WWE Ranks Top 25 Matches of 2018

2018 will end in a matter of hours, which means we only have a little time to be retrospective. Luckily, WWE has done the work for us and just put out their top 25 matches of the year.

Thanks to their conquest of the world, WWE puts on more matches than ever, which means it's never been harder to crack their top 25. While it's bound to have snubbed some heroic in-ring efforts and erroneously anoint an overrated match, here's WWE's official list:

25. Matt Hardy vs. Bray Wyatt (The Ultimate Deletion, Raw, March 19)

24. Seth Rollins vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (Champion vs. Champion match, Survivor Series)

23. Ricochet vs. Velveteen Dream (NXT TakeOver: Chicago)

22. Kalisto vs. Buddy Murphy (205 Live, April 3)

21. Roman Reigns vs. Samoa Joe (Intercontinental championship, Raw, January 1)

20. AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (WWE championship, Last Man Standing match, Money in the Bank)

19. Ricochet vs. Adam Cole vs. The Velveteen Dream vs. EC3 vs. Lars Sullivan vs. Killian Dain (NXT North American Championship Ladder Match, NXT TakeOver: New Orleans)

18. Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz (SummerSlam)

17. Cedric Alexander vs. Buddy Murphy (Cruiserweight championship, 205 Live, May 29)

16. Meiko Satomura vs. Mercedes Martinez (Mae Young Classic)

15. Roman Reigns vs. Finn Balor (Universal championship, Raw, August 20)

14. Mustafa Ali vs. Buddy Murphy (No Disqualification, 205 Live, July 3)

13. Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Asuka (SmackDown women's championship triple threat TLC match, TLC)

12. Shayna Baszler vs. Kairi Sane (NXT women's championship, NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn)

11. Ricochet vs. Pete Dunne vs. Adam Cole (North American championship triple threat match, NXT, October 10)

10. The Bludgeon Brothers vs. The New Day (SmackDown tag team championship No Disqualification, SmackDown Live, August 22)

9. Ronda Rousey & Kurt Angle vs. Stephanie McMahon & Triple H (WrestleMania 34)

8. John Cena vs. Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins vs. The Miz vs. Finn Balor vs. Braun Strowman vs. Elias (Gauntlet match, Raw, February 19)

7. Andrade Almas vs. Johnny Gargano (NXT championship, NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia)

6. Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre vs. Dean Ambrose & Seth Rollins (Raw tag team championship, Hell in a Cell)

5. Seth Rollins vs. The Miz (Intercontinental championship, Backlash)

4. Moustache Mountain vs. The Undisputed ERA (NXT tag team championship, NXT, July 11)

3. Brock Lesnar vs. Daniel Bryan (Champion vs. Champion match, Survivor Series)

2. Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa (Chicago Street Fight, NXT TakeOver: Chicago)

1. Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair (SmackDown women's championship Last Woman Standing match, Evolution)

It seems like every year both NXT and women's wrestling take bites out of the men's market share of WWE. NXT has proven to be a factory for high-level wrestling matches at low-budget prices while the women of WWE spent most of 2018 taking the reigns from the men's locker room. It's no surprise to see Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair's Evolution match get the #1 ranking. Considering the storytelling and unprecedented brutality, their contest may best represent what WWE was all about in 2018: women's wrestling.