2017 is coming to an end and it has been a great year for professional wrestling so we thought we would share a few of our thoughts on the year and a few hopes we have going forward into 2018. We would also like to thank everyone for their support since this blog started 8 months ago and we will continue to bring you a whole host of wrestling content going forward. In the next few weeks there will be a bunch of end of year lists covering the best wrestlers, tag teams and matches for you to tuck into while you enjoy your turkey (or whatever non British people eat on Christmas).
We will start off with a few questions looking back at this year's best. First up, who is your wrestler of the year?
Leah: Kazuchika Okada. You could make arguments for Kenny Omega, AJ Styles or Mojo Rawley (probably) but Okada stands clear at the top of the mountain.
Ian: I agree that Okada has had one hell of a year, an all-time great really, but I'm still going to say that Kenny Omega has just about edged it. Very rarely, if ever, has a wrestler put together a year's worth of matches like Omega has in 2017. I still believe the best wrestler in the world is AJ Styles though.
What is your favourite match this year?
Leah: Okada v Omega II at Dominion. WWE has had a TREMENDOUS year for in-ring quality; any other year, there are 4 or 5 WWE matches that should walk away with MOTY. This wasn't any other year. There are a number of options for WWE MOTY, but three matches stand head and shoulders above any of them; the Okada vs Omega trilogy. The second of the three, at NJPW Dominion, is the best wrestling match of all time. No exaggeration.
Ian: For me there are only 5 matches that could be argued for as the match of the year. They are all 3 matches from the Okada/Omega trilogy, Omega vs Naito in the G1 Final, and Dunne vs Bate from Takeover: Chicago. As much as I would like to go with a different perspective on things I agree that Okada vs Omega II is the best match this year. It manages to tell a wonderful story in the ring and the pacing is excellent, building beautifully to the finish. Oh yeah, and they manage this for a whole hour.
Let's switch from individual matches to whole cards. What was your favourite show?
Leah: Curveball; my show of the year was WWE Great Balls of Fire. Lesnar vs Joe, Reigns/Strowman ambulance match and The Bar/The Hardys Iron Man match were all tremendous fun, Bliss/Banks was solid and included Bliss deliberately dislocating her own elbow in order to gain an advantage, and Neville vs Tozawa was building up to be a great match before they ran out of time.
Ian: I admire your out of the box thinking there, but I think I will go with something more obvious. I am tempted to go with Wrestle Kingdom 11 as it is chock full of quality but I think I will plump for New Japan's other major show, Dominion. It has the same quite a few of the same matches as WK but I think they were done slightly better at Dominion. It has Okada vs Omega II, Naito vs Tanahashi, and Takahashi vs KUSHIDA and they are all great. I'll give a shoutout to PROGRESS Chapter 55 though as it was a wonderful show.
Okay, one last question about 2017. Which wrestler has annoyed you the most this year?
Leah: The most annoying wrestler of the year for me has been Randy Orton. Even by his standards, Orton has really phoned it in throughout 2017. Hes much like Brock Lesnar in that he'll only turn up and actually try when he's facing off against someone he deems to be "worthy", but unlike Lesnar he isn't a fucking tank. Boring.
Ian: It's hard to argue with Orton, but I'm going to go with someone who had easily the worst feud this year, with Orton, Bray Wyatt. Wyatt has been consistently the most off putting thing about watching WWE. Firstly he had two of the most atrocious matches this year against Orton, at WrestleMania and the House of Horrors match. Then he managed to make a feud with Finn Balor seem stupid and boring.
Looking forward to next year, who do you think will have a breakout year?
Leah: In an ideal world, Mojo Rawley will have a breakout year and prove himself to be a solid upper-card heel. Assuming miracles don't happen, the more likely star of 2018 is Adam Cole (baybay!). With any justice, Cole (and the Undisputed Era's) stay in NXT will be a short one, and Cole will be placed straight in at the top, preferably on Raw. Cole going for the Universal Title while Fish & O'Reilly go for the tag titles; The Shield Mk.II.
Ian: I am tempted to go with Velveteen Dream here but I think he is nailed on to have a good year as he is already on the radar. Because of this I will go for more of a deep dive and say Marcel Barthel. For those that don't know, he was formally known as Axel Dieter Jr and is already appearing as the leader of a faction, also featuring Donovan Dijak, Fabian Aichner and Buddy Murphy, on NXT house shows. He is also a top tier wrestler. I think he will establish himself as a force on NXT next year.
Finally, who do you think should win the Royal Rumble?
Leah: The winner of the 2018 Royal Rumble should be Samoa Joe. In an alternate reality where not all roads lead to Lesnar vs Reigns at Wrestlemania, Joe wins the Rumble then goes on to take the Universal Title at the show of shows. That way, Raw's top title is in the hands of someone who will actually BE on Raw regularly, and all without losing the "Raw champion with a monster aura" that WWE seem to demand to have at all times.
Ian: I am going to be boring here and say that Nakamura should win the Rumble. I think that WWE are running out of time to take advantage of Nakamura and a Rumble win, and subsequent title match against Styles at WrestleMania, would do the world of good. If you have seen the match they had at Wrestle Kingdom 10 you know how good that match could be.
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