Daily DDT
Fansided

WWE: Ranking the top 10 wrestlers of 2019

By Kevin Parvizi

NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 04: Kofi Kingston attends Wale's 5th Annual Wale Maniacaption at Sony Hall on April 4, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Shareif Ziyadat/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 04: Kofi Kingston attends Wale's 5th Annual Wale Maniacaption at Sony Hall on April 4, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Shareif Ziyadat/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
4 of 6
Next

5. Daniel Bryan

The American Dragon is back, thanks to Bray Wyatt’s supernatural ability to restore wrestlers back to their best state. Daniel Bryan had an incredible 2019, and while he heads into 2020 with a throwback character, he flourished as The Planet’s Champion.

His heel work in the build to Kofi Kingston’s WWE Championship victory at WrestleMania was absolutely brilliant. Bryan even moved into the tag team division with Erick Rowan to help make the SmackDown Tag Team Titles feel like an even bigger deal, and then he ended up in a wild Whodunit storyline with Rowan and Roman Reigns.

Bryan’s match quality remains on the highest possible tier. When Bryan is on his game, there isn’t a better wrestler in the ring. We witnessed another tremendous year from Bryan, but what really puts him in this category is his character work in 2019. It was resplendent. And it says a lot about the quality of wrestlers in WWE that Bryan was “only” fifth.

4. Sasha Banks

If Sasha Banks didn’t take a much-needed break in the middle of the year to reset, she would have been in the top three. The Boss is arguably the best overall wrestler in the company, and she showed it on multiple occasions this year.

Her match with Becky Lynch inside Hell in a Cell was the second-best of the year behind Bryan vs. Kingston at WrestleMania 35, and her Royal Rumble bout with Ronda Rousey was arguably the third best of the year, too. There’s no doubt it has been Rousey’s best match of her career to this point.

But that’s what Banks does; she gives others their best matches. Banks was the perfect rival for Becky as Raw Women’s Champion, as she elevated Becky’s reign by returning to feud with her. Banks’ heel turn, partnership with Bayley (including an Elimination Chamber Women’s Tag Titles win), and cutthroat promos make her a sure-fire top five wrestler this year. Words can hardly describe the difference in the product when she’s booked prominently.

Home/WWE