10 Reasons Why January 2018 Was The Best Month In Wrestling History
For Lovers
In November 1994, All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling presented Big Egg Wrestling Universe. A 10-hour 23-match box office phenomenon packing 32,500 into the fabled Tokyo Dome, the evening was a showcase of what many discerning observers considered the best wrestling product in the entire world at the time. Only peppered with men's matches and mixed martial arts, the card gave ample space for the roster to sparkle nearly a quarter of a century before WWE ran their historic first ever Women's Royal Rumble.
Brief highlights of the show played out on WWE's Survivor Series card three nights later as the company acknowledged a title change between Bull Nakano and their lone female star Alundra Blayze at the mega-event. The same Survivor Series in which Jerry Lawler was jostled by six miniature clowns and kings into taking a custard pie in the face from Doink. The Survivor Series that was sandwiched by WCW Clash Of The Champions and Starrcade shows headlined by contests pitting Hulk Hogan against Brutus Beefcake.
North America couldn't touch the action across the Pacific, but roles were reversed in March 2001 when WWE' WrestleMania 17 murdered a Scott Hall-headlined NJPW gymnasium show whilst Vince McMahon regrettably killed off WCW. The gulf between the highs and lows across the industry were again colossal.
Curt Hennig's blooper reels highlighted how difficult it was to pull off a litany of flawless feats even with favourable skills. Somehow, his industry bettered him in January 2018. Live and dangerous, Professional Wrestling was absolutely perfect.
10. Wrestle Kingdom 12
The legacy of Wrestle Kingdom ahead of this year's edition was one of immense quality and prestige. In recent years, the annual January 4th show has routinely and confidently proffered a Match Of The Year candidate despite the 361 days of the year still remaining, with the Tokyo Dome setting (and gradually increasing crowds) perpetuating the inconvenient truth that the real 'SuperBowl of Wrestling' happens a few months before the 'Show Of Shows'.
2018's iteration spilled over with much of the same. Contests pitting The Young Bucks against Roppongi 3K, Kota Ibushi against Cody and Hirooki Goto against Minoru Suzuki were the type of battles that would steal a WWE show with space to spare. Luckily, NJPW had exactly that with Wrestle Kingdom's hefty run-time.
Will Ospreay, Marty Scurll, Hiromu Takahashi and Kushida assembled a futuristic four-way ahead of a double main event that engaged new audiences with one half and super-served them with the other. Kenny Omega's United States Title clash with Chris Jericho was credited with increasing New Japan World subscriber numbers by 35%, with casual interest in their match at a palpable high. That they delivered on such enormous expectations was equally astonishing.
The main event between Kazuchika Okada and Tetsuya Naito fell marginally below 'The Rainmaker's incredible efforts against Kenny Omega, but without enough space to see daylight. Naito's heartbreaking loss after 34:26 ripped out hearts, but most emotionally exhausted viewers were probably glad of the mercy-kill.