Best Of 2019: Spot Of The Year
IMG Credit: WWE
So it’s that time again as we need to look back at everything that took place, both the good and the bad, of the last year. However, since this year is also the start of a decade, it’s going to be a double shot of the whole thing. Therefore, I’m going to blaze through these with three or four a day for the next five days for the 2019 Awards and then do the same thing next week for the 2010s Awards. I don’t want these things dragging out forever like they usually do so marathoning them is the best option. Let’s get to it.
This is one of the cooler ones as a lot of people are going to remember the short bursts of things instead of the big, long editions. That’s perfectly understandable and it was the case again this year. These are the quick moments that blew people’s minds and just looked cool, which are going to leave a lot of people talking for a long time to come.
Johnny Gargano And Adam Cole’s Double Dive (Takeover: Toronto)
In a feud that had one long, epic match after another for the NXT Title, they needed something big to close it out and that’s what they had here. This was inside a hardcore cage and they beat the heck out of each other, with the match going on for over fifty minutes with neither being able to pull it off. That meant it was time to do something huge and they did that in spade.
At the end of the match, both of them wound up at the top of the cage and then dove off (for whatever reason) and crashed HARD through a table, with Cole covering Gargano to retain the title. This was an absolutely insane ending and the crash looked incredible, as it was going to be whomever could get an arm over winning the thing. Just awesome stuff here and it came at the end of an epic match.
Tommaso Ciampa Ends Adam Cole (Takeover: WarGames)
WarGames is the kind of match that works every single time. It’s one of the biggest and most violent matches in WWE and while it hasn’t been around long in this company, it has developed a reputation as something special. A lot of that is due to it being in NXT where they can do some better stuff, and the big ending to this year’s men’s match lived up to the hype.
At the end of a long WarGames, Tommaso Ciampa and Adam Cole wound up on top of the double cage and there was a table beneath them. There was no way that this would end well and that was exactly what happened, with Ciampa lifting Cole up for a super White Noise through the table to FINALLY finish the match. I was in the arena for this one and could barely look, because the image of Cole upside down and that high in the air actually got to me a bit. That was something else and thankfully they were both ok. It was the only way to end the match and Ciampa looked like a star all over again.
Randy Orton Spikes Ricochet (Raw – October 28)
There are some finishers that are going to work no matter how many times you see them. Some of the best finishers in the world have become nearly iconic and that is the case with the RKO. It has even turned into a joke about how Orton can hit it from anywhere, which makes the thing that much more impactful. That was the case again this time, but the landing is what made it work.
In the buildup to Crown Jewel’s ten man tag, it was time for everyone to go after everyone on the other team. This was prime time for an RKO Outta Nowhere and that’s what happened, with Ricochet missing a dive off the top but rolling to his feet. Orton slid in and hit a heck of an RKO, with Ricochet landing on the top of his head for one of the best sells I’ve ever seen from the move. The RKO still works great and Ricochet can do things that no one else can and that was incredible.
But then, there was this.
Keith Lee Pounces Adam Cole Off The Screen (NXT – November 27)
Wrestling is not a normal world. It is basically a comic book come to life at times and that makes things all the more interesting. At the same time though, these people are human and there are only so many things that they can do. Sometimes though you get someone who can do things that do not seem human, which is what we saw on this day.
Lee and Dominik Dijakovic were challenging for the NXT Tag Team Titles when Cole interfered. This did not sit well with Lee, who Pounced Cole over the barricade and off camera in something that looked like it was out of a cartoon. It was one of the most ridiculous (in a good way) things I’ve ever seen as Cole was knocked a crazy distance in another instance of Lee looking inhuman. This stuck with me more than anything else and it was the Spot Of The Year.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also -available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:
http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/
And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at: