5 Best Wrestling Matches Of 2018

When it comes to great matches in 2018, WWE’s main roster has been a distant fourth compared to other companies. That’s right, fourth. New Japan, Ring of Honor, and NXT (we’re counting it as a separate entity altogether at this point) have all delivered superior big matches this year so far than WWE.

The only wrestlers that seem to put on great matches consistently this year are Seth Rollins, A.J. Styles Becky Lynch, and Samoa Joe.

The sad thing is, the other ‘main roster’ wrestlers in WWE could put on better matches if given the chance. However, it seems that someone in WWE is preventing those top stars from going the extra mile and putting on actual wrestling classics.

With WWE clearly focusing on a quantity-vs-quality approach, how will anyone remember any big match they’ve put on this year, especially since most of these matches have an over-bearing uniformity to them?

While the year is almost done, and there could still be some big matches between now and December 31st, that is unlikely. The biggest shows of the year have already passed for WWE and NJPW, and a lot of hype is expected for the upcoming Wrestle Kingdom show.

So, looking back at 2018, it’s safe to say that there has been A LOT of amazing wrestling this year. In fact, this might’ve been the best year in pro wrestling from a critical standpoint.

But which matches were the best? That honor belongs to these give matches, that were executed by some of the finest grapplers active today.

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5. Johnny Gargano vs. Tomasso Ciampa – Unsanctioned Match – NXT TakeOver: New Orleans

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6higbo

Gargano vs. Ciampa is a modern rendition of a classic wrestling tale that has been told countless times. Two tag team partners experience the highest of highs and the lowest of lows as a duo. They achieve great success and then they lose a big match. Then one of them turns on the other, and the one that was betrayed seeks revenge.

That personal and realistic story was told so marvelously well between Gargano and Ciampa and led to one of the best matches of the entire year. Everything was done perfectly with these two. They executed their wrestling moves and big sequences like consummate pros, while also using facial expressions, subtleties and dramatic pauses to underscore the personal nature of their rivalry.

The crowd absolutely loved Gargano as the betrayed hero and loathed Ciampa as the Judas-like traitor. They roared for all the big spots, and elevated this match into something almost theatre-like. They even added extra layers of storytelling by introducing the crutch into the match. Small things like this matter by making the match feel special and personal.

In the end, this felt like the conclusion to a perfect story arc that had over a year’s worth of build to it. It was the perfect way to end one of the best Takeovers ever produced.

4. NXT North American Title Ladder Match

This is how you introduce a new title and make it into a big deal

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6hhk9h

I have seen many wild ladder matches over the years, but few can match this epic encounter. Somehow, these six wrestlers managed to have a better multi-man ladder match than the inaugural Money In The Bank Ladder match from WrestleMania 21, and that’s saying something.

The reason this worked so well was because every single person played an important role in making this into an enjoyable demolition derby. You had Killian Dain and Lars Sullivan, the two monsters that crushed each other and the others with vicious power moves (also, Sullivan has one of the best big-man finishers in NXT right now).

Velveteen Dream and EC3 looked like they were both suicidal, taking extreme risks and absorbing ridiculous amounts of punishment from everyone around them. Adam Cole was the perfect heel, resorting to underhanded tactics. Finally, there was Ricochet, who lived up to his reputation by flying off of things like he was born with wings.

Like other famous ladder matches before it, this contest was light on psychology and heavy on wild, unpredictable action. And that’s what made it so much fun to watch.

3. Hiromu Takahashi vs. Taiji Ishimori – Best Of Super Juniors 2018 Final Match

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6l26kx

Hiromu Takahashi was arguably NJPW’s breakout star of 2018. He showed such tremendous wrestling skill, amazing character work, and managed to create one of the most unique wrestling characters in the world today.

But he had his hands full in Ishimori, who was running roughshod on the promotion ever since his surprise debut. Ishimori wanted to prove he was the best junior heavyweight in the company, and almost managed to do that in this final match of the BOSJ tournament.

While most people might dismiss this as a ‘typical NJPW big match’ (i.e. a match filled with lightning-fast counters, crazy signature sequences, and head-spikes vicious enough to make audience members cringe), it will mostly be remembered for one of the ballsiest moments of the year.

Early into the match, Ishimori and Takahashi brawled in the crowd, and Ishimori actually hurricanrana’d Takahashi down a flight of stairs. You could see Takahashi’s body bouncing with each step, and it looked like one of the most legitimately-painful experiences imaginable.

Matches like this are testament to what junior heavyweights can do. What they lack in stature they make up for in dynamism and athleticism. These two spectacular wrestlers tore into each other for almost thirty five minutes and nearly killed each other to win the tournament.

By the time it was over, both of them looked like true stars, and Hiromu in particular proved to everyone that he is quite possibly the best junior heavyweight wrestler active today.

2. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kota Ibushi – G1 Climax 2018

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6rwdh5

If you’ve been keeping up with these match lists, you’ll notice that Hiroshi Tanahashi’s name keeps popping up. There’s a good reason for that: Tanahashi is simply incapable of having a bad singles match. He has so much experience, charisma, technical skill and raw talent that he might as well rename himself ‘Midas’, because everything he touches turns to gold.

This was the case yet again for Tanahashi in the G1 Climax 2018 final match, as he took on Kenny Omega’s close friend, Kota Ibushi. There were two great stories that unfolded in this marvelous wrestling match.

First, there was the possibility that we’d get Omega versus Ibushi at Wrestle Kingdom if Ibushi won this match. That is a dream match for many people, given the extensive history between those two.

The second was whether Tanahashi could still ‘go’. He, like Cena, was in his early forties and was no longer the company ace. So people wondered if he could still wrestle at the standard expected of him, especially since his opponent was younger, healthier, and faster.

Needless to say, Tanahashi proved any and all doubters wrong by wrestling at an incredible pace. He moved around with such grace and precision that it was like he hadn’t aged at all in years. He took Ibushi to the next level, and Ibushi hit him with everything he got.

It was such a close match that it was impossible to guess who’d win, which left the audience split right down the middle, cheering for both wrestlers equally. It is simply a masterpiece, and it set the standard incredibly high for the now-much-anticipated Omega vs. Tanahashi encounter on January 4th, 2019.

1. Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega - Dominion 6.9

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6lgmd4

Undertaker vs. Michaels at WrestleMania 25

John Cena vs. CM Punk at MITB 2011

Misawa vs. Kawada on June 6th, 1994

Misawa & Kobashi vs. The Holy Demon Army on June 9th, 1995

Undertaker vs. Mankind – KOTR 1998

Misawa vs. Kobashi on March 1st, 2003

Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 21

Okada vs. Tanahashi at Wrestle Kingdom 10

Okada vs. Omega I, Wrestle Kingdom 11

TLC II at WrestleMania X-Seven

These were all ground-breaking, era-defining wrestling matches of mythic proportions. And now another match joins that list of greatest wrestling matches of all time: Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega IV.

If the Wrestling Observer is to be believed, this is now the greatest wrestling match of all time. It was rated an unprecedented seven stars out of five, and cemented both Omega and Okada as two of the greatest wrestlers of all time.

But was it really that awesome? In this writer’s opinion, it was awesome, but not seven-stars-out-of-a-possible-five-stars awesome.

Somehow, these two wrestlers managed to tell an even better story than before by incorporating various callbacks and elements of their previous matches. Interwoven into the fast-paced, 64-minute endurance contest were so many layers of interpersonal storytelling and clever psychology.

They knew each other so well they had all of each other’s big moves scouted and prepared for. They both had big moves that the other knew how to deal with. They both brought their a-game in a classic wrestling match that will be extremely hard to top.

Like the epic rivalry between Okada and Tanahashi, Omega and Okada built a masterful story once again by emphasizing small elements from previous matches. It was the mirror-image of a WWE match; while most WWE wrestlers are told to go through similar motions on a weekly basis, Omega and Okada kept things to fresh and unpredictable that it kept you on the edge of your seat for over an hour.

It’s a testament to both wrestlers’ masterful knowledge of wrestling match structure and psychology, along with booker Gedo’s genius creative direction.

A wise man once made the comparison of WWE and NJPW being food companies. WWE is like McDonalds: cheap, generic food items with little distinction between them that’s meant to be easy to replicate and follows a lackadaisical formula that should never be tampered with.

Meanwhile, NJPW is like steak made from Kobe beef: extremely prestigious, made of the highest-quality ingredients, takes incredible attention, skill and passion to prepare, and is meant to be enjoyed on rare occasions. This match proved why NJPW has that latter – and better – image among wrestling promotions.