411’s WWE Backstage Report 12.31.19: Top 5 Matches of 2019

-Welcome to the latest edition of WWE Backstage. It’s the New Year’s Eve Edition and what better way to ring in 2020 than with the WWE Backstage gang. It seems this episode will be looking back at the year that was and counting down the Top 5 matches of 2019. I am curious if this is Main Roster only or will include NXT/NXT UK.  Either way countdowns are always fun, so let’s get to it.

-Renee Young welcomes us in our weekly show tease and she is sporting a party hat. She runs down that they will be counting down the Top 5 matches of 2019 and covering other top moments from the year.

-Show Opening!

-Renee Young welcomes us once again and she is joined by her co-host, Booker T and Christian is back for another week. They start off with a classic 5 second pose which is always nice to see. They recap last week’s Awards Show and all the winners: Bray, Kabuki Warriors, Becky Lynch, The Street Profits, and The New Day.

-They left the biggest award for this show as they will count down to the Match of the Year and they start with Match #5. We go back to SmackDown Jan 16^th: Rey Mysterio vs. Andrade. They show bits and pieces of the match with the commentary intact instead of just doing a highlight package. As one would expect these two mesh perfectly and deliver a great effort. They crowd is just rocking along with this match and you can tell they are crushing it as the announce team is losing it as well. Andrade wins with a hammerlock DDT.

-Back to the panel and they discuss the match. It was the second meeting between the two and Booker calls it a perfect combination. He puts Rey over for being a general and says people think of Andrade as a young guy, but he is a seasoned pro. Christian puts over Rey and the fact that everyone has good chemistry with him. He calls Rey everyone’s dream match. He says Andrade is underrated and looks to see him winning major titles in 2020. Booker thinks Andrade can write his own script in 2020.

-Commercials!

-Back with Renee and Match #4: Money in the Bank: Universal Tile: Seth Rollins (c) vs. AJ Styles: Yeah, I would agree this was one of the Top 5 Main Roster matches of 2019. Shocking I know, but letting AJ Styles and Seth Rollins wrestle on a PPV with time results in a great match. I appreciate getting pieces of the match with commentary instead of just a highlight package set to music. With top matches like these it is great to hear the commentary and the crowd as it shows that yes, the WWE can deliver matches that capture the crowd. Seth gets the win with The Stomp.

-Commercials and it seems a new therapy session is on the way when we come back.

-Back with a video package of Daniel Bryan during his reign as The Planet’s Champion. Renee covers Daniel’s year and throws to the newest episode of “Wrestling with Your Feelings with Rachel Bonnetta.” Daniel is the guest this week and he already makes me laugh as he says “3-2-1. 1-2-3, what the heck is wrong with me,” before he even gets in the office. He talks about the new Daniel Bryan and what was wrong with the old Daniel Bryan. He rails against technology and Rachel checking her phone. She thinks he just needs a hug and Daniel brings up he spent over a year hugging a guy in a mask that electrocuted someone’s testicles. All that hugging only made him crazier. He wants more time to rail against people text messaging their mothers as Rachel leaves. Daniel confides in a bust of Aristotle as this was my favorite installment of this segment.

-The panel discusses what they saw and Booker wants Rachel to get a brand new sweater.

–Match #3: Elimination Chamber: WWE Title: Daniel Bryan (c) vs. Samoa Joe vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Randy Orton vs. Jeff Hardy vs. AJ Styles: Another very good match with a crazy, hot ending that set the stage for Bryan/Kofi at Mania. The crowd was begging for a title switch here, but thankfully they did hold off and give it to us at Mania. Bryan retains his title by last eliminating Kofi following the running knee. The crowd was left crushed by the ending, but it was a case of the WWE finally listening to the fans and delivering at the right time and paying off a storyline.

-Commercials!

-We are back with a video on Becky Lynch’s year in review. Renee says this year could be classified as the year of the man.

–Match #2: Hell in a Cell Match: RAW Women’s Title: Becky Lynch (c) vs. Sasha Banks: A very good match, but I wouldn’t call it the second best Main Roster match of the year, but that’s why countdowns are fun. I would actually pick Asuka/Lynch from the Royal Rumble as the Women’s Main Roster Match of the Year. Still, as stated, this was a very good match and they worked hard and beat on each other inside the Cell in impressive fashion. Becky makes Sasha tap to close a hard hitting battle.

-The panel recaps the Sasha/Becky feud and they look to what it is in store for both in 2020. Booker quotes MC Hammer when talking about Becky and thinks Sasha is still trying to find her footing after coming back from her time off. Christian doesn’t think Sasha has missed a step and is better with a chip on her shoulder. Booker explains that Sasha was The Boss and Becky passed her by which may have shaken Sasha.

-Commercials!

-Back with a video on Kofi’s rise and that leads to the 2019 WWE Match of the Year: WrestleMania XXXV: WWE Title: Daniel Bryan (c) vs. Kofi Kingtson: I have no problem with this at all as I had this as my Main Roster Match of the Year, and I am glad they stuck to just the Main Roster with his list as a case could be made NXT would take all 5 spots. Everything about this match and story were perfect and to think this doesn’t happen if Mustafa Ali doesn’t get injured. The crowd rallied behind Kofi like nobody since Daniel Bryan and made it all the greater that it was Daniel in there to pass the torch to Kofi to get his moment (like Daniel had at Mania XXX). We also can’t ignore the historical importance of this match as for the first time an African born man won the WWE Title. There are great videos out there of people of all races celebrating and in some cases, celebrating with tears in their eyes. The WWE didn’t get too cute and went with the result the fans were begging for: Kofi Kingston pins Daniel Bryan to win the WWE Title. Such a fantastic moment and really this should have closed the show, but considering the show went into Monday morning, it’s probably best it didn’t as the crowd reaction is perfect. Kofi celebrates with his son and New Day and it still brings a smile to my face.

-To the panel and Christian brings up what I mentioned about Bryan being the perfect foil and how he was in the same position as Kofi only 5 years earlier. He touches on how Bryan was the B+ player raging against the WWE Machine and now he is part of the WWE Machine and calling Kofi the B+ player. Again, injuries forced the WWE’s hand and they delivered the storybook ending everyone wanted.

-Kofi accepts the award on his and Daniel’s behalf. He notes it takes two to tango and calls Bryan one of the greatest to ever do it. He mentions the story of him being in the spot Daniel was a few years earlier. He thanks the fans for demanding that he be in the match and it means a lot for him to be in the Match of the Year.

-Commercials!

-Year in Review video package and as usual with these things, it’s awesome. The people behind these can make anything seem epic. WOOO BEATBOX BROCK!

-Back to our panel as they will be making resolution’s for the New Year. Renee wants “that mother lover, AJ Styles” to show up on Backstage and she would like to see Randy on the show as well. Booker wants the tag division to get CRUNK in 2020 and teases managing The Street Profits. He also teases a Harlem Heat vs Revival match. Christian’s is to remain #1 Contender for the IC Title for a 6^th consecutive year. He then says he wants Brock to come back with the beatbox. They count it down and welcome us to 2020 as that wraps up this episode.

-This was a fine show that made good use of the countdown format. There’s not much more to say as they delivered what was advertised. You can nitpick with the 5 matches they picked, but each one was very good to great and the only glaring admission to me was Seth/Brock at SummerSlam. Happy New Year and join me next week as we get back to live coverage of this show. As always, thanks for reading!