WWE's 10 best matches of January 2019

#3 Asuka vs. Becky Lynch (Royal Rumble)

This lived up to the dream match people had ever since Asuka's days in NXT. It couldn't have gone much better. In everything from strikes, to grappling, to submissions, to brutal spots, these two put on a clinic to open the show.

The story raised the stakes. For weeks, Becky called Asuka a paper champion, but this time, her big mouth came back to haunt her. We indeed saw the old Asuka in this match, the one that ruled the NXT roost for 500 days. The one that took everything Nikki Cross threw at her in that last woman standing match. The one that kicked out of Ember Moon's Eclipse.

The thrilling finishing sequence saw Becky come close. She even applied the Asuka Lock onto Asuka. Unfortunately for The Man, Asuka was quicker on the draw with reversals, bridging the Asuka Lock into a Cattle Mutilation that gave Becky no choice to tap out to.

Asuka wiped off any stench of illegitimacy to her reign in the biggest win of her career. Becky lost nothing because she would secure her own biggest career win later that night.