December was the quietest month of the year for high-quality wrestling, which is to be expected given the comparative lack of high profile shows. There was still a last minute MOTYC to deal with though. It is also worth noting that the PWG show took place in October but wasn't released until December.
Honourable Mentions
Shun Skywalker vs U-T - Dragon Gate Fantastic Gate ****
Will Ospreay vs Taichi - NJPW World Tag League Finals ****
Buddy Murphy vs Cedric Alexander (Cruiserweight Title) - WWE TLC ****
Shinsuke Nakamura vs Rusev (US Title) - WWE Smackdown ****
WALTER vs Jeff Cobb (PWG Title) - PWG Smokey And The Bandido ****
Ilja Dragunov vs Tyler Bate - PROGRESS Chapter 80: Gods And Monsters ****
15. Puma King vs Rey Horus vs Flamita - PWG Smokey And The Bandido ****
14. Cedric Alexander vs Tony Nese - WWE 205 Live 12th December ****
13. LAX vs CCK - PROGRESS Chapter 80: Gods And Monsters ****
12. Buddy Murphy vs Gran Metalik - WWE 205 Live 12th December ****
11. Johnny Gargano vs Aleister Black (Cage Match) - NXT 19th December ****
10. Trent Seven vs Kyle Fletcher (Atlas Title) - PROGRESS Chapter 79: One Big Neck With Sausage Hands ****
9. Zack Sabre Jr vs Jonathan Gresham - ROH Final Battle ****
8. Kay Lee Ray vs Viper (ICW Women's Title, Queen Of Insanity Match) - ICW Fear And Loathing ****
7. Masato Yoshino vs Pac (Open The Dream Gate Title) - Dragon Gate Fantastic Gate ****
6. The Briscoes vs SoCal Uncensored vs Young Bucks (ROH Tag Titles, Ladder Match) - ROH Final Battle
This was by no means the greatest ladder match ever but it was certainly a fun watch. You wouldn't really expect anything less given the teams involved. ****1/4
5. Jeff Cobb vs Hangman Page (ROH TV Title) - ROH Final Battle
Hangman Page has been one of the breakout performers of 2018 and he continued to show why he is considered one of the future stars of wrestling here. Cobb is certainly no slouch either and they put together a great match here. ****1/4
4. Daniel Bryan vs AJ Styles (WWE Title) - WWE TLC
This was possibly the best pure wrestling match to take place on a WWE PPV in the entire of 2018. Bryan is fantastic as a heel and the little things he adds into his repertoire are great. Excellent stuff. ****1/2
3. Bandido vs Rey Fenix - PWG Smokey And The Bandido
This match was exactly the type of spectacular craziness that you would expect from two of the most prominent high fliers on the planet. These two do things that other mortals aren't capable of and it is a constant joy to behold. If you enjoy creative, high flying wrestling, this is for you. ****1/2
2. Becky Lynch vs Charlotte Flair vs Asuka (Smackdown Women's Title, TLC Match) - WWE TLC
This was an absolute fucking banger. For 20 minutes these three women beat the shit out of each other without ever letting the intensity levels drop. It had all the bumps that you would expect from this type of match, and the work they did furthering the storylines was great. This was a superb main event. ****1/2
1. Golden Lovers vs Hiroshi Tanahashi & Will Ospreay - NJPW Road To Tokyo Dome 15th December
Well, I wasn't expecting a match of this quality on a Road To match but here we are. This was possibly the best tag match that took place all year and may well have ended up being better than both of the Wrestle Kingdom matches that it was hyping up. The whole match was a masterpiece in both tag wrestling and the use of one match to build another. The look on Ibushi's face when Ospreay flips out of the hurricanrana is absolutely priceless too. The last truly spectacular match of 2018. *****
Comments
Post a Comment