My 10 Favorite Network Matches of the Year
2018 Edition
Here's my list for the best WWE Network Matches of the Year for 2018. Enjoy!
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Charlotte vs. Ruby Riott (Fastlane 2018)
Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte (Evolution)
Daniel Bryan vs. Brock Lesnar (Survivor Series 2018)
Ronda Rousey vs. Nia Jax (Money in the Bank 2018)
...And now, the actual list...
10. Triple H & Stephanie McMahon vs. Kurt Angle & Ronda Rousey
WrestleMania XXXIV
9. Team RAW vs. Team SmackDown
Survivor Series 2018
Since 2015 or so, the WWE has excelled in the field of multi-man car wrecks, matches that eschew long-term psychology in favor of the instant gratification of stars sprinting through their signature moves, tables getting splintered, and the teasing of future dream matches. While not everyone's cup of tea, this year's RAW/SD Survivors Match was built around two looming, dominant figures - Braun Strowman and Drew McIntyre - and, to be sure, they both shined in the roles, but it was the spotlight moments that The Miz, Finn Balor, and Rey Mysterio were given that connected with me. The funnest "popcorn match" of the year.
8. Ronda Rousey vs. Nia Jax
TLC 2018
8 months after her remarkable debut, Ronda Rousey closed out 2018 with another excellent match, a sequel to her show-stealing battle with Nia Jax from June's Money in the Bank show. While there first encounter was terrific, by this point, Rousey's rough edges (overt spot-calling, the giddy facial expressions) had been smoothed over and Nia Jax had emerged as the company's most legitimately despised heel. On a show loaded with crowd-pleasing stipulation matches built around furniture destruction, Rousey and Jax nearly stole the show with a basic story infused with a dazzling array of counters and some excellent selling by the RAW Women's Champion.
7. Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte Flair
Survivor Series 2018
A brutal, highly physical battle that ended with one of the more unexpected half-turns in recent memory. After standing up to Rousey with more confidence than any of the former UFC Champ's previous challengers, Charlotte grew so frustrated with her inability to put away the rookie that she went overkill, costing herself the match but also reclaiming her position as the women's division most fearsome competitor. The crowd, which started a bit lukewarm (disappointed that Becky Lynch had been pulled from "her moment" and replaced by the gilded Flair), had abandoned their resentment by mid-match as Charlotte and Rousey's efforts were too intense to be ignored. As much as 2018 may be the Year of "The Man" Becky Lynch, when it comes to actual output, Charlotte Flair and Ronda Rousey were the MVPs of the women's division.
True NXT/WWE mega-fans reading this would likely argue that the best Undisputed Era/Moustache Mountain available for viewing on the Network is actually found on the July 11th episode of the weekly NXT show, but as I'm not a regular viewer of the show I didn't catch that match until I had been spoiled by seeing this innovative, high spot-loaded spectacular. If this was just your typical "spotfest," it likely wouldn't rank on my list (and certainly not this high), but like the #DIY/Revival classics of 2016, this one was equally about the characters and the importance of the championships. While even the main roster's best tag teams spent 2018 resting on their laurels, the Undisputed Era and Moustache Mountain (along with Lorcan & Burch and The War Raiders) fought hard to bring NXT's tag division back to prominence.
6. Charlotte Flair vs. Asuka
WrestleMania XXXIV
Awesome entrances, exchanges that remind the audience that pro-wrestling ain't ballet, some nifty high spots, and at least one amazing counter (Asuka locking Flair in a triangle choke after a moonsault attempt), this match delivered on every level...except maybe the one that fans wanted most (an Asuka victory to continue her undefeated streak). Like her work in her aforementioned bout with Ronda Rousey, Charlotte was able to win over much of the crowd by taking the fight to Asuka and withstanding the Empress's stiff strikes.
5. Tommaso Ciampa vs. Johnny Gargano
NXT Takeover: New Orleans
NXT Takeover: Brooklyn IV
NXT Takeover: Chicago II
In 1989, Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat had a trilogy of matches that all earned 5 stars in Dave Meltzer's still-influential Wrestling Observer newsletter. This year, Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano put on a trilogy of their own - a far more violent one - and stamped their own place in wrestling history in the process. Now, I am fully aware that grouping 3 matches together on a Top 10 List is cheating, but I suspect I won't be the only doing so. The matches are inextricably linked. With a gun to my head, I'd rank their first battle, at NXT Takeover: New Orleans, as the best of the bunch due to it being the most classically "epic" - but I'll readily admit to enjoying the mayhem of the Chicago Street Fight from June almost equally as much and loving the inventiveness of the finish of their match from Brooklyn IV. Stand alone, I'm not sure any of these matches would've ranked higher than a number 8 or 9, but collectively, they rank as the best multi-match series that the WWE produced in 2018.
4. Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz
SummerSlam 2018
When Daniel Bryan announced his return in the build up to WrestleMania XXXIV, it wasn't a matter of if but when we would see him exact revenge on his longest-running rival, The Miz. We didn't have to wait long as, at SummerSlam, 3 years of built-up animosity erupted in one of the best (and most underrated) matches of the year, a throwback to the character-based classics that the Randy Savages and Jake "The Snake" Robertses of the world built their careers on. In an age where seemingly every major match contains at least two suicide dives, a handful of moonsaults, and an announcer's table being turned to sawdust, it was refreshing to see Bryan and Miz build a match almost entirely on character work, chicanery, and weapons-free brawling. From the start, Bryan's body language and expressions made it clear that winning the match was secondary to his primary aim of literally just punching The Miz in the face, while The Miz, in overlooked brilliance, sought to show the "technical wizard" that he'd learned a few things during Bryan's absence - specifically Bryan's own signature moves (stealing Bryan's Yes Kicks was nothing new, but applying a friggin' surfboard was some serious salt-in-wound shit). The live crowd wasn't as amped for this match as it could've (and should've) been, but I like to think that's partially because it was Match #6 on a 10-match, 4+ hours broadcast (and that's not including whatever happened during the 60-minute Pre-Show). For fans craving a character-driven battle without all the "flippity-flopping," gimmicky plunder, and "self-conscious epic" melodrama, look no further.
3. Roderick Strong and Kyle O'Reilly vs. Moustache Mountain
NXT Takeover: Brooklyn IV
2. AJ Styles vs. Daniel Bryan
TLC 2018
This year brought us a DegenerationX reunion, three Roman Reigns/Brock Lesnar match, and John Cena vs. The Undertaker at a WrestleMania and all of them were the worst versions of themselves possible. Thank god for AJ Styles and The New Daniel Bryan for, without them, the belief that "dream matches" could deliver on their promise might have been lost forever. On an episode of SmackDown a week before Survivor Series, Daniel Bryan cheated his way to the WWE World Championship, but that match (as good as it was) was mostly wrestled as an ultra-competitive exhibition as opposed to a heel/face grudge match. Their TLC rematch made up for it without going overboard. Both guys showed urgency but not recklessness, AJ knowing that he needed to maintain his composure if he wanted to win back the title and Daniel Bryan wrestling with the attitude of NWA-era Ric Flair, arrogant when in control but almost cowardly on defense. Bryan's work here (and, to a lesser degree, against Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series) shows that he might just as good in this character as he was playing the lovable underdog. An instant classic and the best main roster match of the year that left enough on the table for the inevitable rematch to be one of the most anticipated matches of 2019.
1. Andres "Cien" Almas vs. Johnny Gargano
NXT Takeover: Philadelphia
For the fourth year straight, my favorite Network match of the year came from the NXT brand. Awarded what used to be the highest rating possible (a full 5 stars) by Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer, this match featured everything one would ever hope for in a major championship match - intensely fought exchanges in the early going building up to throw-anything-you-can-at-the-other-guy risk-taking, super stiff strikes, edge-of-your-seat, believable false finishes, brilliant use of supporting characters (Zelina Vega and Candice LeRae)..this match was not just the best WWE match of the year, it has enough action and emotion that it might be one of the top 10 WWE Matches of all-time. I'm not even sure there's an argument that it isn't the best match in NXT history. If there is one match that a wrestling fan can and should show their non-wrestling fan friends as the clock winds down on 2018, this is it, a captivating, high-stakes battle that demonstrates how even the most choreographed sequences should look like an intense struggle. A perfect match.
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