Csonka’s Top 14 Shows of 2018 (So Far)

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 2018 and will share my top 14 shows of the year so far. In order for a show to make the list, it had to have taken place sometime between January 1 and June 30 of 2018, and had to rate at least an 8.0 by me. I am focusing on major/PPV style shows and not weekly TV here. 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. 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 to “have a take, be respectful of other’s opinions and don’t be a dick.”

14. ROH 16th Anniversary Show: [8.0]: While buzz for the show felt really low, the ROH 16th Anniversary PPV was a rather great show, It was filled with good to great wrestling, we had the surprise Austin Aries appearance, the great Kenny Omega/Cody angle, two title changes, and an excellent main event. This was an overall really fun and high quality show that flew by, and was very consistent. MUST SEE: SoCal Uncensored vs. Champions The Hung Bucks, Dalton Castle vs. Jay Lethal.

13. WWE UK Title Tournament 2018 Night One 6.25.18: [8.0]: The biggest compliment that I can give this show is that it in no way felt like a WWE main roster product/show. If anything, it felt like an NXT Takeover special. There was nothing that even approached bad. We had a ton of very good to great wrestling, a well laid out tournament with the guys working their style, matches set up for the next day’s show, and two great matches to close things out. Add in a hot crowd, and this was great, and not only bodes well for the brand, but was a great set up for the second show. MUST SEE: Zack Gibson vs. Jack Gallagher, Undisputed Era vs. British Storing Style, Zack Gibson vs. Travis Banks.

12. WWE UK Title Tournament 2018 Night Two 6.26.18: [8.0]: Night two of the 2018 WWE UK Title Tournament was another very good, strong and consistent show. It had a nice mix of WWE UK & NXT stars, a surprise title change to Mustache Mountain, a surprise return in Noam Dar, a lot of fun and a great main event that sets up Gibson as the lead heel of the UK brand after his performances. The show played very well off of night one, which was done very well to set the stage here, and together, these two shows were a blast and get a big recommendation from me. MUST SEE: Mustache Mountain vs. Undisputed Era, Zack Gibson vs. Pete Dunne.

11. EVOLVE 98: [8.0]: EVOLVE 98 was a great show, as there was nothing bad at all, and was an overall very consistent show starting with match one and throughout the entire show. Kincaid picked up a big win, continued his angle with Theory, Timothy Thatcher & WALTER brought their brand of tag wrestling to the company, Chris Dickinson gained some revenge against the End and momentum ahead of tomorrow’s title match. Theory & Kelly are rolling as a strong heel couple, Jaka continues to surprise with non-title wins to keep himself in the mix, and the show peaked perfectly with the excellent main event. Thumbs way up and a big recommendation from me as Evolve kept their momentum from late 2017 on the first show of 2018, and Darby Allin continues to be elevated as a lovable babyface star in the process. MUST SEE: AR Fox vs. Matt Riddle, Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Darby Allin, Timothy Thatcher & WALTER vs. Tracy Williams & Dom Garrini.

10. EVOLVE 104: [8.0]: EVOLVE 104 was the latest reboot/start of a new chapter for the promotion with Yehi & Sabre gone and Lee about to leave. The show involved a lot of new talent, many unproven on a bigger stage, and the show could have really gone the wrong way. But to their credit, EVOLVE delivered a high-quality show, with several different styles of matches, and a little something for everyone. There was a lot to enjoy, and the final two matches delivered big time and also created a new, viable star and challenger in Shane Strickland. EVOLVE arrived at their latest destination and kicked down the door, delivering a great event. The show was extremely consistent, with everyone working hard and delivering another quality show. MUST SEE: Keith Lee vs. James Drake, Matt Riddle vs. Shane Strickland.

9. EVOLVE 105: [8.0]: EVOLVE 104 was a great introduction into the new era of EVOLVE, and EVOLVE 105 was a more than fitting sequel to that show. The company continued to introduce new talent, they set up Fox vs. Theory and continued the elevation of Strickland with a big win making it clear that he is the next man up for Riddle. They had a great and invested crowd all night, and while this weekend had many more questions than certainties as we came into it, EVOLVE found a way to move on into a new era without Yehi, Sabre, & Lee by delivering two extremely strong events. The next chapter of EVOLVE is off to a very promising start. MUST SEE: Shane Strickland vs. Darby Allin, Chris Dickinson & Jaka vs. Anthony Henry & James Drake, Matt Riddle vs. Keith Lee, Keith Lee’s farewell speech.

10. ROH Honor Rising Night Two 2.24.18: [8.0]: Night one of the ROH Honor Rising was a good show, but they topped themselves on night two. Flip looked good again in his NJPW audition weekend, which led to him making year’s BOTSJ, where he did really well. They did a good job of heating up Adam Page for his US Title shot, and also made the best out of a bad situation with the ROH Title match and Trent’s injury. The main event is must-see stuff in terms of a great match that not only adds tom but also advances the great Kenny vs. Cody Bullet Club split angle, which is also leading to the Golden Lovers vs. Bucks, which was an amazing match. Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi vs. Cody & Marty Scurll from this show gets completely slept on, but was a completely awesome match, a beautiful blend of great wrestling, a compelling angle, and great character work from all involved. Cody finally hit his stride and is an amazing asshole heel, and no longer feels as if he’s “playing bad guy wrestler.” Scurll has gone from unsure about fighting Kenny to drinking Cody’s Kool-Aid, buying in and following the leader. Ibushi is an amazing babyface, completely sympathetic, and of course amazingly athletic. Omega is the former villain, reunited with his best friend, atoning for his sins and trying to do the right thing as he gets the second chance he thought he’d never get. You take a great story, with great characters, and let them do their thing in the ring and it all falls in place as the crowd is fully invested into the story, the work, the match and everything they do. Make sure you take the time to watch this for sure. This tag match has unfortunately been slept on by way too many. MUST SEE: The Young Bucks & Hangman Page vs. Jay White, Chuck Taylor & YOSHI-HASHI, Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi vs. Cody & Marty Scurll.

7. WWN Supershow: Mercury Rising: [8.5]: Despite having great talents on the shows, in the past, the WWN Mercury Rising event has traditionally fell short of expectations and under delivered in the past. That was usually because it was on Saturday and willed with guys coming off of 5-8 matches, and not only were they tired, but the crowds were usually burnt out. But the 2018 WWN Mercury Rising event was a great show, with several must-see matches, and delivering one of the very best events of the 2018 WrestleMania weekend. When four of the seven matches crack 4 stars and the show flies by, it’s an easy home run. MUST SEE: Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Munenori Sawa, Daisuke Sekimoto vs. Keith Lee, Matt Riddle vs. Will Ospreay, Chris Dickinson & Jaka vs. WALTER & Timothy Thatcher.

6. ROH Best in The World: [8.5]: The ROH Best in The World 2018 PPV, the latest major show offering, was an overall great show with a ton of very good to great wrestling. The only thing I really didn’t like was Flip vs. Bully. Flip looked great, but I hated the finish and do not like that the Bully angle is continuing. But as an overall package, this was a great show with a tremendous stretch of matches down the stretch and giving you a reminder of what ROH can deliver when they are at their best. MUST SEE: Jay Lethal vs. KUSHIDA, Punishment Martinez vs. Adam Page, The Briscoes vs. Young Bucks.

5. NXT Takeover: Philadelphia: [8.5]: NXT Takeover: Philadelphia 2018 was an absolutely great show, and continues the trend of the NXT Takeovers not only delivering and making a push for year-end awards, but also continues the trend of NXT sticking their boots up the main roster’s asses on the regular. I’m so sick of the excuses for the main roster, yes they are at a disadvantage due to the insane billionaire micromanaging everything and killing potentially good and fun PPVs, but the NXT roster simply delivers time in and time out. NXT Takeover: Philadelphia was a typical Takeover event, a great opener, a very good mid-card, a great co-main event and an absolutely amazing main event with Johnny 5 Star vs. Andrade Almas. Speaking of Andrade Almas, has anyone seen that poor man since the draft? MUST SEE: Undisputed Era vs. AOP, Aleister Black vs. Adam Cole, Andrade Almas vs. Johnny Gargano.

4. WrestleKingdom 12: [8.5]: While not the greatest WrestleKingdom of all time, WrestleKingdom 12 was an overall great show with a lot of great wrestling to love and a little something for everyone. Masahito Kakihara’s Rambo win was a great feel-good moment, the junior tag match was very good and should kick off a new feud. The trios title gauntlet was good and elevated Trent, Cody vs. Ibushi was great and a big-time performance Cody needed. The tag title and NEVER matches were both very good and laid out just as they should have been. The juniors delivered, Tanahashi and White was a disappointment, but good, while Jericho, Omega, Naito, & Okada really stole the show in the top two matches. While I don’t agree with all of the booking, WrestleKingdom 12 was more than worth my time, and was a ton of fun overall. MUST SEE: Kota Ibushi vs. Cody. Kenny Omega vs. Chris Jericho, Will Ospreay vs. Marty Scurll vs. KUSHIDA vs. Hiromu Takahashi. Kazuchika Okada vs. Tetsuya Naito.

3. NXT Takeover: Chicago: [9.0]: NXT does it again, thriving through simplicity and a less is more attitude when it comes to building to a Takeover show and never presenting a bloated event. Everything matters, everything gets the time it needs, the fans care and every time someone says that the card isn’t hyped enough and doesn’t “look good on paper,” they knock it out of the park. NXT continues to be the best of the WWE, and a product I could watch all the time and always be happy with. This was another Takeover event where the “worst on the show” was “only good,” which the top three matches were absolutely great and Johnny Gargano was in another 5-star main event, the second of three for the year. MUST SEE: Undisputed Era vs. Burch & Lorcan, Ricochet vs. Velveteen Dream, Tommaso Ciampa vs. Johnny Gargano.

2. NJPW Dominion 2018: [9.0]: The 2018 NJPW Dominion was an absolutely excellent show, with a good undercard setting up future matches, notable title changes that freshen up the divisions, and four absolutely great to amazing matches. The show flew by, there was nothing bad or even approaching average, and the main event delivered one of the best matches of 2018, with the crowning of Omega as champion as Okada finally falls and loses the title. This is a must-see show, and felt like a big transition moment for the company as they hope to move forward with their international expansion. MUST SEE: Hiromu Takahashi vs. Will Ospreay, The Young Bucks vs. EVIL & SANADA, Chris Jericho vs. Tetsuya Naito, Kenny Omega vs. Kazuchika Okada.

1. NXT Takeover: New Orleans: [9.5]: I watched a ton of wrestling over the WrestleMania weekend, some solid, some good and some great; NXT Takeover: New Orleans just smoked the lot of them with an all time great show. And as I look back on the year so far, it’s the best overall. This was a longer Takeover than the usual show, but it never felt long and at this point, I almost don’t know what to say about the Takeover specials. Everyone should stop being shocked when they kick ass and save that reaction for when they actually fail to deliver a great show. NXT Takeover make the WWE Network worth the subscription in my mind, they are just so, so, good. This is a must-see show; I love the wrestling, and you should too! MUST SEE: EC3 vs. Adam Cole vs. Velveteen Dream vs. Lars Sullivan vs. Killian Dane vs. Ricochet, Ember Moon vs. Shayna Baszler, Andrade “Cien” Almas vs. Aleister Black, Tommaso Ciampa vs. Johnny Gargano.

– End Scene.

– Thanks for reading.

“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”