Best Matches Of October 2018

October may not have had a 5-star match, which is apparently a surprise now, but it did have a ton of great matches from all over the wrestling world. It also featured WALTER and Meiko Satomura putting forward their claims to be male and female wrestlers of the year. Also, even though I have only included Dragunov vs Gunns as an honourable mention it is more than worth your time for the atmosphere alone. The fans in attendance created an incredible atmosphere that included a duelling chant that lasted over 15 minutes and is something else to behold. You can check it out here. 

Honourable Mentions

AJ Styles vs Samoa Joe (WWE Title, No DQ) - WWE Super ShowDown ****

KUSHIDA vs Marty Scurll (IWGP Jr Heavyweight Title) - NJPW King Of Pro Wrestling ****

Pentagon Dark vs Reklusa - Lucha Underground S04E18 ****

Austin Aries vs Johnny Impact (Impact Title) - Impact Wrestling Bound For Glory ****

Willie Mack vs Sam Shaw (NWA National Title) - NWA 70th Anniversary ****

Zack Sabre Jr vs Hirooki Goto - RPW/NJPW Global Wars ****

Chris Ridgeway vs Will Ospreay - RPW/NJPW Global Wars ****

Mark Haskins vs Matt Riddle - PROGRESS Chapter 76: Hello Wembley ****

Jimmy Havoc vs Paul Robinson (Deathmatch) - PROGRESS Chapter 76: Hello Wembley ****

Tony Nese vs Cedric Alexander vs Gran Metalik vs TJP vs Lio Rush - WWE 205 Live 17th October ****

Mustafa Ali vs Hideo Itami (Falls Count Anywhere) - WWE 205 Live 24th October ****

Io Shirai vs Rhea Ripley - WWE Mae Young Classic Episode 8 ****

Io Shirai vs Toni Storm (MYC Final) - WWE Evolution ****

Shane Strickland vs Fabian Aichner (Evolve Title) - Evolve 114 ****

Lucha Bros vs Okami - wXw World Tag Team League Night 1 ****

CCK vs Ringkampf - wXw World Tag Team League Night 1 ****

Ilja Dragunov vs Bobby Gunns (Interim wXw Title) - wXw World Tag Team League Night 2 ****

CCK vs Jay-FK (WTTL Final) - wXw World Tag Team League Night 3 ****

Cedric Alexander vs Buddy Murphy (Cruiserweight Title) - WWE Super ShowDown ****1/4

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Jay White - NJPW King Of Pro Wrestling ****1/4

Aussie Open vs The 198 vs Bandido & Flamita vs Grizzled Young Veterans vs Calimari Thatch Kings vs Mills & Mayhew vs Sexy Starr vs Anti-Fun Police (PROGRESS Tag Titles, Thunderbastard Match) - PROGRESS Chapter 76: Hello Wembley ****1/4

Pete Dunne vs Ilja Dragunov - PROGRESS Chapter 76: Hello Wembley ****1/4

JD Drake vs Anthony Henry vs AR Fox vs Austin Theory vs Harlem Bravado vs Darby Allin (WWN Title, Ladder Match) - Evolve 114 ****1/4

15. Ringkampf vs Lucha Bros - wXw World Tag Team League Night 2

Watching WALTER chop people is amazing. Watching Penta chop people is also amazing. Watching them chop each other is outstanding. ****1/4

14. Kairi Sane vs Shayna Baszler (NXT Women's Title) - WWE Evolution

These two put on another great match here. It followed a similar structure to their previous match, with Baszler working over the arm and Sane showing some great fire. These two work really well together and even the screwy finish helped further the story going forward. ****1/4

13. Kenny Omega vs Cody vs Kota Ibushi (IWGP Title) - NJPW King Of Pro Wrestling

It's pretty rare to see a triple threat IWGP Title match and thankfully this one was very good. It carried on the story that they have been telling all year, with Cody being a dick and driving a wedge between Omega and Ibushi. It really added to the match and it ended up being slightly better than I expected. ****1/4

12. Meiko Satomura vs Mercedes Martinez - WWE Mae Young Classic Episode 5

The first, but not last, appearance from Meiko on this list. These two veterans put together a top class match here, one that had the crowd eating out of the palm of their hand. Satomura is unbelievable when she is on this form. ****1/4

11. David Starr vs Jurn Simmons (No DQ, Hair vs Hair) - wXw World Tag Team League Night 1 

This was an absolute war that did a great job of paying off a year-long storyline. It did go a touch long but the intensity and brutality kept it from becoming much of an issue. Both men put everything on the line and took some nasty looking bumps to establish the hatred between the two men. Great stuff. ****1/2

10. CCK vs Lucha Bros - wXw World Tag Team League Night 3

This is just two great teams putting together a great match. Jonathan Gresham may well be the most underrated wrestler on the planet, possibly because he is shorter than Rey Mysterio. The structure and pacing of this match was spot on and it ended up being one of the better tag matches of the year. ****1/2

9. Minoru Suzuki vs Tomohiro Ishii (British Heavyweight Title) - RPW/NJPW Global Wars

It's Ishii vs Suzuki. Two nasty bastards beating the shit out of each other. What's not to like? ****1/2

8. Toni Storm vs Meiko Satomura - WWE Mae Young Classic Episode 8

Meiko is back and this time the match is even better. For me, this is the best match that has taken place in the MYC, with both women showing just how good they are when they are allowed to go all out. This was excellent. ****1/2

7. More Than Hype vs The Rascalz & Meiko Satomura - OTT Fan Appreciation Night

Meiko Satomura can wrestle anybody and it will be great. None of More Than Hype were even born when Meiko made her debut but they are some talented youths and they had the crowd eating out of the palm of their hand here. This was non-stop action and, while it may not be for everyone, I loved it. ****1/2

6. Katsuhiko Nakajima vs Takashi Sigiura (GHC Title) - NOAH Global Jr League Day 10

This was a superb match that had a really good dynamic between the cocky dickhead Nakajima and the grizzled veteran Sigiura. They basically threw bombs at each other for half an hour and it was joyous. This may well have impressed me even more if I had the time to watch more NOAH. ****1/2

5. Charlotte Flair vs Becky Lynch (Smackdown Women's Title, Last Woman Standing) - WWE Evolution

I went into Evolution with a fair amount of trepidation but I needn't have been worried as it was a great show, and this was a large reason why. They left nothing at all in the tank here. They used kendo sticks, chairs, tables, ladders and whatever else they could get their hands on. There were a ton of great spots and the intensity remained high throughout, meaning it felt like they really hated each other. This was spot on. ****1/2

4. Ricochet vs Pete Dunne vs Adam Cole (North American Title) - NXT 10th October

This was one of the very best matches that has ever taken place on NXT TV. The pace was quick throughout and the match was smooth as silk, as you would expect from three wrestlers of this calibre. The finishing stretch of the match was inferno hot too, and it also continued the build to War Games. A perfectly done TV match. ****1/2

3. WALTER vs Tyler Bate (PROGRESS Title) - PROGRESS Chapter 76: Hello Wembley

This may not have been the main event that this show was scheduled to have but WALTER is physically incapable of having bad matches so this was always likely to be great. They told the story that WALTER believed that Bate was a boy while he was a man. It helped push the match forward into something that ended up being really special. It was a fitting end to the company's biggest show ever. ****3/4

2. Zeus vs Kento Miyahara (Triple Crown) - AJPW Raising An Army Memorial Series Day 11

These two have wonderful chemistry and while this wasn't quite at the level of their match from earlier in the year it was still a fantastic piece of title match wrestling. They brilliantly conveyed the importance of the match through their actions in the ring and gave us another match that hearkened back to the heyday of AJPW. Much like the GHC Title match from earlier in the list, this may well be rated higher if I watched more of the product. ****3/4

1. WALTER vs Will Ospreay (OTT Title) - OTT 4th Anniversary Show

OTT has been hitting it out of the park with their main events as of late, and this was certainly no exception. These two are among the very best wrestlers on the planet and they put together a wonderful David vs Goliath style match here, complete with wonderful near falls and false finishes. The final few minutes, in particular, are a thing of beauty and this is pretty much as close as it is possible to get without getting the full five snowflakes. You should definitely go out of your way to watch this match, which luckily is available on YouTube here. ****3/4