WWE Match of the Year 2018

Surely I don’t need to explain this one do I? It’s the end of the year and you know what happens on blogs like this one at the end of the year. We compulsively rank everything that happened in the year in the hopes that someone somewhere will scroll through it all and agree with us.

So here’s me throwing my hat into the ring, and we’re starting off with the best matches that took place in WWE/NXT in 2018. I’m just doing WWE because, although I did watch a bunch of other promotions this year, it wasn’t nearly enough to be able to fairly judge what was the best. I did watch a lot of WWE however, so let’s go.

10 – Brock Lesnar vs Daniel Bryan – Survivor Series

I know, it’s a Brock Lesnar match on a best of the year list, miracles do happen people.

Over twenty minutes, these two men were able to craft such a unique story that could only happen in a Brock Lesnar match. Though it has been chipped away at year by year, Lesnar still has this aura of being completely unstoppable, regardless of context you always feel like he’s going to win unless he’s fighting Roman Reigns.

Bryan was able to use this aura to his advantage, with the first 8-10 minutes of the match being your standard affair when it comes to a Brock Lesnar match. He throws his opponent around and stands there smiling like the prick that he is, but all it takes it one second to make us believe.

I remember watching that moment, when Bryan had Brock in the Yes Lock, and of course, in the rational part of my brain I know there’s not a chance in hell Brock is tapping out to Daniel Bryan, but in that moment we were all absolutely certain that Brock was about to tap. It’s the kind of match that shows exactly why pro-wrestling is so fascinating, because for even just a split second, it can make us believe that the impossible is about to happen.

9 – Shayna Baszler vs Kairi Sane – Evolution

This year is arguably the best year for women’s wrestling ever.

There wasn’t a great deal in terms of the women’s wrestling scene being revolutionised this year, and there was no major ground broken all things considered, but the quality of women’s wrestling matches has never been consistently higher than they have been this year if you ask me.

One such example is this match, there’s no massive game changing style or story being told here, there’s just a lot of really freaking great wrestling. Kairi Sane is perhaps the most adorable human to ever exist and kicks ass like no-one else, and Shayna Baszler may be the best heel in WWE right now, so these two colliding was always going to be amazing.

There was worry that being on a main roster show would mean they couldn’t do the amazing things they did at Takeover: Brooklyn 4, but they quickly put those fears to rest when the match started. The chemistry these two have in the ring is brilliant and that’s clear with every single spot that happens during the match.

It was also one of those rare matches that manages to use the outside interference to its advantage instead of its detriment. Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir getting involved just seemed to add to Baszler’s aura of this mega heel that can put anyone away, no matter how anime you are. Kairi fought back against the interference in a way the didn’t make it feel like she lost directly because of it, and when Shayna had her in the choke hold, Sane held on just long enough to make us all think she was going to turn it around before finally passing out.

Both these women feel destined for great things in their careers, and this match here and a major WWE show was them proving that fact to the whole world.

8 – Aleister Black vs Adam Cole – Extreme Rules –
NXT Takeover: Philladelplia

This was a 20 minute long weapons based match, and I liked it; that should tell you everything you need to know.

This match didn’t really try to subvert any of the tropes in weapons matches, instead the two men in this match used the tropes in a way that added to the match instead of subtracting from it. There’s a bit of slowness to it in the first half when the weapons are first coming out, but apart from that, this match is all action.

Black spending the first 5 minutes or so refusing to use weapons because he can take Cole on without them was some great character work, and Adam Cole jumping on that complacency was such a fun character interaction to watch.

The second half of the match, there’s pretty much no stopping at all, we got the most brutal chair spot I think I’ve ever seen as Cole when back first onto the top of one, which is going to hurt no matter how you take it. Then the Undisputed Era and Sanity got involved to create chaos around ringside as both men recovered in the ring.

Ultimately, this is the kind of match that proves to me that weapons matches can be awesome if they’re performed correctly, then add on two of my favourite wrestlers right now and you’ve got a winning formula.

7 – Becky Lynch vs Charlotte Flair vs Asuka –        TLC Match – WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs

I’ve talked about this match very recently, but I really did think it was just that good.

This match was able to house the pure chaos and destruction that a TLC match needs to have, in with solid pure wrestling and great character work and interactions, and it takes a lot to achieve that. It was able to play off the drama that had been built up around Becky and Charlotte over the past few months and throw Asuka into the mix so seamlessly that it felt like she’d been a part of the story the whole time.

The action was fast paced and fun to watch, with every spot feeling high impact as the match slowly built to a climax. If you ever wanted to see just how far women’s wrestling in WWE has come since 2015, then this is the match to watch, because I’m pretty confident that this match wouldn’t look any different if it was men performing it, and that’s something we haven’t been able to say very often for many years.

It’s a great lasting image for the final big WWE show of 2018 and set up so much to look forward to going into the new year.

6 – Ronda Rousey vs Charlotte Flair –
Survivor Series

Now to talk about one of this year’s biggest success stories: Ronda Rousey.

I don’t think it’s unfair to say that when she came into the WWE at the 2018 Royal Rumble, most of us weren’t expecting much, she was just another big name that WWE were going shove down our throats whether we liked it or not. Then she had her first match at Wrestlemania and boy, did we all look stupid.

Ronda ended up being the biggest part in the best match of a Wrestlemania that included AJ Styles vs Shinsuke Nakamura and if that isn’t a statement to how good Ronda is at wrestling, then I don’t know what is. Over the rest of the year, she would continue to put on great matches almost ever month, with even her worst matches being ok.

So naturally, when you take someone who’s taken to wrestling as quickly as Ronda has, and put her against the best female wrestler (in terms of ability) in WWE right now, it was always going to be great. This was a vicious match, which managed to tell a great story using such simple maneuvers, that it really was a show in just how effective even the basics in wrestling can be.

Charlotte spent most of the first half of the match on top, trying every trick in the book to out wrestle Ronda, but every single manuever Charlotte would attempt, it seemed Ronda had an answer for, this slowly built into the second half of the match which slowly got more and more brutal until it felt more like a fight than a wrestling match

When it came to the finish, we got to see a rarity in WWE using a sudden and disappointing DQ finish to its advantage. The story felt like it had been building the whole time to one of the women snapping and going mental on the other, so that’s exactly what happened. Charlotte’s beat down of Ronda set in motion the events are currently unfolding week to week on WWE TV, and it’s made it feel like the women’s division has had a long-term story crafted, lasting from November all the way through to April 2019 and this match is what we have to thank for that.

5 – Andrade “Cien” Almas vs Johnny Gargano –
NXT Takeover: Philadelphia

Brace yourselves, there’s a lot more NXT to come.

I think Almas might go down as one of the most underrated NXT Champions ever, his run was fairly short and nothing major happened during it, but he had some killer matches with top NXT stars, case in point, this match right here.

There wasn’t any amazing story to be told here, or anything ground-breaking, it was just 32 minutes of amazing wrestling. It moved from mat-based to technical to high-flying styles of wrestling so seamlessly that everything flowed so beautifully into one contest. Andrade and Vega were able to heelish in just the right way, to get us to root for Gargano without it ruining the match.

The crowd also added to the match in quite a big way for this one, their reactions to every single kickout and comeback from Gargano really helped draw me into the emotion behind this one.

The two of them were able to build the drama to the point where even the simplest of moves seemed high impact and dripping with drama, to the point where, by the end of it at least, it was the match I was most emotionally invested in all year.

I could sit here and list all of the cool moments that happened during it, but really, only watching it will do it justice, so go watch it……after reading the rest of this article of course.

4 – Dolph Ziggler & Drew Mcintyre vs Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose – Hell in a Cell

I’ve talked a lot about the type of wrestling I hate, but I don’t often mention the types of wrestling that I love, and Tag Team wrestling is a type of wrestling I love very much indeed, and this match is the perfect example of why.

Much like the last match, there wasn’t really much story or character work here, it was just balls-to-the-walls action from the word go. I could talk about all the awesome spots and moments in the match, but quite frankly there just isn’t enough time to go through them all, so here are some of the highlights.

Dean Ambrose continues to adapt his wrestling style since his return, he’s mostly been working a pretty stiff and slow pace so far that’s been fun to watch, but here he incorporated that with some of his old, face paced flailing about the place style and it worked brilliantly.

Dolph Ziggler, reminding us all why we should still care about him, this man works a fever pitch the whole time, this is why he’s generally just better as a face, he brings the kind of energy to his better performances, that not a lot of other wrestlers can.

Seth Rollins is still the best wrestler in the world, like seriously, he’s been in someway involved in the best match of very nearly every PPV this year and I really hope he continues that next year as Univeral Champion (pleasepleasepleaseplease).

Drew Mcintyre…just Drew Mcintyre man, the dude’s an absolute monster who shouldn’t really have to sell for anyone, but boy does he do an amazing job of it. He’s able to pick his spots and make his presence felt in the match, even though he didn’t do as much as the other three.

Then there’s the finish, which was absolutely perfect, Seth uses the last ounce of energy he has left to hit Dolph with the Falcon Arrow, but while he’s mid move, Drew runs in and boots his face off, causing an unconscious Dolph Ziggler to fall onto Seth and win the match for their team. Combine that with four lunatics flying all around the ring for twenty minutes and just so damn many false finishes and kickouts, and you’ve got one of the best pure tag team matches I’ve ever seen.

3 – Men’s Royal Rumble – Royal Rumble

I know it’s not really conventional to put a Royal Rumble match in a “Match of the Year” list, but then again, it’s been a long time since we’ve had a Rumble even nearly as good as this one.

It’s a near impossible task to have a match that lasts over an hour, even a Rumble, and have every minute be entertaining, but I really feel they accomplished that here. There really wasn’t a dull moment from bell to bell in this one, there was just so many great moments the whole way through to keep you going.

Finn Balor was really the MVP here, lasting very nearly an hour and I’ll be honest, as irrational as it was when I heard his music hit at number 2, I thought he was going to win the thing. Then you had Elias coming out while everyone’s been taken out to sing a song, the usual New Day shenanigans, Heath Slater trying to get in the damn ring and so much more.

There were also some really great surprise entrants, with Almas, Cole, The Hurricane and a returning Rey Mysterio bringing some great memorable moments and making their mark in the match.

Most importantly, the drama was really there this time, in every rumble since 2010, there’s been something to ruin the moment towards the end. Be it, Roman Reigns entering at Number 30 in 2017; Cena’s win feeling inevitable in 2013; or the fact Sheamus existed in 2012. This didn’t have any of that, it put Shinsuke Nakamura against two people no-one wanted to see win (but quite easily could’ve) in John Cena and Roman Reigns.

That feeling of elation when Nakamura dispatched Reigns to win the match is still a vivid memory in my mind and perhaps the biggest positive reactions I’ve had to any moment in WWE this year.

You can debate whether or not this is the “best” Royal Rumble ever till the cows come home, but this will certainly stand for a long time as my favourite.

2 – Johnny Gargano vs Tommaso Ciampa –              NXT Takeover: New Orleans

I can FEEL that image, that’s how powerful this story was.

It was always going to be a challenge to pick a favourite of the Gargano vs Ciampa saga. All of the Gargano vs Ciampa matches were special in their own way and I could’ve believably put all three of them on this list without any complaints, but in the end I had to go with their first encounter as my favourite of the trilogy.

This match really felt like the bridging point between the two major phases of this feud. It was the end of the #DIY saga, where two best friends rose to the highest heights, only for one to betray the other. We had a whole year to let that story brew while Ciampa recovered from a knee injury to the anticipation was high to finally see it end.

However, as that story ended a new one began, the story being the one we’re still seeing today which is the descent into madness of Johnny Gargano, we’ll talk more on that in a little bit, but it’s important to note that this is where it started, not with a loss to Ciampa, but with a victory over him.

That’s really what elevated this match from a fantastic match to one of the all time great NXT main events. These two men had the most seemless of chemistry in the ring – as can be expected from two men who teamed for over a year – and there wasn’t a single beat missed in this one. While weapons were legal they were used quite sparingly, which only added to the impact when they eventually were used.

The moment when Gargano is about to use Ciampa’s own steel crutch to put him away for good, only to fall to his knees and realise what Ciampa’s driven him to is something you’d expect to see in a Hollywood drama, but it was played to perfection here. All that gets topped off with a triumphant win for the hero Gargano, although little did we know the story that was about to begin….

1 – Aleister Black vs Johnny Gargano –                    NXT Takeover: Wargames II

“Johnny Gargano, I absolve you of your sins”, haunting.

You could make a case for a few other wrestlers, but 2018 really has been Johnny Gargano’s year. Not only has he been putting on amazing matches one after another, he’s also been a part of the longest and most compelling story to take place all year.

It’s often cited by people who analyse this story that it was Gargano constantly failing to defeat Ciampa that turned him into the broken man we see on NXT today, but people often neglect to mention his initial victory over Ciampa. It’s the fact that Gargano feels like his one big win was a total fluke, since he’s never been able to replicate it since, and maybe if he’d have just used that crutch instead of throwing it to one side, he’d be NXT Champion right now instead of Ciampa.

It all felt like that came to a head in this match here, despite not being the conclusion to the story, not by a long shot, it was a firm bullet point and the key moment to take place at the end of the penultimate act.

This is the perhaps the closest thing I’ve seen in WWE to my “ideal” style of wrestling, because this thing didn’t let up for a second. They did some of the character work and taunts that we’ve come to expect from any Aleister Black match (and are still cool as fuck), but once that was out of the way these guys were running at full speed right until the finish.

Things were going back and forth so fast it became impossible to analyse, all you could do was just sit back and be blown away by the best wrestlers doing the best wrestling. The speed didn’t take away from the impact of the moves either, with one of the most brutal dives I’ve ever seen when Gargano leapt face first into Black’s knee at full speed.

It’s this style of wrestling that makes me totally enthralled in a match. Seriously, while I was watching this in my living room, people were having conversations right across me and I didn’t hear a word any of them said because I was so into the amazing action that was on the screen.

I have no idea how either of these men’s stories in NXT is going to end, but if it’s even half as good as this match right here was, then I’m all in the whole way, because wrestling WWE this year did not get better than this.

Thank you very much for reading this, if you are feeling so kind then please share this around. If you want to tell me why my opinions are wrong, then you can let me know on Twitter @10ryawoo.

Finally, make sure to come back this weekend where I’ll be talking about my favourite video games of 2018!