Gutteridge’s WWE Statistics Series 2019 (Part 5 of 7)

By Darren Gutteridge, Dot Net Contributor (originally published on FoulEntertainment.com)

Welcome to the 2019 WWE Statistics Series! Over the past 12 months, I’ve compiled stats on every single show WWE produced. I did this last year, and basically carried it on this year because I had lots of ideas about how to make it better. I think I’ve made a lot of improvements, so hopefully these stats will be even more insightful than last year!

So far, we’ve looked at Wins and Losses, Overall Records, Non-Contract Performers and Vs. Records. Today, we have part one of our breakdown of the months of the year, exploring individuals before looking at matches tomorrow.

I’ll explain some of the nuances of the stats as we go (you can explore the entire spreadsheet on Google Docs), but I’d first like to thank Cagematch.net for their exhaustive record keeping that helped me start, maintain and double check this mammoth undertaking. Also everyone on ProWrestling.Net for the easy to skim TV reports, which I used in place of watching the shows when my free time was short.

And now, the breakdown.

The following stats are, to the best of my knowledge, accurate. They were taken from every televised WWE show between episode 1011 of Smackdown on January 1st and episode 1388 of Raw on December 30th. Matches were only counted if they aired on TV or the WWE network, and only if they aired during 2019 (this discounts any events taped in 2019 that won’t air until 2020). Also, any wins or losses that occurred whilst a wrestler wasn’t under WWE contract were not counted. They had to appear on the roster pages of either the WWE website or Wikipedia (or both) to be counted.

100%-ers

Here are the marathon men and women that managed to wrestle at least one match a month for the entirety of 2019. That may not sound like a lot, but of the 242 members of the WWE roster in 2019, only 29 of them managed this feat – a lowly 12% of the total roster. Unlike last year though, someone from every brand managed this feat, and thanks to NXT’s expansion, I suspect this number will increase next year.

As an added bonus of also tracking this last year, any one who hasn’t missed a month since the start of 2018 has a * next to their name.

Raw

Smackdown

NXT

NXT UK

205 Live

Of these superstars, Ricochet (69), Kofi Kingston (53) and both Baron Corbin and Scott Dawson (50) wrestled the most, and Adam Cole (20), Matt Riddle (also 20), Pete Dunne (19) and Kassius Ohno (18) wrestled the least. Got love that cushy NXT life!

One Monthers

On the flip side of this, we have the 27 members of the roster that only managed to wrestle in one month of the year. This is a mix of NXT rookies, releases and the dreaded 24/7 title.

Raw

Smackdown

NXT

NXT UK

205 Live

Missed Time and Injuries

Obviously, injuries are unfortunately common in the world of wrestling, so you will see the spreadsheet littered with red cells denoting a wrestler missing a month (or several) to heal. This year saw the spawning of the “8 month club”, which includes the likes of Jeff Hardy, Mickie James, Nia Jax, Ruby Riott and Sheamus on the main roster, and both members of Team Kick in NXT – Dakota Kai and Tegan Nox.

And while certainly less comfortable, all of these absences fall short of the 10 month Deonna Purazzo sat on the side lines between January and December, the biggest gap between appearances of the year.

Debuts and Departures

The number of debuts this year was drastically down from 2018, although that was chiefly down to the launch of NXT UK. This year, we had 27 debuts, accounting for 11% of the final roster. These debuts mainly came from NXT UK (Ilja Dragunoc, Kay Lee Ray, Piper Niven) and NXT (Kushida, Mansoor, Ever Rise). The NXT Breakout Tournament in particular launched quite a few careers, including Isiah Scott, Cameron Grimes and Bronson Reed. The main roster only saw the debut of Cain Velasquez (and the two week Raw career of Carolina).

Three of the five returns this year came via the damn, damn, damn 24/7 title. As they technically have legends contracts, all of Pat Paterson, Gerald Brisco and Ted DiBiase count under the rules as “returning wrestlers”. I hate it as much as you do, but rules have to be abided by. However, the other two returns were a little more legitimate, with Beth Phoenix returning jn the Women’s Tag Title divison alongside Natalya before becoming NXT’s commentator, and Goldberg in Saudi Arabia.

The number of releases was actually up from last year, despite the rumblings of WWE reluctance thanks to AEW, with 12 in total. The main roster saw high profile losses like Dean Ambrose, Hideo Itami and Harper. Lesser lights like Sin Cara, The Ascension, TJP and Rhyno also found the exit door. Kurt Angle departure was more acrimonious via retirement. And NXT not only saw Kacy Catenzaro quietly leave, but also the unique cases of Jordan Myles and Stacey Erwin Jr, who both debuted and left in the same year.

Thanks for reading! Tomorrow we’ll look at the months of the year themselves. Which month had the most matches? Who wrestled the most matches in one month? Find out tomorrow, or look for yourself by checking out the comprehensive set of spreadsheets for yourself. You can also follow me on Twitter – @TheGutteridge

Network Specials include: Network Specials include: All Kickoff shows, All NXT/NXT UK Takeovers, All World’s Collide specials, All YouTube 24/7 Title changes, Halftime Heat, The Shield’s Final Chapter, Evolve 10th Anniversary, Smackville and Starrcade.

PPVs include: Royal Rumble, Elimination Chamber, Fastlane, WrestleMania 35, Money in the Bank, Super Showdown, Stomping Grounds, Extreme Rules, SummerSlam, Clash of Champions, Hell in a Cell, Crown Jewel, Survivor Series and TLC.