10 Best Wrestlers Of 2018
7. Tomohiro Ishii
Front-loaded with a reputation as a man that can only really be relied upon for excellence during G1 Climax season, Tomohrio Ishii went above and beyond his own eye-popping efforts in the gruelling tournament with several stellar nights under the New Japan lights and a host of grizzled face-offs with Minoru Suzuki that sold this writer on their feud being the best of the entire year.
'The Stone Pitbull' appeared to take years off of his career trading Revolution Pro Wrestling's British Heavyweight Title with 'The King' after dethroning Zack Sabre Jr in an incredible April affair, and his battles with the Suzuki-Gun stable members spilled over into NJPW with equally violent outcomes.
The MVP of this year's G1, Ishii had match-of-the-year candidates with virtually every opponent he faced. Whilst he wasn't immune to Tama Tonga's wretched presence in the pack nor the comedy required for a Toru Yano scrap, his battles with Hirooki Goto, Kenny Omega, Zack Sabre Jr, SANADA and Kota Ibushi made him the unluckiest loser in Block B, and the man with as much buzz as the two finalists emerging out the other side.
A follow-up loss to Omega was perhaps the only flirtation with the main event he's likely to receive as just rewards, but he'll now rest semi-permanently amongst the elite on reputation alone.