Gargano’s reign as NXT Champion was short-lived as Cole was able to simply outsmart Gargano and win the NXT Championship. The sequel to their classic at NXT Takeover New York, Gargano and Cole produced another instant classic. Johnny Gargano – NXT Takeover XXV (June 1, 2019) Fans wept as the brothers embraced and the match served as as good a tribute to their father Dusty as could possibly be imagined.Īdam Cole vs. He said he didn’t need a partner, he didn’t need a friend, he needed his older brother. After Cody had gotten the win, he told Dustin that he had signed a tag team match against the Young Bucks. Despite Cody working as a heel, he and Dustin shared a touching match and an even more emotional post-match. What resulted was the most emotional match of 2019. While WWE put the kibosh on it time after time, such a thing would not happen in AEW. In All Elite Wrestling’s first event, Cody and Dustin Rhodes wrestled the match they had wanted to have in WWE for years. While the last match was filled with action and really cool moves, this match was filled with emotion. Dustin Rhodes – Double or Nothing (May 25, 2019) If you were unlucky enough to miss their match over WrestleMania weekend, this is everything they did and more.Ĭody vs. Ospreay continued his march to the finals by going right through Bandido. The Best of the Super Juniors works so well because of the melting pot of styles in New Japan and Bandido and Will Ospreay embody that perfectly. Ospreay staked his claim for Wrestler of the Year in the Best of the Super Juniors and his first 5 star match of the year was against Bandido.īoth men are incredibly talented, that goes without saying, and they put on the best match of the tournament up to that point. This is the first time Will Ospreay’s name has come up on this list but rest assured that it will not be the last. This year’s Best of the Super Juniors tournament may not have featured as much high-flying action as last year’s, but the matches were better overall. Bandido – Best of the Super Juniors Day 8 (May 23, 2019) Gargano valiantly fought off all four members of Undisputed Era and defeated Cole to the delight of the crowd. When this match started, the NXT fans wanted Cole to get the “W”.
Gargano had isolated himself from the rest of the NXT locker room and many fans soured on him following his attack on Aleister Black and his alignment with Tommaso Ciampa.
It also stands as the highest rated match in WWE history.Īfter chasing the NXT Championship for nearly a year, Gargano finally captured the gold by defeating Cole two falls to one. Gargano’s track record at NXT Takeovers has been impeccable, but his Two Out of Three Falls match against Adam Cole at NXT Takeover New York was his best. Adam Cole – NXT Takeover New York (April 5, 2019)īryan Alzarez has called Johnny Gargano “the American Okada”, which is high praise considering the success Okada has seen in recent years. Okada was on his way back up and it didn’t stop here. There were plenty of counters before Okada hit his patented Rainmaker, which finally kept SANADA down. This year’s New Japan Cup had plenty of fantastic matches but they saved the best for last. For Okada it was a return to form, for SANADA it was another failure to beat his rival. The winner would receive an IWGP Heavyweight Championship match at Madison Square Garden. Don’t you just hate when that happens? His ascent back to the top took time but eventually he found himself in the finals of the New Japan Cup against his rival SANADA. He changed his gear, his entrance, his song, and his longtime partner Gedo ditched him for the younger Jay White. Kazuchika Okada went through a midlife crisis of sorts after he lost the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at Dominion 2018. SANADA – New Japan Cup Final (March 24, 2019) In the end, Tanahashi pinned Omega with a High Fly Flow, capturing his eight IWGP Heavyweight Championship. This was all incorporated into the match as Tanahashi was forced to wrestle more of Omega’s game if he wanted to defeat him. Tanahashi proclaimed that Omega was all flash and little substance and that style could only take wrestling so far.
The buildup had been centred around each man’s philosophy of pro wrestling. As a match, it may have been 2019’s best. This would be Omega’s final appearance for New Japan before leaving to join his Elite brethren in the upstart All Elite Wrestling. The event drew a sellout of the Tokyo Dome, led by the main event of IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega defending his bright and shiny title against Hiroshi Tanahashi. The year of 2019 began in tip top fashion with New Japan Pro Wrestling’s climactic event, Wrestle Kingdom 13 on January 4th. Kenny Omega – Wrestle Kingdom 13 (January 4, 2019)