Editor’s Note: This interview was conducted before the promotion’s February 1st show.
The UK wrestling scene is arguably hotter than it has ever been with so many local groups putting on great shows and several getting a lot of traction worldwide.
Last year, we even saw ITV and WWE get into a competition of sorts with ITV showing a World Of Sport TV special, which was followed up by the WWE UK Tournament in January 2017 which was meant to be followed up on with a WWE UK show that still hasn’t materialized.
Now, we have 5 Star Wrestling who are going live weekly in the UK on FreeSports, currently available in 22 million homes. It has been stop-start to say the least, and has caused a stir amongst the UK wrestling community due to the cancellation of shows and (purported) broken promises, not to mention that million dollar offer to CM Punk.
I caught up recently with 5 Star’s main man Daniel Hinckles to discuss the company’s beginnings, how it has got to a TV deal, why they can overtake WWE’s ratings in the UK, the CM Punk offer, its divisiveness in the UK scene and much more.
After last weekend’s thrilling UFC 220 show in Boston, we get a show on Fox that has no one excited except for the fighters’ families and themselves.
Friends, Paul Fontaine, Ryan Frederick and I do our best in previewing Saturday’s UFC Fight Night in Charlotte, NC.
First, The Card
Jacare Souza vs. Derek Brunson II
Dennis Bermudez vs. Andre Fili
Jordan Rinaldi vs. Gregor Gillespie
Drew Dober vs. Frank Camacho
Bobby Green vs. Erik Koch
Mirsad Bektic vs. Godofredo Pepey
Katlyn Chookagian vs. Mara Romero Borella
Randa Markos vs. Juliana Lima
Justine Kish vs. Ji Yeon Kim
Vinc Pichel vs. Joaquim Silva
Niko Price vs. George Sullivan
Austin Arnett vs. Cory Sandhagen
What fight(s) are you most looking forward to?
Ryan: It’s the main event between Jacare Souza and Derek Brunson a rematch of their August 2012 Strikeforce fight which Souza won by knockout in 41 seconds. At the time, Souza was one of the best middleweights in the world, while Brunson was a rising prospect. Fast forward a little over five years, and Souza remains one of the best middleweights in the world, but Brunson is right there with him.
I expect a much different fight and one that is more explosive. Souza was knocked out in his last fight by Robert Whittaker, but Brunson also received that same fate at the hands of Whittaker. It could come down to the grappling, and that favors Souza. On the feet, I think it now favors Brunson. It’s a great fight to make and now is the right time for a rematch, and it’s as good as it gets on this card.
Paul: This may sound weird, but it’s a women’s flyweight bout on the FS1 prelims, part of three back-to-back-to-back women’s bouts that are all interesting. Katlyn Chookagian vs. Maria Romero Borella is what has my eye as it could have title implications in the not too distant future. Chookagian came into UFC with a lot of fanfare and had worked her way up in the bantamweight rankings. Now fighting at a better weight for her, she should be even better. Borella has not lost in seven straight including a 1st round submission win in her UFC debut in October.
Josh: Yeesh, there is not a lot on this card and I wholeheartedly agree with the sentiment that this is going to be the lowest rated Fox show in history. You can’t run this many shows consecutively without taking a few in the gut and this one is a hard body blow for interest level. I’ll also go with Brunson vs. Souza as these fights usually help clear up part of a logjam in these top-heavy divisions.
Any dark horse fights?
Josh: The Bektic-Pepey fight caught my eye as well as the Green-Koch fight, mainly because it’s a crossroads fight for two veterans. Bektic got his first career loss last March and he had been a finishing machine up until that point. Pepey has been up and down, but has a good amount of submissions under his belt. With a history of finishes at a lighter weight class, I’m hoping for a good scrap here. I am also interested to see how prospect Niko Price rebounds from his first career loss and how Justine Kish rebounds from pooping herself in her last fight against Felice Herrig. (Seriously, she did this.)
Ryan: I like the fights between Jordan Rinaldi and Gregor Gillespie and Bektic vs. Pepey. Gillespie is undefeated and has potential at 155 pounds, and Rinaldi is a solid opponent. Gillespie will get to show if he’s going to remain on the climb up the ladder. Pepey is an exciting opponent, and while it’s really a fight that Bektic should win, it should be pretty good.
Paul: I was going to go with Bektic-Pepey but since the guys already mentioned it, let’s go with a Fight Pass prelim featuring Joaquim Silva (10-0) putting his unbeaten record on the line against Vinc Pichel (10-1). It’s not often you see two guys with impressive records like this facing each other, especially not that early in a card. Pichel is 35 and not exactly a prospect but with that record, it’s hard not to consider him for bigger fights especially if he wins again. Silva is much younger and a better prospect. If he picks up another win, he’d be 4-0 in UFC and he’d almost have to get a top 15 opponent next time out.
What isn’t doing it for you this weekend?
Paul: While the prelims have some interesting fights, especially for us hardcore fans, this main card is easily the worst in the history of MMA on network television, at least in terms of star power. But it’s not just that: it’s the quality of the fighters. Only the top two fights have top 15 fighters in them and there is no one even sniffing title contention on this card. Gillespie and Rinaldi are interesting prospects, but we’ve come to expect better fights than this on a Fox main card.
Ryan: The fact that this is a fight card on Fox isn’t doing it for me. It is easily the weakest Fox card ever and should be an FS1 Fight Night show instead. It just shows that there are too many events in a short period of time and too many fighters booked elsewhere that some other cards will suffer. It still has the potential for a good show and it does have a really solid main event, but it might not get a lot of attention.
Josh: In the final four months of 2017, the UFC averaged one event per week. This is their third event this month and there is five more coming from February through March. You can’t put out that much product and expect to be A+. There’s zero buzz for this show and coming off last weekend’s fun PPV in Boston, the fact this show exists isn’t doing it for me.
Why does this show matter?
Paul: In the big picture, I’m not sure that it does. This is UFC filling out their TV commitments with some fights on a card. I guess if you’re a diehard UFC fan (as I am) and just have to see everything, maybe it matters to you. Unfortunately, there is nothing at all jumping out from this card for the casual fan in any way whatsoever.
Ryan: It could flesh out the future of who is getting a title shot at 185 pounds, pending the return of current champion Robert Whittaker. Brunson would be closer to a title shot with a win, and Souza would need a couple of more if he gets by Brunson. That’s about it as no other fight has serious future implications riding on them. It’s pretty much a standard night of fighting.
Josh: I would agree with Paul: it really doesn’t. The Whittaker situation has thrown things off a bit as you’d expect the winner of the interim middleweight title fight between Yoel Romero vs. Luke Rockhold to face him, but with the internal staph issues, who knows when that could be? Plus, Chris Weidman is still out there and with a Rockhold win, that rematch seems likely. I could see the winner getting Kelvin Gastelum or maybe the Eryk Anders-Lyoto Machida winner just because.
Who wins?
Jacare vs. Brunson II
– Brunson: Ryan, Nason
– Jacare: Paul
Bermudez vs. Fili
– Bermudez: Paul, Nason, Ryan
Green vs. Koch
– Green: Ryan
– Koch: Nason, Paul
Keep up with our coverage on Saturday night, starting with the Fight Pass prelims through FS1 through big Fox.
In the summer of 2016, WWE began to re-introduce enhancement talent and one of these wrestlers struck a chord when he had a match with Braun Strowman. He didn’t look like your average WWE wrestler which was part of his appeal. He didn’t recite interviews like your regular WWE wrestler, which made him stand out a little. That unorthodox man was James Ellsworth.
Over the next 14 or 15 months, Ellsworth appeared in a variety of guises including wrestling AJ Styles and seconding/managing Carmella at WrestleMania. He was loved and hated at times by the fans, but he always played his part on the show until he was released in November 2017.
In this Q&A, we find out what Ellsworth is up to, is reflections on his year in WWE, and his plans for the future.
You were released mid-November from WWE. How have things been for you since then?
I’ve just been spending time with my kids. I’ve been wrestling since I was 17 years old and I’ve never had this much time off. 90 days is a long time when you’re a wrestler being home, so I’m just making the best of it by enjoying time with my two daughters.
A lot of casual fans think that enhancement talent aren’t always actual wrestlers, but just people who wrestle a little bit. But as you said, you have been wrestling for years on a consistent basis.
Yea. I started wrestling school when I was 17 and I just turned 33, so I’ve been doing it for just over 15 years and there hasn’t been a week that’s went by where I haven’t done something like go out to a show or train. So, that last two-and-a-half months have been long and I can’t wait to get back out there and perform again.
What first attracted you to wrestling and getting trained? I assume you were a fan growing up.
I’ve always been a fan. I started watching it at a young age. Since I can remember, I’ve always watched wrestling. It’s all I ever thought about or wanted to do. It was always in my mind: “I like this, I like watching this, I want to do it!”
I assume back in those days that wrestling wasn’t your full time gig. What were you doing to supplement it?
I worked with people with special needs and helped find them jobs for 8 years. I still own my own wrestling promotion – Adrenaline Championship Wrestling – so I made money doing that plus wrestling indies. So like I said, I like to work! I was always busy before WWE and during WWE, so these 90 days have been hard for me (laughing).
How difficult can the life of an indie wrestler be?
At first, it was “You have to work hard, you have to pay your dues, and you have to try to make a name for yourself.” Very few people make a name for themselves right away. It took me forever. I don’t look like a normal wrestler, never mind a normal wrestler, I don’t look like a normal guy (laughing). It was hard for me. I always worked hard, always developed my craft, always listened to the right peopple, but yeah, i’s difficult. You have to hustle to get work and hustle to get noticed.
Whenever you appeared on Raw at first in the summer of 2016, there had been some clamour for WWE to bring back enhancement talent, so that they didn’t burn through every available match. How did you end up in that role with WWE?
I had been “extra talent” several times before then, although I had never had a match (in WWE) before then. You email them and send pictures and say “I’m from this area and if you need extra guys, I’m available” and they call you or they don’t. But back to WWE using enhancement talent so they don’t burn through matches, I think that’s a really good thing when they do that. They’ve stopped doing that lately and they’re burning through matches. It was cool when they brought that back, but now you’re just seeing matches all the time: John Cena vs. Roman Reigns, Braun Strowman vs. Brock Lesnar we’ve already seen. It’s something (enhancement matches) that I think they should do more often.
You got a cult following after your in-ring promo before the Braun Strowman match. Did they give you any warning/direction ahead of time or were you allowed to be yourself to try and build it up?
When the match with Strowman came about, it was about 2 hours before the match that they said “Hey, we’re going to give you a quick promo.” They wrote some notes, and the only thing that I asked was if I could say, “Any man with two hands has a fighting chance.” That was the only line in the promo that was mine and the cool thing is that it caught on.
How did the conversation and situation turn from enhancement matches to a full time role?
After the initial match with Strowman, I wasn’t seen on television again for six weeks. When I came back, I was supposed to team with AJ Styles to face Dean Ambrose and John Cena — that’s when The Miz came out and beat me up — and even then, no contract was offered. When they brought me back a month later to wrestle Styles for the first time with Dean Ambrose as the referee, still no contract was offered The contract was offered when I went to Scotland for SmackDown for the six-man match I had that night with me, Kane and Ambrose vs. Randy Orton, Bray Wyatt, and Luke Harper. That was the night it was offered to me and that was probably early November 2016 (laughing).
It must have been a little bit surreal, given how long that you had pushed to try and get noticed in the business and all of a sudden, very quickly, you were involved in these types of storylines.
Yeah, it was very surreal. You watch these guys on TV every week and all of a sudden you’re on TV with them, interacting with them. It was so surreal at first, but I kept the mindset of “I have a job to do and I better do it well or this is going to go away real quick.”
Would you have liked to have wrestled more to show what exactly you could do?
I love to wrestle. I understood what they wanted me to do as far as character work and I got it. I was on SmackDown, there was no cruiserweight division on SmackDown and all these guys are bigger than me. So if I was just wrestling every week and getting beat up every week, it would have got old fast. I was wrestling every now and then. It was a special occasion when I wrestled, and that was really cool. I love to wrestled and perform, so any time they asked me I was happy to do it, but I understand why they didn’t want me to do it all the time.
You then moved into an on-screen partnership with Carmella which had you as beloved and hated by the fans at various times. How much fun was it to be involved with all of the women and the matches that they were doing?
It was so much fun. I added something different to the women’s division. You had this little guy wreaking havoc on the women’s division. I got along with all of those girls and they got along with me, and we had a lot of fun. We were all very sad when it ended, because we had a lot of fun doing it.
You had your WrestleMania moment during the women’s six-pack challenge, as well as during the Money In The Bank show where you pushed Becky off the ladder before Carmella won the title. From where you were a year before, it must have seemed inconceivable that at that point, that’s what you would be doing.
The wrestling business is like no other business. Literally, one minute you would be at a Boys and Girls Club wrestling in front of 100 kids and the next minute you could be in front of 75,000 people at WrestleMania. It’s just a weird business and the farther you go up, the more you understand that. For me, it doesn’t matter. I just like to do it, wherever it’s at. WrestleMania was my biggest goal and now that I’ve accomplished it, it’s different. A year before, I’m doing a match somewhere in West Virginia in front of 100 people to a year later, I’m grabbing the MITB contract. It is surreal and it takes you back.
Did Vince ask you to become a transgender wrestler and have you challenge for the Women’s title at this year’s WrestleMania?
Vince had never brought it up to me, so I don’t really have an answer for that. I’ll just leave it at that (laughing).
Now that you’re out of WWE full time, how much of an influence do you think that you can be for good in the lives of people who have seen you on TV but who can relate to you if they see you in the real world?
I get approached all the time. In WWE, I was a character that people always paid attention to because I was so different. If you have a picture of a football team, and they’re all big guys, and you have one guy in that picture who’s very small, you’re going to look at the small guy and go “Wow, how did he make the team?” A lot of people say “Man, you inspired me!” It’s cool and I’ll always be grateful for that. Even if I inspired one person to chase their dreams, that’s a cool thing for me.
After you were released, you had your own Cody Rhodes-style bucket list of wrestlers that you wanted to wrestle, and a lot of women were on it. How close are you to getting any of those matches?
I do have matches lined up with seven or eight of the girls on the list already. Those will all be coming out very soon, I’m sure.
How did you get into running your own promotion?
In 2009, ACW had a different owner at the time, but he had me write a lot of the storylines. I started being the booker per se, and I think it was around 2012, he decided he didn’t want to do it anymore, so he sold me his titles, the belts, the banners – all of the stuff that he owned. I thought “Yeah, I’ll give this a try and run it.” So, I started running it and started making money, and I thought “Hey, I’m not bad at this!” (laughs) I just kept it going, and I’ve been doing that for six years.
You are returning to ACW on February 16th on a show that also has Austin Aries, Jerry Lawler, and Gillberg on it. In the UK and Ireland, the independent scene is really exploding. What do you see as the future for indies of all levels?
I was an independent wrestler for 14 years before I made it to WWE, and I see now that the independent scene is growing bigger than whenever I started. They are a way higher level. I’m going to be coming to the UK, and hopefully over to Ireland, and it’s cool to see that everything is growing. I hope I can be a part of that growth, and if I can come to any promotion in my country or any other country, and help out and hopefully draw some extra tickets and perform and get people interested in coming to see a promotion, wherever I go.
I can’t imagine that you left WWE under any sort of cloud or with any sort of heat. Is the door open for you to return and do you think that might happen at some point down the line?
I think so. A lot of people leave and come back, more often than not. I feel like I did leave on good terms. I didn’t do anything unlawful, I was never late, I was a good employee. I was told that once I got the call, “You did good here.” Anything they put me in seemed to work. I’m not bitter about the release, but I don’t understand why I got released! (laughing) I don’t know if maybe they didn’t have anything else for me right now, maybe the Carmella thing they wanted to get away from. But in the future, I’ll be back.
I asked our two intrepid MMA writers — Paul Fontaine and Ryan Frederick — to jot down some thoughts on 2017 while looking ahead to 2018. With the MMA year kicking off this weekend with UFC in St. Louis, MO, let’s take a gander back at the year that was.
When you think about 2017 in MMA, what comes to mind?
Paul:
I think of ‘What could have been?’ UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor didn’t fight in the Octagon. Jon Jones did what Jon Jones does and blew a potential mega-fight with Brock Lesnar. Ronda Rousey proved she still had drawing power at the end of 2016 with a million plus buy PPV and then proceeded to not fight in 2017. The only currently somewhat active person in UFC who is a big draw is Georges St Pierre and he will be out with an injury for the foreseeable future.
Ryan:
I see this as a year of missed opportunities, both when it comes to the UFC and the fighters. The UFC missed out on Conor McGregor, Ronda Rousey, Nate Diaz, and Brock Lesnar fighting. In the case of Conor, they made the business decision to let him box Floyd Mayweather which made them big money. You can’t fault them for that, but that meant UFC fans missed out on enjoying him in the Octagon.
With the case of Rousey, she appears gone for good. With Diaz, it was simply a matter of money as they tried and failed to get him to fight. With Lesnar, the drug test failure still looms. When it comes to the fighters, weight issues with Khabib Nurmagomedov plagued a fight between him and Tony Ferguson, which had the potential to be great. Demetrious Johnson turned down his biggest payday and the biggest fight of his career with TJ Dillashaw, opting to fight Ray Borg. The middleweight championship was in flux all year, with a lot of good potential title fights being stalled. There were opportunities to have a more action-packed year, but things just couldn’t come to fruition.
Josh:
One word comes to mind: dull. After a completely awesome 2016, the first few months of the year sputtered and every time we thought we were ready to turn a corner, we got more misfires. I think of the bad UFC PPV in Brooklyn where Germaine de Randamie edged out Holly Holm to win a title no one asked for, only to later drop it because she didn’t want to fight Cyborg. I think of a lot of injured champions and good fights that fell through. I think of the word ‘interim’. There were some great moments, but it was a 12 months where more of the fringe fans got shaved off due to boredom.
What was your favorite fight?
Ryan:
I have to go with the non-stop brawl that was Justin Gaethje against Michael Johnson at The Ultimate Fighter Finale in July. Both men landed big punches that likely would have knocked any other opponent out, and yet, they kept coming at each other. Gaethje showed why he was one of the most exciting UFC signings in a long time and one of the most exciting fighters at 155 pounds. Violence was expected, and violence was brought.
Paul:
It wasn’t necessarily the best fight, but my favorite was the Jose Aldo-Max Holloway rematch at December’s UFC 218. Holloway has always been one of my favorite fighters and on that night, he proved that he was the top featherweight in the sport and maybe one of the best of all time with a dismantling of the former dominant champion. Aldo still has it in him to beat just about anyone in the division, as evidenced by his one sided win over Frankie Edgar, but Holloway looked like he was in another league in Detroit.
Josh:
This one is easy: Tyron Woodley vs. Stephen Thompson II! Just kidding, everyone. I’m going to go with one that probably isn’t popular due to what happened afterward, but I still loved Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier II. It was the biggest fight of the summer and we got a lot of questions temporarily answered about Jones in his decimation of Cormier. Between the build, the result, and the post fight interviews, Jones appeared to have arrived back on the main attraction stage and we were dreaming about Jones-Gustafsson II and even a Brock Lesnar fight in 2018. Then, USADA checked in and everything went to hell.
What was your favorite event?
Paul:
UFC 217 that featured the return of GSP as he beat Michael Bisping and won the middleweight title. It also featured two other title fights, both with upset title changes, including what may have been the upset of the year with Rose Namajunas stopping Joanna Jedrzejczyk. You can’t ask for much more from a big show.
Ryan:
Honestly, it’s UFC 217, but I wanted to shine a light on the pay-per-view offering that followed it: UFC 218. You had two of the best fights of the year in Yancy Medeiros against Alex Oliveira, and the violence between Eddie Alvarez and Justin Gaethje. You had Max Holloway systematically tearing Jose Aldo apart to declare himself the true king at 145 pounds. Last, but certainly not least, you had the most vicious (and one of the greatest) knockouts of all time when Francis Ngannou earned his shot at championship gold when he took out Alistair Overeem. There were a lot of memorable moments all around.
Josh:
I’m going to stick with UFC 214, headlined by Jones vs. Cormier II. Other than the Woodley-Maia co-main event which wasn’t the most thrilling, this show featured Cyborg Justino winning the women’s featherweight title over Tonya Evinger, the much-anticipated Robbie Lawler-Donald Cerrone fight, and another Volkan Oezdemir first round KO to open the PPV. The prelims were good with some interesting names picking up wins (Brian Ortega, Ricardo Lamas, Aljamain Sterling). There were a few standout candidates (UFC 217, UFC 218, but this was it for me.
Who was your Fighter of the Year?
Josh:
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m going with flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson and perhaps not for a reason that you might think. Yes, he picked up wins over Wilson Reis and Ray Borg, but the way in which he beat Borg was my finish of the year. A German suplex into an armbar for the finish at the end of a fight? Get outta here.
But the big reason was what he did in June by publicly airing his grievances against Dana White and his attempts to make a fight with TJ Dillashaw that he didn’t want. He discussed how White threatened to eliminate the whole division and was open about his contract and other issues. It was refreshing to hear someone clearly bothered by the head of the UFC finally come out and discuss it. He really turned the corner for me after that, helping round out the character for the most dominant champion in the sport right now.
Paul:
I’m going with Francis Ngannou. With two first round KOs over two bonafide MMA legends, he went from obscure prelim fighter to the top heavyweight title contender in just over a year. I give honorable mentions to welterweight champion Tyron Woodley and strawweight champ Rose Namajunas.
Ryan:
It is a tough field as Robert Whittaker, Rose Namajunas, and Tyron Woodley could all earn the nod, but I’m going with Demetrious Johnson for this one. I was cageside for both of his fights this year, and as great as he comes off when viewing on television, he is just another level live. He is the best fighter in the sport, and the way he just outworked both Wilson Reis and Ray Borg on his way to submitting both was world class. Not to mention, he had the most incredible submission of all-time, throwing Borg in the air and locking in an armbar in mid-air. Myself, along with many other media members, lost our minds and were astonished by this cageside. It’s a moment I won’t soon forget.
What was the most disappointing (fighter, trend, event, news story) that happened in 2017?
Paul:
This has to be Jon Jones. He returns from a one year drug failure suspension and beats Daniel Cormier for the title he never lost, promptly fails another PED test, and is now facing a possible four year suspension. Not only did he single handedly destroy the credibility of the light heavyweight title, once the marquee belt in the UFC, he also messed up a potential record-breaking fight in terms of buys with WWE Universal champion Brock Lesnar.
Ryan:
Without question, it is the Jon Jones situation. When he was involved at the press conference for all of the summer fights in May, I was amongst those he talked to backstage. I truly gave him the benefit of the doubt that he was coming back for redemption. He defeated Daniel Cormier, reclaimed gold, and had it all taken away just weeks later in the same situation he has found himself in for the last several years. He could have gone down as the greatest of all-time, but the drug test failures, if they already hadn’t tarnished his legacy, they certainly have now.
Josh:
I’m going a little higher level and say the UFC in general was my most disappointing thing of 2017. We still don’t know what Endeavor (the former WME-IMG) is all about and what they hope to do with the sport. We got two new titles introduced to little to no fanfare. Interim title fights were abound. Head-scratching main events were made. Cards were thin while events were plentiful. Conor McGregor was allowed to box in a strictly financial move. For a group that is supposed to be the stewards of the sport, UFC leadership was often derelict in that duty last year.
What’s your biggest question(s) for the MMA year ahead?
Ryan:
I think, maybe not the biggest question, but one of the most important ones is how the new television deal is going to impact the future. They will announce a new deal this year, but how much they get and for what amount of content, is a big question mark. It is certainly going to have an effect on their business model, whether it’s positive or negative, and it may change how things are run, and how often we get fight cards, and what types of fights are booked. It is an interesting situation that needs to be followed.
Paul:
Can anyone break away from the pack of really good fighters to become a bigger than life star that people will flock to in droves to see fight on PPV? UFC has always had 2-3 such fighters since their business exploded in popularity in 2005. The biggest possibility would seem to be Francis NGannou should he beat Stipe Miocic for the heavyweight title. Other contenders would be Rose Namajunas or Sage Northcutt if the latter could string a series of wins together.
Josh:
I really wonder where the sport will be at a year from now. It feels like 2016 was an anomaly and 2017 was the norm with what Endeavor’s vision is: a few loaded PPVs a year, some PPVs reliant on one or two fights, a lot of thin cards on free TV and Fight Pass, and “we gotta fill out a show” booking. I hope we are in a better place a year from now, but we’re going to need a few lucky breaks and some real forward thinking (less events in the new TV deal) in order to get there.
Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive did their annual 2018 prediction show on Wrestling Observer Live last week where listeners got to call or email in with their thoughts on what things will happen in the pro wrestling and MMA world this year. We wanted to throw it out to our writers and podcasters about big questions and predictions for the year ahead.
Paul Fontaine, MMA recapper & fill-in wrestling recapper:
For me, the biggest question in 2018 has to be what will happen with Daniel Bryan, aka Brian Danielson. With his WWE contract scheduled to expire in the fall, he’s made no secret of his desire to return to an active in-ring career. If WWE doctors will not clear him, that would seemingly open the door for him to return to the indie scene or New Japan, or both. That could be a huge game changer for any company he wrestles for and brings up the possibility of dream matches with the likes of Okada, Naito, Omega, Cody, Matt Riddle, and Jeff Cobb among many others. And if WWE does clear him, there are plenty of fresh and interesting matchups for him there as well.
Mike DellaCamera, NXT preview writer:
What does NXT do in 2018? The brand continues to grow and shows no signs of stopping as they constantly put on the best live events in all of WWE. The question is how and where does it grow because it’s very quickly outgrowing its one hour pre-taped home on the WWE Network. One look at the talent on the roster tells you all you need to know: Adam Cole, Andrade Almas, Bobby Fish, Kyle O’Reilly, Ember Moon, The Iconic Duo, Aleister Black, Velveteen Dream, SAnitY, Kassius Ohno, Lars Anderson, Johnny Gargano, and Tommaso Ciampa to say a few.
How in the world do you fit all that talent into an hour of TV? That doesn’t even take into account the newer signees that have yet to debut (Axel Dieter Jr,) or are rumored to be signed (Ricochet). The roster is flush with talent, and some of that will float up to the main roster as some of the older stale talent is released, but isn’t it a waste for all of it to just work the Florida house show loop?
A sign of what might be coming happened over the holidays as USA Network aired an episode of NXT during ‘WWE Week’. Ratings weren’t spectacular overall, but it was the highest rated program on USA that night. With their deal with USA over in 2019, might this be the year that NXT makes steps to take its rightful place next to Raw and SmackDown on live television?
– Roman Reigns will get booed out of the building after winning the title at WrestleMania.
– Ronda Rousey will get booed out of the building if she defeats Asuka at Wrestlemania or any other show during the year.
– Rusev will emerge as the most popular babyface on Raw after he gets drafted from SmackDow, and will defeat Roman Reigns at SummerSlam.
– Shinsuke Nakamura will defeat AJ Styles at WrestleMania.
– Brock Lesnar will fight for the UFC heavyweight championship and get knocked out by new champ Francis Ngannou in under a minute.
– Vince McMahon will relaunch a smaller-scale version of the XFL that will be moderately successful, and surprise the critics. He will sign a few big-name, ex-NFL stars, including Tim Tebow.
– History will repeat itself when “Glorious” Bobby Roode will defeat Nakamura for the WWE title.
– Daniel Bryan will stay with the WWE and wrestle Styles in his return match.
Prediction: Cody, The Young Bucks, and ROH will sell 10,000 tickets for a show. I’m not quite sure how or where they will do it, but they’ll do it. I’m not even sure I know what the main event match will be to sell those 10,000 tickets, but it’ll get done. They have a lot of momentum and fans will see this as something special, and will make it a destination show like the G1 Special back in 2017.
As for NJPW, I predict they will sell out the show in Long Beach in March, and the G1 in 2018 will find a way to be just as good or better than the 2017 version. Also, Okada will at some point lose the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.
Two predictions: a McMahon will win a WWE title this year and Curt Hawkins will become the new Gillberg, but will do so in going 0-174 and will break the streak on the WrestleMania pre-show.
I’m going MMA with my predictions and will say that Conor McGregor, Georges St. Pierre, Jon Jones, Nate Diaz and Brock Lesnar will all have UFC fights at some point in 2018. I do believe that McGregor will return, and that at some point during the year, he will fight Diaz for a third time. I don’t believe that GSP came back to fighting just to be one-and-done, and that he will return to 170 pounds. After recent comments made by Jeff Novitzky, I honestly believe that Jones will get cleared by USADA, or just get a one-year suspension, and he will return on the year-end show for a superfight against Lesnar. One last prediction for WWE: Daniel Bryan returns to action inside a WWE ring.
– What’s going on with Daniel Bryan? This is mentioned a few times above, but this is the most fascinating wrestling story of 2018 for a variety of reasons: medical implications, where he could go, etc. I have no doubt he’s going to return to action and if it’s in a WWE ring, that will answer a big question about how the company now values the risk vs. reward when it comes to an injured money player potentially going elsewhere. My gut says he’s going to want to give it a go outside TitanWorld and everything around that decision will make for the most buzzworthy story of the year.
– What’s going on with the UFC and WWE TV deals? Discussed a lot in 2017, we’re going to finally have our answers to where UFC and WWE will mainly be seen in the next 5-7 years. That UFC co-owner Ari Emanuel is negotiating both deals is quite something and really makes a lot of sense when you think about it. For both organizations, how they split up their content pie will tell us where they view the most upside for the future and how to get to where everyone else is going to be a decade from now.
I think UFC and Fox will end up back together again but that they will farm out 2-4 yearly FS1-esque events to either Amazon or Facebook, either as a simulcast like Thursday Night Football or as exclusive. For WWE, I think NBC Universal will re-up them with Facebook becoming an increased content partner as well for the secondary shows. In both cases, I don’t think we’ll see massive increased but enough where everyone will be happy.
– Who’s next to see success on the Patreon train? Among the mass layoffs we experienced in sports media in 2017, one of the feel-good stories was in our bubble as John Pollock and Wai Ting took the leap into the paid content world. As John told me a few weeks ago, they admittedly struggled with the decision over the free vs. paid content model. But just a few weeks after they launched POST Wrestling, they have nearly 1200 subscribers at a minimum of $6/user while friends of the site Jack Encarnacao and JP Sarro are bringing in nearly $2200 a month for The Lapsed Fan. Like in traditional sales, people buy from people they like. In both these cases, that’s a fact.
As we know, not everyone has seen success on Patreon and there are plenty of content creators who are probably better served not going out on their own. However, with increased uncertainity in the media space and with so many still not making what they want to in their current roles, I’m curious as to whether a few others in the wrestling/MMA media space might go the Patreon route and hang their own digital shingle in the year ahead.
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back today with the WORLD FAMOUS ANNUAL WRESTLING OBSERVER LIVE PREDICTION SHOW! We’ll take you phone calls with your bold predictions for 2018, we’ll read last year’s predictions to determine WHO WAS A PROGNOSTICATOR AND WHO WAS A FOOL, and finally, we’ll award the GRAND PRIZE! A fun show as always so check it out~!
Editor’s Note: With more monthly PPV-esque events available to watch than ever, an elite group rises to the top when it comes to total pageviews on our site — a good indication of what moved the meter in terms of general fan interest for both pro wrestling and MMA. The other day, we brought you 6-10 and here’s the top five. Despite the buzz about NJPW this year, WWE is still what moves the needle.
5) WWE Survivor Series | November
The 30th Survivor Series in history came to us from Houston, Texas, billed as “the one night a year that RAW and SmackDown Live superstars compete against each other” — almost ad nauseam. The card featured the champions from each show facing off against one another and the night culminated in a 5-on-5 traditional Survivor Series match for “brand supremacy”. SmackDown Live would get the edge early in victories leading up to the final two matches on the card.
The most intriguing/anticipated match for most was was AJ Styles representing Smackdown Live as the WWE Champion taking on RAW Universal Champion Brock Lesnar, voted as the best match of the show by readers of the Observer and garnering a ****3/4 rating from Dave Meltzer. The main event, however, would not fare as well. Team RAW (HHH, Kurt Angle, Braun Strowman, Samoa Joe & Finn Balor) against Team SmackDown Live (John Cena, Shane McMahon, Shinsuke Nakamura, Randy Orton & Bobby Roode) would be voted worst match on the card by readers of the Observer and only grabbed a *3/4 rating.
4) WWE Fastlane | March
What normally would be considered a B show became an A show if for nothing else than for the main event featuring legend Bill Goldberg challenging Kevin Owens for the Universal title. At that point, Owens owned the longest Universal title reign in history but that come to an abrupt end when he lost to Goldberg in just 20 seconds. Another streak also ended that night as Roman Reigns defeated Braun Strowman, ending his undefeated streak. That this was the fourth most viewed show on our site says a lot about how well the nostaglia run of Goldberg worked.
3) WWE SummerSlam | August
The biggest event of the summer came to us from Brooklyn for the third straight year with a main event of Universal Champion Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns, Samoa Joe & Braun Strowman in a four-way. Voted as the best match of the night by Observer readers, Lesnar successfully defended the gold in a wild and thrilling match. Lesnar, after doing a stretcher job, returned to the ring and was able to get out of Brooklyn with the title after hitting Reigns with an F-5.
The unlikely WWE Championship title reign of Jinder Mahal also continued as he downed Shinsuke Nakamura with some help from the Singh Brothers. AJ Styles retained the US title against Kevin Owens with Shane McMahon as special guest referee with the story in this match being that Owens didn’t agree with McMahon’s referee skills. SummerSlam also saw the return of “The Demon” Finn Balor as he defeating Bray Wyatt in a feud that lasted months.
2) Royal Rumble | January
The Road To WrestleMania kickoff centered around the Rumble match itself as the participants were a who’s who of stars like Goldberg, Brock Lesnar and even The Undertaker. There were several title changes and one milestone reached on the night “where anything can happen”. Braun Strowman continuing to dominate the scene as he eliminated the most superstars at seven while Goldberg eliminated Lesnar to continue their grudge from Survivor Series. Goldberg was eliminated by Undertaker who was then eliminated by Roman Reigns, leaving the final two were Randy Orton and Reigns. After an RKO and a toss, Orton won his second Rumble.
Perhaps most impressive on the show was the highest-rated match of the WWE calendar year between then-WWE Champion AJ Styles vs. John Cena, garnering a ****3/4 rating by Dave Meltzer. Cena tied Ric Flair’s vaunted 16 World title reigns in a classic battle between the two.
Also on the show, The Club became the Raw tag team champions when they beat The Bar and the Cruiserweight title changed hands when Rich Swann lost to Neville.
1) WWE WrestleMania | April
The biggest professional wrestling show of the year came to us from Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida, with the main event ofThe Big Dog going one-on-one with The Deadman for control of “the yard”. There were also five title changes on the show, a mixed tag match that featured a marriage proposal, a non-sanctioned match, and a Rob Gronkowski run-in.
The annual Andre the Giant Memorial battle royal was won by Mojo Rawley when he eliminated Jinder Mahal after he got some help from the aforementioned Gronkowski. Kevin Owens beat Chris Jericho to regain the U.S. gold while the Raw tag titles were the next to find a new home when the returning/surprise Hardy Boyz won a ladder match that featured The Club, The Bar & Enzo/Big Cass.
Naomi became the SmackDown Live Women’s champion when she won a six-pack challenge match while John Cena and Nikki Bella got the best of The Miz and Maryse and afteward, Cena proposed to Nikki (she said yes).
Bray Wyatt lost his WWE Championship to Randy Orton in a weird match that featured images of maggots and such on the canvas while Brock Lesnar become the Universal Champion by beating Goldberg in a memorable brawl that ended Goldberg’s WWE return run.
The main event of the evening saw Reigns defeat Undertaker in his unofficial retirement match. The show ended with Taker placing his coat, hat, and gloves in the center of the ring, kissing his wife at ringside and vanishing from the entranceway as he saluted the crowd. Fade to black.
Much like last year’s Who could be NXT in 2017? column, we have a lot to look forward to as we move in to 2018 with an even more loaded Performance Center roster heading into the new year.
This year will also start out unique on the TV side as NXT will be holding their first quarter tapings at Center Stage in Atlanta, GA, before heading back to Full Sail later in the spring. This will give the TV talent a fresh chance to make impressions and that’s what we’re here to discuss. We all know and have seen great things from the top tier roster, so this is about who has shown the most potential on the Florida tour and who we could be discussing a lot come this time next year.
Buddy Murphy
While this is supposed to be about fresh talents who haven’t had major TV exposure, the former NXT tag champion has evolved into a top level singles wrestler. At 29, the former Melbourne City Wrestling Champion in his native Australia has been in the system since 2013 and to me, he would be one of the premier traveling wrestlers in the world right now if he was on the independent circuit.
The self proclaimed “Best Kept Secret” had countless main event quality matches against the likes of Aleister Black, Kassius Ohno, Lio Rush, Andrade “Cien” Almas, Roderick Strong, Tozawa, and Jack Gallagher this past year, on both the Florida and touring loops. I’ve raved about Murphy’s work in the past (like this) and it’s just a matter of time before he’s back on TV showing what he’s capable of.
Babatunde Aiyegbusi
As we’ve seen recently with the absolute physical marvels like Lars Sullivan and Braun Strowman, strength and size are still at a premium for WWE. There are a few big guys in wrestling, and then there’s Babatunde. Billed at seven feet tall and well over three hundred pounds, the former professional and international football player has only been in the system since 2016 and has already been impressive in his limited ring time.
As with most giants, what we would see on TV would definitely not be what you’d see at live events. Babs only had 18 singles matches this past year but much like Sullivan, I expect, well, giant things from Babatunde in the future.
Marcel Barthel
The former Axel Dieter Jr. of Ringkampf in WXW Germany, as well as PROGRESS in the UK, made his way to NXT and debuted on the Florida loop in June of 2017. In the short time he’s been down on the loop, Barthel has already had standout matches against the likes of Johnny Gargano, Aleister Black, Roderick Strong and even a Full Sail dark match against No Way Jose.
A technical wrestling standout, Barthel is different than everyone who ususally comes through the system and that’s what makes him stand out from the crowd. His presence and ability will carry over to TV and his ability to make those around him better is something I am looking forward to seeing more of.
Dakota Kai
The former world-traveled Evie on the indies is a ten year veteran who was a standout in her native New Zealand, her second home in Australia, and on countless tours around the world that included Stardom Japan, SHIMMER, and SHINE in the states. 2017 was an absolute whirlwind as Dakota finished up with Melbourne City Wrestling in Australia before a debut on the NXT Florida loop and then competing in the Mae Young Classic, advancing to the quarter finals against the eventual winner Kairi Sane.
Soon afterwards in one of the rarest talent sharing situations, WWE allowed Kai to wrestle at a pair of PROGRESS shows in NY and Boston before returning to the Florida loop. With the recent main roster call ups in the women’s division leaving spots open in NXT, it seems like the perfect time for Dakota Kai to begin her TV journey.
Lacey Evans
In less than two years training at the PC, Evans has already become a Florida loop live event staple, and with her impressive resume, it’s safe to believe she’s also a leader. The former US Marine has made a few appearances on TV, yet her first true showcase was in the Mae Young Classic as she advanced to the second round against Toni Storm. With her classic pin-up looks and her impressive strength, Lacey is sure to be in the next wave of talent to be showcased in the womens division.
**********
The 2018 NXT roster is as deep as it has ever been and we’ve barely even scratched the surface on major breakout candidates here on the Florida loop like Donovan Dijak, Lio Rush, Rhea Ripley, and many more who have already had breakout appearances yet haven’t been properly launched such as Bianca Belair and Fabian Aichner.
The stockpiling of talent will continue on in the next few months as we are expecting a fresh class this January. Yet, as of this moment, these have been my top names you should watch in 2018 and beyond.
Editor’s Note: Every day this week, we’ll take you back to one of Dave Meltzer’s top-rated matches of the past year, starting with No. 10 and going through No. 1. What follows is an edited version of Dave’s writeup of that match from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter with the context relatively intact.
Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega
NJPW Dominion | June 11
******1/4
Kazuchika Okada and Kenny Omega followed one of the greatest pro wrestling matches of all-time with an even better sequel: a 60:00 draw for the IWGP title in the main event of the June 1th Dominion show from Osaka Jo Hall.
When it was over, both men collapsed on the mat selling complete exhaustion. It was the first 60:00 draw in an IWGP heavyweight championship match since a March 26, 2005, title match with Satoshi Kojima vs. Manabu Nakanishi. There were three other previous one hour draws in IWGP title matches: a March 5, 2003, match with Nakanishi vs. Yuji Nagata, an October 21, 2002, match with Nagata vs. Masahiro Chono, and an August 8, 1988, match with Tatsumi Fujinami defending against Antonio Inoki.
In a match filled with memorable moments, perhaps the best was Omega being done and Okada throwing the Rainmaker, but Omega collapsed to the ground as he threw it, causing the champion to miss the move and go flying.
The key story of the match they were trying to tell is that Omega is the first person that Okada can’t beat with the Rainmaker as he hit him with it multiple times, but we still don’t know if Okada can survive the One Winged Angel. Omega hit the move once during the match but Okada’s foot was on the ropes.
A 60:00 match is far riskier today when a 30:00 match seems like an eternity. The idea of such a match had got so much talk that in his pre-match interview, Omega downplayed it by saying this match would not last the nearly 47 minutes of the first one, and it was not going 60.
Kazuchika Okada retained the IWGP heavyweight title with a 60:00 draw with Kenny Omega
Omega used a huracanrana on the floor and teased the Terminator dive, but Okada kicked him. Okada used a running flip dive and started selling like he hurt his left knee. Omega worked on the knee with a dropkick and a 70s Brisco avalanche leg dive. He worked it over with a kneebreaker and the figure four leglock, which Okada reversed as they got into the ropes. Omega gave him a kneebreaker on the apron and threw the knee on top of the table. Omega went for a moonsault off the guardrail, but Okada shoved him and Omega flew into the other guardrail. Okada did the running crossbody over the guard rail onto Omega and drove him through the second guardrail.
They both reversed out of tombstone attempts. Okada missed an elbow off the top. Omega did a top rope Asai moonsault to the floor where he nearly lost his balance for a second. Omega used a missile dropkick to the back of the head for a near fall. Omega did a power bomb, a forward fireman’s carry, and middle rope moonsault, but Okada got his knees up. They teased both a top rope piledriver and a top rope dragon superplex, neither of which they did. Okada did a Death Valley bomb on the apron and a running Woo (Suwa) dropkick into the guard rail. Okada set up a table. Omega did a top rope superplex with knee pressure but missed a knee. They each got out of the Rainmaker and One Winged Angel. Okada used two German suplexes and hit the Rainmaker. Okada went for his big dropkick but Omega power bombed him. That was incredible.
Okada later dropkicked him off the top to the floor. He put Omega on the table and came off the top rope with an elbow through the table, which cracked but didn’t fully break. Okada used a missile dropkick and a low dropkick. Omega was selling like he had no strength. Omega was throwing weak punches to the stomach and Okada hit two Rainmakers. Okada wanted the ref to stop it and Cody came out and wanted to throw in the towel, but the Bucks stopped him. Then Omega suddenly exploded with a jumping knee and a reverse huracanrana. He went for another knee but got hit with an Okada dropkick. Omega hit some running knees and hit the One Winged Angel for the first time in their two matches, but Okada got his foot on the ropes.
Okada hit another rainmaker and then stumbled. Omega hit the Fast Dragon suplex but Okada hit another dropkick. They traded elbows and Omega hit the running knees for a near fall. Omega went for the One Winged Angel but Okada reversed into a tombstone. Okada went for another Rainmaker, but Omega collapsed, causing Okada to miss. Both were trying gut wrenches to set up a tombstone but couldn’t get the other up. Omega hit all kinds of elbows and knees. He went for another One Winged Angel but Okada got out and hit a dropkick to the back. Okada hit a spinning tombstone, but then collapsed and couldn’t cover him. Okada did another German suplex, and another dropkick. Omega then started throwing backwards elbows and another snap dragon suplex.
Okada hit another dropkick, hit the Rainmaker, and collapsed. Okada was crawling trying to get the pin when the bell rang. They didn’t gimmick the time at all as it was right at 60:00.
You could argue that Omega as challenger should have been the one crawling. The match story was all about Omega’s survival so from that standpoint, Okada should have been trying for the pin at the end, but it really doesn’t matter. After their January 4th match, which was one of the best matches I’ve ever seen, I watched the Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada match from 1994, which many call the best match ever. Obviously, that is subjective and there are tons of matches that can fit into that category, but more people I know would say Misawa vs. Kawada then any other. I would say the two were comparable, but they were different.
Misawa vs. Kawada was more like a fight and more heated like an incredible sports contest. Omega vs. Okada I was more spectacular when it came to moves as we’re 23 years later but every bit as dramatic, which is ultimately the goal. What I can say is that while this match was not as heated as either of those two matches, it was more intense, featured better selling, was more dramatic, and told a better story than either.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion on the greatest match they’ve ever seen. This was better than those two matches that I thought were the best ones I’d ever seen. It was the two best wrestlers in the world at this point in time, both in the best match of their lives. We are seeing history with this Okada championship run and this Omega vs. Okada program. This is the modern version of the 1989 Flair-Steamboat series, which consisted of three major national shows (they also did dozens of house show matches, most of which were close to the level, at least one of which was above the level, of the three national matches, which is something Omega and Okada didn’t do).
Omega and Okada are right now scheduled for three matches this year, and after two, they are well ahead in comparison, even factoring in the time and place elements. I don’t know how you could top it, except some day, like everything, it will happen.
Okada vs. Omega II basically broke the bank on superlatives, if the first match was one of the few ****** matches in history, this may have been the first Milky Way Galaxy match. And this was hardly the perfect time or place, even if Osaka and Dominion ahead of time looked like it would be. This wasn’t the usual super hot Osaka crowd, and the main event’s bell rang roughly four hours after the start of the show, and followed a match of the year contender with the emotional draining element of Tanahashi, fighting with one arm, beating Naito, who had been destroying and defacing the IC title belt.
Omega vs. Okada was a very different match from the first one. The first one went 46:40, building to the key moves late. This time, going 60:00, they had to pull out all the stops. Omega survived multiple Rainmakers, including one just seconds before the finish. Omega finally hit the One Winged Angel, but Okada got his leg over the ropes to stop the count.
There was no vibe of a 60:00 main event as the show was going on. The key undercard matches all were given time and if you’re planning a one hour broadway, you normally wouldn’t start it four hours into the show, nor have so many long matches underneath. They were building the apparent finishing sequences around 40:00 in to where it felt like there simply wasn’t enough left to go much longer. At the 50:00 mark, you had to think it was going to a one hour draw, but New Japan had done a finish in the Tenzan vs. Kojima match just 11 seconds shy of 60 minutes in a big 2005 match.
There is expected to be a third meeting before the end of the year. Okada’s run as champion over the past year should go down as legendary with the title defenses against Marufuji, the two with Omega, Minoru Suzuki, and Katsuyori Shibata all being among the best matches of the past year, as well as a strong non-title win over Tiger Mask W and a very good match with Bad Luck Fale.
The Okada vs. Omega future storyline really revolves around what decision Omega makes come January. If he stays, he should get a long run as champion and be the international face of the company. Given his performances, for Japan, he as champion with Japanese stars chasing him should work, and for expansion internationally, he’s the better face of the company than Okada.
This leads to the U.S. title tournament that the company is doing on 7/1 and 7/2 in Long Beach. Omega is in the tournament. For a WWE-weaned modern fan, a U.S. title would seem below the level of Omega, although when WWE put the title on John Cena, its biggest star, the title never meant more. It’s the man who makes the belt today and if Omega wins, it goes from being just another mid-card title, to a main event level title, similar to how Shinsuke Nakamura elevated the IC title, as did Naito, and as likely will Tanahashi.
The insane output of high-end matches New Japan Pro Wrestling had during the voting period will rightfully lead to a strong showing in the Observer awards Match of the Year category, but WWE’s in-ring year shouldn’t be forgotten. Though a full year of brand-exclusive pay-per-views and not having the Cruiserweight Classic may have led to a decline from 2016, WWE produced their fair share of matches that deserve to be in contention for best of the year.
Here’s a look at my top five WWE matches of the year:
1) Tyler Bate vs. Pete Dunne for the WWE United Kingdom Championship | NXT TakeOver: Chicago, May 20th
Despite not being regularly featured on WWE programming, Dunne and Bate produced two of the company’s best matches of the voting period. They started 2017 strong in the finals of the United Kingdom Championship tournament and managed to top themselves at NXT TakeOver: Chicago.
Their bout at the UK tournament finals was about establishing Bate as the top babyface and Dunne as the top heel for whatever is to come of WWE’s plans in the country. While Bate became the inaugural champion then, Dunne won the title from him in Chicago and may be champion when things get up and going. It felt like he and Bate were going all out on the biggest stage they’ve ever wrestled on, producing a highlight of their young careers.
The 24-year-old Dunne and 20-year-old Bate should both be future superstars in WWE. They’re good enough to lead WWE’s UK brand, to be top stars in NXT, or contribute on the main roster immediately if WWE needs them.
2) Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman vs. Samoa Joe for the Universal Championship | SummerSlam, August 20th
Being there live in the building, this had the potential to be an all-time classic after only a few minutes. And while it didn’t quite reach that level, it still ended up being pretty great. The crowd went crazy for everything and reacted huge for every big move — even at the end of a really long show. Taking Lesnar out for a portion probably hurt things, but the story worked and helped to set up the eventual Lesnar vs. Reigns meeting.
If there was a match that embodied WWE’s 2017, this was it. Lesnar being champion for so much of the year kept him at the center of the storylines on Raw despite him not always being there. Reigns, Strowman, and Joe all vying to take the title from him produced stronger-than-usual episodes of Raw, leading to the show improving over its 2016 episodes.
3) Brock Lesnar vs. AJ Styles | Survivor Series, November 19th
Though the SummerSlam match is a spot higher, this was Lesnar’s best performance of the year and his best singles match in some time. His results were mixed prior to facing Styles, having had a great sprint with Goldberg at WrestleMania, a good match against Samoa Joe at Great Balls of Fire, and a disappointing showing against Braun Strowman at No Mercy.
Styles was a perfect opponent for Lesnar. He wrestled like he was trying to prove he’s the best in the world, and Lesnar made Styles’ offense look great. It’s impossible to put into words how much of an improvement this was over the planned Lesnar vs. Jinder Mahal matchup. And with it being something of a non-title exhibition, WWE could always come back to Lesnar vs. Styles down the line.
4) AJ Styles vs. John Cena for the WWE Championship | Royal Rumble, January 29th
January was a strong month for WWE. Both the Royal Rumble PPV and night two of the UK tournament were strong contenders for their best show of the year, and Styles vs. Cena and Kevin Owens vs. Reigns at the Rumble were two of WWE’s strongest title matches of 2017.
Styles and Cena probably topped their match from SummerSlam the year prior, but it was close and not remarkably different. Cena matches are too patterned to be anything groundbreaking, though they built on their previous meetings to produce something that will still be remembered. With his time in the ring getting more and more limited, hopefully Cena is able to be on these types of lists for years to come despite not wrestling as much.
5) Asuka vs. Ember Moon for the NXT Women’s Championship | NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III, August 19th
Asuka’s last match in NXT may have been her best since signing with WWE. The result of this may ultimately be what’s most remembered about it, but this was a joy to watch live. Asuka kicking out of The Eclipse was an incredible moment, and Moon earning the crowd’s respect as the match went on after being somewhat rejected by them at the start was great to see.
The decision to have Asuka leave NXT undefeated and without losing the title made plenty of sense. If the NXT women’s division had to take a momentary hit to get her more over on the main roster, it was a small price to pay. Asuka came off as above the division even when she was there, but Moon still has a lot to prove after winning the vacant title.
Editor’s Note: Every day this week, we’ll take you back to one of Dave Meltzer’s top-rated matches of the past year, starting with No. 10 and going through No. 1. What follows is an edited version of Dave’s writeup of that match from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter with the context relatively intact.
Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega
Wrestle Kingdom 11 | January 4
******
Kenny Omega and Kazuchika Okada may have put on the greatest match in pro wrestling history in the main event of Wrestle Kingdom 11 on January 4th at the Tokyo Dome.
The 46:45 classic, coming at the end of a show that lasted five hours and 40 minutes, set New Japan’s all-time record for live foreign streaming viewers, peaking at about 7:30 AM EST. A Jim Ross/Josh Barnett commentated version of the match will air on January 13th on AXS TV, which very well could be the best one hour pro wrestling television show ever, given one match shows (Jack Brisco vs. Dory Funk Jr. from CWF in 1972; Ric Flair vs. Kerry Von Erich in Dallas; Flair vs. Von Erich in Honolulu; Flair vs. Barry Windham in Fayetteville; Midnight Express vs. Fantastics in Chattanooga; Tanahashi vs. Okada from 2013; Tanahashi vs. Styles from 2015) have been among the best.
As great as the aforementioned matches were, this had most of the elements that all of those matches had, but elements they didn’t and really combined the elements they did better.
Okada retained the IWGP heavyweight title after a spinning jumping tombstone piledriver and a fourth Rainmaker. This featured nearly every element of a classic match from intensity to crowd heat to tremendous psychology to off the charts athleticism to hard hits to timing to innovation and to high risk, dangerous moves. The keys to the story is that Omega never once got to hit the One Winged Angel, and even in defeat, he came out of the show being almost clearly the best big match wrestler on the planet.
While watching the show, it felt like the time and place to do the title change, but the argument was that was too early in the Okada reign. Still, based on the performance and the performance of Omega in the build to the show, by all rights, he should win the championship at some point this year. Part of it is that if they are going to expand internationally, Omega is the best face of the company because he can talk different languages, is ridiculously good athletically, and has so much charisma. But losing this way was almost better, because it’ll mean more when he wins it, particularly if it’s in June in Osaka, which will be a hot crowd and right before the U.S. push.
Another key is his future. If I’m WWE, I would not just want him, but he could be that elusive special star that they’ve been unable to make. There is the issue that he can’t wrestle matches like this nightly, or even monthly, without having a short life span on his career. But he’s got the presence, charisma, cockiness and acting ability, as well as the look that WWE is afraid to push someone who doesn’t have.
Plus with the world a smaller place and mainstream U.S. sports websites giving him media exposure, he could walk in with a hardcore base he could build from. Plus, he’s turned into a tremendous promo, although he’s got the huge advantage of being able to use his own voice and use reality for his promos like he did to build the Okada match.
Then again, from a WWE standpoint, having him have a couple of years as the face of New Japan will only elevate him and he’d be able to walk in like A.J. Styles did this past year.
Kazuchika Okada pinned Kenny Omega in 46:45 to retain the IWGP heavyweight title
There was a great video feature on Omega before the match and the videos made this feel like the biggest match of the year. It started slow, but it had to given how long it was going and what it was following. They opened with Omega doing the bridge and backslide spot that Flair used to do in his classic matches. Okada did a draping DDT off the barricade and a sprint on the floor, diving over the barricade with a crossbody. Omega did a Frankensteiner out of nowhere for a near fall, and did a running flip dive over the top while the Young Bucks played the theme from “The Terminator”.
Omega did this ridiculous missile dropkick to the back of the head that looked like it nearly kicked Okada’s head off his shoulders. I have no idea how Okada’s neck could be in decent shape after this match. Omega worked over the neck with the camel clutch. Okada came back working on Omega’s neck with the Red Ink and the neckbreaker over the knee. Okada came off the top with the Randy Savage elbow but Omega got his knees up. He used a backbreaker and a sliding dropkick to knock Okada over the guardrail. He motioned for the announcers to move the tables out of the way and cleared things out. Omega then did a moonsault off the top rope to the floor, over the guardrail, and onto Okada in the first of the memorable spots. Omega followed with a run along with apron into a double foot stomp onto a table that Okada was underneath.
Omega got near falls after two power bombs. Okada was selling great and the crowd started strongly getting behind him. Omega used a middle rope moonsault for a near fall. Okada’s back was sliced up, probably from hitting a table when he flew over the barricade before the moonsault. Omega was on the top rope and Okada dropkicked him to the floor. Omega tried the One Winged Angel off the apron through a table but Okada got away. Then came the second crazy spot, which was Okada’s high backdrop where Omega flew over the top rope and crashed through the table. Don’t try this at home. If he had landed just a foot to the left, he could have been impaled.
Okada hit a missile dropkick for a near fall and an elbow off the top rope. Omega kicked out and slapped Okada in the face. Then came the next crazy spot which was Omega’s dragon superplex off the top rope. Omega continued to work on the neck with a neckbreaker over the knee. Okada used a high angle German suplex, and when he finally hit the dropkick, the place exploded. The key was everyone knows in a long Okada match, the dropkick means they are working toward the finish, but they went several minutes after it this time. Omega started doing the jumping knees and a reverse Frankensteiner, and then hit another running knee. Omega again went for the One Winged Angel, but Okada not only got out of it, he landed on his feet.
Okada used a tombstone piledriver and the Rainmaker, but Omega kicked out. Okada used a running dropkick and went for another tombstone piledriver, but Omega reversed and did the tombstone to Okada. The two traded elbows until Omega did a fast dragon suplex and a series of running knees. He went for the One-Winged Angel again, but Okada was holding the wrist, got out and hit a desperation Rainmaker. Omega recovered with kicks and knees over and over until Okada did another Rainmaker. Both were selling the effects of the match.
They got up and Omega hit a dropkick and a hard jumping knee. Omega went for the One-Winged Angel again, but Okada got out of it, used a jumping and spinning tombstone piledriver, and then a fourth Rainmaker, finally getting the pin.
A number of people after the match stated that it was the greatest they’d ever seen. Personally, I’d say the same thing. As people were leaving the Tokyo Dome, the murmur in the crowd was that it was the greatest pro wrestling match ever, and at restaurants in the area and on the subway, that was the main topic of conversation. The talk backstage was also that it was the greatest match anyone had ever seen.
The match didn’t rely on crazy moves, and more relied on psychology. However, it had the few memorable spots built up that will be remembered. The scariest spot, and one I hope doesn’t get copied, saw Omega do a top rope dragon superplex. Okada landed off the top rope almost on the top of his head. While he seemed fine, announcer Steve Corino noted that when, not if, Okada has neck fusion surgery, he’ll always remember that spot. The 90s All Japan stars, as great as they were, should be the example of why taking suplexes at high angles nearly on top of your head should be avoided at all costs. This wasn’t just a suplex but it was him nearly being spiked falling backwards at a high angle off the top rope.
Okada will likely defend his title next in Sapporo or Osaka. The winner of the New Japan Cup single elimination tournament will get the title shot at Sakura Genesis and while it’s possible for Omega to win the tournament and get the shot, I’d do the rematch at Dominion from a timing standpoint.
The Dome show drew 26,192 paid and there was in the neighborhood of 35,000 to 37,000 in the building. It was well up as far as total in the building from last year, although paid was only up about 1100. Still, that is considered a major success because it’s the first time since 2010 that Hiroshi Tanahashi wasn’t in the Tokyo Dome main event, and Omega was unproven as far as headlining a show of this caliber. Going in, the crowd saw Okada vs. Omega as that epic championship match, and both came out of it having transformed from two of the best wrestlers in the industry to bonafide big card draws.
Editor’s Note: Every day this week, we’ll take you back to one of Dave Meltzer’s top-rated matches of the past year, starting with No. 10 and going through No. 1. What follows is an edited version of Dave’s writeup of that match from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter with the context relatively intact.
Kenny Omega vs. Kazuchika Okada
G1 Climax B Block Finals | August 12
******
The highest caliber G-1 Climax tournament in history had perhaps the most predictable ending. We had 37 of the 91 matches rated **** or better, and that was a low figure since the consensus I’ve seen was 40. The A block with the ridiculous depth had 23 of 45, while the B block had 13 of 45, with the championship match being the 37th. That’s far beyond any other tournament of its type in history. There have been tournaments with a lot of great matches, but not with this level of depth.
Kenny Omega pinned Kazuchika Okada in 24:40 to win the B block
This match was just off the charts and easily one of the most spectacular matches there’s ever been. Once again, they did a different match and told a different story. The key was that Omega (6-2) had to win in under 30:00 or Okada (6-1-1) would go to the finals, and Okada only needed the draw. But in the story, Okada made it clear he wasn’t looking to coast for the draw, and he was about to get the win after their previous draw.
Both came out trying to win right away, but missed their big moves. After Omega blocked the dropkick the first time, Okada hit it on Omega, who sitting on the top rope, knocking him to the floor. He whipped Omega into the barricade, knocked him over it, and did a running crossbody over the barricade which caused Omega to fly over the front row seats into the second row.
Okada was selling his neck which was all taped up, so Omega kept chopping it. Omega used a pescado and a missile dropkick to the back of Okada’s head, followed by a running Billy Robinson backbreaker. Omega got his knees up on a senton and Okada got his knees up on the You Can’t Escape/moonsault combo. Omega hit a Frankensteiner and teased the Terminator dive, but Okada jumped in the ring and hit a flapjack. Omega went for a springboard, but as he stood on the top rope, Okada dropkicked him to the floor. That was crazy timing. Then Omega did a reverse Frankensteiner on the floor on Okada, who landed on the top of his head. That played off more since the story of the match was working the neck and the doctor came out to tease stopping the match.
Omega used a snap dragon suplex on the apron and later hit two V triggers, causing Gedo to tease throwing in the towel. Omega continued to work on the neck but Okada blocked a V trigger. Omega came back and went for the One Winged Angel, but Okada reversed it into a tombstone piledriver. Okada followed with a missile dropkick and a Woo dropkick. He then hit one of the most amazing dropkicks you’ll ever seen, the photos of which are mind-blowing.
After a German suplex, Okada went for a Rainmaker. Omega ducked and dropped him on his neck with a uranage. He went for the One Winged Angel but Okada escaped and hit the Rainmaker. He went for another and Omega cradled him and also hit a backslide. Okada hit another Rainmaker, but Omega ducked the next one. Omega hit two German suplexes, the second a high angle one. Omega hit another reverse Frankensteiner for a near fall. Okada blocked a One Winged Angel but from that position of Okada escaping, Omega hit a German suplex, the Crunch Warp. Okada hit another dropkick, went for the Rainmaker, Omega ducked it, hit the V trigger, then followed by a Jay Driller, another V Trigger and the One Winged Angel for the pin.
Again, this tournament was the best in history, but there was nothing up to this point, not even Tanahashi vs. Naito, that was at the level this was.
Omega vs. Okada was the third match of what had been as good a first two matches as you’ll ever see. This is very much the modernized Flair vs. Steamboat 1989 program with the three national matches where people have debated which of the three was the best because all were classics and completely different. Because of the 30:00 time limit, it was faster paced with the Omega time limit/Okada draw storyline. I was told that Omega considered this the best of the three matches. To me, I felt this was every bit as good as their Tokyo Dome match, but there is a drama of building for 60 minutes that you can’t do in 24:40. But, it’s all taste. The match built off the first two, was faster paced, and was more dynamic.
If you’re not into the building of the match and drama of exhaustion and just want fast-paced explosive action, this was the best of the three for you.
2017 was a banner year for pro wrestling with plenty of shocking surprises, big news events, interesting matchups, and plenty more. And while it was a bit quieter for MMA, maybe the biggest pay-per-view spectacle of all time took place when Conor McGregor faced Floyd Mayweather in a boxing match.
We asked our group of writers and podcast hosts who won 2017 in their eyes: wrestler, fighter, promoter, or group.
Jeremy Peeples, 205 Live recapper
2017 was a massive year in pro wrestling, but no single person saw their star rise more than Kenny Omega. He began the year with a single opportunity: a main event at Wrestle Kingdom. At the time, it was an incredible feat simply because he went from being slotted as a junior to suddenly being thrust into AJ Styles’ role as the Bullet Club leader so quickly.
Omega seemed to take this in stride by not only upping his in-ring game, but also creating a character that was far more serious than before while also retaining a silly side to it. In doing so, he became someone who has almost become bigger than his core company, at least in America. The rise of The Elite as a whole has given New Japan its biggest level of mainstream popularity outside of its own country with the company’s merchandise now being sold in malls as featured items in Hot Topic stores.
Without Omega finding the best version of himself this past year, it wouldn’t have happened. As a result, the first-ever IWGP United States Champion may not have the company’s top prize in his possession yet, but he does hold the keys to the company’s popularity in America in his hands and that is something that has allowed him to make himself and his title more valuable than anyone could have imagined.
He began 2017 with a lot of hype after his first match with Okada and now ends 2017 with a feud with Chris Jericho that is bringing back the most serious version of Jericho since his legendary 2008 run.
2018 will begin with a single match at Wrestle Kingdom 12 that may not close the show, but the Omega vs. Jericho could catapult the company’s stock in the US to even greater heights, especially if they find a way to have a classic match that isn’t just a technical showcase. With the two men involved, it should be one of the best matches of Jericho’s career and could be something that changes the game if he winds up sticking around with New Japan as a part-timer.
Brian Denny, NJPW recapper and general writer
Who won 2017? Look no further than Cody, who revealed on Busted Open Radio that he had his first seven-figure year in pro wrestling. That happened outside of the WWE. He was the ROH World Champion, had successful tours in Japan for NJPW, appeared on several sold-out indie shows throughout the year, held multiple other championships, and is about to personally (with others) help fund the potentially biggest non-WWE pro wrestling show in the US since the end of WCW.
Alan Boon, UK scene writer
It’s difficult to consider any attempt to decide who “won” 2017 in pro wrestling without mentioning WWE. They always win by virtue of being in a position to consolidate their place as market leader.
Having said that, they haven’t had too many outright victories this year in things they’ve tried with the “Jinder Mahal as champion” experiment not paying massive dividends in India, the WWE UK project failing to get off the ground past a limp taping in Norwich, and the Mae Young Classic being an admirable but lackluster shadow of the previous year’s Cruiserweight Classic.
Outside the New York bubble, New Japan has made big strides in increasing their market share in the US, admittedly from very little to a little bit more (although the sales of NJPW-branded shirts at Hot Topic have been astonishing), and they’ve enjoyed another strong year at home with their in-ring at an extremely high level. Even limited or inexperienced wrestlers have had some outstanding main events, and there will be no one else attaining such a high level on a regular basis.
From my own backyard, British wrestling has continued to thrive, becoming possibly the hottest scene in the world when taken as a whole. What’s been especially surprising and welcome is that a few individuals have become genuine ticket sellers. Not only the WWE UK guys like Pete Dunne, Tyler Bate, and Trent Seven, but others like #CCK have become stars with long queues at the merch table.
So who won 2017? We all did. Never has there been so much top class professional wrestling so easily available from quality action in every town that can support a population of graps-hungry adults to the plethora of streaming services bringing the good stuff right into our front rooms. And you know what? There’s no reason to think 2018 will be any different. Yeah, the bubble is going to burst at some point but let’s enjoy the ride while things are hot.
Josh Molina, general recapper
At age 47, Chris Jericho continues to reinvent himself. He began 2017 setting the record for the longest cumulative time in the history of the Royal Rumble with more than five hours of ring time. He escalated his spectacular angle with Kevin Owens, advancing his “You just made the list!” gimmick into a WrestleMania match. Jericho entered that as United States Champion and although he lost, he established himself, again, as a legend and true icon of the sport.
Jericho left the WWE to tour with his rock band Fozzy and we all thought he’d be gone for awhile, but he reinvented himself again with another tremendous angle involving Kenny Omega in New Japan Pro Wrestling. He shocked the world by challenging Omega to a match which is now the scheduled co-main event of Wrestle Kingdom 12. Jericho has used some simple 1980s wrestling tactics to launch himself into arguably the number one angle the sport today.
Jericho somehow made himself more internationally relevant than any wrestler on the WWE roster and he is one of the most talked about guys in the industry as we close the year. Chris Jericho won 2017.
Paul Fontaine, MMA and wrestling recapper
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, is the capital of the wrestling world in 2017, and the city that I’m proud to call my hometown has a lot of buzz around it for a match that will happen in the first week of the New Year. In my opinion, the man who will defend his US title in a match against a fellow Winnipegger in the mecca of Japanese wrestling, the Tokyo Dome, is the clear winner in 2017.
Kenny Omega wrestled in only the second six-star match in history to kick off the year. He followed that up with two arguably better matches later in the year (all against Kazuchika Okada, who had a pretty good year himself) and along the way became the first ever IWGP US Champion with another five-star classic against Tomohiro Ishii in the tournament final. And the scary thing is that the best may be yet to come for one Kenny Omega.
Ethan Renner, NJPW recapper
Conor McGregor reportedly earned “around” $100 million for his August 2017 boxing bout with Floyd Mayweather. The common thread in pro wrestling and combat sports is drawing money, and McGregor drew enough of it to earn himself nine figures, and possibly an early retirement from giving and receiving punches to the face. He lost the Mayweather fight, but he certainly won 2017.
Jeff Hamlin, Raw recapper
It can’t be limited to this year, but there’s now more mainstream acceptance of pro wrestling from media sports outlets. Ric Flair’s 30-for-30 was the most watched show on cable for the night it premiered on ESPN. Wrestling podcasts are earning year-end awards for the best in all of sports, not just pro wrestling. Journalists are no longer afraid to say they’re wrestling fans. The reason is because many modern media critics, writers and journalists were teens (or younger) during the boom period in the late 90s.
The irony of it all is far fewer people are watching wrestling now compared to the 90s when it was still common to degrade wrestling and its consumers. For example, the coverage of Mike Tyson appearing at WrestleMania XIV saw some anchors and writers saying it was proof Tyson had hit rock bottom, evidently forgetting his rape conviction from 1992.
I wonder if WWE will work harder to entice bigger named celebrities for WrestleMania in the future, something that has steadily fallen by the wayside. From that standpoint, I suppose WWE’s marketing won the year.
Alan4L, podcast host and Figure Four Weekly writer
At the end of 2017 when you think about the impact players of the year and the men who “won” the year, you might think of names such as Kenny Omega or The Young Bucks. These wrestlers were on the tips of peoples’ tongues all year long. However, I’d like to think about this question in terms of what the answer might be when you look back at 2017 thirty years from now. That answer will be “The Rainmaker” Kazuchika Okada.
The year that this man had was not built on buzz or shocking the system. Rather, it was built on creating a portfolio of work that will stand the test of time and be looked at in the future as one of the greatest in-ring years in wrestling history. An historic IWGP Heavyweight Championship reign saw Okada string together one classic defense after another, and even when he could have relied on his status to coast in the G1 Climax and let others carry the water, he went out there and killed it every night, arguably becoming the MVP of the tournament.
Okada is amazing, his 2017 was amazing, and he is the gift that just keeps on giving.
Mike DellaCamera, columnist
Who won 2017? The clear winner of 2017 is Chris Jericho, who provided the best moment in WWE with the Festival of Friendship and now is co-main eventing goddamn Wrestle Kingdom in Japan. But since he’s already been mentioned, I’ll pick someone who continued to do the best work of his career and still be underrated — The Miz as WWE wouldn’t have worked without him this year.
He continuously elevated every feud he was in, cut the best promos in the company, and made everything feel that much more important. He got people to react to Bo Dallas. He got people to react to Curtis Axel. He got us to care. There’s been a noticeable absence in the product since he’s been gone and everything will be better once he gets back. Here’s hoping 2018 brings us more of the Miz and provides him with a well deserved title run.
Josh Nason, editor and podcaster
The undisputed winner of 2017 is content.
I base that simply on the sheer amount of content available at the ready. From WWE Network to YouTube to the dearly departed FloSlam to traditional TV to various smaller streaming services to illegal streams to everything in between, you could easily spend days on end watching old and new content without repeating anything.
If you had told me in 1996 that I wouldn’t have to buy VHS tapes to see the best talent in the world outside WWE do their thing and could get those matches ASAP, I would have hugged you. The future is now for active fans, lapsed fans, and everyone in between. We’re all hugging everyone.
But that future does come with a slight conundrum: there’s too much available to us and quantity over quality is winning. Everything competes with everything now and what pushes through to our TVs, computers and phones depends on how badly we want to see it. For the content providers like WWE, they aren’t competing against ROH. They’re competing against Netflix, pro sports, Amazon, HBO, and everyone else. But their issue is to keep feeding the content (aka money) monster which is why Raw is three hours every week.
I expect more of the same in 2018: a mix of great matches and fights and a lot of very forgettable drivel along the way.
Joseph Currier, editor and Figure Four Weekly writer
While Kazuchika Okada’s in-ring work was unmatched this year, no one did more to improve their stock in 2017 than Braun Strowman.
Strowman’s push was already well underway at the start of the year. And him being successful was likely inevitable given that he’s exactly what Vince McMahon looks for in a pro wrestler, but it’s easy to forget that Strowman didn’t even have a featured match at WrestleMania this year. He was just involved in a pre-show battle royal that New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski ended up being the star of.
Aside from his completely underwhelming match against Brock Lesnar at No Mercy, Strowman proved himself capable of being really good in the ring. He was a valuable part of the fatal four-way main event at SummerSlam, which may have been the best main roster match of the year. His feud with Roman Reigns delivered. And his Raw matches against Big Show were even surprisingly good.
Strowman enters 2018 as one of the top babyfaces in WWE and will face Lesnar and Kane in a triple threat match for the Universal Championship at the Royal Rumble. He’ll almost certainly have a top match at WrestleMania, and he’ll probably be in an even better position the year after that.
Editor’s Note: Every day this week, we’ll take you back to one of Dave Meltzer’s top-rated matches of the past year, starting with No. 10 and going through No. 1. What follows is an edited version of Dave’s writeup of that match from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter with the context relatively intact.
Kenny Omega vs. Tetsuya Naito
G1 Climax Finals | August 13
***** 3/4
The highest caliber G-1 Climax tournament in history had perhaps the most predictable ending.
From the announcement of the lineup, it looked like the A block would come down to Tetsuya Naito beating Hiroshi Tanahashi, the B block to Kenny Omega getting his first career win in his series with Kazuchika Okada, and that Naito would get revenge for his 2016 B block final loss to Omega, by beating him in the final. And that would set up Okada vs. Naito, the company’s most popular wrestler, for the Tokyo Dome main event.
That’s exactly what happened, but predictability didn’t matter. It wasn’t so much about who won and lost, because of match quality in the tournament, almost everyone won. Yuji Nagata was 1-8 and many had him as the tournament MVP. Omega had two of the best matches in pro wrestling history, both within a 21 hour period, and yet that wasn’t enough to stand out from a pack of the deepest pure talent pool in tournament history.
Naito vs. Omega was an insane dangerous classic. Most had this as the best match of the tournament, and in doing so, makes it a strong contender for match of the year. As far as an explosive emotional match goes, there was none better this year. I liked Omega vs. Okada more, because I thought it was superior when it came to athleticism, While also coming across far too dangerous, this match tread even more into that territory.
Tetsuya Naito pinned Kenny Omega in 34:35 to win the G-1 Climax tournament
Omega did a moonsault off the guard rail. Naito came back with a neckbreaker on the apron and a neckbreaker off the apron to the floor. A great spot saw Naito do the Tranquillo where he usually just lays there and poses, but then got up and hit a tope. Naito then went to piledriver Omega on the hard Japanese table, which is bad enough, but jumped up and somehow missed the table. We thought Omega was done for good. Believe it or not, no wrestlers were maimed making this match.
To his credit, after missing the table, Naito did protect him well on the way down. Omega sold like crazy. Omega later started working on Naito’s bad shoulder. The night before, the shoulder was all taped up but Naito wore a shirt so you didn’t know it. It probably would have been better to have been taped up here to add to the drama, but I guess he didn’t want to be seen as going into the match injured, even though he was. Omega went for the You Can’t Escape, but after doing it, he started selling the neck so he couldn’t do a moonsault. Naito used a Frankensteiner and Omega hit the Terminator dive. Omega followed with a missile dropkick to the back of the neck. Naito worked him over with a German suplex and a neckbreaker over the knee. He went for a German suplex, but Omega landed on his feet. Still, Naito hit a tornado DDT. He later went for the Frankensteiner off the top, but Omega reversed into a hot shot and a snap dragon suplex, followed by a V Trigger. Omega tried a Jay Driller, but Naito blocked it. Naito reversed a power bomb into a tornado DDT. After a series of moves, Naito went for the destino, but it was blocked and turned into a reverse crunchy piledriver by Omega.
There was a crazy spot where Naito went for a superplex, but Omega reversed it and DDT’d him on the post. I have no idea what they were doing, but that wasn’t supposed to happen quite like that and Naito could have been in a lot of trouble. Naito used a reverse huracanrana off the top rope but missed a stardust press. Omega hit the Jay Driller and two V tTiggers. Naito blocked the third one, but Omega hit the next one and hit a doctor bomb. He did a running V Trigger and went for the One Winged Angel, but Naito reversed into a reverse huracanrana. He went for the Destino but Omega hit the crunchy roll for a near fall. Omega was killing him with V triggers, and again went for the One Winged Angel, but Naito reversed and hit the Destino. Both were selling big and they teased a double knockout. Naito was bleeding from the mouth. They traded slaps and Omega hit another V trigger. Naito used a koppo kick and two Destinos and got the pin.
After the match, Naoki Sugabayashi gave Naito the G-1 trophy and Masahiro Chono, Mr. G-1, came out and gave him the flag and fist bumped him. Naito cut his usual promo with all his LIJ members and fist bumped everyone including Darryl.
In many people’s eyes, the DDT on the ringpost by Omega where it looked like Naito’s career could end and Naito’s piledriver off a table to the floor are what made it the best match of the tournament and those spots will probably always be associated with this match, even if they weren’t supposed to happen like that. The piledriver was supposed to be a piledriver through the table but for whatever reason when Naito jumped up, he missed the table and landed on the floor. To his credit, he was able to protect Omega going down, and the fear of injury and the selling like this was real. In each case, they went too far and were really hurt, but it added to the match.
Editor’s Note: Every day this week, we’ll take you back to one of Dave Meltzer’s top-rated matches of the past year, starting with No. 10 and going through No. 1. What follows is an edited version of Dave’s writeup of that match from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter with the context relatively intact.
Michael Elgin vs. Tetsuya Naito
NJPW New Beginning | February 11
*****
Tetsuya Naito pinned Michael Elgin in 36:17 to retain the IC title
The crowd was super-hot for Naito. Naito spit at Okada, who was doing commentary, so that’s for down the line. Elgin pressed Naito and held him up for a long time before dropping him. Elgin did a flip off the apron. Naito did a tope and Elgin caught him in mid-air and turned it into a delayed vertical suplex on the floor. Naito worked the knee including having Elgin in a kneebar and spitting at him. Elgin was doing ridiculously hard clotheslines. He also gave Naito a German suplex into the buckles, followed by another one.
Naito worked the knee and got a super near fall using a reverse Frankensteiner. He went back to the leglock and the crowd was really hot for the rope break. Naito spit in Elgin’s face again. Elgin used the Emerald Flowsion on the apron, as well as a power superplex into a falcon arrow. He did spinning elbows to the back of the head and the front of the head. Elgin kicked out of the first Destino attempt. Naito tried another Destino, but Elgin blocked it and used a Death Valley bomb into the turnbuckles, then a power bomb on the apron, and a power bomb on the barricade and threw Naito into the ring.
Elgin then did his Elgin bomb in the middle but Naito kicked out. The reaction was incredible. They traded more big moves including Naito getting out of a Burning Hammer and Elgin kicking out of a reverse DDT, until Naito hit another Destino for the pin.
At one point in the match, Elgin gave Naito a power bomb into the guardrail. Part of the magic of pro wrestling is the ability to do things that make you think guys are devastating each other, but are actually safe and perhaps these guys are so good they can do that spot safely. The problem is that in the quest to stand out, safety is often forgotten and risks are taken. But, Seth Rollins and Finn Balor likely thought the same thing. And unlike WWE, which is a machine that runs no matter what, a serious injury to Naito at this point would probably damage this promotion more than any single wrestler getting hurt right now would hurt any major company.
Overall, this was the second best match I’ve seen this year behind Okada vs. Omega. This was a step above John Cena vs. A.J. Styles at the Royal Rumble and Okada vs. Minoru Suzuki last week in Sapporo which is great company to be in. There have been so many great matches in such a short period of time which leads to healthy (and sometimes unhealthy) debate because the good thing about the four standout matches of the year thus far is all are completely different from each other.
The strengths of Naito vs. Elgin were Elgin’s power moves and selling of the knee, some strong creativity, the physical nature of the match, and Naito’s overall work, which was spectacular. Naito is clearly New Japan’s MVP right now, and has been a great wrestler for years, always praised for his layouts of big matches. Still, even though he and Omega had one of last year’s best matches in the G1, I always felt Naito was just underneath the best in-ring guys. As a babyface, he could do it all, but there were reasons he didn’t always connect. As a heel, he’s picked up greatly in the charisma department, and whether it’s desire to be at the highest standard, I now see him in that category with the big five or so main event singles workers in the world.
