10 Best Wrestling Matches Of 2018
2. Hiroshi Tanahashi Vs. Kota Ibushi - NJPW G1 Climax Final
New Japan's annual G1 Climax tournament was an immensely satisfying experience for long-time fans of company Ace Hiroshi Tanahashi.
Toiling through the less celebrated A Block, Tanahashi sold his ailing knees as if they were falling off - at times struggling to even make his way across the ring, falling instead to the canvas in a crumpled heap. But, through a series of impeccably-worked comebacks, he battled through to win the round robin component of what, arguably, was the greatest wrestling tournament of all time.
The final of New Japan's annual G1 Climax tournament was an immensely heart-wrenching experience for long-time fans of company Ace Hiroshi Tanahashi.
In it, he met Kota Ibushi: an equally probable winner who defied punishment where Tana did all he could to defend himself from it. This informed a borderline unbearable drama in which the Ace suffered disgusting trauma at the hands of the Golden Star - full-force kicks, lawn darts, various neck-first suplex and piledriver variations - and sold it as if his very in-ring philosophy, not merely his body, were at stake. Tanahashi is staunchly against danger. He deems it an affront to the working art. And so, when he flailed, theatrically, before taking Ibushi's deadlift over-the-top-rope German suplex, he looked almost pitiful. He didn't just sell the suspense; he looked, by ingenious design, as if his ethos had deserted him.
But, as he did throughout the tournament, he overcame.
Ibushi rocked him with precisely the sort of ultra-stiff strikes Tana raged against in his autobiography, but he roared back. His entire legacy depended on him roaring back and capturing the IWGP Heavyweight Title, and the soul of the company, from Kenny Omega on January 4, 2019. Talk about babyface fire: Tana literally glowed in the middle of a pro wrestling ring, charging forward in the face of his manifested nemesis. After an incredibly dramatic finishing sequence, Tana emerged from old, weakened lion as the best version of himself.
This, one of the best pro wrestling matches ever, was certainly the most emotional.