–Brody King v Jungle Boy – This was a fun and solid David v. Goliath match, sort of if 1-2-3 Kid already had his X-Pac skillset going up against Razor. Crowd was way over for the Son of Luke Perry and his athleticism impressed. It’s not hard to see why there are rumors of AEW wanting him already. King was excellent too, finishing the Boy with a pair of devastating sit-down piledriver (the second one was more like a Tombstone/Crusher). Crowd was super into this. #KingOfTheJungle – 3.25/5
–Puma King v DJ Z – The fun continued. Both guys were way over, splitting the crowd in half. DJ Z is a master innovator and sometimes his “DJ” horn gimmick and slip-ups can cause him to be overlooked. Puma was a great opponent for him, terrific at reversals and pouncing around DJ’s flying. Lots of dives into the crowd. Super fun, and Puma finished off Z with a stretch muffler. – 3.5/5
–LAX v Laredo Kid & Rey Horus – Laredo replaced Flamita. It was off to a pretty rough start, as even the great LAX seemed confused out there. But once the high spots started kicking in the PWG faithful went nuts. Horus was the star here, at one time executing a picture perfect flying hurricarana onto the apron that flew Santana into Ortiz. Laredo followed with an amazing springboard moonsault. LAX got the better of the luchas once they got their shit together. This wound up good despite the early hiccups. To quote my friend Andrew, “a fun mess” if you will. – 3.25/5
–Robbie Eagles v Jonathan Gresham – There was some masterful wrestling here, as expected. Robbie matches technical wits with, in my not-so-humble opinion, the best ring technician not named Zack Sabre Jr. So much goodness here, including a wild Octopus Roll from “The Octopus” himself. This match had everything and even a somewhat anticlimactic finish — Eagles’ modified figure-four submission on Gresham — couldn’t ruin it. The finish makes sense if Robbie has more dates coming at PWG and they want to make him a killer. That said, I wished Eagles used more of his bad-ass Bullet Club persona here, and jumped Jonathan after the match.. but whatever. There aren’t really any angles at PWG. – 3.75/5
–PWG Tag Team Championship: The Rascalz (Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz) v Chuckie T & Trent Beretta – Two of the most popular tag teams in the business got it on and the fans, who’ve been huge supporters of the Rascalz here at The Globe in 2018, were all about the Best Friends. Chuckie wasn’t so much the whack-job he’s been in New Japan, but he and Trent def had some issues. Lots of comedy here, but it never seemed to ruin the goods. This one was almost Lucha rules, with fast tags and lots of action. Rascalz really weren’t at their most dynamic, working more solid than spectacular spots — which makes sense if you consider the much bigger size of the BF than the teams Xavier and Wentz have been working with (LAX, Bucks, Lucha Bros). But that “Hot Fire Flame” assisted moonsault over Chuckie on Beretta tho!! What an amazing finish. – 3.5/5
–Bandido v ACH – Despite Flip’s absence, this was arguably the hottest match on the entire show. Since Bandido is so over at PWG, the AAW stud decided, like, a minute into the match to turn heel and his performance as a baddie was nothing short of amazing. I’ve never seen ACH work heel before (I missed all his pre-2014 PWG stuff), and was completely blown away. There were moments in the match where the man from the Planet Vegeta toyed with Bandido and performed several classic and super hilarious WWE pin attempts, mocking Stone Cold, Undertaker and others in the process. There were a pair of huge payoffs here too, with Bandido “Stunning” ACH outta nowhere and ACH later hitting the classic Steve Austin pointed elbow drop. The new ROH signee would later hit his signature springboard german on ACH, who is expected to sign with NXT. – 3.5-3.75/5
–Pro Wrestling Guerrilla Championship: Jeff Cobb v Trevor Lee – Following Flip’s replacement ACH working heel, this one saw Trevor Lee — of all people! — working babyface. It was completely bizarre. And, of course, it didn’t last. It was somewhat of a brilliant angle for Lee to work going into his last match with the company, as the Carolina Caveman left everything out there on the mat last night. And I mean everything. With Cobb, the monster goodguy champ, Lee felt compelled to perform several babyface-esque highspots, tons of dives and moonsaults. He almost cracked his head on the wood floor following one of them. Even when Lee had an opportunity to go back to his usual, great heelish ways during a ref tie-up, he didn’t, and instead took out Justin the most hated ref in the business! You couldn’t do a more babyface thing than fuck Justin up.
We’re gonna miss this guy.
But once Superdragon sent another ref to assist the main event, Lee’s true colors arrived. Mind you, this was mostly a one-side affair with Lee taking all the heat from Cobb; part of the crowd tried to come together and support a main event that lacked the fire of the recent WALTER stuff. That’s impossible to follow, with Cobb the Joe Coffey to Lee’s Pete Dunne (see: UK Championship from about a week ago). But Lee’s performance and late “Big Show in-match heel turn” raised the stakes and the PWG faithful wound up with a terrific last 8-10 minutes. Following a well-timed Tour of the Islands after a scintillating few minutes of false finishes, Lee thanked everyone for their support and vowed to return and win BOLA and the PWG title once the WWE fires his ass. Not a great match by any means, but I’m rewarding the effort of PWG’s last great heel. – 3.5/5
Overall = 3.5/5 Bibles.
PWG’s first event since BOLA was strong and consistent. The Los Angeles independent wrestling hotbed is goin through a transition phase — as is the entire industry, really — seeing many of its main players head to WWE (NXT and NXT UK), AEW, and ROH (and who knows how long this relationship will last?). That said, you can always expect a hot, receptive crowd even if the night is a rare non sell-out, with lots of great in-ring work and fun all around. Guys can come and go, but that’s nothing new to Pro Wrestling Guerilla; just look at the current roster of NXT. It’ll be interesting to see where the company searches for talent next, but you can expect I’ll be there to cover all the goods regardless. Oh, and can we get the Calamari Catch Kings vs. The Rascalz at the next one?
I made a joke on social media that every match at Wrestle Kingdom 13 last night/this morning felt like a “Loser Leave Town [to AAE or WWE]” match. For many taking the fall last night, that joke will become reality. While we don’t yet know the details of what went on backstage at the Tokyo Dome between the respective execs at New Japan Pro Wrestling, Ring or Honor and All Elite Wrestling, one thing’s for certain: last night’s NJPW card certainly “Changed the World” of professional wrestling. We’ll see soon just how far. But for now, here is a brief overview at every match and their earned bible score.
Pre-Show: **#1 Contender – NEVER 6-MAN TITLE GAUNTLET MATCH**
*Ryusuke Taguchi, Toru Yano, & Togi Makabe vs. David Finlay, Jeff Cobb, & Yuji Nagata vs. Best Friends & Hirooki Goto vs. Killer Elite Squad & Minoru Suzuki vs. Marty Scurll, Adam Page, & Yujiro Takahashi*
Look, every year I give the New Japan Rumble a N/A due to its utter silliness and lack of any care for match quality. It’s a tradition — fun as they were — that was due to go away. At least we got an actual wrestling match here and it was fun, had a bit of story to it; the 6-Man Gauntlet was at least on part with a good WWE preshow match. Adam Page turning on Yujiro (and an interfering Chase Owens) were the highlights, while Taguchi’s reincarnated M.V.P. (Most Violent Players) 3-man unit will now face the Bullet Club and likely tonight at New Year’s Dash. 3/5 Bibles.
**NEVER OPENWEIGHT TITLE**
*Will Ospreay vs. Kota Ibushi*
As great as you’d imagine, starting the match with brisk reversals, dive and finisher teases. It only takes seconds to feel the instant chemistry. There were some mean counters, including an Ospreay kick to the face of a Golden Triangle-attempting Ibushi, but nothing seemed too out-of-the-ordinary dangerous here. They mostly worked safe, yet the defeated Kota still left with a concussion and was carried out by a stretcher! Kafabe or naw, you can blame Ospreay’s brutal lariat and spinning backfist that set up the Storm Breaker. My only issue with this absolute splendid spectrum was the questionable match placement; I would’ve had this title just before Okada/White and opened up with Ishimori and Kushida or Cody/Juice instead, seeing how the importance of it all now feels like an afterthought following the three great matches to end the night. 4.25/5
**IWGP JUNIOR HEAVYWEIGHT TAG TITLES**
*Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado vs. Roppongi 3K vs. BUSHI & Shingo Takagi*
They put the whole spotlight on Shingo Takagi and as a big fan of his recent work in All Japan and Pro Wresting Guerilla, I simply had no problem with it. You knew no matter how hard these guys worked (Sho was one in particular who shined) it’d come off like a nothing match in comparison to the opener. Thankfully, it was a swift decision without the usual Suzuki-Gun shenanigans and their lengthy, albeit tedious reign as Junior Tag champs is over. 3.25/5
**REVPRO BRITISH HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE**
*Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Tomohiro Ishii*
This was the best technical match on the show, between the guy who had the best first four months of 2018 (Sabre) and the guy who had the best middle four months of 2018 (Ishii). Zack is such an anomoly, a brilliant mat-based technical freak unseen in today’s professional wrestling. Only Jonathan Gresham comes to mind. While far shorter than their recent stuff, they still went to a titillating finish with Sabre putting Ishii away via guillotine-into-double-cobra-twist — or something like that. Funny, but besides the tag stuff, Ishii might be the only loser tonight who’s 100% staying with the company. 4.25/5
**IWGP TAG TEAM TITLES**
*Guerrillas of Destiny vs. The Young Bucks vs. EVIL & SANADA*
10-minutes of all action, akin to a solid tag match on SmackDown Live. Trust me, that’s not entirely a bad thing. But with some of these undercard matches getting watered down into triple threats and 10-minutes as opposed to the 18+ of Wrestle Kingdom past, it’s not hard to see why New Japan decided to make WK14 a 2-day affair for 2020. And your boy intends to go! Two things I liked about this particular match: G.O.D. coming out as babyfaces; sure, it’s the old Rick Martel or Alberto Del Rio trying to be friendly deal, but fun anyway, seeing the Tongans change up their style, even for one night. Two, it was the battle of the Magic Killers. Now imagine if Anderson and Gallows were in this instead of Matt and Nick? This could have been a stipulation. 3.5/5
**IWGP US TITLE**
*Cody vs. Juice Robinson*
According to the Modern Day Smark, Cody is everything wrong with professional wrestling and hardly ever has a good match–unless he has an opponent the caliber of an Ibushi or Omega to carry him. His “WWE” antics are unwanted and good riddance he’s leaving! Well, to this Smarky Mark (hey, it’s my middle name), Cody is everything right with professional wrestling– a wonderful balance of classic NWA/WCW/WWF and the modern day hipster-indie trappings of today’s wrestling. Sure, he’s far far far from the most talented guy out there and he’ll certainly be the first to tell you that. But what Cody does is put on a good show, he has a charisma and presence not too many guys have, and his beautiful wife/valet/manager actually makes a difference — something you just don’t see from manager types in wrestling anymore. Cody and Brandi are also great at getting heat. What I loved about this match was the whole Macho King and Queen Sherri feel against the Ultimate Babyface in Juice Robinson. Sadly, this match was only 8-minutes and Cody’s recent injury caused him from doing anymore in the ring than the stuff most of these NewGen Smarks hate. I’ll admit this was a far cry from the great Fighting Spirit Unleashed match back in September and not the best way for Cody to finish his New Japan career — one that finally saw Cody produce as much in the ring as much as out. 3/5
**IWGP JUNIOR HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE**
KUSHIDA vs. Taiji Ishimori
This was a well-wrestled match, but that’s not exactly what you expect from a Junior Heavyweight title match at Wrestle Kingdom. Seeing how this one lacked the heat of previous matches of its kind, it’s gonna be tough for this division moving forward; Hiromu’s on the shelf (hopefully not forever), Ricochet’s since moved on to NXT, Scurll’s a bigger focal point of Ring of Honor, and Ospreay’s now the NEVER champ, ready to battle the heavyweights. With KUSHIDA possibly going elsewhere (WWE.. AEW, hell, ROH?), expect this division to shift towards more brawling/technical aspects than high-flying, which really sucks out the reason to have the division in the first place, right? That said, Ishimori is a terrific athlete, a guy who provides as much compact power as speed. The two had some nice exchanges down the stretch, as Bloody Cross and Back II The Future reversals were squeezed by a devastating Death Valley Driver from one triumphant Bone Soldier. Very good match. 3.75/5
*Kazuchika Okada vs. Jay White*
Jay White needed a great match here, seeing how Okada is considered by many to be the best in the business. It happened. This was not the White from the G1 who relied on a series of ref bumps and horrible Firing Squad interference to get a one-up. No, Mr. Switchblade won it clean! You had a feeling they had to go all the way with this guy, and losing wouldn’t have hurt Okada as much as White. I joke about the Rainmaker now wanting to head to Vince City, but if Okada was offered the highest contract in WWE history, would you not go? You don’t think Regal and Hunter want this guy more than anyone? And anyone who says “well, look at Itami and Shinsuke”, you gotta understand that Okada is an entirely different animal. I mean, look at those trunks! They’re back! He has a presence bigger than a “rockstar” and Kenta Kobayashi has been given several chances in NXT and WWE and has just never connected with the fans as much as he did in NOAH and ROH. Shinsuke, on the other hand, has done pretty well for himself despite not exactly looking up to the level he was in New Japan. I think Okada is too good of a talent to not shine anywhere, if given the right situation. As for this match, it was great, easily Jay White’s best ever (although, if you remember, his US Title match with Juice from the Cow Palace was pretty awesome too), and Switchblade kept up with Okada, having the best finisher exchanges I’ve seen since Okada/Naito from one year ago. Bravo. 4.5/5
**IWGP INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE NO DQ**
*Tetsuya Naito vs. Chris Jericho*
You already know my feelings on Chris Jericho (my favorite all-time wrestler, now favorite podcaster, new rock singer, cruise ship host, and tag team partner?) and Todo O NadaNaito is in my current Top 5. But HO-LEE SHIT was this great. Seeing how their last scrap at Dominion was excellent, I knew this would be just or nearly as good. 4-Bible quality. But, man, this was a NO DQ Classic. In a switch of roles, Naito got the jump on Jericho, at one point even hitting Jericho with a piledriver on the entranceway, which followed a ton of kendo stick spots and a scary spiked DDT to Naito on a table. All this time off proved Jericho well, as he hit a high cross body, Lionsault and top rope-to-the-apron dropkick. Y2J, beer gut aside, didn’t look one bit 48 last night. Chris continued the punishment, trying to put away the L-I-J leader time and time again with the Walls of Jericho. Naito escapes with a Kendo and does his best Barry Bonds with a few hardcore whacks of his own. His stance was priceless. There were several great false finishes here to have you thinking “hey, Jericho might just pull this off!” before Naito hit a second Destino following a belt swipe to the skull. To me, this was on par with Jericho/Omega from Wrestle Kingdom 12. 4.75/5
**IWGP HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE**
*Kenny Omega vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi*
If you combined the movesets of Omega and Tanahashi in this match you’d get.. Finn Balor? That’s right, the guy so utterly underutilized by WWE in the past year was set as the inspiration for this contest. I’m kidding, of course, but you can see what type of greatness the ‘E has in their clutches, seeing Omega and Tanahashi hit a series of slaps, dragon screws, slingblades, and double foot stomps in this title match. But back to the matter-at-hand. This was an amazing main event, one so great even watching at 4 in the morning on 2-hour sleep from the night before and a failed pre-show nap had no affect on me. Omega was ultra aggressive, working tirelessly to put the old Ace away with everything he had: moonsaults, apron suplexes, kotaru crusher (face plant bulldog), Terminator con Hilo, snapdragon, V-Triggers (mind you, Omega doesn’t overuse it this time). Kenny even hit Tana with Tres Omego’s (three amigo powerbombs)!?!! Just before that, Tana attempted a high fly flow and “died” onto one of those ugly wooden tables. In a match of several great moments, including a Tanahashi Styles Clash(!!), Ace kicked out at ONE to Omega’s own high fly flow. Another was Tanahashi’s insane kickout of the first One Winged Angel into a RANA. He’d later kick out of another following an Omega super snap dragon. Thankfully, Tana fell on his face instead of his neck. It seems like everyone on the card worked really safe tonight. The Ace finally rounds out a wonderful past year with a second High Fly Flow to defeat Kenny. New champ, new era! 5.5/5
Overall = 4/5 Bibles
Another great Wrestle Kingdom! Even if you could predict all the outcomes (I only really thought Ishii had a chance among the losers), everything was good-to-great (hey, Cody/Juice would’ve been a fun TV main event for Raw, but yeah this isn’t Raw). Moving to two days at the Dome next year is an excellent choice, not only because yours truly intends to be there, but because now everything will have a chance to shine. Many of these 7-11 minute long undercard matches deserved better. They still came off as tasty appetizers for our three main courses, three classic/near classics to close the show. And it would have been four had Ospreay and Ibushi went on later. Kushida had a cool entrance and Omega got the big video game-inspired introduction he always dreamed of. Seems like “The Cleaner” character is gone forever. The Best Bout Machine came out as the One Winged Angel and had really intense black and neon green tights. It was a good look that could also be his grand farewell. Where will Omega land next? That seems to be the question overshadowing another tremendous Tokyo Dome event.
Calling all smarks across the globe: It’s the third annual Apostle Awards! To come up with the very Best of Everything in Pro Wrestling for 2017, we asked 11 members of the Ringside Apostle congregation to vote. And, damn did we have answers — answers that ranged from the highest mountaintop of World Wrestling Entertaiment (N-X-T!?!?!!!) to the epic tradition of the New Japan Pro Wrestling rising sun, right down to the fancy new downtown nightclub home of Pro Wrestling Guerilla (P-Dub-G!).
We hope you and yours had a #OneSweet Christmas Holiday.
***MATCH OF THE YEAR***
1. *TIE* Okada vs. Omega IV (NJPW Dominion) / Ciampa vs. Gargano (NXT TakeOver: New Orleans, Chicago II, Brooklyn 4)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15vFgX-_X_g
Destiny “Evangelical” Edwards @mochaloca85
2018 may have been a dumpster fire of a year in general, but it was an excellent year for wrestling. So much so that we had a tie for Match of the Year! No surprise that the fourth meeting between Kenny Omega and Kazuchika Okada made it — they don’t call Kenny the Best Bout Machine for nothing — and their match at Dominion was sheer perfection. And to cap it off, Kenny went home with the IWGP title? This Omega mark was so overcome with emotion she cried tears of joy and relief on the sofa afterward.
https://youtu.be/UhfA56vGnS0
(cont.) Our other MOTY winner was Tommaso Ciampa vs. Johnny Gargano. ALL OF THEM. Much like last year’s winner (Okada vs. Omega I-III), each match was superb, but together they told a story that couldn’t be beat. The rise of Tommy Sports Entertainment. The fall of Johnny Wrestling. The attack of Aleister Black. Gargano’s heel turn. And now the reunion of #DIY. It’s a Greek epic. It’s Steen and Generico. It’s the Shield, except we actually care.
-Destiny Edwards
3. North American Championship Six-Man Ladder Match (NXT TakeOver: New Orleans)
Honorable Mentions: Super Elite Bros vs. Impact Wrestling 10-Man Tag Match (Chris Jericho Rock ‘n Wrestling Rager At Sea), Kota Ibushi vs. Cody vs. Kenny Omega (NJPW Kings of Pro Wrestling), Kenny Omega vs. Tomohiro Ishii (G1 Climax 28), Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kota Ibushi (G1 Climax 28).
***BRAND OF THE YEAR***
1. NXT
Moody el 0 Miedo @TravMoody
I wanted to write this one so badly, seeing how I’ve been one to sing the praises of New Japan as the “Be All, End All” in professional wrestling. NXT had such a grand 2018 that it’s hard to fathom that this is, indeed, a WWE product. It’s like fucking night and day from the main roster. Led by Paul “Hunter” Levesque and William Regal, NXT is essentially, literally and figuratively “PWG with WWE’s budget”. The amount of wrestlers signed by WWE’s “performance center” that I’ve grown to love and adore at a 350-seat armory in a little town 20 miles north of Los Angeles is astounding. Thankfully, NXT hasn’t ruined too many of them yet, with Matt Riddle, Keith Lee, Adam Cole and Ricochet leading the charge, holding on to much (if not all) of the persona that got them over in the first place. Moreover, you could also argue that any of NXT’s TakeOver shows belong in the conversation for the best wrestling events of 2018. TV was bolstered with a surplus of ROH/indie/IMPACT pick-ups (Punishment Martinez, Velveteen Dream, EC3), an outstanding and ever-improving tag team division (War Raiders, Street Profits, Heavy Machinary), and the best female wrestling roster on American soil (Kairi Sain, Shayna Baszler, Bianca Belair). I can’t say enough about NXT and with its plethora of talent ready to blow for 2019 (Dijakovic, ACH and Trevor Lee?), it appears the rich only about to get richer.
-Travis Moody
Honorable Mention: PWG.
***PPV/EVENT OF THE YEAR***
1. All In
“Monsignor” Travis Moody @TravMoody
All In was a very hard thing to judge, a pro wrestling event that focused more on giving the fans what they wanted than G1/BOLA-level match quality. But fans got that too; every match delivered, and delivered in many different ways. Variety was a key to success, so even if you thought the Cody/Magnus match was boring, you had your Dominion main event-style match later with Okada/Scurll. If the old WWF shenanigans of the Battle Royal/ROH title match weren’t for you, you had the insane Lucha-style efforts of Omega/Penta and the 6-man tag main event. Even a guy who dresses up on TV as a DC Comics superhero had a good match. The Chicago crowd was amazing, the selection of refs and ring announcers were outstanding, and the commentary on the iPPV was top-notch. All In was such a success that The Elite — Cody, Matt and Nick Jackson, Adam Page and Kenny Omega — have decided to “Change the World” in 2019 and superkick-start their own wrestling promotion, All Elite Wrestling. And to think they didn’t even need CM fuckin’ Punk…
-Travis Moody
2. NXT TakeOver: War Games 3. *TIE* NXT TakeOver: Chicago II / NXT TakeOver: New Orleans
Honorable Mentions: WWE Evolution.
***MOST IMPROVED WRESTLER OF THE YEAR*** (new category)
1. Hangman Page
“The Dean” Gene Selassie @GeneSelassie
Is there anyone on Earth who would object to most improved wrestler being Hangman Adam Page? Rounded by his hotly contested TV title match at Final Battle against Jeff Cobb, dude hasn’t put on a bad match in ages; and while his work in this year’s G1 Climax was rock-solid, it was matches against Joey Janella (All In) and Kota Ibushi (Supercard of Honor XII) that helped elevate his status in the industry. To boot (pun most clearly intended), Page has been entertaining in promos and on Being the Elite. Even in the an AEW full of “Elite” wrestling pals, there’s no way Page won’t be a world champ sooner than later.
-Gene Selassie
2. Shayna Baszler 3. Roppongi 3K
***MANAGER OF THE YEAR***
1. Lio Rush
“Reverend” Craig Chisolm
“LASH-LEY! LASH-LEY! LASH-LEY!” The people took notice to Lio Rush when he first hopped onto the indie scene (he straight killed it in CZW, did his thing in PWG), and when he got “called up,” we continued to look on, nervous as to what MeekMahan would do with him. And, even with a minus-205 lb. division — what did Vince do? Made him a damn manager. But, Lio is doing quite fine in this position, and I think the people are just happy to see him getting air time. But still, he’s got a certain IT factor to his swagger that hasn’t gone unnoticed. At least not by us marks.
-Craig Chisolm
2. Brandi Rhodes
Honorable Mentions: Zelina Vega, Gedo, Eddie Kingston.
***COMMENTATOR OF THE YEAR***
1. Mauro Ranallo (NXT, Showtime Boxing)
Felipe “The 3rd Deacon” Crespo @F7ovrdrv
I hate this rambling idiot. Enough of the congregation voted for Mauro, but I’m the one to write this category– so here we are. I told the Apostles I wasn’t going to praise him. Anyway, I guess in 2018 he continued to hone his craft of sounding like an overexcited stroke patient trying to be a poor man’s Jim Ross. He also has a great knack at trying to use pop culture references to try to seem cool… Ugh, what else? Oh, and he’d be rich if yelling “MAMMA MIA!” during big matches payed $10,000 per instance. Thank you, Ciampa for the best moment of 2018: You throwing his notes in his face at TakeOver. I love you. Hopefully he doesn’t cry about you bullying too.
-Felipe Crespo
2. Kevin Kelly (NJPW, RevPro) 3. Renee Young (WWE Raw)
***CRUISERWEIGHT/JR. HVYWT OF THE YEAR***
1. Buddy Murphy
Destiny “Evangelical” Edwards @mochaloca85
After Blissy went to the main roster, we’d seen neither hide nor hair of Buddy Murphy. (Unless you watch Total Divas. Or follow their pet pig on Instagram.) So imagine our collective shock when the guy who had exactly one televised match last year, showed up as part of the tournament to crown a new a cruiserweight champ after the title was vacated by that dumbass who got himself fired and then banned. Murphy didn’t win, but he quickly established himself as the new breakout star on 205 Live. After an unsuccessful attempt against Cedric Alexander, he captured the Prince Memorial Championship in his hometown of Melbourne and hasn’t looked back since.
He’s always been a wolf in sheep’s clothing. I, like many others were just waiting for Ciampa to show his true colors. His teaming with Gargano was a timebomb waiting to explode. Now that Ciampa has his prize, for the latter half of 2018 he has his darkness deeply wrapped around that belt. He’s not wrestling for the fans. He’s not there for the accolades. He’s there for himself and himself only (hell, Tommaso’s not even in WWE 2K19 and he’s the damn champion!) From walking out for weeks with no ring music because the fans don’t deserve it, to manipulating opponents into major matches just days before they have to challenge him for his prize — there are many heels in pro wrestling — but there is only one Tomasso Ciampa: “The Greatest Sports Entertainer of All Time”.
-Sean Farrell
Honorable Mentions: Shayna Baszler, Daniel Bryan, Trevor Lee, Jay White, Chris Jericho.
***FACTION OF THE YEAR***
1. Undisputed Era
Anthony “PriestMode” Holloway IG @Grumpykore
The Undisputed Era faction has taken NXT by storm. The emergence of the “Messiah of the Backbreaker” Roderick Strong as the fourth member has made the team more powerful and diverse as ever. As if the star-studded cast with leader and initial North American champ Adam Cole and his relentless cronies Kyle O’Reilly (one of the best technical brawlers in the game) and Bobby Fish (on the shelf for most of the year but has made an immediate impact in multi-person matches and a solo outting with EC3) weren’t dangerous already. The chemistry between former ROH/PWG vets is *****-worthy each and every week. While this Era is the present (and perhaps future) of NXT, it would have been great to see the Raw roster shaken up with their invasion. Ah well. That said, there hasn’t been a faction this dominant in the WWE since The Shield’s original run, bay bay!
-Anthony Holloway
2. The Elite
***WOMAN WRESTLER OF THE YEAR***
1. Becky Lynch
“The Demon” Tony Valenti @Asseenontonyv
The woman of the year is most certainly The Man. After years of marks screaming about how underutilized Becky has been, they finally got a glimpse of what the Irish Lasskicker is capable of. She spent the first half of 2018 as just another woman on the roster but at SummerSlam she turned on her best friend and never looked back. She became an antihero that hasn’t been seen in the PG era of sports entertainment with a social media game second to none. But when Nia Jax botched her nose with an ill-advised stiffy, Becky became the hottest thing in wrestling with blood gushing from her face. A blood-soaked and concussed Lynch didn’t skip a beat, whooped Raw woman’s champ Ronda Rousey and left through the crowd covered in blood, arms outstretched, much to the delight of everyone in attendance. 2019 should continue Becky’s meteoric rise to the top and the rumor of her main eventing WrestleMania is not at all far-fetched.
-Tony Valenti
***TAG TEAM OF THE YEAR***
1. *TIE* The Shawn & Sean Show / The Rascalz
Of course the Ringside Apostles’ Sean & Shawn Show was voted Best TT of 2018. Did you expect otherwise? Somehow, those pesky wittle Rascalz were able to tie us for votes. A great year on the Indy circuit (AAW, PWG) and an Impact contract to end the year makes them the team to watch in a sea of great tag teams right now, I guess. That alley-oop finisher though…
-Shawn Puff
Honorable Mentions: Mustache Mountain, The Young Bucks, War Raiders, Ringkampf, Lucha Bros., Undisputed Era, Golden Lovers.
***COMEBACK/HEEL TURN OF THE YEAR***
1. Daniel Bryan
Felipe “The 3rd Deacon” Crespo @F7ovrdrv
I don’t know what was going nowhere quicker: Bryan‘s “fight for your dreams and blah blah” catchphrase, or his “nerd trying to intimidate” one of “I want to punch you in the face”. Thankfully, he took a training camp at Nakamura’s Nut-kicking Heel Turn Dojo (it was refreshing for Bryan, but not anything we haven’t seen before.. this year). Since Naka’ing AJ’s balls for the 40th time this year and grabbing the title, Bryan has been a vicious and entertaining champ, showing no mercy and introducing new moves (love the double wrist hold face stomp). On the mic, he’s gotten annoyingly preachy, infusing his real life beliefs into his on-screen persona (a-la CM Punk’s straight edge savior). The “New Daniel Bryan” thing is lame; we don’t do that when people turn heel and it’s fucking stupid. Second, I feel it’s a huge misstep to not incorporate The Miz into Bryan’s behavioral change considering that not even a month before they were fueding over Daniel’s “you don’t have to cheat to win” and Miz’s “you have to do anything it takes”. They could’ve done something great with Miz coming out and starting with “Thanks for proving me right, Daniel…”
Honorable Mentions: Becky (Comeback), Johnny Gargano (Heel Turn).
***GIMMICK OF THE YEAR***
1. Velveteen Dream
“The Demon” Tony Valenti @Asseenontonyv
Velveteen Dream started the year as a midcard heel but is ending it as the top face of the brand, and he didn’t have to change his character or attitude to accomplish that. All he did was steal the show week after week with solid skills and off-the-charts storytelling. The Dream went from defeating Kassius Ohno on the undercard of TakeOver: Philadelphia in January to stealing the show in the classic North American Championship Ladder Match at TakeOver: New Orleans (ultimately won by Adam Cole) to having one of my favorite feuds of the year with Ricochet (which included a MOTN at TakeOver: Chicago II) to finishing 2018 with a great match for Ciampa’s title at TakeOver: War Games. As we enter 2019 he is the most over person on the NXT roster and it’s only a matter of time before he gets to showing off “the experience” to the mainstream.
-Tony Valenti
Honorable Mentions: Daniel Bryan (“Fickle!”), Becky (“The Man”).
***JOBBER OF THE YEAR***
1. Finn Balor
“Pastor” Shawn Puff @ShawnPuffy
Hey Finn! You’re finally over!! Someone in the back loathes Finn Failure as much as I do and decided to make this guy nothing more than a glorified spot monkey that just doesn’t win. I’d like to shake that man’s hand, whoever he is. Balor Club is for Everyone because winning isn’t. Loser. At least the former most vicious heel ever (Prince Devitt) can say he won something this year.
It was almost a no-brainer that Bandido wins our breakout star of the year. He was an instant success when he suddenly popped up at the new homebase for Pro Wrestling Guerilla (downtown LA’s Globe Theater). By the end of his first match, a team-up with Mexiblood partner Flamita against The Rascalz at Time Is A Flat Circle, the crowd had completely lost its mind with the innovative luchador. Bandido would go on to shine at PWG’s All-Star Weekend the following month in matches against Ishimori and Rey Horus (a match that gave his top rope fallaway slam instant legendary status). Bandido would go on to compete in several must-see tag and 6-man tag matches for PROGRESS, WrestleCon, RevPro, AAW and, hell, was even in the main event of All In. Bandido was everywhere. Enter Battle of Los Angeles 2018 just a few months later, and the PWG faithful reacted as if he were a returning legend. He’d go on to have 5 matches in 3 nights, highlighted by a heartbreaker of a BOLA finale against Jeff Cobb and Shingo Takagi. This guy deserves max respect, and I’m anxious to see how this worldwide sensation fairs in Ring of Honor in 2019.
The best rivalry in the entire industry has to be Ciampa/Gargano. The matches, the promos, the heat.. this storyline has been aces. With a series of classic Unsanctioned, Chicago Street Fight and Last Man Standing matches, never has the chant “Fight Forever” been more apropos. Rounding on this year-long storyline was a reunion of sorts for #DIY at the tail-end of Gargano’s grueling catch match with Aleister Black on last week’s NXT TV. Without hesitation, Johnny Wrestling accepted his former best friend’s calling. 2019 could be a mega-year for #DIY as a heel team, and who knows — maybe these former brothers-in-arms can obtain the Tag Titles again in addition to both solo straps? Would make for one hell of a story, that’s for sure.
-Gene Selassie
2. Ricochet vs. Velveteen Dream
Honorable Mentions: Alpha vs. Omega, Okada vs. Omega.
***DEBUT OF THE YEAR***
1. Ronda Rousey
Anthony “PriestMode” Holloway IG @Grumpykore
Every so often there is a debut that us a wrestling fans dream off: to make it in the WWE and the stay on top. As a champion in the Octagon as Ronda was, we always had a feeling she would eventually end up in the squared circle. And it’s worked due to her impeccable athletic talents and the gift of being a plain ol’ badass. With a booming in-ring presence and steady improvement — both in the ring and on the mic — Rousey has been able to carry the (in)arguably weaker of the two WWE Women’s divisions on her back. She’s been so good, her work has even inspired “The Man” to drop the SD title in search of bigger and better things, as we’ll soon see at the Royal Rumble. It has been fun watching the “Rowdy” one grow as the WWE Superstar; here’s to her keeping it up.
-Anthony Holloway
2. Ricochet
Honorable Mentions: Matt Riddle.
***OVER– USED MOVE OF THE YEAR***
1. Codebreaker
“Father” Sean Farrell @IAMSCF
Far removed from Noah’s Naomichi Marufiji, or Sugar Shane Helms’s double knee finisher or even Chris Jericho’s famed Y2J finisher — what was once a visual treat and a deadly move has been overused so much it’s almost a weak front grapple preset for generic wrestling set #1. One episode of IMPACT Wrestling (a now much better product than a year ago, mind you) or SmackDown Live and a surplus of all-too inspired lucha/spot-monkey doin’ these stomach kneebusters will surely urge you to start the new wrestling drinking game (#CodebreakCity). Thankfully we didn’t have to suffer though Codebreaker Parties.. yet.
I’ve always been fond of Will Ospreay as a super athlete who could do things in the ring that no one (but arguably Ricochet) can do. But it’s been a joy to watch the growth of Ospreay as this high-spot driven super junior attraction into a full-fledged heavyweight marquee talent. Submissions, selling, and psychology: who knew Ospreay had it in him? Hell, he even got a 4+ match out of fucking Taichi. Os’ tremendous year-long growth initially had us more concerned for his health than match quality; the Aussie took too many stupid/dangerous bumps no one ever should, nearly cracking his skull during a Spanish Fly spot on the apron in a classic with Marty Scurll at Dontaku. He miraculously recovered (we think) and Ospreay had the greatest WrestleMania Weekend long performance of all time, with 5 of his 7(!!!) matches earning a 4-Bible score or higher.
(cont.) While things got a touch quieter following his 5-2 record at Best of the Super Juniors in June (where he was just ousted by Hiromu — who Ospreay had legendary matches with this year at New Beginning (Osaka) and Dominion, and Ishimori — who he saw on first day of BotSJ), that was all part of the plan. Evident by his match with fellow CHAOS pal Okada at the 46th Anniversary, Ospreay used his brief downtime (a.k.a. touring Britain’s indies and having bangers with everyone from Jordan Devlin to Jimmy Havoc to Chris Ridgeway to WALTER) to get ready for the heavies. Tall for a “junior” heavyweight, Ospreay was also disciplined enough to put the pounds necessary to compete with the Omega’s and Ibushi’s of the world. Our 2018 Wrestler of the Year finished 2018 just like that, teaming up with Hiroshi Tanahashi to have a 5-star classic againt the Golden Lovers just months after an incredible team-up with Ishii against the same team. For 2019, sky’s the limit for the Aerial Assassin.
-Travis Moody
2. Pete Dunne
Honorable Mentions: Kota Ibushi, Bandido, AJ Styles, Rey Fenix, Ricochet, Shinsuke Nakamura.
–Tag Team Match: Rinkampf (WALTER & Timothy Thatcher) vs. Ilja Dragunov & Shingo Takagi
STAGE TWO – September 15
VS.
VS.
VS.
VS.
VS.
VS.
–Six-Person Tag Team Match: Bandido, Flamita & Rey Horus vs CIMA, Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz
FINAL STAGE – September 16
Night 3 will feature additional non-tournament matches, plus the Quarter-Final, Semi-Final, and Final Rounds of the 2018 Battle of Los Angeles tournament.
–PWG Tag Team Championship: The Rascalz (Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz) vs The Lucha Brothers (Pentagon Jr. & Fenix)
“PASTOR” Shawn Puff: Wow!! This is the first Sean & Shawn Show of the year. Where have we been? We’re like the Alberto Patrons of the Apostles. It’s time for Redemption, perro!!
“FATHER” Sean Farrell: Lucha ! Lucha ! Lunch ——- oh wait. Man we’re as serious as a late peri—- Nah. Not going to stoop to quoting Konnan. At least HE shows up to work. I won’t mention that this show costs $40 on PPV. What is this, 1998 ? Ain’t nobody gonna pay $40 for ONE show who’s main event is a rematch of a show ya just saw for FREE two weeks ago….
Aerostar v Drago
Shawn: Ok. I’m a fan of the direction Impact is going, but this agreement with all these other promotions gets me confused. … Guess I’m gonna need to get caught up with Lucha Underground. So this Drago guy… he’s like a real dragon? … that became a man? And Aerostar is a luchador… from space? … who can fly??? … Ok. I know it’s 4/20, but really?? … Ehhh, at least it’s not Mae Young giving birth to a hand. This will be a great match though, all kidding aside. Possibly the best on an Impact card this year. I guess I’ll go with Drago on this one? Dragons can’t be defeated right, Sean?
Sean: Aerostar and Drago do work against each other all over the world, including the temple in Lucha Underground. Yes Drago is a dragon who actually turned INTO a dragon on screen once (I think Season 1 of LU) while Aerostar uh, it’s a cool Lucha mask ? This will be a spotspotspotspotfest type of contest. It won’t be boring that’s for sure. I’ll say Aerostar wins just because you picked Drago.
Taiji Ishimori v Dezmond Xavier v El Hijo del Fantasma v Brian Cage v DJZ v Trevor Lee
Shawn: NICE! It’s a match with all the guys that do flippy stuff … and Brian Cage. I can’t stand Trevor Lee. They should give him a caveman gimmick and bury him. It’s good to see DJZ back, I guess. He should fill the role of “spot-monkey” rather well. Desmond Xavier is just boring to me. There is nothing to make me care about him or that makes him stand out. Maybe I’m just like Booker T and don’t want to give any love to other black wrestlers. It’s an “Alpha Black” complex. Taiji is a former X-Division Champion. Seeing as he recently left Pro Wrestling NOAH, I expect to see big things from him soon and I also expect some big spots from him in this one. King Cuerto, I mean El Hijo De Fantasma … ehhh, who cares. Is there any question Brian Cage is walking out of here with the win?
Sean: My man Brian Cage isn’t just a man …. he’s a machine ! This is going to be a car crash of styles where the only one who’s going to be left standing is Cage. The dude is money all day long. Expect a good showing from Dezmond and Taiji too. I never warmed up to DJZ. El Hijo works as King Cureno in LU, the mighty hunter – he’s a mechanic for sure. He’ll be the glue but he won’t walk out the winner.
Impact Knockout Championship Allie (C) v Su Yung
Shawn: The Undead Bride challenges Allie for the Knockouts Championship. Allie is the most ANNOYING female wrestler on my television. Su Yung did a good job at making Rich Swann go away. Hopefully she makes Allie go away too. Unfortunately, I don’t see any point in her dropping the title here so I expect to have to here more from Allie with that damn belt in the coming weeks.
Sean: Allie works all over but her in-ring work during her Impact run has been limited and un-good. I’m still holding a grudge towards Su Yung for being instrumental in Swann losing his “charm”. Come on Allie – show Su Yung the exit – then boot her ass out the door. Can you handle that ?
House of Hardcore Match Moose, Eddie Edwards & Tommy Dreamer v OVE (Dave & Jake Crist & Sami Callahan)
Shawn: I’m not quite sure what a House of Hardcore match is, but I’m thinking it’s very similar to what you’d see in ECW Arena 25-years ago and also a total shameless plug for Dreamer’s own federation, House Of Hardcore, which airs on Twitch. Impact is loving the heat Sami got from the baseball bat incident with Eddie Edwards, even though it was an accident so expect to see a lot of Ohio Versus Everything on your TV screens in the coming future. This could be the feel good moment of the night with old man Tommy Dreamer and two of the faces of the company going over on the bad guys in a specialty match, but I think that’s going to be reserved for Allie retaining. Therefore, the boys from Ohio are going to ride that wave of heat and beat these three from pillar to post and walk out victorious.
Sean: Thumbs Up ? Thumbs Down ! Ya, don’t mess with 2018’s version of Terry Funk. Dreamer is the man who never says die. This match will be filled with plunder and mayhem with the Hardy Boyz-Wanna Bes and NXT washout (who might as well be playing for my Yankees with his bat swinging abilities) get beat down by Moose, the human target Eddie and Dreamer. HOH shameless plug ? It’s a fun production and Dreamer deserves your attention.
Impact Tag Team Championship Latin American Exchange (C) v Eli Drake & Scott Steiner
Shawn: This one is kind of strange to me… E. Li. Drake. Has BOTH briefcases and he chooses to cash in for the tag titles when he really wants the world title?? And he chooses The Big Bad Booty Daddy as his partner?? That guy is a maniac!! This one could get interesting considering the disparaging remarks Steiner made about Mexicans in a recent shoot interview. I don’t know what they’re doing with this one. I’m gonna go out on a limb and say Drake and Steiner win because why not? What else are they gonna do?
Sean: Look, I’m a Steiner-apologist. But uh, what in the hell is he doing ? Was he “working” or “shooting” ? Can we even tell anymore ? Scotty has joined the “keep your shirt on in the pool club and that’s just kinda sad. But at least wrestling’s second worst tattoo will be covered up. Eli Drake is the true odd duck in this match. Guy works super hard, is a great promo and will do better in greener pastures. LAX ? These guys rarely disappoint when they’re inside the ring. They’ll be making real money sooner rather than later. Ditch Konnan and your stock will go up even faster. LAX for the Win. Why ? Because Steiner is a maniac who can’t be trusted. Holler if ya hear me !
Impact X-Division Championship Matt Sydal (C) v Petey Williams
Shawn: WHOOPIE!!! Matt Sydal versus Petey Williams. Just the match I’ve been waiting for. No, but seriously, I hate Matt Sydal. Which might be messed up to say on 4/20. Especially since his spiritual guru, Josh Matthews is also my weed guy. Oh well. Whatever. Please great spirits, let Petey Williams give Evan Bourne a Canadian Destroyer and take that title off of him in a total squash. Namaste.
Sean: Matthews better take more Canadian Destroyers than you’d see at a typical Indy show. Sydal is a talented worker who has half the charm as X-Pac. Just not someone I want on my television. These two have a looong history together. Sydal was the first guy to get pinned by the CD when Petey invented and perfected the move back in the early 2000’s. Here’s hoping history repeats itself.
Impact World Championship Pentagon Jr v Austin Aries (C) v Rey Fenix
Shawn: How did this happen again? Oh yeah, Alberto El Slapnuts pulled a no show at WrestleCon, got himself fired and they panicked. Makes perfect sense to put the world title on the line against two guys from a completely different promotion for no real good reason, other than they had a great three-way in NOLA. Wouldn’t it have made more sense for E. Li. Drake. To come out and cash-in his briefcase for his world title shot since Patron got fired? Dummy!! Yeah!! Maybe they’ve just got some good writers back their finally and they’re going to steal a page from the WWE’s book. The Greatest Man To Ever Live wins a grueling match to retain his title only to have The Namer of Dummies come out and cash-in his briefcase on the spot and walk out of Redemption your NEW Impact Tag Team AND World Champion, E. Li. Drake!!
Sean: Not going to miss Alberto. These three worked hard on Mania weekend in one of the best matches that didn’t take place at TakeOver. Pentagon Jr is my dude ! But I love me some A Double too. Fenix is a bit more miss than hit with me. I do like your idea of Eli cashing in and winning. Makes Impact-Sense to me. Book it Shawn-O ! Now excuse me, I have other things to attend to ! Lucha ! Lucha ! Lunch ! Lunch ! Lunch – Ahhhh !!!!
