around them due to the first
ever Canadian Destroyer (pretty sure) Rey gave Andrade in a tag match on 8th.
(A good match in its own right.) There
have been variations of Sin Cara vs. Kalisto/Del Rio etc. matches over the
years, but this felt different. This
felt like a lucha libre main event on WWE TV.
They kept these matches tight, with little to no downtime,
and have just excellent chemistry overall.
Easily these are the highlights of Andrade’s Smackdown run, and
rejuvenated Mysterio for a great first full year of his comeback.
The 2/3 fall match was really good-heading possibly towards
“great”, but got a tad sloppy towards the end.
Rey again tried for the moonsault DDT that he has even said he’s never
hit as clean as the first time against Guerrero at Halloween Havoc, but tried
it again and brutally botched it for the umpteenth time. I didn’t remember that it ended with a Samoa
Joe interference, which I guess goes to show that it didn’t matter in the big
scheme of things.
1/26/19
NXT Takeover: Phoenix
The War Raiders vs. Kyle O’Reilly and Roderick Strong
NXT Tag Team Championship
First, I’d like to point out that the War Raiders had
possibly the coolest entrance of the year for this match. If you don’t recall, it was a plethora of
Vikings that came out amidst lots of smoke and banged the spears against their
shields in rhythm with the theme song.
No matter what combination of the Undisputed Era is thrown
into a tag team (or any match for that matter) you know what you’re going to
get: a great tag match. This is
obviously no exception. The difference
with this match as opposed to most U.E. title matches is that the Raiders won
the tag titles here much to the delight of the crowd.
1/26/19
NXT Takeover: Phoenix
Johnny Gargano vs. Ricochet
North American Championship
It’s really weird seeing Gargano in his “conflicted” heel
stage. Regardless, a huge chunk of the
crowd still loved him and went bonkers when he beat Ricochet on this
night. It was quite the journey getting
there. They pulled out some of the NJPW
spots Ricochet did with Ospreay that got so much love/hate a few years back. Gargano suplexed Ricochet on the
concrete. Hell, there was even a reverse
‘rana on the floor as well (that move looks so dangerous no matter where it’s
done).
1/27/19
Royal Rumble
Akira Tozawa vs. Kalisto vs. Hideo Itami vs. Buddy Murphy
Cruiserweight Championship
This match was so much fun.
These guys worked great together; pulling off some multi-man spots that
I’d never seen before. Let’s be honest,
in this day and age, that’s hard to do.
It was a great visual to get to see these guys go at it in front of a
giant stadium crowd who did care about what they were doing. It’s amazing what happens when they are
properly placed on the card!
2/3/19
Halftime Heat
Adam Cole/Johnny Gargano/Tommaso Ciampa vs. Velveteen
Dream/Ricochet/Aleister Black
It only took WWE 20 years to decide that they should do
something during halftime again, so here’s what we got. I suppose it was worth the wait.
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| courtesy: wwe youtube page |
The setup was in the Performance Center, which gave it an
even different feel from a regular NXT show.
There were even lower-card NXT guys in the crowd, and for some reason
they kept showing Oney Lorcan constantly.
A new chant broke out, which I surprisingly haven’t actually heard
since, “BAY BAY SUCKS!” Apparently, this crowd was a bit more anti-Cole than
the usual Full Sail crowd. Well Bay Bay
broke out the Panama Sunrise for the first time in this match; and has been
doing it ever since. (Of course,
Ricochet kicked out on this occasion.)
Despite all of the flip flop and fly, the biggest pop of the
match is when all six men stood off in the middle, before having a brawl. Somewhere Jim Cornette is smiling.
2/17/19
Elimination Chamber
Akira Tozawa vs. Buddy Murphy
Cruiserweight Championship
There’s been a strange trend for the cruiserweight champion
since Cedric won it at WrestleMania last year; that being that champion
suddenly loses all their momentum and their matches don’t seem as fun
anymore. Cedric, Gulak, and Nese, have all
fallen victim. Buddy was headed down
that road as well, up until the Rumble 4-way match, and then this under-the-radar
clash.
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| courtesy: heelbynature.com |
These guys kept the momentum from last month going (minus
two competitors) and just pulled out all the athletic stops that would make
your jaw drop. It was fairly short,
sweet, and just everything that 205 Live should be.
2/17/19
Elimination Chamber
AJ Styles vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Randy
Orton vs. Samoa Joe vs. Jeff Hardy
Elimination Chamber Match
WWE Championship
From a pure talent perspective, this chamber match has to
rank up there with one of the best. They
certainly didn’t leave any down-time in the match. In reality this was almost two different
matches. The final two were Bryan and
Kofi and they had to have set the record for longest amount of time the final
two were in a chamber match. It really
felt like a singles match between the two as it went on for so long. This is the match that solidified
“Kofi-Mania” after his Smackdown performance as a "thing" and not just a passing fad, so from a historical perspective
it will always have that going.
3/5/19
205 Live
Akira Tozawa vs. Cedric Alexander
The most glaring thing about this match is the plethora of
empty seats opposite the hard camera.
You can’t help but feel so bad for these guys. They’re still in a no-win situation after
three years of 205’s existence.
This match started with no fanfare as per usual of a 205
Live crowd. Slowly but surely, they
worked the crowd into giving a crap.
They weren’t molten-hot by any means, but there were noticeable
smatterings of chants, eventually leading to a standing ovation at the match’s
end. Look out for Tozawa’s awesome
reverse ‘rana down the homestretch of the match.
3/10/19
Fastlane
The Revival vs. Aleister Black/Ricochet vs. Gable/Roode
Raw Tag Team Championship
It was weird when Ricochet and Black were just thrown
together as a team when they were randomly called up to Raw. They had little to no interaction on NXT, but
obviously Vince doesn’t care about things like that. However, they did end up blending together
really well, and of course became one of the highlights of whatever show they
were on (they were on all three shows for some reason that still wasn’t fully
explained).
The past year or so, there has been a mini-tag team
renaissance. They are never featured as
main event guys, but traditionally steal the show on many nights. You throw together three of the best like was
done here, you get a crazy car crash that is so fun to watch.
3/10/19
Fastlane
Daniel Bryan vs. Mustafa Ali vs. Kevin Owens
WWE Championship
This match had quite a bit working against it. The Kofi storyline was getting really
convoluted at this point, and he was supposed to be in this match, but was
removed. But then, it was made a triple
threat for some reason. I don’t know,
but it was weird and hurt the beginning of this match.
The match itself was a unique blend of talent that despite
the bad booking, had a really fun match.
The “Kofi” chants were distracting at the beginning, but eventually with
crazy action like Ali’s 450 onto the ring apron made them take notice and
invest in what was happening. The ending
was spectacular with Ali going for a twisting crossbody off the middle rope,
only for Bryan to catch him with the Knee Plus in mid-air for the win. I somehow forgot about it entirely, but I
popped huge for it on re-watch, and immediately remembered it (funny how that
works), and how it capped off a great title match on a surprisingly good
Fastlane show.
4/5/19
NXT Takeover: New York
Pete Dunne vs. WALTER
UK Championship
In the beginning of this match, Dunne didn’t know what to do
with the big Walter. Normally, his
ferocity and determination got him through any opponent that stood before
him. Walter was clearly a different
animal than anyone he’d faced previously.
After taking some massive blows from his opponent, Dunne decides to go
to work on the fingers because it doesn’t matter how strong you are, your
digits are susceptible. After 25
hard-hitting minutes Walter is your new NXT UK Champion.
Dunne’s run as champion was perfect, and Walter was the
perfect guy to finally dethrone him. It
made total sense from every conceivable angle.
4/5/19
NXT Takeover: New York
Johnny Gargano vs. Adam Cole
2/3 Falls
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| courtesy: espn.com |
NXT Championship
Honestly this match is nothing special for the first two
falls. It’s just typical fast-paced
indie moves and counters. But that
decisive third fall is where its bread is buttered. The crowd is biting on every near-fall. They roar when Gargano finally gets Cole to
tap out; which is all the more impressive considering Gargano got a noticeable
mixed reaction when he was announced.
You can truly feel the emotion in the arena throughout in this final
fall, and that’s what it’s all about.
The only thing that could have made it better is if Ciampa
hadn’t gotten hurt. It’s a shame that
the Gargano vs. Ciampa rivalry couldn’t have ended properly. It’s easily the best angle NXT has ever done,
and one of my personal favorites. But
you play the cards your dealt, and they did an admirable job.
5/19/19
Money in the Bank
Seth Rollins vs. AJ Styles
Universal Championship
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| courtesy: wrestletalk.com |
The streak finally ended on this night, and with the help of
AJ, he won me over for this night. The
closing sequence was really strong, and AJ got a great near-fall after the
Styles Clash. Seth retained, and it
appeared his title reign was off to a hot start….
5/19/19
Money in the Bank
Mustafa Ali vs. Ricochet vs. Randy Orton vs. Andrade vs.
Baron Corbin vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Finn Balor
Ladder Match
This match is mainly remembered for its finish, which was
Lesnar coming in at the last second as a replacement (more in a sec.) and
winning the match. Yes, it was total
crap, which knowing now what the creative was, it makes even less sense. All that said, it still didn’t detract from
an amazing match.
There was some fresh blood in this ladder match, and they
all are prime candidates for “guys you would put in a ladder match.” This made the match feel different from
previous ones, and of course gave you crazy stuff to watch. Hats off to Balor (although not a new guy
anymore) he took the two most brutal ladder bumps I’ve seen in this match or
just about any other ladder match.
Even Michael Cole seemed better in this match. His excitement and awe of the brutality
seemed more genuine for some reason.
Having good commentary never hurts, and it definitely added to the
product here.
If I were to nitpick, there were a couple of issues. Obviously, the Brock thing seemed like a slap
in the face to everyone involved. He
replaced Sami Zayn who was knocked out earlier in the night. Could you imagine Zayn in there with those
psychos? It would have been
fantastic. Secondly, Ali had the
briefcase in his hands, but Brock’s music magically made him freeze up, is
their story. It seemed a bit far-fetched
for my taste. Sure, he’d be scared, but
he had ample time to get the briefcase down before getting his ass kicked. I just want a bit more logic in my wrestling
dammit.
6/11/19
205 Live
Chad Gable vs. Jack Gallagher
Gable on 205 came out of nowhere, but it was certainly a
welcome surprise. The crowd seemed into
him (for 205 standards) and he brought the goods. Certainly, credit goes to Gentleman Jack as
well. These guys had never touched before, and had instant chemistry
together. Hard-hitting strikes, vicious
suplexes, (including a gorgeous dragon suplex by Gable) and various submissions
were all deployed during the match.
Eventually culminating with Gable catching a suicide dive from Jack,
then delivering a flipping release German suplex on the floor! This resulted in a count-out win for Gable,
which was a little weird at the time, but did set it up nicely for a rematch
down the line.
6/11/19
205 Live
Akira Tozawa vs. Oney Lorcan vs. Humberto Carrillo vs.
Drew Gulak
This match is the main event of the same show as the
previous match; undoubtably making this the best episode of 205 of the
year. Once again, the crowd makes this
one. Every week these guys flip, flop,
and fly, to little or no reaction. These
four did it this week, and the crowd was diggin’ it. Kudos to the Sacramento crowd for this night
overall. Not even the silly double pin
by Tozawa and Gulak could dampen this sleeper MOTYC.
7/14/19
Extreme Rules
Aleister Black vs. Cesaro
There’s a strong argument to be made that Cesaro is the most
consistent performer in WWE. Even when
given nothing to work with, he makes it something special. Well, on this night he had a bit more than
nothing to work with. It was a match
that I had never thought about, until it was booked.
What a bout of athleticism and strikes it
was. It was awesome. In what was probably the move of the year, Cesaro
caught Black going for a top rope Meteora, and threw him up into the European
uppercut. Incredible. It’s a shame that one guy had to lose.
7/16/19
205 Live
Jack Gallagher vs. Chad Gable
Unlike main roster booking, they made us wait over a month
for the rematch of the arguable 205 match of the year. And honestly, that’s a good thing. No point in rushing it.
I would argue that this one doesn’t quite live up to the
original, but I’ve seen others online argue the other way. Can’t deny the heart and desire though, and
GABLE wins with a picture-perfect Chaos Theory in this hard-hitting clash.
8/28/19
NXT
Keith Lee vs. Dominik Dijakovic
They’d already had one match earlier in the year that went
to a double count-out that got people buzzing.
Dijakovic then got hurt shortly thereafter putting a halt on the
feud. Keith Lee then was relegated to
sitting on the bench most of Dijakovic’s injury. Needless to say, both men had a lot to prove
going into the rematch.
The Spanish Fly in this match is a sight to behold. As is Dominik’s Fosbury Flop. Those are some big boys doing some little boy
things (so to speak). They weren’t done
either.
8/31/19
NXT UK Takeover: Cardiff
Tyler Bate vs. Walter
NXT UK Championship
I seriously enjoy Walter’s “no frills” approach to everything. It’s a stark contrast to what many big men
these days try to employ. And if you
enjoy him clubbing people, then this is the match for you. Bate takes a whoopin’ from the opening
bell. The UK crowd was whipped into a
frenzy before the match even started, and didn’t let up on their singing (right
or wrong) throughout the match. The
stout little Bate eventually got to show off his raw power hitting a few big
moves on Walter, and showed fighting spirit throughout the duration. In the end Walter hit the big lariat to
finish off the first ever UK champion.
9/25/19
NXT
Keith Lee vs. Dominik Dijakovic
Some guys just have chemistry. Plain and simple, and it’s nothing that can
be explained. These two hosses have
defined that all year (and throughout the years). Sure, the top rope Canadian Destroyer with a
kickout following suit was the epitome of “overkill,” but the visual was so
impressive I can look passed it. I also
believe that this was the first instance of Lee popping into the shot with
“fire in his eyes” that he’s used so effectively the last few weeks (and
honestly one of my favorite little touches going today).
10/2/19
NXT
Adam Cole vs. Matt Riddle
NXT Championship
This match opened the show to counteract the first episode
of Dynamite. All bells and whistles were
deployed in this wild bout for the NXT title.
This match had great near-falls in a clash that Cole retained the title. NXT also succeeding in putting on the best
match of the opening night of the Wednesday night wars.
10/6/19
Hell in a Cell
Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns vs. the Bludgeon Brothers
Tornado Tag Team Match
Forget about the horrible main event of this show. The first portion of this show was pretty
good, but the stupidity of that main event cancelled that all out for most
people. But I’m here to remind you of
this little doozy.
First, I realize Harper and Rowan didn’t go by “the Bludgeon
Brothers” by this point, but I love that name, so I’ll call them that
anyway. It’s baffling that they were
broken up earlier this year, with Rowan randomly becoming Bryan’s bodyguard. Oh wait, no it’s not, Vince hates tag
teams. Sorry got side-tracked
again. These guys used everything but
the kitchen sink in this match, and it was a formidable farewell for Luke
Harper (not that we knew it at the time though).
10/9/19
NXT
WALTER VS. KUSHIDA
Reason number 1,853 why NXT is awesome, it gives you matches
you didn’t even know you wanted. The
thought of Kushida vs. Walter never once crossed my mind. Then when it was announced, I was thinking,
“Dang, I want that.”
This was Kushida’s first big match that wasn’t simply a
showcase for him, and it was a David vs. Goliath no less. That didn’t matter however because he more
than held his own against the big Austrian.
Walter got the win, but Kushida looked like a player. Unfortunately, he broke his wrist in this
match that stalled any momentum he may have gained.
11/24/19
Survivor Series
Pete Dunne vs. Adam Cole
NXT Championship
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| courtesy: insiderpulse.com |
The plate looked set for Pete Dunne to become the new
champion (albeit in somewhat of a heel fashion). Personally, I’ve always found Cole to be a
tad overrated. He’s had great matches
and everything, just something didn’t quite click with me. This was the match where he finally won me
over completely. It felt different than
most Cole matches, it was just a straight up one on one with no posturing. He didn’t feel like a heel really, you almost
felt bad for him after getting nearly killed the previous night. Normally that’s not a good thing, but for
whatever reason, it moved Cole up a level in my mind.
Panama Sunrise on the apron?
Yep, it happened here. There was
also a superkick onto a moonsaulting Dunne which resulted in a standing ovation
from the crowd. I must agree, I love it
when he does that, the timing is impeccable.
Cole also countered the Bitter End into another Panama Sunrise, which
looked awesome and is something I’d never seen before. Bravo.
11/24/19
Survivor Series
NXT vs. Raw vs. Smackdown
Men’s Elimination Match
This match never let up for a second- which is quite
impressive for a 30-minute match. The
eliminations came fast and frequent initially, but not before teasing us with
some neat potential match-ups. Matt
Riddle vs. Chad Gable (I refuse to use that other “name”), WALTER vs. Strowman,
Ciampa vs. Orton, and of course the final fall of Reigns vs. Keith Lee (whoop whoop).
It was out of the blue, but Keith Lee being booked to be
that strong was a breath of fresh air. He hit arguably the greatest powerbomb of all
time against Reigns, and the crowd was chomping at the bit for the upset. Lee’s name was on everyone’s lips after this
weekend, as he looks to be the next big star in the company.
On a side note, the last handful of years I’ve seen numerous
people say that WWE should get rid of Survivor Series. For a while I agreed with them, but I have to
say the last four events (since the brand split of ’16) have produced really good
shows. The men’s elimination match is
consistently one of my favorites of the year.
therefore, LONG LIVE SURVIVOR SERIES!
11/20/19
NXT
The Revival vs. The Undisputed Era
It’s too bad Vince hates tag team wrestling. We could potentially see much more things
like this. The NXT faithful agree,
chanting “TAG TEAM WRESTLING” halfway through this match. I had never really thought about this match
before since they just missed each other in NXT, but I was sure excited when it
was announced. This HAS to happen again someday. This was just to wet our appetite.
11/27/19
NXT
Lio Rush vs. Akira Tozawa
Cruiserweight Championships
My boy Tozawa sneaks onto the list one last time. After getting switched to Raw midway through
the year, he’s had little chance to show anything. Here however, he’s back in NXT, a crowd he’s
tailor-made for and he delivers.
These guys put on a great display of quickness and crazy
counter moves. It never once felt
choreographed like so much of wrestling does now. These guys were hitting hard, and just gelled
from bell to bell. The highlight of the
match was Tozawa delivering a flipping release German suplex to Rush from the
apron to the floor. How this didn’t get
more recognition I’ll never know. (Part of it is probably because this is the
same night Keith Lee pounced Cole into the crowd, but in my mind, this is much
more impressive-and dangerous.)
Summary
As for show of the year, no match stands head and shoulders
above the others. There are numerous
shows that have two MOTYC on it, so from a quality-perspective you could say
that the year overall was more even throughout.
For the MVP this year, we have a tie. Ricochet, and wait for it…. Akira
Tozawa! I’m too lazy to look it up, but
Ricochet was probably the MVP last year too.
Well now he gets to share the honor with one of his best buddies. Right on their heels were: Cole, Gable, and
WALTER.
Wrestlers with multiple match of the year candidates in
2019:
Akira Tozawa-5
Ricochet-5
Adam Cole-4
Chad Gable-4
WALTER-4
Andrade-3
Keith Lee-3
Johnny Gargano-3
Aleister Black-3
Daniel Bryan-3
Randy Orton-3
Mustafa Ali-3
Rey Mysterio-2
Kyle O’Reilly-2
Buddy Murphy-2
Tommaso Ciampa-2
AJ Styles-2
Seth Rollins-2
Kevin Owens-2
The Revival-2
Pete Dunne-2
Baron Corbin-2
Drew Mcintyre-2
Jack Gallagher-2
Dominik Dijakovic-2
Matt Riddle-2
Roman Reigns-2
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