16 Ups & 9 Downs For NJPW In 2018
7. Big Match Tommy
No NJPW wrestler gets taken for granted like Tomohiro Ishii. Nobody.
'The Stone Pitbull' is one of the best in the world, yet we tend to forget about him for the year's first two quarters. New Japan just don't push the guy. Lost in the promotion's endless sea of multiman undercard bouts, he's handed few opportunities to impress, and though he shines in the slither of singles matches they throw his way, Ishii's excellence barely exists.
Then July comes around.
Then the G1 Climax happens.
And suddenly, everyone remembers about Big Match Tommy.
The physical embodiment of fighting spirit, toughness, and being hard as f*ck had another excellent 2018, further cementing him among the greatest bell-to-bell performers the sport has ever seen. What he does is incredible. There's no better seller anywhere in wrestling, and nobody draws you into his struggle like Ishii, who remains NJPW's heart and soul. His bruising, brutish, hard-hitting style never gets old, and it doesn't even matter that he isn't pushed hard. The scruffy underdog role suits him to a tee, particularly when he ends up pinning guys like Kenny Omega.