10 Best Wrestlers Of 2018
3. Kenny Omega
Kenny Omega is likely to fall just short of top billing in most end-of-year lists in 2018, but it speaks to the inarguable quality of his dramatic and awe-inspiring matches that the current IWGP Champion's runner-up spots can even be considered a disappointment.
The 'Best Bout Machine' has submitted countless instant classics for awards submission yet again, but it's his insistence on being a such a feverish content creator rather than sporting competitor that results in him being beaten into bronze by those than have done a better job doing both.
His IWGP Championship victory over Kazuchika Okada at June's Dominion was your writer's favourite ever wrestling match, but he's thus far not quite managed to assemble a defense comparable to that of his legendary foe. A strong showing in the G1 Climax saw him almost make the final, but he'd raised his own bar so high that even glorious defeats to Tomohiro Ishii and Kota Ibushi couldn't take match-of-the-tournament honours.
That said, his 'Change The World' mantra has broken through in places, with the transcendent Golden Lovers reunion a crucial arc in helping move the entire industry forward and his place in The Elite doing much to continue the burgeoning narrative that the real best in the world are plying their trade without WWE's overtly guided hand. Will he consider "The World" tackled enough to consider adjusting a "Universe" in 2019?