The Best Wrestlers Of 2018: 18-11 and Honorable Mentions
2018 will go down as one of the greatest years in professional wrestling history. Companies and performers around the world were reaching peaks that would have been hard to imagine even a year ago; redemption, rebirth, history, heartbreak and betrayal ran their course from beginning to end in the wrestling world this year, with exciting changes and a potential new company rising from the foundation created by this unbelievable spin around the sun. None of it would be possible without these influential performers and the impact they’ve left behind. Here’s our list of the top 18 wrestlers of 2018 based on match performance, storylines, win/loss records and overall influence throughout the year.
Honorable Mentions
2018 was one of the most historic years in modern wrestling history, with so many performers who would have been locks for a top 10 spot being shut out this year because of it. Even then, we can’t talk about 2018 without mentioning wrestlers like The Lucha Brothers (Rey Fenix and Pentagon Jr), who continued to travel the world and win championships across multiple promotions both together and individually. Jeff Cobb making multiple appearances for NJPW, winning the ROH TV Title, the PWG Battle for Los Angeles and wrapping up his arc as Matanza for Lucha Underground was also notable, while Chris Jericho had yet another career resurgence after having an early match of the year candidate with Kenny Omega before winning the IWGP Intercontinental Title and hosting his own wrestling cruise. Despite a rough year overall, Tetsuya Naito can’t be forgotten either after headlining Wrestle Kingdom 12 and having an incredible G1. Utami Hayashishita had one of the best rookie years ever in Stardom, performing at a standard years beyond her experience level. Seth Rollins carried WWE on the wrestling side of things before being thrown back into The SHIELD, and Roman Reigns finally conquered The Beast after literally years of trying. Finally, the most difficult exclusion on this list was Johnny Gargano, who put on match of the year candidates in NXT from beginning to end. However, he was hit with the one-two punch of constantly losing, then turning heel, only to continue to lose big matches. Unfortunately, great matches alone aren’t enough in a year like this.
With that said, we can’t talk forever. Well, we could, but we only have so much time! Here are the stars that made the cut:
18. PCO
No matter how long one has been following wrestling, no one could have predicted how much we’d all be talking about Pierre Carl Ouellet. When you hear about how someone has run roughshod through the indies to the point where they close out the year with a big Sinclair backed contract with ROH, the first thing that would come to mind is a hot, young star. Yet, after a brutal showing against WALTER at Joey Janela’s Spring Break 2, the former Quebecer, who was arguably most prominent in 1994 WWF, has remained in high demand around the world. Now as a member of Marty Skurll’s new post Bullet Club stable, we’re eager to see where the year’s second best comeback story goes through 2019.
17. LA Park
Known to most US fans as “The Chairman” back in WCW, the former La Parka had a similar career resurgence through 2018 as PCO. The difference is that LA Park never really stopped working. First impressions (and a couple dozen pounds) might lead you to think that Park is over the hill and reaching for one last shot at glory, not arguably the biggest star in Mexico right now. At age 53, the 36 year veteran is having the biggest run of his career, thanks largely to a high profile hair vs. mask feud with current Los Ingobernables leader, RUSH. Despite that match getting cancelled due to some muddied politics, it hasn’t stopped LA Park’s rise through the Mexican wrestling scene and beyond, having recently appeared for Impact and MLW. If the RUSH feud would have materialized, the luchador may have made the top 10, but the limited scope of his run hurts him.
16. The Young Bucks
Like Cody, The Young Bucks WERE All In. When they weren’t wrestling in high profile matches against the Golden Lovers, the Gorillas of Destiny or EVIL and Sanada, often for the IWGP Heavyweight Titles after jumping over from the Junior division, they were masterminding what would become the biggest American non-WWE show in decades. Unfortunately for Matt and Nick however, they were often on the losing end of their bouts. Between that, the botched Bullet Club Civil War storyline and missing out on the World Tag League tournament, their contributions to All In weren’t enough to be higher on the list.
15. Tomohiro Ishii
As far as I’m concerned, Ishii has been one of the best wrestlers in the world for years. If one ever needed any proof of that, all you need to do is look at his 2018. Considered by many to be the MVP of the G1 based on match performance, the Stone Pitbull proved to be an incredibly versatile wrestler, putting on dynamic matches with Kenny Omega, epic brawls with Minoru Suzuki and even comedy matches with Toru Yano in a short span of time. Holding a rare win over Kenny Omega this year, the current Revolution Pro Wrestling British Heavyweight Champion is poised to ride his momentum into 2019 in a potential show stealing match at Wrestle Kingdom 13 against the next entry on this list.
14. Zack Sabre Jr.
Just! Tap! Out!
Considering how great of a year ZSJ had this year, him being out of the top 10 really shows how legendary this year was thorough the wrestling world. The protege of Minoru Suzuki has carved his own niche as someone who can believably beat NJPW’s top stars, moving him up significantly throughout 2018. The New Japan Cup tournament saw him running through the best the company has to offer, defeating Tetsuya Naito, Kota Ibushi and Hiroshi Tanahashi before putting up a strong showing against the nearly unbeatable Kazuchika Okada. After closing out the year with some fun, yet uneventful matches against his own Suzuki Gun teammates during the 2018 World Tag League tournament, the submission master is looking to get back to his winning ways against Ishii for the Rev Pro title.
13. Kota Ibushi
Ibushi’s year was one of ups and downs. Almost always hovering near the NJPW main event scene in one way or another, the Golden Star started off his year against Cody before getting sucked into the implosion of The Elite. Reuniting with his DDT soulmate, Kenny Omega, Ibushi’s guidance led to Kenny finally defeating Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. Not one to solely play the supporting role, Ibushi was one of the best performers when it came to match quality all year, having classic matches against Naito, Ishii, and Omega himself, defeating the other half of the Golden Lovers in the G1. However, it was his unforgettable match against Hiroshi Tanahashi in the G1 finals that served as Ibushi’s highlight this year, even if he lost. Now, Kota is the NEVER Openweight Champion and on a collision course against Will Ospreay, but the looming doubt of whether or not Kenny’s partnership is holding him back leaves us intrigued on where he goes from here.
12. Asuka
The fact that Asuka had two historic firsts and is only number 12 on the list says so much about how WWE booked her from Wrestlemania to TLC. Starting off the year as the undefeated juggernaut who struck fear into her opponents, The Empress of Tomorrow went from winning the first ever women’s Royal Rumble, (an accomplishment that was quickly overshadowed by the arrival of Ronda Rousey), to tapping out in short fashion in a good, but quick match at Wrestlemania against Charlotte. After declaring that her opponent “was ready for Asuka”, it was all downhill from there, being directionless for months except for two embarrassing title match losses in a row to Carmella. Despite this, her popularity remained high, leading to her finally winning the Smackdown Women’s Championship in the first ever women’s TLC match, (while ironically being overshadowed by Rousey once again). Despite the best efforts of WWE’s writing, Asuka managed to remain a force throughout with two massive wins to bookend her year.
11. Hiromu Takahashi
As what might be the biggest tragedy of the year, Hiromu’s run was cut short in July when Los Ingobernables de Japon’s Ticking Time Bomb broke his neck in a match against Dragon Lee at NJPW’s San Francisco show. Up until that point though, Takahashi had a strong case for one of the best wrestlers in the world with an incredible run to match. After being one of the best parts in the highlight reel of a four way match from Wrestle Kingdom 12, Hiromu won both the Best of Super Jr’s tournament in one of the most insane matches I’ve ever seen against Taiji Ishimori and the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship soon after. If his year wasn’t cut short, I have no doubt that Hiromu would have been a top five wrestler this year, but for now, all we can do is hope for a speedy recovery for one of the most gifted young stars in the world today. Oh, and we can buy his hand drawn calendar too.
That’s it for the beginning of our Best Wrestlers of 2018 list! Click here to crack the top 10!
