I have said this many times, but 2018 was a great year for wrestling. There were a ton of wrestlers that put together wonderful years, both in the ring and in storylines, and we will look at the 100 I felt did the most. This list is very late coming out as I have been swamped with work in the early portion of the year but better late than never. As always, this list will be based on my own personal opinion, and I will take both ring work and character into account, at varying degrees. I will also be excluding wrestlers that exclusively, or almost exclusively, worked tag teams. The early part of the list will be pretty breezy, to save time.
101. Drew Gulak
I know it's supposed to be a Top 100 but I wanted to include Gulak. A great in-ring competitor that is also entertaining on the mic. Doesn't get enough chance to shine.
100. HARASHIMA
The ace of DDT had another good year, albeit one that wasn't as eye-catching as his 2017 run.
99. A-Kid
The youngest wrestler ever to be involved in one of Big Dave's 5-star matches. I didn't include the match in my MOTY list as I hadn't seen it but it is available here, and it's a belter.
98. Brody King
An absolute unit that has been increasing his stock in PWG, MLW and ROH. He is always a good wrestler to see on a card and works his ass off.
97. Fabian Aichner
Did nothing in NXT but was great in his short run as Evolve Champion. Hopefully, he gets more of a chance to shine in NXT as he has a ton of untapped potential.
96. Daisuke Sekimoto
Probably the most perennially underrated wrestler on the planet. Even on this list. He is always great, I just didn't see enough of his work. Ended the year as BJW Champion.
95. Adam Brooks
The 'Loose Ledge' is just one in a number of top notch wrestlers coming out of Australasia. His ring work is crisp and he deserves a bigger stage on which to shine.
94. Hideo Itami
I think it's fair to say that his WWE run didn't go as we would have liked, but he still put on consistently good showings on 205 Live, holding the show together.
93. Akira Tozawa
Another wrestler that does a great job of holding 205 Live together with consistently good performances. Tozawa is fucking great though, and I hope he gets more shine in 2019.
92. Hirooki Goto
I'm calling it right now, somehow Goto will find a way to make it on to this list when he is 60. That is consistency.
91. Pac
Sat out his contract for most of the year but came back with a physique that makes Finn Balor look like he eats a diet made up of exclusively pies. Bastard Pac is amazing and he will be far, far higher in next year's list.
90. Jeff Hardy
I'm going to be honest, Hardy is nowhere near my favourite wrestlers but he manages to keep having enough good matches and fan support to justify his inclusion on this list.
89. Chris Brookes
Brookes is an excellent wrestler that excels in both singles and tag competition and would be higher in the list if he did more singles work. Where's the fun in that though.
88. Mark Haskins
Another very good year of work for Haskins. When you see him on a card you know that you are going to get a good match. He is now a full-time member of the ROH roster so he should get more exposure.
87. Barreta
Barreta would be higher in this list if he hadn't been injured for a chunk of the year. He has established himself as a steady cog in Chaos in NJPW and is a consistently great in-ring worker.
86. Eddie Edwards
When he isn't being hit in the face with a baseball bat, Eddie likes losing his mind and threatening to kill Tommy Dreamer.
85. Tony Nese
Nese is far better than his standing on the WWE roster would have you believe. Great look, very good ring work, and a solid character. The second best heel on 205 Live.
84. Shinsuke Nakamura
How did this all end up so badly? A great wrestler that almost never shows his full ability and goes missing from TV for weeks at a time, even when he is champion. A return to New Japan seems to be the sensible option.
83. Flip Gordon
He might not be everyone's cup of tea but Flip has carved out a nice place for himself on the indie scene. His story leading to All In was well done and using Flat Earth to get heat was simple but effective.
82. Dean Ambrose
Ambrose had another year where he cruised through uninspired booking decisions but managed to occasionally show why he could be a key part of whatever company he happens to end up in. We desperately need a more Jon Moxley based character.
81. Robbie Eagles
Australia is quickly becoming the new UK with regards to the quality of their wrestlers in comparison to their size as a country. Eagles is a great cruiserweight competitor that put on standout performances in New Japan and PWG, among others.
80. AR Fox
Fox has had a really good year in Evolve and put in a number of excellent performances near the top of that card. He did some good work in other companies too. An all-around good year.
79. Absolute Andy
wXw 16 Carat Gold winner and owner of the best name in wrestling. He is one of the most effortlessly dislikeable heels in wrestling right now and when the chips are down he can put on great matches too. An excellent wXw Champion.
78. Brian Cage
Brian Cage is a fucking machine. He has continued to put in good performances in Impact, AAA, Lucha Underground and a bunch of other places. He brings something a bit different to whichever company he is in.
77. CIMA
CIMA spent the year travelling all over the world, spreading the OWE brand, and taking over Wrestle-1. He may not have had a long list of spectacular matches but his 2018 was a very important one.
76. DJZ
DJZ is really fucking good. I can't remember the last time I saw him put on a bad performance. It was probably in Impact. His look is great and that obnoxious air horn that is played over his matches is great heel heat.
75. David Starr
His 2018 was probably a shade below his 2017 but that doesn't mean that he wasn't an important part of pretty much every company he is in. His work in wXw was probably the best of the lot, particularly his run to the final of the 16 Carat Gold tournament and his match with Jurn Simmons.
74. Shingo Takagi
He had a solid enough year in Dragon Gate but it was for the best that he signed with NJPW as it allows him to show his incredible talent against a new range of competitors. This will especially be the case once he gets out of the tag division.
73. Travis Banks
He started off the year like a house of fire but cooled off somewhat as it went on. His run with the PROGRESS title didn't turn out quite as well as was expected and injury kept him out for a chunk of the year. He ended the year well though.
72. Austin Aries
His 'Belt Collector' gimmick was entertaining but he never really appeared to take advantage of it as well as he should have. I was also hoping that he would have had more stand out matches than he did. Still a great wrestler though.
71. Kassius Ohno
It appears that Ohno won't get back to the upper echelons of these lists anymore, as he serves as a gatekeeper of sorts in NXT. He seems content in this role and there are very few people that could do it better.
70. Darby Allin
The very best bumper in pro wrestling today. He has an innate ability to always make his opponents look great and that helps his matches to feel like they mean more. Emotional storytelling is his forte.
69. Johnny Mundo/Impact
He is wildly entertaining at the top of the Lucha Underground card and has set himself up as a major player in Impact wrestling, for what that's worth. He remains someone that you can plug into storylines and know that you will get something good from.
68. Finn Balor
I am in no way saying that Finn Balor is the 67th best wrestler in the world, but I can't put him any higher as he barely did anything of note in 2018. He never puts in subpar performances but it is hard to remember a truly great match he had in 2018.
67. Jonathan Gresham
Gresham is one of the best technical wrestlers of the modern era and yet he remains criminally underappreciated. You can check out pretty much any of his matches and see how good he is, the match against Zack Sabre Jr in ROH is a prime example.
66. Andrade
There is no doubt in my mind that Andrade is one of the best wrestlers on the planet but much like many others on the WWE roster, he doesn't always get the chance to show it. He kicked off the year with the best NXT Title match ever but got lost in the shuffle when he got the call up to the main roster.
65. Cedric Alexander
Alexander was the third best wrestler on 205 Live over the course of 2018. His in-ring work was great throughout the year but his only issue was that he wasn't really given a gimmick that showed any kind of personality.
64. Go Shiozaki
Shiozaki had another year where he maintained his position near the top of the NOAH card, with consistently good performances both in singles and tag teams. He also put in a number of good performances in DDT to go along with that.
63. SANADA
SANADA is one of the most athletic wrestlers on the New Japan roster, and he often shows how good he really is, but it doesn't happen often enough. He is a good upper-card wrestler in both the singles and tag team ranks who had numerous good matches last year.
62. Elias
Elias has become something that I don't think most people ever saw coming, a genuine highlight of WWE programming. He might not be the best in-ring competitor but there is no doubt that he is far more entertaining than most of the WWE roster.
61. Naomichi Marufuji
Naomichi Marufuji had another year in which he was one of Japan's most bankable wrestlers outside of New Japan. He did the majority of his best work in AJPW, most notably against Kento Miyahara, and NOAH.
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