WWE's 2019 match of the year candidates so far

#11 Aleister Black vs. Ricochet vs. Adam Cole vs. Velveteen Dream vs. Matt Riddle (NXT, March 20th)

The sudden injury of Tommaso Ciampa created a shock vacancy in the NXT Championship scene. Johnny Gargano was already set to go to TakeOver: New York to challenge for the title, but now he had no champion to challenge.

To determine the other man to vie with him for the vacant title, NXT held a fatal five-way match between five of the best in the business. Unsurprisingly, it ruled. There was no way it wouldn't. Four of the fabled "NXT 6" were in the mix, along with Matt Riddle who would soon begin taking over their torch.

This match was in a way, bittersweet, because NXT had just lost Ciampa, and it would soon lose Black and Ricochet, two of its other leading men. It was another end of an era, of sorts.

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#12 Tag team gauntlet (SmackDown, March 26th)

Kofimania was in full swing by this point. Yet, it didn't seem like the New Day member would make it to WrestleMania after all. To get him there, his brothers would have to fight for his cause.

This was a match that had everything. It had high stakes and drama before the bell rang. It had great wrestling. It had a great callback to the New Day's story with The Usos, who forfeited the contest in a show of respect to their longtime rivals turned friends.

The New Day prevailed and sent Kofi Kingston to WrestleMania. It was one of the highs of the year.