Best Matches of May 2018

Another great month for wrestling fans as there were a ton more great matches on offer from a number of companies. 

Honourable Mentions

Buddy Murphy vs Mustafa Ali - 205 Live 8th May ****

Keith Lee vs James Drake - Evolve 104 ****

Chris Dickinson & Jaka vs James Drake & Anthony Henry (Evolve Tag Titles) - Evolve 105 ****

ACH vs Flip Gordon - NJPW Best of the Super Juniors Night 1 ****

Will Ospreay vs Taiji Ishimori - NJPW Best of the Super Juniors Night 1 ****

Dragon Lee vs SHO - NJPW Best of the Super Juniors Night 2 ****

ACH vs Will Ospreay - NJPW Best of the Super Juniors Night 3 ****

Aussie Open vs Chosen Bros - RevPro Epic Encounter ****

El Phantasmo vs Will Ospreay - RevPro Epic Encounter ****

CCK vs Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki & Zack Sabre Jr) - RevPro Epic Encounter ****

Seth Rollins vs The Miz (WWE IC Title) - WWE Backlash ****1/4

David Starr vs WALTER - PROGRESS Chapter 69: Be Here Now ****1/4

15. Matt Riddle vs Shane Strickland - Evolve 104 ****1/4

14. Hiromu Takahashi vs Marty Scurll - NJPW Best of the Super Juniors Night 2 ****1/4

13. Zack Sabre Jr vs David Starr - PROGRESS Chapter 68: Super Strong Style 16 Night 2 ****1/4

12. Hiromu Takahashi vs Dragon Lee - NJPW Best of the Super Juniors Night 6 ****1/4

11. Kassius Ohno vs Zack Sabre Jr (SSS16 Final) - PROGRESS Chapter 68: Super Strong Style 16 Night 3 

It was great to see Chris Hero back on the indy scene, even if it was only for a weekend, and the highlight of it was this match. These two have a long history together and while this wasn't their best match it is nigh impossible for them to put on anything less than great. ****1/2

10. Hiromu Takahashi vs El Desperado - NJPW Best of the Super Juniors Night 4

While a lot of the matches in this tournament were about athletic competition, this one was more about their disdain for each other. This may well have been the best match that I have ever seen from Desperado and they did a great job of keeping the crowd involved. Takahashi is his wonderful self throughout. ****1/2

9. Matt Riddle vs Will Ospreay - OTT Scrappermania IV

For my money, this was better than the match they had on Wrestlemania weekend. They took everything that they had done in their previous matches and built on it to produce a wildly entertaining sprint that is pretty much expected from these two at this point. ****1/2

8. Kento Miyahara vs Naomichi Marufuji - AJPW Super Power Series 

This was the rematch from their excellent Champion Carnival encounter in April and while it was a shade below that match it was still a great match in its own right. Miyahara is the main reason that All-Japan is making a resurgence in the wrestling world, and this is another example of just how good he is. ****1/2

7. Matt Riddle vs Keith Lee - Evolve 105

Keith Lee's last match for Evolve, and what a way to go out. These two appreciated the significance of the situation and produced a fantastic match that was essentially them throwing everything they had at each other until one of them could no longer continue. It played well into their previous matches and had a hot crowd to go along with it. Great stuff. ****1/2

6. WALTER vs Zack Sabre Jr - wXw We Love Wrestling Tour Hamburg

Modern wrestling has so many combinations of wrestlers that produce consistently great matches and this is among the most reliable. Sabre was the one to take the role of aggressor in this one, attacking the leg of WALTER relentlessly, with WALTER's chops being used more for defense. Everything they did made sense and it another example of why both men are among the frontrunners in the WOTY shortlist. ****1/2

5. Keith Lee vs Tomohiro Ishii (British Title) - RevPro Epic Encounter

These two put on a great match for RevPro in 2017 but this one was even better. I have never made any bones about how much I like a good big man showdown, and this was certainly that. Lee dominated for large portions and Ishii sold everything brilliantly, while still maintaining his double hard bastard persona. You should go out of your way to watch this. ****1/2

4. Cedric Alexander vs Buddy Murphy (WWE Cruiserweight Title) - WWE 205 Live 29th May

This match was tremendous. This is exactly the sort of thing that I was hoping for from 205 Live when it started. Murphy has been on another level since being moved to the cruiserweight division and, even though he didn't win here, I hope a good title run is coming his way. This was the best cruiserweight match since the classic and the best main roster match of the first 5 months of 2018. The wrestling was top notch and they told a story that got the crowd really invested. Superb. ****3/4

3. Will Ospreay vs KUSHIDA (IWGP Jr Heavyweight Title) - NJPW Dontaku Night 2

This was an excellent match. These two have put on great matches numerous times before so it wasn't really a surprise, but it is always lovely to watch. KUSHIDA worked over Ospreay's neck and back and Ospreay sold it brilliantly, something he doesn't always do. The action was great and the storytelling followed along with it. Delightful stuff from two of the best jr heavyweights in the world. ****3/4

2. Ilja Dragunov vs WALTER (wXw Title) - wXw Superstars of Wrestling

Yet another great match between these two. Dragunov has been wonderful as champion so far and WALTER is possibly wrestling's best big man at this point. The way the matches between these two usually go is that Ilja decides to go head to head with WALTER and ends up suffering for it but here he played it more methodical, working over the arm until the submission became an inevitability. This was a hair better than their True Colors match and was another example of the strength in depth of wrestling in 2018. ****3/4

1. Kazuchika Okada vs Hiroshi Tanahashi (IWGP Title) - NJPW Dontaku Night 2

This was the latest match in what may well be the greatest rivalry of modern times. Every one of their matches delivers and this was certainly no different. While the actual in-ring work may have been a little bit below some of their other matches, they made up for that with the quality of the story they told. This was the match that gave Okada the record for most title defenses, a record he took off Tanahashi, and the crowd made this match feel special. It speaks to the generational ability of both men that this match isn't even out of the ordinary, it is sort of expected. Absolutely brilliant. *****