WWE's 2019 match of the year candidates so far

#6 Daniel Bryan vs. AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe vs. Randy Orton vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Jeff Hardy (Elimination Chamber)

This was easily the best Elimination Chamber match in years. Kofi Kingston, the unexpected entrant and hot from his astounding gauntlet match performance, was the talk of the town. Yet, even without him, this match would have been worthy of consideration on its own merits.

Everybody fought hard and sold the brutality of the Elimination Chamber structure. That said, the ending of this match is obviously going to be the thing we first think of when going over it. Kofi Kingston was so tantalizingly close but came up just short at the end of this brutal affair. His New Day brothers were by his side during the heartbreak as fans poured forth their affection.

That's how you get someone over. If only WWE could do it all the time.

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#7 Johnny Gargano vs. Velveteen Dream (NXT, February 20th)

By virtue of his victory in the Worlds Collide tournament, Velveteen Dream got an NXT title shot of his choosing. Surprisingly, he chose to go after the newly-minted North American Champion Johnny Gargano rather than the NXT Champion, Tommaso Ciampa.

It wasn't an easy match. Johnny Gargano declared that he was "feeling dangerous." And still, Velveteen Dream managed to be kryptonite to Johnny Wrestling yet again. Both men gave each other everything they had, but Velveteen Dream's hand was raised in victory after several nail-biting near falls.

In the rafters, Tommaso Ciampa looked on disapprovingly. He had offered his help, was turned down, and true to his word, Johnny Gargano lost without him.