FanPost

The 50 Best Matches of 2013

It has been said rather frequently that 2013 has been one of the greatest, if not the greatest, year for wrestling in WWE history. At one point, it was stated you could make a list of the 50 best matches of the year without even having to stretch. When Cagesider (and king of the Open Thread) ReverendKain heard this, he set about making a list. He made 35 without straining, at which point another Cagesider, Yourroleandyou, stepped in to name an additional 15 matches.

After some rearranging and additions and subtractions, the list of the 50 best matches of 2013 was made. Here they are, along with a statistical analysis and supplementary lists for the best NXT and women's matches of the year:

  • Antonio Cesaro vs. Great Khali, Main Event aired 1/2/13, taped 12/30/12.
  • Alberto Del Rio vs. Big Show, Smackdown aired 1/11/13, taped 1/8/13.
  • Alberto Del Rio vs. Big Show, Royal Rumble 1/27/13
  • 2013 Royal Rumble match 1/27/13*
  • CM Punk vs. the Rock, Royal Rumble 1/27/13
  • Chris Jericho vs. CM Punk, Raw 2/4/13
  • Chris Jericho vs. Daniel Bryan, Raw 2/11/13
  • World Heavyweight Championship #1 Contender Elimination Chamber Match 2/17/13
  • The Shield vs. John Cena, Ryback, & Sheamus, Elimination Chamber 2/17/13
  • The Shield vs. Chris Jericho, Ryback, & Sheamus, Raw 2/18/13
  • CM Punk vs. John Cena, Raw 2/25/13
  • The Shield vs. Big Show, Sheamus, & Randy Orton, Wrestlemania 4/7/13
  • Alberto Del Rio vs. Jack Swagger, Wrestlemania 4/7/13
  • CM Punk vs. the Undertaker, Wrestlemania 4/7/13
  • Dolph Ziggler vs. Alberto Del Rio, Raw 4/8/13
  • Daniel Bryan, Kane, & the Undertaker vs. the Shield, Raw 4/22/13
  • Dean Ambrose vs. the Undertaker, Smackdown aired 4/26/13, taped 4/22/13
  • The Shield vs. John Cena & Team Hell No, Raw 4/29/13
  • Triple H vs. Brock Lesnar, Extreme Rules 5/19/13
  • The Shield vs. Team Hell No & Kofi Kingston, Raw 5/20/13
  • Alberto Del Rio vs. Big E Langston, Raw 5/27/13
  • Daniel Bryan vs. Seth Rollins, Raw 6/10/13
  • The Shield vs. Randy Orton & Team Hell No, Smackdown aired 6/14/13, taped 6/10/13
  • Dolph Ziggler vs. Alberto Del Rio, Payback 6/16/13
  • CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho, Payback 6/16/13
  • John Cena vs. Ryback, Payback 6/16/13
  • Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton, No Disqualification, Raw 6/17/13
  • Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan, Raw 7/8/13
  • Usos vs. Rollins & Reigns, Money in the Bank pre-show 7/14/13
  • World Heavyweight Championship Money in the Bank Ladder Match 7/14/13
  • John Cena vs. Mark Henry, Money in the Bank 7/14/13
  • WWE Championship Money in the Bank Ladder Match 7/14/13
  • Chris Jericho vs. Rob Van Dam, Raw 7/15/13
  • Daniel Bryan vs. Jack Swagger, Antonio Cesaro, & Ryback, Gauntlet Match, Raw 7/22/13
  • Christian vs. Alberto Del Rio, SummerSlam 8/18/13
  • CM Punk vs. Brock Lesnar, SummerSlam 8/18/13
  • Daniel Bryan vs. John Cena, SummerSlam 8/18/13
  • Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton, Raw 9/2/13
  • Goldust vs. Randy Orton, Raw 9/9/13
  • Rhodes Brothers vs. Rollins & Reigns, Battleground 10/6/13
  • Rhodes Brothers vs. Rollins & Reigns, Raw 10/14/13
  • Rhodes Brothers vs. Rollins & Reigns vs. the Usos, Hell in a Cell 10/27/13
  • John Cena vs. Damien Sandow, Raw 10/28/13
  • CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, Rhodes Brothers & the Usos vs. the Shield & the Wyatt Family, Raw 11/18/13
  • Rhodes Brothers, the Usos, & Rey Mysterio vs. Real Americans & the Shield, Survivor Series 11/24/13
  • CM Punk & Daniel Bryan vs. the Wyatt Family, Survivor Series 11/24/13
  • Rhodes Brothers vs. the Shield, CM Punk & Rhodes Brothers vs. the Shield, CM Punk, Rhodes Brothers, the Usos, & Rey Mysterio vs. the Shield & the Wyatt Family, Smackdown, aired 11/29/13, taped 11/26/13
  • CM Punk vs. Dean Ambrose, Smackdown, aired 12/6/13, taped 12/3/13
  • Rhodes Brothers vs. Big Show & Rey Mysterio vs. Rybaxel vs. Real Americans, TLC 12/15/13
  • Randy Orton vs. John Cena, TLC 12/15/13

NXT matches of the year:

  • Kassius Ohno vs. William Regal, NXT aired 4/10/13 taped 3/21/13
  • Antonio Cesaro vs. Sami Zayn, NXT aired 8/21/13, taped 7/10/13
  • Sami Zayn vs. Adrian Neville, NXT aired 11/27/13, taped 10/24/13

Women's matches of the year:

  • Kaitlyn vs. Eve, Raw 1/14/13
  • AJ vs. Kaitlyn, Payback 6/16/13
  • Paige vs. Emma, NXT aired 7/24/13, taped 6/20/13
  • AJ vs. Natalya, Main Event 11/13/13, taped 11/12/13
  • Paige vs. Natalya, NXT aired 12/04/13, taped 10/24/13

*The Royal Rumble was not included in the statistical analysis to prevent inflating each wrestler's totals.

The statistical analysis, including which wrestlers had the most matches, against whom, and when all these great matches happened:

Breakdown by Wrestler:

  • Cesaro: 5 (Khali, MITB, Gauntlet match, Survivor Series, Rhodes, Rybaxel, Mysteri-Show)
  • Khali: 1 (Cesaro)
  • Del Rio: 7 (Big Show x2, Swagger, Ziggler x2, Langston, Christian)
  • Big Show: 4 (Del Rio x2, The Shield, Rhodes, Rybaxel, Real Americans)
  • Punk: 11 (Rock, Jericho x2, Cena, Undertaker, MITB, Lesnar, Shield x2, Wyatts x2, Ambrose)
  • Rock: 1 (Punk)
  • Jericho: 6 (Punk x2, Bryan, Elimination Chamber, Shield, Van Dam)
  • Bryan: 14 (Elimination Chamber, Jericho, Shield x5, Rollins, Orton, Sheamus, MITB, Swagger, Cesaro, Ryback, Cena, Wyatts x2)
  • Kane: 5 (Elimination Chamber, Shield x4)
  • Henry: 2 (Elimination Chamber, Cena)
  • Swagger: 6 (Elimination Chamber, Del Rio, MITB, Gauntlet match, Survivor Series, Rhodes, Rybaxel, Mysteri-Show)
  • Shield (all three): 10 (Cena x2, Sheamus x3,Ryback x2, Jericho, Big Show, Orton x2, Hell No x4, Bryan, Punk x2, Rhodes x3, Usos x3, Mysterio x2)
  • Ambrose: 13 (Shield matches, Undertaker, MITB, Punk)
  • Rollins: 16 (Shield matches, Bryan, Usos x2, Rhodes x3)
  • Reigns: 15 (Shield matches, Usos x2, Rhodes x3)
  • Cena: 8 (Shield x2, Punk, Ryback, Henry, Bryan, Sandow, Orton)
  • Ryback: 5 (Shield x2, Cena, gauntlet, Rhodes, Mysteri-Show, Real Americans)
  • Sheamus: 5 (Shield x3, Bryan, MITB)
  • Orton: 8 (Elimination Chamber, Shield x2, Bryan, MITB, Cody, Goldust, Cena)
  • Undertaker: 3 (Punk, Shield, Ambrose)
  • Triple H: 1 (Lesnar)
  • Brock: 2 (HHH, Punk)
  • Ziggler: 2 (Del Rio x2)
  • Langston: 1 (Del Rio)
  • Usos: 5 (Rollins & Reigns x2, Shield x3, Wyatts x2 Real Americans)
  • Barrett: 1 (MITB)
  • Fandango: 1 (MITB)
  • Cody: 9 (MITB, Orton, Rollins & Reigns x3, Shield x3, Wyatts x2, Real Americas x2, Mysteri-Show, Rybaxel)
  • Sandow: 2 (MITB, Cena)
  • Christian: 2 (MITB, Del Rio)
  • RVD: 2 (MITB, Jericho)
  • Goldust: 8 (Orton, Rollins & Reigns x3, Shield x3, Wyatts x2, Real Americans x2, Mysterio-Show, Rybaxel)
  • Mysterio: 3 (Shield x2, Real Americans x2, Wyatts, Rybaxel, Rhodes)
  • Bray Wyatt: 2 (Punk x2, Bryan, Rhodes x2, Usos x2, Mysterio)
  • Luke Harper: 3 (Punk x3, Bryan x2, Rhodes x2, Usos x2, Mysterio)
  • Erick Rowan: 3 (Punk x3, Bryan x2, Rhodes x2, Usos x2, Mysterio)
  • Axel: 1 (Rhodes, Mysterio-Show, Real Americans)

Breakdown by TV and Pay-Per-View:

  • TV: 25 (Raw 19, Smackdown 5, Main Event 1)
  • PPV: 25 (Rumble 3, Elimination Chamber 2, WrestleMania 3, Extreme Rules 1, Payback 3, Money in the Bank 4, SummerSlam 3, Battleground 1, Hell in a Cell 1, Survivor Series 2, TLC 2)

Breakdown by Month:

  • January: 5
  • February: 6
  • March: 0
  • April: 7
  • May: 3
  • June: 6
  • July: 7
  • August: 3
  • September: 2
  • October: 4
  • November: 4
  • December: 3

The prevalence of multi-man matches made calculating who had matches against whom difficult, so if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask. Any other questions or comments about questionable entries or admissions or the process in general are more than welcome. Thank you for reading!

The FanPosts are solely the subjective opinions of Cageside Seats readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cageside Seats editors or staff.