With WWE's final PPV (er, "Event") of the year, TLC, coming this Sunday, December 16, it's time to look back at 2018 and present the absolute best bouts from WWE and NXT.

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Top 10 WWE Matches of 2018 11 IMAGES

WWE Survivor Series: The Best Survival Teams of All Time 14 IMAGES

Sure, it's entirely possible that some of the TLC matches could wind up as contenders for "Best of the Year" -- like the Woman's Triple Threat TLC match or Daniel Bryan vs. AJ Styles -- but for right now, these are the 10 I'm going with. I might do an update following the event, if some things stand out so solidly as to bump one of these out, but for right now let's just pretend today's the cut off date for consideration.So here are some spectacularly strong offerings from "The Man" Becky Lynch, The New Daniel Bryan™, "Rowdy" Ronda Rousey, Johnny Gargano, Seth "Freakin" Rollins, AJ Styles, Asuka, and more! Flip through the slideshow, or just continue on to the text below...Even though her main roster career was seriously mishandled following this classic 'Mania bout, Asuka's clash with Charlotte at WrestleMania, while she boasted an intimidating multi-year winning streak, was one of the year's very best. And proof that you don't need to go 20 minutes to deliver a nail-biter (though I would've totally watched for 40).Iconic entrances and crack ring work made this contest one of the true standouts of 2018, and although I'm still blindly bitter about Asuka losing (again, both these ladies' stories were flubbed in the aftermath) the story told bell-to-bell was outstanding. And as these two, along with Becky Lynch, head into the TLC event this Sunday, things may finally pay off for the Empress of Tomorrow.Seth Rollins was the shining, spellbinding MVP of RAW this year as the brand's top babyface who was never allowed to matriculate beyond the Intercontinental level. If he'd been on SmackDown, he'd have been world champ. As it stands, he's the occasionally-sung hero of Monday nights, consistently getting the most cheers and delivering the best matches.His WrestleMania rematch with The Miz at Backlash, for the IC title, is the contest that makes the cut on this 2018 list (he also had amazing outings with Finn Balor and Kevin Owens). Not just because it was a freakin' superb down the line one-on-one showing, but because it's also probably the best The Miz has ever performed outside of his matches with Ziggler in 2016 - you know, for anyone who has a Miz hater in their life they want to desperately prove wrong.Getting a top-line AJ Styles/Samoa Joe feud in 2018, in WWE, was a definite "pinch yourself" moment, though the two of them had to navigate the murky waters of a "you're a terrible husband and father/quasi-home invasion" storyline. Because of this, the beginnings of their angle had some road spikes.But by the time they got to their third PPV match, at Melbourne's Super Show-Down, and squared off in a No DQ match for Styles' WWE Championship, it felt appropriately cutting and brutal. Granted, the third match of a running feud should always be the best and stand as a culmination of everything that came before it, but this match also stood as validation that these two could still deliver the gruesome goods after a few months of somewhat stilted showings.The surprise entrant on the list this year was the unapologetically fun ring debut of "Rowdy" Ronda Rousey as both Hunter and Steph worked overtime to make her look like a million bucks on The Grandest Stage of Them All. It was an expertly booked bout designed, down to a microscopic level, to highlight all of Ronda's strengths and bury all of her weaknesses as a super-green newbie to the squared circle.And it wasn't just Ronda who was being protected here. Non-wrestler Stephanie McMahon also had to come off as an imposing force while Kurt Angle's various limitations as a battle-worn veteran needed some coverup. This contest was such a delight that it came very close to sucking all of the beaming goodwill from the capacity crowd in NOLA before Daniel Bryan made his miraculous in-ring return a few matches later.Sure, Daniel Bryan's showing against Brock Lesnar was almost a shot-for-shot remake of AJ Styles' Survivor Series stab at The Beast a year prior, but dammit, it rocked! Not only was this a match fans had wanted to see for a long while (but never thought they would given Bryan's retirement) but Bryan came into the bout as a freshly-minted heel, providing a few interesting layers we never anticipated.No one expected Bryan to win here. Not really. I mean, there's always that chance, right? And that's the "x factor" this match played with so well. The "what if?" of it all. The contest was a sublime journey, transforming from "Oh, man, is Daniel Bryan really getting squashed here?" (because that's also never outside the realm of possibility in our minds) to "OMG, he's actually going to make Brock tap!"Johnny Gargano had an all but peerless 2018 over in NXT. You can't find a bad Gargano match. It was even hard keeping his recent TakeOver: War Games II fight with Aleister Black off this list. Instead though, we're heading back to peak Johnny Babyface, at the start of the year, when Gargano was challenging Andrade "Cien" Almas for the NXT Championship. A pure diamond of a match.Lightning-fast moves, breathtaking reversals, devilish near falls - this storyline would represent Almas and Zelina Vega's farewell arc and the rise of both Johnny and wife Candice LeRae to power couple status. Johnny, to this day, hasn't captured the NXT Championship, but his match with Almas perfectly depicts how the traditional tale of heroes just coming up short still works.While other multi-member matches also stood out this year (both Rumble matches, the Six-Pack Challenge at Fastlane, etc), it was NXT's diabolical ladder match to crown the first ever NXT North American Champion that rises up out of the ashes to claim a spot here. As a gorgeous demolition derby filled with countless crashes and burns, this contest also marked the NXT ring debut of Ricochet (and EC3's first "big" match in the promotion).This sinister spectacle, which opened TakeOver: New Orleans, left fans breathless but not bereft. Adam Cole walked out with the title, but everyone shined brightly here in the midst of chaos and calamity. It also prominently places as (probably) Mauro Ranallo's greatest commentary performance to date. 2 Mamma 2 Mia.While tag team wrestling on the main roster only flirts with true greatness these days (usually found within the triangle of New Day/Usos/Bar), NXT can always deliver the goods, as it holds this very specific form of wrestling artistry in the highest regard. Undisputed Era -- Roderick Strong and Kyle O'Reilly -- regaining the NXT tag titles they'd lost to Mustache Mountain -- Trent Seven and Tyler Bate (after Bate threw in the towel to protect his partner's career from ending), was one of the year's absolute best bouts with the most emotional finish.Undisputed Era are a perfectly booked heel stable, featuring a magnificent mix of old and new elements, who amazingly accentuate the entirety of NXT. Specifically, their tag team championship runs have worked to elevate the division. Mustache Mountain were formidable foils who managed to upset them, briefly, for the gold, but eventually succumbed to the numbers game. And the cruelty game.Though the lines are blurry now, and NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa currently takes pride in Johnny Gargano's journey into darkness, these two had the hottest feud of 2018 as Ciampa returned to the fold, after a long stretch on the shelf, to make his former tag team partner's life a living hell. Three blistering and beautiful TakeOver matches would follow, each one driving Gargano closer to a precarious point of no return.Their first match, of the terrific trio, remains etched in my mind however as the true "slaying the dragon" story. Johnny and Tommaso met at TakeOver: New Orleans, in an Unsanctioned Match, that unfolded as one of the cleverest and craziest contests of the entire year. It was a rollercoaster of revenge, culminating with Gargano, who was too smart to fall for Ciampa's tricks, forcing his former mate to tap out.Not only did this fight feel instantly special because it was the first ever (main roster) Last Woman Standing match, but it was happening at the landmark all-women's Evolution event. "The Man" Becky Lynch, with her newfound intensity and staggering across-the-board fan support, headed into the match of her career, determined to shut down Charlotte Flair once and for all in what was sure to be a knock down, drag out affair.Becky and Charlotte, within the darkened Nassau Coliseum, put on a tooth-and-nail classic that left all our jaws on the floor. Harkening back to Sasha vs. Bayley at Takeover: Brooklyn, this match felt like a transcendent game-changer. Brutal, emotional, and thrilling, this Last Woman Standing match takes the top prize in 2018. "The Man" cemented her status while also signaling legendary things to come.

Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN and a member of the Television Critics Association. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBFowler