25. Triple H vs. Dean Ambrose — WWE Championship Match (WWE Roadblock)
24. Team Raw (Kevin Owens, Roman Reigns, Chris Jericho, Seth Rollins & Braun Strowman) vs. Team SmackDown LIVE (AJ Styles, Dean Ambrose, Shane McMahon, Bray Wyatt & Randy Orton) — 5-on-5 Traditional Survivor Series Men's Elimination Match (Survivor Series)
23. The New Day vs. Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson — Raw Tag Team Championship Match (Raw, Sept. 26)
22. Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens vs. Chris Jericho vs. Cesaro vs. Sami Zayn vs. Alberto Del Rio — Money in the Bank Ladder Match (Money in the Bank)
21. Chris Jericho vs. AJ Styles (Fastlane)
20. Asuka vs. Bayley — NXT Women's Championship Match (NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn II)
19. The New Day vs. Y2AJ — WWE Tag Team Championship Match (Raw, March 7)
18. Dolph Ziggler vs. Triple H (Raw, March 14)
17. Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins — WWE Championship Match (Money in the Bank)
16. The Miz vs. Sami Zayn vs. Cesaro vs. Kevin Owens — Fatal 4-Way Intercontinental Championship Match (Extreme Rules)
15. Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte Flair — Hell in a Cell Raw Women's Championship Match (Hell in a Cell)
14. Finn Bálor vs. Seth Rollins — WWE Universal Championship Match (SummerSlam)
13. The Revival vs. American Alpha — NXT Tag Team Championship Match (NXT TakeOver: Dallas)
12. Roman Reigns vs. AJ Styles — Extreme Rules WWE Championship Match (Extreme Rules)
11. Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa (Cruiserweight Classic, Aug. 3)
10. The Miz vs. Dolph Ziggler — Title vs. Career Intercontinental Championship Match (No Mercy)
9. John Cena vs. AJ Styles (SummerSlam)
8. Charlotte Flair vs. Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch — Triple Threat WWE Women's Championship Match (WrestleMania 32)
7. Kevin Owens vs. Seth Rollins – No Disqualification WWE Universal Title Match (Raw, Nov. 21)
6. AJ Styles vs. Dean Ambrose vs. John Cena — Triple Threat WWE Championship Match (No Mercy)
5. Kota Ibushi vs. Cedric Alexander (Cruiserweight Classic; Aug. 10)
4. Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens (WWE Battleground)
3. Charlotte Flair vs. Sasha Banks — WWE Women's Championship Match (Raw; July 25)
2. Sami Zayn vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (NXT TakeOver: Dallas)
1. The Revival vs. #DIY — 2-out-of-3-Falls NXT Tag Team Championship Match (NXT TakeOver: Toronto)
It truly is amazing that the top five matches of the year feature two NXT bouts and one from the Cruiserweight Classic. It goes to show how credible this list is and makes me wonder if the WWE.com editors made this list without Vince's approval. Crazy theories aside, it's hard to dispute this list. Ibushi/Alexander is getting the recognition it deserves (probably my personal favorite of the year) and that is a great thing. Maybe i'd move Gargano vs Ciampa a little higher. But the only real change I would make is flip flopping the top two spots only because of the hype surrounding Nakamura's debut. From Nakamura's now famed entrance to one of the best crowd reactions of the year, this match belongs on top. Other than that, this list is damn near perfect.
This is undoubtedly one of the best year end lists WWE has come out with in a while. It's hard to debate any of the choices but.... let's do what we do best and nitpick at it.
Interesting list, seemingly void of political choices. I'm kinda shocked that my favorite match of the year is also being publicly celebrated as such by someone on WWE payroll.
Great list all in all. Many of these matches are great to introduce non fans to, as they can be enjoyed without context of storylines. That context helps, but the matches themselves have terrific legs to stand on.
I thought Kota vs Perkins was better than Kota vs Cedric, but I wouldn't dare poo-poo on that match, either.
I'm surprised Triple H vs. Roman Reigns at Wrestlemania wasn't first. lol Like that year they ranked Triple H vs. Brock Lesnar above CM Punk vs. Brock Lesnar. I guess they've pulled their collective heads out of their own asses.
DIY vs ReVival is the best tag match in WWE History, thats it, i said it!
Really great choices, i would have put AJ vs Cena a little higher, i enjoyed the fuck out of that match, and the the fact that AJ STYLES went over clean....it adds a lot.
All in all, first time that im aligned with their choices.
The list was surprising to me as well. I knew that there'd be a few matches from NXT and the CWC on the list but I didn't expect that they'd be ranked so high, I definitely didn't expect the top 2 matches to be NXT matches.
I'd have probably put Styles vs. Cena at SummerSlam in the top 5 and take out Zayn vs. Owens. Not that it wasn't a helluva match, but I did think Styles vs. Cena was better and the outcome of the match itself was hugely impactful on Styles' career in WWE. The 2 out of 3 falls NXT Tag Team Championship match was pretty damned epic and I'd love to see both DIY and the Revival on the main roster soon.
In the grand scheme of things, however, I'm quite pleased with the list. Sure, I could nitpick here and there, as is the usual thing to do with any "Best of" list, but it's good to see wrestlers who genuinely delivered time after time this year like Styles, Jericho, Rollins, Zayn, Owens, Ziggler, Miz, Cesaro, Charlotte, Sasha and others recognized.
It's kinda agree with this list for the most part accept for maybe the sasha vs charlotte hell in a cell match being on this list, i get why it made the list because of it's an historical moment, but it wasn't that great of a match for me. i would have put the reigns and aj styles at payback on that list instead of that match Also, i'm glad to see that roman reigns got a couple of matches on that list and before the haters write something like it because aj and rollins carried him to a great match, you have to remember that you need 2 guys to have a great match and Reigns is becoming a great performer and he proved it this year with some solid performance throughout the year.
Outside of that nothing really special, some of those matches i don'T even remember seeing but if they say they we're great then i will believe them because they wouldn'T have made the list if this wasn't the case.
The only match I don't remember seeing is Triple H Vs. Dolph Ziggler at Raw in March.
Glad to see #DIY Vs. The Revival being given the best match of the year achievement. It's a personal preference but I would have kept John Cena Vs. AJ Styles in the top 5 atleast.
Cena Vs. Styles II at Summerslam was the match of the year for me. Styles getting a clean pinfall victory over Cena was an icing on the cake.
Still it's a quite a good list as I agree with these matches being good enough.
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