“Wrestling 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 enjoyable thatWWEhas been in decades, with a real argument for this being the best form and state that the company has ever been in.The roster is stacked, which has led to an eye-watering amount of phenomenal in-ring action, and we are only at the year’s halfway stage.
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 having a renaissance, have proved unmissable. With three of the “big four” PLE already under the belt, it’s time to look at the most unforgettable bangers that the WWE has put on for its fans in 2024.
10 Essential WWE Matches For John Cena’s Retirement Tour
John Cena’s year-long WWE retirement tour presents the opportunity to tie up some loose ends and push some rising stars.
10Axiom and Nathan Frazer vs The Wolfdogs - NXT Tag Team Titles Matches
NXT, April 9th
Be it celebrating the newly crowned champions or saluting what was anastonishingly likable pairing between a superstar rediscovering his mojo and another for whom there is seemingly no ceiling, this NXT Stand And Deliver rematch was a reallysatisfying clash of styles. Flying, flipping bodies, brute strength, and high stakes all play their part in a riotous affair that felt way too good to be on a “regular” episode of NXT. Even Axiom and Frazer having their special moment interrupted by a returning AOP and Karrion Kross felt explosive.
WithAxiom and Fraser having an exciting new chapter to partake inand also being in the mix for a 2025 main roster call up,Baron Corbin feels reborn, like he has a shot of transcending anything he’s previously accomplished after what might be the most popular he’s ever been. As for his partner, Bron Breakker now has a successful face run, a deplorable heel era and a great run in the tag-team division, the last of which is a fitting end to his time in NXT. The definition of “everybody wins”.
9Gunther vs Sheamus
Monday Night Raw, May 6th
Arguably the highlight of Gunther’s entire IC run, his battle with Sheamus in Wales at Clash Of The Castle was an all-timer for those whose favorite style of in-ring entertainment could be described as “lads battering each other”. Whenthe draw for King Of The Ring announced The Celtic Warrior and The Ring General being pitted against each other in the first round,it felt cruel to the pair of them. If this 3rd bout between the pairing did anything, it solidified thatGunther and Sheamus is going to be a ca n’t-miss occasion for the rest of time.
Gunther may have shotgunned his way through an incredible run of talent to be crowned King Of The Ring, defeating Kofi Kingston, Main Event Jey Uso, and Randy Orton along the way, butSheamus felt like the sternest test of the bunch. Despite The Irishman’s protestations, 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 bullies are bad but, in the WWE, they make for the best kind of villains. That is especially true in opposition to a hero as lovable as Bayley. For months, cattiness and deception hung in the air as Damage CTRL’s Kairi Sane, Dakota Kai, and WWE Women’s Champion Iyo Sky would ostracize their former leader in various devious ways. It was infuriating butBayley’s revelation that she speaks Japanese is one of the year’s standout moments.Revealing that she was aware of their plans all along was the perfect setup for theirmatch for the WWE Women’s Championship at WrestleMania.
If there were any lingering feelings that the match had been lost 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 correcting that. It’s scandalous thatBayley had to wait until 2024 for her first one-on-one match at WrestleManiabut the decibel-defying pop that came alongside her victory and her reign since feels like just the antidote.
7Liv Morgan vs Rhea Ripley
SummerSlam, August 3rd
Both going into and coming out of this match, it felt clear thatSummerSlam was just the starting point 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 chain of events that led to this match 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-retirement. After months of goading Ripley and flirting with her boyfriend,this is the most heated and high-profile women’s match of the year so far.
Entering her first match in just under four months with her boyfriend by her side, Ripley showed no ring rust whatsoever. If this year has cemented anything, it is that Liv Morgan belongs in any conversation about the best performers in WWE.The match had a great, slow-building pace and a classic ending. The slow reveal that Dom and Liv had been in cahoots since his seemingly innocent involvement in her beating Lynch for the title was magnificent. Rhea’s crestfallen, heartbreak was felt by all. It was magic.
6Bron Breakker vs Ilja Dragunov
Monday Night Raw, June 10th
There is an awful lot to be said fortwo men with it all to prove beating each other senseless. In what is only their second-ever singles 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 encounter that could make a punchbag wince.
WithDragunov also involved in Breakker permanently expelling Ricochet from WWE, this looks to be the start of an exciting and long-running rivalry. The continued, resurgent interest in NXT will only continue to gather momentum when it’s being fueled by its latest graduates to Monday Night Raw having cult classic encounters such as this.
5Rhea Ripley vs Becky Lynch
Wrestlemania XL, Night One
On the road to Wrestlemania,the narrative is key to the sense of occasion on the night itself. Sometimes that requires intricate, personal, long-term storytelling between a whole cast of superstars, and sometimes, it’s just as simple astwo of the best claiming to be the alpha with an outcome that could go either way. Alongside long-term headliner Bianca Belair, Rhea Ripley is the most popular and physically impressive superstar of the post-Four Horsewomen era.
As one of those very horsewomen, the dogged and determinedBecky Lynch was the perfect 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 minutes with Becky working Rhea’s arm andno shenanigans needed in the finish, which came at the hands of a ruthless Riptide off of the turnbuckles being followed up by a second to seal the victory. WithBecky Lynch now out of the picture indefinitely, this match seems even more special the further it falls into the rearview mirror.
Becky and Rhea’s only other singles contest resulted in a No Contest draw on the 500th episode of NXT.
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 rightfully heralded is thatmajor title changes used to happen when the occasion called for it on episodes of Monday Night Raw or Smackdown. This felt like one such moment.
Chad Gable’s long-term pursuit of the Intercontinental Championshipfelt desperate. Crucially, people felt his yearning and got behind it because they too yearned for the success of a man forced to live as Shorty G. Ultimately, Sami Zayn justifiably emerged victorious, having only just captured the belt at WrestleMania.Chad’s quest for Intercontinental gold continues.
Despite only winning the belt at this year’s WrestleMania, and losing it at SummerSlam this is the longest of Sami Zayn’s four Intercontinental Championship reigns.
3Cody Rhodes vs AJ Styles - WWE Undisputed Championship Match
WWE Backlash, May 4th
One of the truest statements about pro wrestling is thatit takes more than just good chemistry and cool moves to make a great match. In this case, the crowd provided a sense of occasion that the build-up to Backash in Lyon, France hadn’t quite managed to create forthe newly crowned WWE Champion Cody Rhodesand the Phenomenal AJ Styles. A slight shame, given that these aretwo men who have lead Bullet Club facing off for the first time.
Nothing could have prepared the performers or the watching TV audience for the rapturous reception that would greet them. Thecamera literally bounced as Samantha Irvin announced AJ Style’s name to a chorus of French singing. The match went on to be a banger, the crowd went insane, and even the internet went home happy. C’est bon.
The song being sung at AJ Styles by the crowd is called Il Est Vraiment Phenomenal by Phenomenal Club. It translates to “he is truly 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 button, if you are looking forpure in-ring action and demolition derby thrills, this is as good as 2024 has gotten. It felt purposeful that there wasn’t even a video package about the NXT North American title picture before the triple threat’s commencement. Taking place at Stand And Deliver, NXT’s PLE over Wrestlemania weekend no less, the match involvednobody shorter than 6’7 or 270 lbs yet still had cruiserweight athleticismand a pace that fired on ten from the first bell to the last. You need nothing else.
The”NXT!” chants during this felt as feral as they did in the best of the brand’s days. It’s a real shame that this is to be Dijak’s last big swansong with WWEafter he recently had his contract with the company 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 biggest match of the year 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. Long-term storytelling straddled fiction and reality, asCody Rhodes attempted to “finish the story” by taking down the Head Of The Table, Roman Reigns, and his incredible championship reign. It also told a real-life story of him leaving WWE to bet on himself. His crusade on the independents, the entrance song, the formation of AEW, and the triumphant return are all very real. The people chanting “We Want Cody” to get this match in the first place was equally more fact than fiction.
Generations worth of Rhodes family heartbreak in the pursuit of the top of WWE’s mountain would conclude on this night. The euphoria of a cohesive and united WWE moving forward together as part of a bright future. Run-ins that felt like seeing the final chapter ofThe Avengerstrilogy, with the heroes returning to right the wrongs in the world. High spots, The Shield, The Bloodline, the promise of more between The Rock and Cody Rhodes.WWE’s biggest match of the year should be its best match of the year and, so far at least, it is.
