Ranking the top 10 WWE title changes of 2019

The year 2019 has been pretty interesting for WWE. A lot has happened in the last twelve months. From the rise of NXT to the women headling WrestleMania's main event for the first time in the company's history to the desperate Wildcard rule and the beginning of the deal with FOX, there has been a whole host of moments. These occurred both on the main roster and NXT and managed to capture the adulation of fans this year.

And with close to twenty Championship titles under the WWE banner, a lot of title changes are bound to be memorable. Some of them for the right reasons, while some for the wrong ones. Here, we will focus on the former.

Good title changes do not happen that often, but WWE does know how to book one. A strong story along with a wild crowd could turn a decent match into a great one while in some cases, the match is just good enough on its own to warrant remembrance.

Here are a few matches and moments, where a championship changed hands, that will be remembered as some of the best of 2019. These are the top ten WWE and NXT title changes that happened this year.

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#10 Rey Mysterio defeats AJ Styles for the United States Championship (RAW 25/11)

Rey Mysterio is a legend. He is ageless and is constantly stunning the WWE Universe with his ridiculous athleticism. He proved how good he still is, both in the ring and as a character, over the past month.

Mysterio's WWE Championship feud with Brock Lesnar was excellent and had his double pinfall with Dominick ended the match at Survivor Series, the ensuing WWE title victory would have possibly ranked in the top two or three of this list.

But the Master of the 619 did get some consolation on the next night. Mysterio won a Fatal-4-Way match to earn an immediate shot at AJ Styles' United States Championship.

The Ultimate Underdog was at it again, as he picked up a surprising victory against the 'Phenomenal One', thanks to the help from Randy Orton, and went into ultimate celebration mode. Dominick lifted his legendary father on his shoulders, as he once again defied everything to capture gold.

It was the same championship that Mysterio had to relinquish due to injury earlier in the year as well, which made this victory even sweeter. Hopefully, the Lucha legend can go on a serious run and defend the title against various up-and-comers on RAW, like Andrade and Humberto Carrillo among others.

#9 Kabuki Warriors defeat Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships (Hell in a Cell)

Right after WrestleMania, Asuka and Kairi Sane were paired together with Paige as their manager. They seemed like the team to build the women's tag team division around, but WWE just ignored them and the division as a whole.

The IIconics did a whole lot of nothing with the Women's Tag Team titles and the dynamic Japanese duo was also nowhere to be seen, possibly because of the Wildcard rule, which slashed the number of opportunities in half. Only when Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross captured them did the belts actually get featured on TV.

Asuka and Kairi became known as the Kabuki Warriors and got a title shot from out of the blue at Hell in a Cell. And boy, did they grab the opportunity. The Kabuki Warriors turned heel, introducing the 'spitting green mist' shtick to the women's division, and won the Women's tag team titles from Alexa and Nikki. They are in a very prominent position now, thanks to their victory at the October pay-per-view. As sudden as the match and title change were, the Kabuki Warriors are now soaring on RAW and are lovely to watch.

#8 Roderick Strong defeats Velveteen Dream for the NXT North American Championship (NXT on USA 18/9)

NXT began airing live on the USA Network in mid-September, prompting a vast change in weekly programming. Every week, we get some excellent wrestling in some form. thanks to the black-and-gold brand.

The first edition of NXT on the USA network needed to have a huge moment on it. So, we saw the main event featuring Roderick Strong against Velveteen Dream for the North American Championship. It was a typically excellent match under the NXT banner, with the Messiah of the Backbreaker coming out on top. And thus, the Undisputed Era's prophecy had been fulfilled.

NXT's resident evil stable was now draped in gold. Dream put up a really good fight and cast some serious doubts in everybody's minds, but it was Strong's day. The Undisputed Era member enjoyed a steady rise up the Singles ranks and organically earned the secondary championship at Full Sail.

All four members of the Undisputed Era are still going strong (no pun intended) with their respective titles. Strong has had a good run so far after winning a couple of triple threat matches during his time as champion, including one against AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura at Survivor Series.

#7 Adam Cole defeats Johnny Gargano for the NXT Championship (NXT Takeover: XXV)

Having spoken about Roderick Strong, Adam Cole's 2019 was truly undisputed. He fought back from a big loss to Johnny Gargano at NXT Takeover: New York (more on that in a bit) and picked up a monumental victory in their rematch at Takeover 25. The match was over half an hour of pure quality and it may be the best match under the WWE umbrella in 2019. Cole defeated Gargano clean as a whistle with the Last Shot to pick up the NXT Title, following a psych-out involving him calling for his Undisputed Era stablemates.

The entire match was memorable, from Josiah Williams rapping Cole to the ring, all the way to the new champion being carried on Roddy Strong's shoulders. The action was truly insane. Any of these men could have won the match and it would not have mattered that much, but Cole's victory enabled him to go on a stellar run with the belt. He may be the greatest NXT Champion of all time, having defended his title on SmackDown, RAW and even Survivor Series against Daniel Bryan, Seth Rollins and Pete Dunne respectively.

#6 Seth Rollins defeats Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship (SummerSlam)

The one night in August when Seth Rollins got cheered.

Seth Rollins initially defeated Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship in the WrestleMania opener, following a quick match. That moment just missed out on the top ten, but the next one was much better. Following a difficult few months for Rollins, he was tasked with marching into SummerSlam to face the Beast Incarnate, who had just cashed in on him a month earlier at Extreme Rules.

Everything was against Rollins and even the most avid of Lesnar haters were not so keen on seeing the Architect with the big red belt again. One could even say that the Universe was against Seth Rollins.

However, he marched into SummerSlam with a huge chip on his shoulder and ready to fight within an inch of his life against Lesnar. Rollins put on an absolute clinic and persevered, to eventually put the Beast down. It was an incredible match and Rollins did such an amazing job. Hence, he was unanimously cheered when he finally picked up the big victory.

This moment would be looked back upon so much better had WWE not botched the Beastslayer's ensuing run with the title. The entire fiasco with the Fiend left a very sour taste in the fan's mouths for Rollins. But let us not forget the incredible night he had at SummerSlam.

#5 WALTER defeats Pete Dunne for the WWE United Kingdom Championship (NXT Takeover: New York)

Pete Dunne was the ultimate poster boy for WWE's United Kingdom division. He was the breakout star of the first WWE UK Championship tournament, even though Tyler Bate won. Since then, it was a matter of when, not if, the Bruiserweight would capture the UK Title. He did so at NXT Takeover: Chicago in a show-stealer against Bate.

What happened next had not happened for a very, very long time.

Dunne held on to the United Kingdom Championship for 685 days when he was met with his biggest challenge to date, WALTER. The two faced off during WrestleMania weekend, as part of the ridiculously stacked Takeover: New York card.

After a gruelling match, the Austrian ring general eventually put the Bruiserweight down for the count with a flattening top rope splash. WATLER ended the historic reign of Pete Dunne which lasted close to two years. This title change was extremely significant for that very reason, along with the fact that the match that they shared was fantastic.

WALTER has held on to the UK Championship since then and has had some great matches as champion, especially in the one where he squared off against Tyler Bate in Cardiff. With the way that WALTER has been booked so far (aside from Survivor Series), anybody who defeats him to win the championship will be made an instant star.

#4 "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt defeats Seth Rollins for the Universal Championship (Crown Jewel)

WWE made an erroneous booking decision at Hell in a Cell, as the Universal Championship match between Seth Rollins and The Fiend ended via referee stoppage. It ruined many things including Rollins' title reign and the Hell in a Cell concept, plus it came close to ruining Bray Wyatt's new character just months after its debut.

Luckily, WWE learned their lesson and booked Wyatt to overcome Rollins in a Falls Count Anywhere match at Crown Jewel, to win the Universal Championship. In hindsight, that was the only way it could have gone. WWE must receive some amount of credit for pulling the trigger on the Fiend when the fans had lost all hope.

The Fiend had become incredibly popular thanks to the immense thought gone into the Firefly Funhouse and all the little nuances that reward long-time viewers for paying attention to details. It was something different, and scary.

While his coronation should have happened earlier in the month, winning the Universal title on Halloween is not a bad way to go. In winning the belt, Wyatt became the fourth man to win both the WWE and Universal Championships. He is currently reigning supreme on SmackDown and will continue to do so until WrestleMania, at the very least.

#3 Johnny Gargano defeats Adam Cole for the NXT Championship (NXT Takeover: New York)

Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa were supposed to end their long-standing rivalry at NXT Takeover: New York, but a neck injury to the latter put a stop to that. The NXT Championship was declared vacant and Gargano faced Adam Cole, who won a Fatal-5-Way match on NXT, for the title in a 2-out-of-3 Falls Match.

Even with the alteration in adversary, Gargano proved his unmatched talent by putting on a clinic alongside the leader of the Undisputed Era. Cole may have gotten the better of him over time, but WrestleMania Friday was all about Johnny Freakin' Wrestling.

The two traded falls before the match went into 'Mamma Mia' mode. Both men wrestled their hearts out to earn the right to be called NXT Champion, but it was Gargano who came out on top, overcoming interference from the Undisputed Era. This was one of the greatest championship victories in NXT history and emotions were running high.

Gargano had realized a dream, after multiple failures. He was even met by a congratulatory Ciampa on the stage, sharing an embrace with his best friend-turned-bitter enemy. The following reign did not matter, because the moment was so damn good.

#2 Becky Lynch defeats Charlotte Flair and Ronda Rousey for both the RAW and SmackDown Women's Championships (WrestleMania 35)

Whether you liked this match or hated it, one thing that cannot be argued is the magnitude of the triple threat match between Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair and Ronda Rousey at WrestleMania 35. For one, it was the main event of the biggest show of the year, plus both Women's Championships were on the line.

Rousey was the RAW Women's Champion, while Charlotte brought the SmackDown Women's Championship with her. The presentation surrounding the match was top-notch, from the Queen entering from a helicopter to Joan Jett's live performance of Ronda Rousey's theme song. The match itself was decent, slightly hurt by an overly fatigued crowd.

It did end with the right victor though. Becky Lynch won the match and even a slightly botched finish could not take away from the moment. Even a few months before 'Mania, Lynch winning two titles in the main event was unthinkable.

'The Man' had made history, thanks in no small part to the fans who stuck by her side through the entire ride. That is what makes this title change so memorable. A title change in the main event of WrestleMania is usually the biggest, and possibly the best title change in a year, especially if the title change was a popular one. This year's made for one of the best in years, if not ever. Not to forget, this match turned Becky Lynch from a star to a legend.

#1 Kofi Kingston defeats Daniel Bryan for the WWE Championship (WrestleMania 35)

As incredible and unthinkable Becky Lynch's WrestleMania main event victory was, Kofi Kingston winning the WWE Championship was in a similar boat less than two months before the Show of Shows. The New Day member put on some incredible performances in a gauntlet match and inside the Elimination Chamber, making his way into a WrestleMania storyline against the dastardly Daniel Bryan.

The storyline between the two was fantastic, the best of the entire year, as it saw Bryan take on the role that he once fought, the machine's champion. Kofi had to get through obstacle after obstacle to go to WrestleMania but once he got to the promised land, there was absolutely zero doubt that it would end happily.

The match that Kofi and Bryan shared was excellent. It was the best match on WWE's main roster this year and the story made it even better. In the end, Kofi Kingston hit Daniel Bryan with the Trouble in Paradise to win his first WWE Championship in eleven years and send the entire WWE Universe into tears of joy.

This is WWE storytelling at it's absolute finest, thanks to the selflessness of Bryan and the spirit of Kofi. This is, without a doubt, the greatest title change in WWE for the entire 2019. It is also one of the greatest WrestleMania moments of all time and proves that one is just a couple of great performances away from reaching the sky. The entire WWE Championship storyline for WrestleMania 35 was nearly perfect.

Don't let Kofi's current position in the SmackDown tag team division fool you, his road to being WWE Champion was the best storyline of 2019. The reign that followed was not that great, but nobody can take away Kofi Kingston's WrestleMania moment.

Edited by Shruti Sadbhav