10 Best Wrestling Matches Of 2018
6. Kenny Omega Vs. Tomohiro Ishii - NJPW G1 Climax
Tomohiro Ishii operates at his best with the full roar of a crowd firmly on his side.
Here, in an awesome spot of psychology, Kenny Omega directed sympathy towards the best underdog seller in the business, in a loud-as-sh*t city most receptive to an underdog, by playing his bald head like a bongo. While something of a betrayal of his new Change The World babyface schtick, it made for an astonishing pro wrestling match in a tournament in which, ultimately, nothing matters but victory. It also laid the foundation for Omega's first IWGP Heavyweight Title defence; a grave error of judgement, Ishii punished Omega for it by knocking f*ck out of him in a war for the ghouls. Dialling up the drama and the volume by playing chicken with Ishii in the opening phase, this affront didn't force the impulsive Ishii into a mistake. It, in a great character moment, plastered a smile over Ishii's face.
Omega made a mistake only in the narrative of the match. In its construction, he separated himself from every last performer by devising what they, even the very best, cannot. For some, wrestling in 2018 reveals itself too much. Sleight of hand is sacrificed at the altar of the spectacular-looking spot. The very Irish whip throws that argument into the ropes, but even if it didn't, Omega's work did here; by sending Ishii sprawling halfway between the ropes and the outside, and then delivering a diving double foot stomp, Omega found an organic workaround for which most rely on a tell-tale grab of the ropes.
Ishii was it his most impervious here, absorbing so much punishment with a stoic, badass defiance. Never before has the Stone Pitbull lived up to his name so brilliantly.