Here is a list of the best NXT matches of 2019 according to Dave Meltzer’s ratings. Meltzer rates
Note, we have only included matches from NXT and NXT UK! You can see the list of best WWE main roster matches of 2019 here.
Best NXT Matches Of 2019
Tommaso Ciampa vs Aleister Black
Event: NXT Takeover: Phoenix | Rating: 4.00 stars
The main event of NXT Takeover: Phoenix was between Tommaso Ciampa and Aleister Black. This was for Ciampa’s NXT Championship.
Ciampa ended up winning the match after 25 minutes.
Ricochet vs Adam Cole
Event: NXT (February 13, 2019) | Rating: 4.00 Stars
Adam Cole and Ricochet faced off on the February 13th episode of NXT. This ended up being a really fun match, which you could argue rivaled the bout that they had at Takeover.
Ricochet won the match but was beaten down by the Undisputed Era. Aleister Black attempted to make the save and also was beaten down by the group.
Shayna Baszler vs Io Shirai
Event: NXT Takeover: XXV | Rating: 4.00 stars
Shayna Baszler and Io Shirai faced off for the NXT Women’s Championship at Takeover XXV. Shayna was able to choke out Io for the submission victory.
After the match, Shirai got some revenge on Baszler, using various weapons on the NXT Women’s Champion.
Cesaro vs Ilja Dragunov
Event: NXT Takeover: Cardiff | Rating: 4.00 Stars
Cesaro hosted an open challenge at Takeover: Cardiff. His challenge was accepted by Ilja Dragunov. These two put on a fun match and it was a great showcase for Dragunov.
Cesaro picked up the win after about 12 minutes.
Adam Cole vs Johnny Gargano
Event: NXT Takeover: Toronto | Rating: 4.00 Stars
Adam Cole and Johnny Gargano faced off in Toronto in a Two-out-of-three falls match for the NXT Championship.
Cole ended up winning two falls to one to retain his belt.
Damian Priest vs Pete Dunne
Event: NXT (October 16th, 2019) | Rating: 4.00 Stars
Damian Priest and Pete Dunne faced off in the main event of the October 16th episode of NXT. This turned out to be a really solid match.
The referee ended up missing a low-blow from Priest, which led to him winning the match.
Roderick Strong vs Keith Lee vs Dominic Dijakovic
Event: NXT (October 23rd, 2019) | Rating: 4.00 Stars
The October 23rd edition of NXT featured a triple threat match for the NXT North American Championship. It was Roderick Strong vs Keith Lee vs Dominic Dijakovic.
This was a really fun triple threat match. Strong eventually won to retain his Title.
Lio Rush vs Angel Garza
Event: NXT (November 13th, 2019) | Rating: 4.00 Stars
Lio Rush and Angel Garza faced off for the Cruiserweight Championship on the November 13th edition of NXT.
This turned out to be a good match, with Rush winning to retain his Title.
Finn Balor vs Matt Riddle
Event: NXT Takeover: WarGames | Rating: 4.00 Stars
Finn Balor and Matt Riddle faced off at Takeover: WarGames. This was a replacement match after Johnny Gargano got hurt prior to the event.
This turned out to be a really solid match, with Balor picking up the win.
Lio Rush vs Angel Garza
Event: NXT (December 11th, 2019) | Rating: 4.00 Stars
Lio Rush and Angel Garza also faced off for the Cruiserweight Championship on the December 11th edition of NXT.
This time, Garza ended up winning the belt in a really good match. After the match, Garza also proposed in the ring to his girlfriend.
Rhea Ripley vs Shayna Baszler
Event: NXT (December 18th, 2019) | Rating: 4.00 Stars
Rhea Ripley and Shayna Baszler faced off in the main event of the December 18th episode of NXT. This was for Baszler’s NXT Women’s Championship.
Rhea eventually won a fun match to win the belt.
Adam Cole vs. Ricochet vs. Aleister Black vs. Matt Riddle vs. Velveteen Dream
Event: NXT (March 20th, 2019) | Rating: 4.25 Stars
Adam Cole, Ricochet, Aleister Black, Matt Riddle, and Velveteen Dream faced off in a Fatal 5-Way Match on the March 20th edition of NXT. This was in order to determine Johnny Gargano’s opponent at TakeOver: New York
The match was eventually won by Adam Cole. This was a really fun match though, especially for a weekly episode of NXT.
Io Shirai vs Candice LeRae
Event: NXT Takeover: Toronto | Rating: 4.25 Stars
Candice LeRae and Io Shirai faced off at NXT Takeover: Toronto. This turned out to be a really fun match, with Shirai picking up the win.
This ended up being the highest-rated match at Takeover: Toronto.
Adam Cole vs Matt Riddle
Event: NXT (October 2nd, 2019) | Rating: 4.25 Stars
Adam Cole and Matt Riddle faced off on the October 2nd, 2019 edition of NXT. This was for the NXT Championship.
This ended up being a really good match. Cole ended up winning clean to retain his Title.
The Revival vs The Undisputed Era
Event: NXT (November 20th, 2019) | Rating: 4.25 Stars
The Revival came back to NXT for a match against The Undisputed Era. This ended up being a fantastic match.
The Undisputed Era ended up winning but both teams deserve a lot of credit.
Team Rhea (Rhea Ripley, Candice LeRae, Tegan Nox, and Dakota Kai) vs Team Shayna (Shayna Baszler, Io Shirai, Bianca Belair, and Kay Lee Ray)
Event: NXT Takeover: WarGames | Rating: 4.25 Stars
Takeover: WarGames featured the first-ever women’s WarGames match in history. Team Rhea Ripley faced off against Team Shayna Baszler.
The match saw Dakota Kai turn heel and attack Tegan Nox. There were also several big bumps during it. Overall it was a fun match that proved women can excel in WarGames matches.
Finn Balor vs Adam Cole
Event: NXT (December 18th, 2019) | Rating: 4.25 Stars
Finn Balor and Adam Cole faced off on the December 18th edition of NXT. This was for the NXT Championship.
The match was eventually won by Cole. This came after Johnny Gargano returned and distracted Balor.
Moustache Mountain vs James Drake & Zack Gibson
Event: NXT UK Takeover: Blackpool | Rating: 4.5 stars
The first-ever NXT UK Takeover match turned out to be damn good. James Drake and Zack Gibson defeated Tyler Bate and Trent Seven to become the inaugural NXT UK Tag Team Champions.
This was a fun match that went for over 20 minutes.
Undisputed Era vs War Raiders
Event: NXT Takeover: Phoenix | Rating: 4.5 stars
The first match of Takeover: Phoenix was for the NXT Tag Team Championships. The Undisputed Era put their tag belts on the line against the War Raiders.
The War Raiders won the Titles in a fun match to open the show.
Aleister Black, Ricochet & Velveteen Dream vs Tommaso Ciampa, Adam Cole & Johnny Gargano
Event: Halftime Heat (February 3, 2019) | Rating: 4.5 stars
WWE decided to bring back Halftime Heat in 2019. Instead of watching Maroon 5 perform during the Super Bowl, fans were able to tune into a fun 6-man tag team match.
Black, Ricochet, and Dream picked up the win after about 16 minutes of action.
War Raiders vs Ricochet and Aleister Black
Event: NXT Takeover: New York| Rating: 4.5 stars
The War Raiders faced off against Ricochet and Aleister Black. This was for the NXT Tag Team Championships.
This was a fun match to kick off the event. The War Raiders ended up retaining.
Velveteen Dream vs Matt Riddle
Event: NXT Takeover: New York | Rating: 4.5 stars
Velveteen Dream put his NXT North American Championship on the line against Matt Riddle.
This was a fun match that saw Dream retain his Title.
Matt Riddle vs Roderick Strong
Event: NXT Takeover: XXV | Rating: 4.5 stars
Matt Riddle and Roderick Strong faced off in the opening match of NXT Takeover: XXV.
This ended up being a fun match with Riddle winning after about 15 minutes.
The Street Profits vs Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch vs The Undisputed Era vs The Forgotten Sons
Event: NXT Takeover: XXV | Rating: 4.5 stars
Takeover: XXV featured a fatal 4-way ladder match. This was for the vacant NXT Tag Team Championships.
After a fun match, the Street Profits won their first NXT Tag Team Championships.
The Grizzled Young Veterans vs Flash Morgan Webster & Mark Andrews vs Gallus
Event: NXT Takeover: Cardiff | Rating: 4.5 Stars
NXT UK Takeover: Cardiff featured a triple threat match for the NXT Tag Team Titles: The Grizzled Young Veterans vs Flash Morgan Webster & Mark Andrews vs Gallus.
Flash Morgan Webster and Mark Andrews ended up winning the belts in a fun match.
The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Bobby Fish, Kyle O’Reilly, and Roderick Strong) vs Team Ciampa (Tommaso Ciampa, Keith Lee, Dominik Dijakovic, and Kevin Owens)
Event: NXT Takeover: WarGames | Rating: 4.5 Stars
The Undisputed Era faced off against Team Ciampa in a WarGames match. Kevin Owens ended up being the mystery partner for Ciampa’s team.
This match was a lot of fun. Ciampa picked up the win for his team after dropping Adam Cole from the top of the cell.
Ricochet vs Johnny Gargano
Event: NXT TakeOver: Phoenix | Rating: 4.75 stars
Ricochet and Johnny Gargano faced off for the NXT North American Championship at Takeover: Phoenix. As you probably predicted, they tore the house down.
Gargano would win the match to become the new Champion.
WALTER vs Pete Dunne
Event: NXT TakeOver: New York | Rating: 4.75 stars
WALTER and Pete Dunne faced off at NXT Takeover: New York. This was for Dunne’s WWE UK Championship.
WALTER won a fun and physical match. With the win, he ended Dunne’s Title reign at over 600 days.
Adam Cole vs Johnny Gargano
Event: NXT Takeover: XXV | Rating: 5.25 Stars
Adam Cole and Johnny Gargano faced off for the NXT Championship at Takeover: XXV.
This match went for over 32 minutes, with Adam Cole winning the NXT Title for the first time.
Tyler Bate vs WALTER
Event: NXT Takeover: Cardiff | Rating: 5.25 Stars
WALTER and Tyler Bate faced off at NXT UK Takeover: Cardiff. This was for the WWE United Kingdom Championship.
This match went for over 42 minutes and was really fun to watch. WALTER eventually won the match to retain his belt. Meltzer gave it more than 5 stars at 5.25.
Adam Cole vs Johnny Gargano
Event: NXT Takeover: New York | Rating: 5.5 Stars
Adam Cole and Johnny Gargano faced off at NXT Takeover: New York for the vacant NXT Championship. This was a 2-out-of-3 falls match.
Johnny Gargano won the match 2 falls to 1 to become the new NXT Champion.
On a related note, here is the list of the highest-rated NXT matches in history.
