10 Best Matches of 2018
This article is based on my personal opinion. Please keep in mind that i currently do not have the time to watch all of the wrestling there is. This list will consider all of WWE's (including NXT's), WOS' and WXW's output and everything i was able to watch from such as Progress Wrestling, Defiant, ICW, New Japan, NWA, Ring of Honor and Impact Wrestling. This does not guarantee their content will be included.
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10. Interim Unified WXW World Wrestling Championship: Ilja Dragunov vs. Bobby Gunns (WXW World Tag Team League Night 2)
Never have i witnessed such an atmosphere live. Over 15+ minutes straight of GUNNS! BOBBY GUNNS! ILJA! chants, commentators on the edge of their seats and wrestlers wrestling through a history moment for WXW. The longest crowd reaction in pro-wrestling history. The championship almost played second fiddle as the crowd went into a frenzy. Praise the lord for some epic 30 minutes.
9. Impact Wrestling Tag Team Championship: LAX (Santana & Ortiz) vs. The OGz (Homicide and Hernandez) in a Street Fight (Impact Wrestling Slammiversary 2018)
Watch in Full: Global Wrestling Network
Slammiversary put Impact Wrestling back on the map in 2018 and the biggest reason for that was this match. The blood feud between LAX and The OGz reached it's highest point that night in one of the best hardcore matches wrestled all year. More of that please! I watched it three times already. All these guys were on fire!
8. OTT World Championship: WALTER vs. Will Ospreay (OTT FOUR YEAR ANNIVERSARY)
Watch in Full for FREE: https://overthetopwrestling.pivotshare.com/media/free-match-will-ospreay-vs-walter-/80537/feature
Walter and Ospreay had numerous epic encounters this year, including a stand-out match on Defiant. But above all of them stand their OTT World Title match. WALTER, portraying the heel vs. the Hero named Will Ospreay. WALTER was absolutley hated that night, while Ospreay was purely loved. Unmixed, unfiltered and pure crowd reactions to a brutal match. Rarely you get such magic like this. Thanks OTT and thanks WALTER and Ospreay for this epic piece.
7. NXT Tag Team Championship: Undisputed Era (O' Reilly & Strong) vs. Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan (NXT Takeover Chicago II)
Watch in Full on the WWE Network
The atmosphere for this match was already incredible when Unidsputed Era made their entrance.
Then Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch entered the ring to a good but not as great reaction. But during the match, they won over the fans with the best live Tag Team performance of the year. After their match, Burch and Lorcan recieved a well-deserved thunderous ovation. This match was fast, action-packed and emotional. Im very much looking forward to repeat of that in 2019.
6. NXT North American Championship Ladder Match: Ricochet vs. Adam Cole vs. Lars Sullivan vs. Velveteen Dream vs. EC3 vs. Kilian Dain (NXT Takeover New Orleans)
Watch in Full on the WWE Network
The best multi-men Ladder Match i have ever seen (Tag Team ones excluded). NXT managed to get various styles together to create something really special here. 6 men in their prime to the best they can with ladders and their bodies to become the first ever NXT North American Champion.
The Mountain of a Man Lars Sullivan, The extravagant Veleveteen Dream, the obnoxious EC3, the superhero Ricochet, the cocky Adam Cole and the dirty beast Killian Dain. 6 characters, one goal. From bell to bell these men told a phenomenal story with jaw-dropping spots and high-tension moments, to the delight of the fans.
5. NXT Championship: Tomasso Ciampa vs. Velveteen Dream (NXT Takeover WarGames)
Watch in Full on the WWE Network
'Dream is just a filler opponent for Ciampa' they said. But The Dream wouldn't be The Dream he did not take full advantage of this opportunity. He brougth Ciampa to the limit. Not just physically, but mentally. In you did not see how much of a star Dream is, you definitaly saw it at WarGames. Dream and Ciampa threw everything they had and more at each other. No stipulation needed. If there ever was a str-making performance, it was that night. Oh glory glory Velveteen Dream and Tomasso Ciampa.
4. Street Fight: Tomasso Ciampa vs. Johnny Gargano (NXT Takeover Chicago II)
Watch in Full on the WWE Network
Another piece in the epic saga of Gargano vs. Ciampa - the best told feud with some of the best matches i have ever seen. Both are to creative, so talented, just in every department true professionals. Every new match is an evolution of the ones they had before, this one is no different. With Aleister Black out of the occasion, the two where once again left with themselves, only to create another fantastic collision.
3. NXT Championship Last Man Standing: Tomassa Ciampa vs. Johnny Gargano (NXT Takeover Brooklyn IV)
Watch in Full on the WWE Network
Will they ever stop fighting? Will they ever have a bad match together? Probably not. As you can read above, this Last Man Standing match also delivered and was yet another evolution to their previous fights. These two are an assett to every promotion. The foreign objects almost blended into the background during the story that Ciampa and Gargano told. Two men just bend on destroying each other. It was chilling to witness.
2. NXT Championship: Andrade Cien Almas vs. Johnny Gargano (NXT Takeover Philadelphia)
Watch in Full on the WWE Network
Rated the magical 5 Stars by Dave Meltzer this match kicked-off 2018 with a banger. Almas declared himself one of the best wrestlers in the world with every right in his clash with Gargano for the NXT Championship. Gargano was on a mission to become the NXT Champion and Almas on a mission to finally being taken seriously. Almas walked out with his head held high in, probably, the best match to every include a manager interference. Zelina Vega was key to make this match even better.
This is one of these matches you can watch on repeat and never get bored. Masterful work by all of them.
1. WOS Championship: Rampage Brown vs. Justin Sysum (WOS Episode 10)
Where can i watch the match? Unfortunatley WOS had been airing on the british broadcast channel ITV. Therefore tv-rights cause a very slow roll-out of episodes. Currently WOS has uploaded 5 episodes on their Dailymotion channel http://www.dailymotion.com/wosw. Hopefully next year we will see the match on there.
I personally loved this match. I was not expecting something like this on WOS. Obviously produced for a main stream audience and being forced to work around various cuts and commercial breaks, it is hard to produce a great match on tv. But against all odds, these to managed to get me extremely excited. For 10 episodes the title match between Sysum and Brown got teased and teased and when it finally came, it overdelivered. Towards the second half of the match Sysum exploded onto the scene. I have never seen a guy build like him work to fast and agile as he did there.This match put WOS on the map and i hope they come back next year, because that one was explosive.
Honorable Mentions: There are so many. Especially on ROH, WXW, WWE NXT, NXT UK, 205live and New Japan. 2018 was yet another great wrestling year. You just fall over the mountain of epic wrestling matches. Just not on WWE's Main Roster.
If you excuse me now, i have to watch atleast some of these again.
