15 Wrestling Matches You Won't Believe Happened In 2018
12. Triple H & Stephanie McMahon Vs Kurt Angle & Ronda Rousey (WWE WrestleMania 34)
Pleasingly, for all that WWE’s weekly television output is so often a grind, there were a number of credible offerings for Match Of The Year honours from the biggest promotion in the world.
Contrast this with some lean years at the early part of the decade, and it again becomes easier to understand why this really is the new boom period.
2010 WWE was still a closed club. Methods were tried, tested and tired. Developmental didn’t develop. The world simply wasn’t watching, no matter how man vapid guest hosts plugged their Raw appearances on their full-time vehicles.
Ronda Rousey’s incandescent WWE debut wasn’t just WWE’s best match of the year, it was also their most 2018 contest as well. Though others in this list will compete on both fronts, the sheer scale, planning and execution of this sports entertainment masterpiece leaves it yards in front.
Ronda performed magnificently. Stephanie McMahon was unselfish. Triple H, for a hot minute, was “That Damn Good” again. Kurt Angle didn’t break a bone.
Much like the Olympic Gold Medallist’s own amazing rookie year, Ronda’s outstanding 2018 will surely forever be a talking point whenever the annum is assessed - but it took this instant classic to instil confidence in both her and her new fans that this brave venture was for real.