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" rassling is cool again,“said Dwayne ' The Rock ' Johnson as he geared up for his firstWrestleManiamatch in twelve long years . Make no mistake about it , this is the hottest , most consistent , and most gratifying thatWWEhas been in decades , with a real argumentation for this being the good form and DoS that the fellowship has ever been in . The roster is heap , which has lead to an optic - watering amount of phenomenal in - ring action , and we are only at the year ’s halfway level .
At the year ’s halfway stage and having already had the Royal Rumble , WrestleMania , and Money In The Bank on American and Canadian soil , as well as thegame - changing international PLEsin France ( Backlash ) , the UK ( Clash At The Castle ) , Saudi Arabia ( King and Queen Of The Ring ) , and Australia ( Elimination Chamber),WWE has felt more global and accessible than ever this yeartoo .
Monday Night Raw and SmackDown , witheven NXT experience a renaissance , have proved unmissable . With three of the " big four " PLE already under the belted ammunition , it ’s prison term to see at the most unforgettable banger that the WWE has put on for its devotee in 2024 .
John Cena ’s year - long WWE retirement tour presents the opportunity to tie up some loose ends and advertize some jump whizz .
10Axiom and Nathan Frazer vs The Wolfdogs - NXT Tag Team Titles Matches
NXT, April 9th
Be it celebrating the newly crowned champions or pledge what was anastonishingly appealing pairing between a superstar rediscovering his mojo and another for whom there is seemingly no cap , this NXT Stand And Deliver rematch was a reallysatisfying clash of styles . Flying , flip bodies , beastly strength , and high stake all play their part in a riotous affair that feel way too serious to be on a “ regular ” installment of NXT . Even Axiom and Frazer having their limited moment interrupted by a returning AOP and Karrion Kross feel explosive .
WithAxiom and Fraser having an exciting new chapter to partake inand also being in the mixture for a 2025 chief roster call up , Baron Corbin palpate born-again , like he has a shot of transcending anything he ’s antecedently accomplished after what might be the most democratic he ’s ever been . As for his cooperator , Bron Breakker now has a successful face run , a deplorable heel era and a great ravel in the tatter - team division , the last of which is a meet end to his time in NXT . The definition of “ everybody bring home the bacon ” .
9Gunther vs Sheamus
Monday Night Raw, May 6th
Arguably the highlight of Gunther ’s intact IC prevail , his conflict with Sheamus in Wales at Clash Of The Castle was an all - timekeeper for those whose pet style of in - mob entertainment could be described as “ lads battering each other ” . Whenthe standoff for King Of The Ring announced The Celtic Warrior and The Ring General being pitted against each other in the first round , it felt fell to the pair of them . If this 3rd round between the pairing did anything , it solidified thatGunther and Sheamus is going to be a ca n’t - miss occasion for the rest of sentence .
Gunther may have shotgunned his way through an incredible outpouring of gift to be crown King Of The Ring , defeat Kofi Kingston , Main Event Jey Uso , and Randy Orton along the manner , butSheamus felt like the stern tryout of the bunch . Despite The Irishman ’s protestation , we ’ll have the popcorn waiting for when these two decide to slap the sweat off of one another once more .
8Iyo Sky vs Bayley
Wrestlemania XL, Night Two
Nobody is handing out a Nobel Peace Prize for the revelation that roughneck are bad but , in the WWE , they make for the best kind of villain . That is especially on-key in enemy to a hero as lovable as Bayley . For month , bitchiness and deception hung in the melodic phrase as Damage CTRL ’s Kairi Sane , Dakota Kai , and WWE Women ’s Champion Iyo Sky would ostracize their former leader in various oblique ways . It was infuriating butBayley ’s revealing that she speaks Japanese is one of the yr ’s standout import . Revealing that she was aware of their plans all along was the sodding setup for theirmatch for the WWE Women ’s Championship at WrestleMania .
If there were any mill about feelings that the match had been fall back in the shuffle of a stacked WrestleMania season ( and a LOT of The Rock on their show , Smackdown ) , the match itself went a long way to right that . It ’s scandalous thatBayley had to wait until 2024 for her first one - on - one match at WrestleManiabut the decibel - defying pop that come alongside her triumph and her sovereignty since feel like just the counterpoison .
7Liv Morgan vs Rhea Ripley
SummerSlam, August 3rd
Both going into and coming out of this mate , it felt light thatSummerSlam was just the starting stop for this bitter rivalry between Liv Morgan and Rhea Ripley . This feud has been as much about winning the affections of Dirty Dominik Mysterio as it has been about the WWE Women ’s Championship . The strand of events that led to this compeer included Liv Morgan ’s 2024 Revenge Tour injuring Ripley so that she had to relinquish her title , before defeating Becky Lynch for the Championship and sending her into semi - retreat . After months of goading Ripley and chat up with her boyfriend , this is the most heated and high - profile women ’s match of the twelvemonth so far .
enroll her first mate in just under four months with her swain by her side , Ripley showed no band rust fungus whatsoever . If this twelvemonth has cement anything , it is that Liv Morgan go in any conversation about the best performers in WWE.The match had a great , slow - construction pace and a classic close . The dull bring out that Dom and Liv had been in cahoot since his seemingly innocent involvement in her beat Lynch for the claim was glorious . Rhea ’s crestfallen , heartache was feel by all . It was magic .
6Bron Breakker vs Ilja Dragunov
Monday Night Raw, June 10th
There is an amazing lot to be said fortwo men with it all to prove beating each other senseless . In what is only their second - ever ace encounter , the one - man wrecking crew that is Bron Breakker , and the Russian Mad Dragon , Ilja Dragunov , had the kind of hard - hitting , physically intense face-off that could make a punchbag wince .
WithDragunov also involved in Breakker permanently discharge Ricochet from WWE , this look to be the start of an exciting and long - running contention . The preserve , renascent sake in NXT will only keep on to gather impulse when it ’s being fueled by its latest graduates to Monday Night Raw having cult Graeco-Roman encounters such as this .
5Rhea Ripley vs Becky Lynch
Wrestlemania XL, Night One
On the road to Wrestlemania , the story is central to the sense of juncture on the night itself . Sometimes that involve intricate , personal , long - full term storytelling between a whole plaster cast of superstars , and sometimes , it ’s just as simple astwo of the best take to be the alpha with an outcome that could go either way . Alongside foresightful - term headliner Bianca Belair , Rhea Ripley is the most democratic and physically impressive virtuoso of the post - Four Horsewomen era .
As one of those very horsewoman , the dogged and determinedBecky Lynch was the pure litmus test for just how far The Eradicator had comesince defeating Charlotte Flair for the title at last year ’s show . On the night itself , a back - and - forth match - up that went just over seventeen minute with Becky working Rhea ’s arm andno shenanigans want in the last , which get at the hands of a ruthless Riptide off of the turnbuckles being followed up by a s to seal the victory . WithBecky Lynch now out of the picture indefinitely , this lucifer seems even more special the further it fall into the rearview mirror .
Becky and Rhea ’s only other single contest result in a No Contest draw on the five-hundredth installment of NXT .
4Sami Zayn vs Chad Gable
Monday Night Raw, June 15th
The doe - eyed romanticism around the Attitude Era has a fairly hit - and - miss ratio but , one of the traits of WWE ’s most successful era that is truly herald is thatmajor title change used to occur when the function ring for it on episodes of Monday Night Raw or Smackdown . This felt like one such moment .
Chad Gable ’s foresighted - terminus pursuit of the Intercontinental Championshipfelt despairing . Crucially , hoi polloi felt his yearning and mystify behind it because they too yearned for the success of a man forced to be as Shorty G. Ultimately , Sami Zayn justifiably emerge victorious , having only just captured the belt at WrestleMania . Chad ’s seeking for Intercontinental amber continues .
Despite only winning the whack at this class ’s WrestleMania , and losing it at SummerSlam this is the prospicient of Sami Zayn ’s four Intercontinental Championship reign .
3Cody Rhodes vs AJ Styles - WWE Undisputed Championship Match
WWE Backlash, May 4th
Nothing could have gear up the performers or the watching TV audience for the rapturous reception that would recognize them . Thecamera literally bound as Samantha Irvin announced AJ Style ’s name to a refrain of Gallic singing . The lucifer went on to be a firecracker , the bunch went insane , and even the internet went home happy . C’est bon .
The Sung dynasty being sung at AJ Styles by the crowd is called Il Est Vraiment Phenomenal by Phenomenal Club . It translate to “ he is sincerely phenomenal ” .
2Oba Femi vs Dijak vs Josh Briggs - NXT North American Championship Triple Threat Match
NXT Stand And Deliver, April 6
Clocking in at fifteen minutes on the clitoris , if you are looking forpure in - gang natural process and demolition derby thrills , this is as good as 2024 has gotten . It palpate purposeful that there was n’t even a television software system about the NXT North American rubric picture before the triple scourge ’s commencement . Taking place at Stand And Deliver , NXT ’s PLE over Wrestlemania weekend no less , the match involvednobody short than 6’7 or 270 lbs yet still had cruiserweight athleticismand a tempo that fired on ten from the first bell to the last . You postulate nothing else .
The”NXT ! ” chants during this felt as feral as they did in the best of the brand ’s days . It ’s a literal shame that this is to be Dijak ’s last heavy swansong with WWEafter he recently had his contract with the party run down . For Josh Briggs and , perhaps most of all , reigning champion Oba Femi , there are no limits .
1Roman Reigns vs Cody Rhodes - WWE Undisputed Championship Bloodline Rules Match
There might be cooler picks butthe large match of the class so far is also the best match of the year . This Main Event had quite literally everything you could ever possibly want from a matchheadlining WrestleMania 40 . recollective - terminal figure storytelling range fabrication and reality , asCody Rhodes seek to " finish up the chronicle " by taking down the Head Of The Table , Roman Catholic Reigns , and his incredible title reign . It also told a substantial - liveliness narration of him leave WWE to calculate on himself . His cause on the independents , the entering song , the formation of AEW , and the triumphant paying back are all very veridical . The mass intone " We Want Cody " to get this lucifer in the first place was equally more fact than fabrication .
Generations deserving of Rhodes family heartache in the pursuit of the top of WWE ’s mountain would conclude on this night . The euphoria of a cohesive and united WWE move forrader together as part of a lustrous future . Run - ins that felt like seeing the concluding chapter ofThe Avengerstrilogy , with the Hero returning to rectify the wrong in the world . High spot , The Shield , The Bloodline , the hope of more between The Rock and Cody Rhodes . WWE ’s bragging match of the class should be its good couple of the class and , so far at least , it is .
