WWE's 2019 match of the year candidates so far
2019 hasn't been an easy year for WWE fans. What looked like a promising start quickly sputtered out after the Royal Rumble. WrestleMania season was drab, comparatively speaking, with an underwhelming main event that didn't live up to the hype.
Afterward, things really started to take a nose dive, despite a popular set of champions. Formulaic booking reared its ugly head as fans tuned out in droves and a "wild card" rule was introduced which has only added even more confusion to the programming.
In this environment, any match of the year candidate is a welcome break, and thankfully, we have a solid set from the first half of 2019. Before we head into the back half of the year, why not go and take another look at these 20 matches?
Note that this isn't a ranking yet. That will come in December. These are simply the candidates that will be up for consideration when the Holidays come around. They are presented in chronological order.
#1 Rey Mysterio vs. Andrade "Cien" Almas (SmackDown, January 15th)
Even now at the end of June, this is probably still the best pure wrestling match on main roster television in 2019 so far. Superbly timed, Andrade came away from it looking like a million bucks, despite his tainted victory thanks to interference from his manager, Zelina Vega. That's what heels are supposed to do.
This was the closest Andrade has come to his best since the former NXT Champion got the "promotion" to the main roster last April. It was important indeed that he won here, even though it didn't do him much good in the long run.
Meanwhile, this was Rey Mysterio's best match in WWE since he made his return last fall. Injuries would, unfortunately, take their toll on his 2019 campaign, but this was the reason many fans were excited to see him back in a WWE ring. It's just too bad these two couldn't have a title match together.