wrestling / Columns

Csonka’s Top 10 Matches of 2018 (So Far)

July 4, 2018 | Posted by Larry Csonka
Matches Andrade Cien Almas Andrade Almas Johnny Gargano NXT Takeover: Philadelphia Image Credit: WWE

WELCOME back, back to the column that makes lists and hopes that you enjoy them. This week’s column will look back the first six-months of 2017 and will share my top 10 matches of 2018 so far. In order for a match to make the list, it had to have taken place sometime between January 1 and June 30 of 2018, and had to rate on my list at ****¾. I am trying to create a best of playlist here with the idea behind it being for the person who has watched no wrestling in 2018 and are looking for the best things they missed. One thing that I have realized over the past few years as I have constantly upped the quantity of wrestling that I have been watching from all over the world, is that since 2014 or so, things have constantly been getting better and better. In terms of in ring quality, we’re really in a golden age with some spectacular performers putting on bigger, better, and more amazing matches and it’s an absolute joy to cover. Remember, this is just one man’s opinion; I hope that you enjoy, and feel free to share your thoughts and or list. It’s wrestling, we love it and will disagree. The only rules are “have a take, be respectful of other’s opinions and don’t be a dick.”

JUST MISSING THE CUT

HMFrom The NJPW BOTSJ 2018 Finals: Hiromu Takahashi vs. Taiji Ishimori [****¾]
HMFrom NJPW New Japan Cup Finals: Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi [****¾]
HMFrom NJPW Sakura Genesis 4.01.18 : Kazuchika Okada vs. Zack Sabre Jr. [****¾
HMFrom PROGRESS 62: Walter vs. Timothy Thatcher [****¾]
HMFrom AJPW Champion Carnival Final 4.30.18: Kento Miyahara vs. Naomichi Marufuji [****¾]

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10. From NJPW WK 12 – IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Champion Kazuchika Okada vs. Tetsuya Naito [****¾]: While I think that the decision was the wrong call, this was an absolutely amazing main event. Naito was ready, the fans were ready, but NJPW was too gun shy to pull the trigger here, and that’s a shame. Unfortunately, that seems to be the nature of the beast in wrestling, making the right move at the wrong time. Naito is far from dead, but I feel he was at his peak and that now was the time to run with him. It MAY lead to a good storyline, but I feel it’s a questionable business move. But I loved, loved, loved this match. It was absolutely amazing, with a great pace great layout and just tremendous work from both in front of an absolutely electric crowd. The callbacks to their past encounters were played excellently, leading to an absolutely scintillating home stretch. While I may not be a fan of the decision, this clicked all the boxed for a big time main event match for me, and was a hell of a way to kick off the year.

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9. From NJPW Sakura Genesis 4.01.18 – Will Ospreay vs. Marty Scurll [****¾]: It was Easter Sunday, and Will Ospreay decided that he wanted to one up Jesus by dying and coming back on the same day in this match. There were a lot of people unhappy about “having to see this match again” since they have faced off a lot, but this was excellent. It started with them playing off of their past efforts and how well they knew each other. Ospreay was again trying to show that he’s a well-rounded performer, which turned the momentum and that surprised Scurll. With Scurll thrown off of his game and looking to regain the championship, he got vicious, attacking Ospreay’s neck and really punishing him. Scurll was great here as the relentless heel, really punishing Ospreay, and Ospreay was absolutely tremendous in his selling and babyface comebacks coming at just the right time. This was incredible, they broke from formula, played off of previous matches, and absolutely killed it; this was big for both guys in terms of their standing in NJPW. The in showed that Ospreay beating Scurll wasn’t a fluke, and that he could move on and continue his legacy, as the new ace of the division. And the post match played perfectly into that, as Ospreay wants to continue proving himself, and HE challenged KUSHIDA for a title match.

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8. From NXT Takeover: New Orleans – NXT North American Title Ladder Match: EC3 vs. Adam Cole vs. Velveteen Dream vs. Lars Sullivan vs. Killian Dane vs. Ricochet [****¾]: While there is only one winner here, the best part about a ladder match like this is that no one person takes a loss. While your winner obviously gets elevated, and in this case wins a championship, if you properly book and lay out the match, you can make everyone look good and get stars over big time. This diverse lineup, in front of a traditionally hot Takeover crowd, was the perfect place to do that. The match not only gave us the first NXT North American champion, but was also the first step in a new division for the NXT brand. You had monsters (Dain & Lars), a gifted highflier (Ricochet), an up and comer (Dream), a returning star (EC3), and a guy NXT sees a lot in (Cole). I had to review ROH first tonight so that we had live coverage of both shows, and had just watched a pretty awesome ladder match. I loved the ROH ladder match, it was excellent and insane, but the booking of that match (interference bullshit) really held it back. I absolutely loved this match, the monsters did monster things, Ricochet got to do Ricochet things in WWE (which still feels wild), Cole continues to thrive in gimmick matches, Dream got to shine once again as he continues to grow as a performer, and EC3 felt right at home in his WWE return. I thought that they played to the stipulation extremely well, save us some spectacular and memorable spots and delivered one of the best matches of the Mania weekend and 2018 as a whole. Once they realized that they kept cutting each other off, they essentially went murder death kill in order to try and win. We have a new champion, everyone looked great and is now more over after that match and it was simply awesome stuff; mission accomplished. The match was everything I wanted, and way much more. When all is said and done, this may end up as one of the best PPV openers in WWE history.

7. From NJPW New Beginning in Sapporo 1.27.18 – Minoru Suzuki vs. Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi [****¾]: This was an absolutely beautiful, amazing, MOTY contender from these two. This was so well done, it never felt long and both men played their roles so very well; Tanahashi’s selling was amazing, especially juxtaposed against the sadistic nature of Suzuki, who would maniacally laugh at Tanahashi as he was torturing and picking apart his legs. In some ways this was very reminiscent of their 2012 match, not a lot of rope running or near falls, as they did an excellent job of working a less is more style, making everything they did count and using the submissions to create some great drama. Suzuki hitting the Gotch and not covering, and instead of going for the submission, was a great diversion and one that makes you think his overconfidence will lead to his downfall, but it didn’t. It led to more torture on Tanahashi, and Tanahashi fighting through until the referee had mercy on him and called it off. Tanahashi never gave up, and remains the hero, and Suzuki comes off as a remorseless bastard; this should set the stage for a heated rematch down the line. The absolute best part about this is that it was one on one, clean and the Suzuki-gun guys were just window dressing. They took away everything people hate about Suzuki matches and focused on what everyone loves about them and this delivered big time, I loved it.

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6. From NJPW Wrestling Dontaku 5.04.18: Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi [****¾]: This was an excellent match, absolutely tremendous, and everything I wanted from this encounter. This had drama, a hot crowd, and played off of their history very well. This may very well have been Tanahashi’s last big time main event, and should be his final big time match with Okada. This was just so well done, Tanahashi was the old, broken down, gun slinging quarterback, looking to use all of his remaining skill and tricks to win the big game one last time. And he showed that he still had what it takes to compete at the big level, he dug deep, fought with all he had, the crowd was with him, but at the end of the day, his time as king was officially done. Okada wins the series, takes the title defense record, and is now the undisputed ace of NJPW, finally overtaking his greatest rival to conclude one of the best feuds of all time.

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5. From NXT Takeover: Philadelphia – Champion Andrade “Cien” Almas defeated Johnny Gargano @ 32:20 via pin [*****]: This was an absolutely spectacular match, and the best I have seen so far in 2018. I know we’re only in January, but this was everything I want from wrestling. It had great action, a great villain and an absolutely lovable and awesome babyface that the live crowd was trying to will to victory and hell, I was here at home. This had the action, the great work, the drama and the storytelling that made me more emotionally invested in a match since Shibata vs. Okada from last year. The near falls, the teases, the fight from Gargano and Almas just being a cocky asshole, cutting all of that off constantly, and the final 10-minutes almost had me out of my seat. This was simply an amazing effort from both guys, from Vega & Candice, as it all came together perfectly as they put on the best WWE match since Bate vs. Dunne last year and took me on an amazing emotional journey; this one will be tough to beat for me this year because it was not only excellent match in terms of action but the emotional attachment I had got deeper as the match went on.

4. NJPW Strong Style Evolved 2018 – The Golden Lovers vs. The Young Bucks [*****]: First off, this match told an overall amazing story, building off of everything they’ve done up and to this point on NJPW shows, and on being the Elite. It started with the initial reluctance of Omega to fight Matt, and then Matt refusing Omega’s help when he checked on him. From there, Matt was wearing the team Cody weight belt, and Nick wasn’t. This plays into the recent Being The Elite episodes, when Cody has gone to the Bucks individually and trying to cause issues, by telling each of them that they are the real star or Shawn Michaels of the team, and the real break out star. And then there’s matt selling the back, which has been a constant story in their matches since January 4th. On top of that, there is Nick continually making or asking Matt do things his body can’t do, due to the back injury; until now they had overcome, but in the end, Matt was too weak and took the loss here. And in the end, it was Ibushi finally being the one to force Omega’s hand to finish things off. The expectations for the match were certainly high, but when you combine the amazing story of the match and combine it with the overall incredible action, I believe this was an absolutely spectacular match, and one of the very best of the year. The action was great, the pacing and overall layout was awesome, and the slow breakdown of the friendship as the action escalated and became more extreme and violent was just about as perfect as you can ask for. This kicked all of the asses and is a must-see match in my opinion.

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3. From NXT Takeover Chicago: Chicago Street Fight: Tommaso Ciampa vs. Johnny Gargano [*****]: I think that there was some trepidation going into this, not due to the performers, but to going back to such a similar match after they delivered an absolute classic in that first match. But never fear, Johnny & Tommy are here and they did it again! It’s so hard for a sequel to live up to the original; many fail, and fail spectacularly. But these two have done such a great job of making the fans emotionally invested, making them care in everything that they do, and on top of all of that, the crowd was locked in and reacting to everything like it mattered so much, it’s amazing that when you tell great stories and let great wrestler do their thing that this happens. You take a great story emotionally invested fans, deliver great and violent action appropriate with the story and it all just comes together. Gargano was so overcome with getting revenge that he got so carried away, allowing Ciampa to catch him and steal the win after he basically lost twice (tapping with no ref). I cannot wait for Ciampa’s promo about how he beat Gargano with “both hands tied begin his back.” Ciampa stealing the win and walking off on his own as he mockingly waved to Gargano was a great visual and that will play well into the build for the rubber match. But I don’t think that’s next, as I see Ciampa unseating Black to win the title, and then finally building to the final clash where Gargano gets his final revenge and then wins the tile and can have a happy celebration with Candice.

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2. From NJPW Dominion 2018: Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega [*****]: Despite the fact that I had concerns going into this, as I feared that they were going to do something stupid like force a 90-minute match, I am pleased to say that this was an absolutely amazing match that more than lived up to the reputation and quality of their previous matches, delivering an absolute classic once again. I thought that the pacing was magnificent, it started off so well, and played up the fact that they knew each other so well from their three previous matches; they had so much to call back to and play off of and made the absolute most of it. The match was a roller coaster of emotions for the performers, the crowd, and to me as well. I also have to share high praises for Callis and Kelly, who killed it on commentary and added a ton to his match and the overall presentation. Some will say it felt too long, but it never did for me so I hate that the time took away from the enjoyment of others. I have also seen that “this could have been accomplished just as well in 20-less minutes, and it is this one that I disagree with. One of the stories of the match is that Okada won in 47-minutes, and then they went to draw at 60. It was only when Omega changed his gameplan in the G1 and went balls to the fall/shock and awe that he was able to win. He tried that here, he tried to amp things up and take it to Okada because in the build he admitted that Okada was the better wrestler, but knew that HE was the better performer and athlete. Plan A failed for Omega, so he went to Plan B and relied on he resiliency and superior cardio to take Okada into deep waters. Omega doing this worked as the match went on Okada was fading, had less on his strikes, and even when he went for a rainmaker, Okada was the one who collapsed even after he hit it; there was nothing on it, nothing there. It was a beautiful story with great callbacks and it all made sense in terms of the story and history of the previous three matches. Professional wrestling is absolutely fucking beautiful when it’s done right and this was a perfect example of that as they worked a match that had 12,000 fans captivated and completely emotionally invested in the action and story that they were telling as they delivered a special moment for Omega and a beautiful end to Okada’s historic title run.

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1. From NXT Takeover: New Orleans – Unsanctioned Match: Tommaso Ciampa vs. Johnny Gargano [*****]: I think that it’s absolutely possible to have excellent matches based purely on skill and ring work as long as you can make the crowd hot for the action, but I think to achieve pure greatness, you need to have a great story and emotional hook. So far some of the very best matches (in my opinion) this year are Gargano vs. Almas & Golden Lovers vs. The Bucks. They were both amazing pieces of in ring work, truly excellent; but they both had back-stories and took you on a pure emotional journey during that excellent in ring work. Ciampa & Gargano had that back-story, a friend betraying a friend, ruining his life at every turn and trying to take his career from him in the process. Ciampa was a pure bastard, the heel with no redeeming qualities, while Gargano is not only the hero, he’s the chosen man of the people. Ciampa coming out to no music and simply basking in the heel heat was a tremendous call. Both guys are in great shape, maybe the best of their careers; Ciampa looks like he hasn’t even looked at a carb in 12 months. They had a great stare down and immediately went crazy fists. They didn’t fuck around as Gargano ran wild and was a man possessed. They immediately set the right tone for the match, which is vital when working a stipulation like this for such a heated feud, so many matches like this lack that. I have said it numerous times, but Gargano is such an amazing babyface, and his work to start off was so great, not only looking for revenge, but to also win and get back into NXT. Ciampa’s ruthlessness played perfectly against Gargano, as he was purely looking to hurt Gargano and make his life even more miserable than he’s already made it. The work here was absolutely tremendous, completely filled with hate from both men. They captured the tone perfectly, a credit to both men as they fed off of the crowd, who was awesome here, and completely into the action and story. The sick look from Ciampa as he stole crutches from a fan was amazing, and his attempt to use them was a great call back to his previous attacks on Gargano. It’s those little things that add so much. The crowd willing Gargano to fight and chanting “you deserve it” when Gargano powerbombed Ciampa to the floor was amazing, they not only wanted Gargano to overcome and win, they wanted that bastard Ciampa to pay for his sins. Gargano getting payback with the crutch shots and the reaction to that was further proof. Ciampa calling back to the DIY finish was tremendous, he’s just a pure asshole, and there is nothing likeable about the man from a character standpoint. The spot with the wrist tape, both men holding on as they traded strikes, signifying their link together, was a tremendous visual. The near fall on the super project Ciampa was amazing. The home stretch was just amazing, with great near falls and drama; the crowd was locked in and reacting to everything like it mattered so much, it’s amazing that when you tell great stories and let great wrestler do their thing that this happens. And yet after all of this, after all Ciampa had done, and with Ciampa prone to attack, Gargano had the crutch but pulled up, giving his former friend one last chance to repent and make things right. Gargano even sat by him like in the CWC, but Ciampa was a bastard and Gargano used the knee brace and locked in an STF, getting revenge and winning his way back into NXT. This was amazing, it was everything I thought it could and hoped it would be. And was easily worth staying up to 5 AM to watch, and it never felt long to me. I love my fucking job.

– End Scene.

– Thanks for reading.

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“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”