WWE's Top 10 Matches of 2019 Review (Part 1)

2019 was certainly a wild year in the WWE and while 2020 is already here, I finally had time to stop and relive some of the best moments and matches from last year. WWE posted their top 10 matches of 2019 on The WWE Network and I decided to check them out and give you my thoughts on each match.

#10: WWE Summerslam 2019 - WWE Universal Championship - Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Seth Rollins
After winning the Universal Championship from Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania, Seth Rollins finds himself having to go through The Beast once more to regain the gold in the main event here at Summerslam. Rollins is nursing some serious rib injuries after weeks on beatdowns inflicted by Lesnar on episodes of Monday Night Raw. This match was exactly what it needed to be, fast and full of action. Lesnar was great in his role here by toying around with Rollins and tossing him around like a rag doll, really putting an emphasis on those injured ribs. Rollins was great in his role here, too, selling the injuries perfectly and using his creativeness to score any type of offense whenever he had the chance. His Stomps seemed desperate and essential to taking down Lesnar with a highlight being a splash from the top rope through one of the announcers tables. Rollins was able to hit one last Stomp to secure the win and gain his second Universal Championship reign. Awesome main event match that featured a hot crowd from the start to the finish. When he wants to be, Lesnar is the best in the game.
Winner: Seth Rollins
Rating: ***3/4

#9: WWE WrestleMania 35 - WWE Raw Women's Championship & WWE SmackDown Women's Championship - Ronda Rousey (c) vs. Charlotte Flair (c) vs. Becky Lynch
Of course, these three are creating history by main eventing the very first all women's WrestleMania main event match. Much debate leading into this match if Charlotte Flair should even be in the match considering much of the heat was between Ronda Rousey and Becky Lynch. But personally, I dig the idea of adding a third wheel and considering how big of a star Charlotte is, she has more than earned this spot. First off, the entrances for the three here were incredible. WWE did an amazing job of advertising this match and truly building it up as the biggest match of the year. However, this match simply just felt like an array of moves from everyone and no real pace here. At this point in the show, the crowd was definitely tired from what has been an extremely long show. While the action was fun to watch, much of it felt forced and even sluggish at times. To make things worse, the finish just seemed so off and underwhelming with Lynch getting the win from an odd pin attempt that left so many wondering what exactly happened. Regardless, it doesn't take away from the beautiful moment of Lynch holding her belts as the pyro erupted to close out the show.
Winner: Becky Lynch
Rating: ***

#8: WWE Elimination Chamber 2019 - WWE Championship - Elimination Chamber - Daniel Bryan (c) vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Randy Orton vs. AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe
With Kofi Kingston replacing Mustafa Ali in this Elimination Chamber match, he finally gets the opportunity he had been craving for his entire career. If Daniel Bryan wanted to retain his WWE Championship, he would have to do so as one of the first two participants to start the match with the other being Samoa Joe. Loved the idea of having Kingston enter the match third as the crowd was hot for him and injecting him fairly in the match kept the Kofi drama rolling fast and early. Tons of action from the beginning to the very end here with some cool spots we have never seen in the Chamber before like Jeff Hardy hitting a Swanton Bomb from the top of a pod onto AJ Styles as Styles was laying on a turnbuckle corner. However, the match was truly focused around Bryan and Kingston, it was the match everyone was wanting to see and once it came down to the two, the crowd absolutely lit up for it. Seeing Kingston nearly score the win and having the crowd erupt was an awesome moment. Bryan proved to be too much as a second Running Knee scored him the big win as Kingston and the rest of New Day closed out the show together in disappointment with the WrestleMania sign looming in the back, what a sight. Loved this match but the showdown between Bryan and Kingston may have gone a tad bit longer than it needed to. Regardless, fun match and a great way to head into WrestleMania.
Winner: Daniel Bryan
Rating: ****1/2

#7: WWE NXT TakeOver: New York 2019 - WWE U.K. Championship - Pete Dunne (c) vs. WALTER
Huge match on another stacked TakeOver event here with Pete Dunne being brought in to defend his U.K. Championship against he surging WALTER. The commentators were very present in letting us know the size differential between the two competitors early on and both Dunne and WALTER were great in showing the audience how Dunne would have to be keen and sneaky in order to take down the much larger WALTER. Both have such physical styles and it meshed well here, the two beat the living daylights out of each other with some serious chops and elbows constantly being delivered to each other throughout the match. Seriously, these were some of the nastiest hits I've seen in a WWE ring in a very long time. Despite being completely outsized, Dunne was fantastic in his role of making the match believable from the start and breaking down WALTER by his hands. Eventually, he was able to throw some serious bombs against WALTER before getting hit with an insane powerbomb from the top rope. WALTER then followed it up with a splash from the top to seal the big win. Great match, maybe a tad too long than it needed to be but it doesn't take much away from what was truly a special match.
Winner: WALTER
Rating: ****1/4

#6: WWE Money in the Bank 2019 - Men's Money in the Bank Ladder Match - Baron Corbin vs. Finn Balor vs. Ricochet vs. Andrade vs. Ali vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Randy Orton vs. Brock Lesnar
With Braun Strowman being eliminated from the equation here, it looks like this year's Men's Money in the Bank match is open for the taking. Baron Corbin and Drew McIntyre formed a little bit of an alliance here as they would turn their attentions to the other competitors in the ring before seeing what would happen when it came down to just those two. We all know how that always turns out. As usual, plenty of cool spots here with a couple of spots that I've never seen. For instance, Andrade slamming Finn Balor off the top of a ladder through another ladder was a spectacle to see. Seeing Balor bounce off the ladder like it was a spring was a sick sight and easily one of the biggest highlights of the year. McIntyre also looked like a beast here and WWE did a great job early on in really building this guy up to be a legitimate monster, absolutely loved the spot that saw him toss Ricochet outside the ring through a ladder. However, a very strange finish to this one here. ALI looked to finally score the biggest win of his career until Brock Lesnar's music hits. Lesnar runs out, pushes a ladder onto a few cameramen before pushing the ladder with ALI on it. Lesnar sets up a ladder and climbs up to grab the briefcase and score the win. Couple things here... ALI was at the very top of the ladder when Lesnar's music hit, why couldn't he have just grabbed the damn thing? Secondly, I love whenever Lesnar scores a big win, nothing satisfies me more than seeing the internet fans get pissy over it. However, did Lesnar really need to win this match to get back his Universal Championship? I think this opportunity could have given to someone to challenge for the WWE Championship while Lesnar would still have his sights on the other title after this match. Regardless, fun main event match here and glad to see many of the nerds mad over this one. 
Winner: Brock Lesnar
Rating: ****1/4