MY TOP 5 WRESTLERS & MATCHES OF 2019
Top 5 Wrestlers Of The Year:
1, WILL OSPREAY - High flying sensation had his best year ever in the ring, and when he was on, nobody could touch him, having more incredible matches this year than anyone. Started the year with a bang by defeating Kota Ibushi to win the NEVER Title in the tremendous Wrestle Kingdom opener, that was only marred by the fact it didn’t go a bit longer. Went to an excellent 30 minute time limit draw with PAC in the dream match main event of REV PRO’s High Stakes show on February 15th. Over Wrestlemania weekend, defeated Bandido and dropped the NEVER strap to Jeff Cobb at the historic MSG show, both of which were great outings. Had blow-away matches in the BOSJ with Rocky Romero, YOH, El Phantasmo, Bandido, and Robbie Eagles, before defeating Shingo Takagi in the outstanding Tournament final on June 5th, which was the best wrestling match of the year. Followed that up a few days later by defeated Dragon Lee for the Jr Title in a superb high-flying outing at the Dominion show. Beat Robbie Eagles in another super match in Melbourne, Australia in his first defense on June 29th, then formed a team with him, resulting in numerous fab doubles clashes. Entered his first G1 Climax in July and August and, despite only ending with 8 points, had a fantastic tournament with matches against foes as diverse as Lance Archer, SANADA, Ibushi, Okada, Zack Sabre Jr, EVIL, KENTA and Hiroshi Tanahashi all being pretty much incredible, the latter of which being his biggest win ever as he pinned the legend that is Tanahashi clean. Made it to the semi finals of the revived Super J Cup in the U.S. in August, again looking great and having the best match of once-retired Amazing Red’s career en route. Avenged his BOSJ and J Cup losses to Phantasmo and had the best match I’ve ever seen BUSHI in a singles capacity, in two more stellar Junior Title defences in the Autumn. Junior Title match with the returning Hiromu Takahashi on January 4th should be off the page, provided Hiromu is 100%. I think it time he lose the belt and make the jump to Heavyweight full-time in 2020.
2, KAZUCHIKA OKADA - The Rainmaker maybe didn’t have his most spectacular in-ring year in 2019, but he still was at the top of the heap with regards to match quality. Lost clean to Jay White in an excellent Wrestle Kingdom match on January 4th, but rebounded by winning the best New Japan Cup tournament in history, defeating Michael Elgin, Mikey Nicholls, Ospreay, Tomohiro Ishii and finally, SANADA, the latter two of which were amongst the very best matches of the year, to earn an IWGP Title shot against Jay White at Madison Square Garden. Defeated defending champion White at that show in another fantastic outing to win his 5th IWGP Heavy Title. Upended SANADA again in his first successful Title defence on May 4th at the Wrestling Dontaku show, which was another excellent bout. Was challenged by Chris Jericho at Dominion on June 9th. The match, in which Okada won, was a solid contest, but his weakest IWGP Title Match since Feburary of 2016. Turned in a fantastic G1 tournament, having wonderful collisions with the likes of Tanahashi, ZSJ, KENTA, had the best matches I’ve ever seen SANADA and EVIL respectively have, and was in a superstar making bout with Will Ospreay, before losing in the A Block decision match to Kota Ibushi, which again, was amongst the best matches this year. Was pinned by Minoru Suzuki on the final night of the tournament in a great tag match to set up an IWGP Title match in London on August 31st. Rainmakered his way to victory over the slippery shooter in that match, which was predictably superb. Had a fourth, emotion driven bout against SANADA at the King Of Pro-Wrestling show on October 14th, which whilst still great, ended up being the weakest of the four they’ve had this year. Sold his backside off for Jushin Thunder Liger in the legend’s final Korakuen Hall match, before putting him away with a Rainmaker to end the year. Impending IWGP Heavyweight Title defence against Ibushi on January 4th should be out of this world great.
3, KOTA IBUSHI - The Golden Star had a very eventful year indeed. Started with a bang by dropping the NEVER Title to Will Opsreay in a super Wrestle Kingdom match, in which he put The Ariel Assassin over in the strongest possible way, pulling a stretcher job to sell the beating (even though he did suffer a legitimate concussion in the match). Disappeared until February when he resurfaced saying he’d singned a ‘lifetime’ deal with New Japan, which was especialy good news for the company, as there was a fear he too was going to jump to the newly-formed AEW. Had a trilogy of terrifying matches with Tetsuya Naito, the highlight of which was Ibushi winning his first Intercontinental Championship at the MSG show on April 6th. There’s no denying the spectacular nature of these matches, however, all three featuring some incredibly dangerous bumps that it was often hard to really enjoy them. To the point I don’t want to see a match between these guys any time soon (or even ever again). Had an excellent successful I.C. Title defence against Zack Sabre Jr. on April 20th, before dropping the belt back to Naito at Dominion. Won maybe the greatest G1 Climax of all-time, looking phenomenal in doing so, especially seeing as he sufered a serious ankle injury on a dive in his very first tournament match against KENTA in Dallas, Texas. Tempered his style somewhat throughout the rest of the G1, but still had tremendous outings against EVIL, SANADA, ZSJ and Lance Archer, as well as outstanding victories over Ospreay, Tanahashi and Okada, before defeating evil heel Jay White in a perfect tournament final to earn the Wrestle Kingdom main event spot. Has voiced his desire to hold both the IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Titles simultaneously, which has lead to the Winner-Takes-All match on January 5th. Successfully defended the WK Breifcase against KENTA in an excellent match in his hometown of Kagoshima on September 16th, as well as EVIL in Ryogoku Kokugikan on October 14th. Spent the Autumn and Winter months brawling with Wrestle Kingdom foe Okada. It remains to be seen if New Japan will have him go over at WK14, but if they do, it’ll be a surefire sign that they’re “all-in” on pushing him to the moon.
4a, TOMOHIRO ISHII - The ever dependable Stone Pitbull had yet another stellar year in 2019. Dropped the RPW British Title to Zack Sabre Jr. in an excellent Tokyo Dome clash on January 4th, in which he tried everything in his power to make ZSJ look like a killer. Had a fantastic run in the New Japan Cup in March, having a hard-hitting war with Yuji Nagata in the first round, carrying both Taichi and YOSHI-HASHI to great matches in the next stages, before losing to fellow CHAOS stablemate Okada in an outstanding semi-final, that was amongst the 10 best matches of the year. Spent the Spring feuding with EVIL, which culminated in a super heated battle in Fukuoka on May 4th, which ishii won. Again made Taichi look amazing en route to defeating him for the NEVER Title in an excellent match at Dominion on June 9th. Once again, looked liked a God amongst men in the G1, firstly having super victories over Jeff Cobb and Jay White, before losing to Jon Moxley in the best match of Moxley’s life at the July 19th Korakuen Hall show. Had fab outings with Tetsuya Naito, Juice Robinson, Hirooki Goto and even Toru Yano throughout the tournament, before peaking in an out-and-out war with Shingo Takagi on August 8th. Carried Taichi to a third straight excellent bout on August 11th, putting him over strong, and resulting in the best match I’ve ever seen Taichi in. Was turned on by KENTA the next night, resulting in the best, most heated angle of the year. Match in which he dropped the NEVER strap to KENTA in London on August 31st got off to a really great start, but things fell apart somewhat after KENTA was KO’d on a German Suplex. Super-stiff rematch on November 3rd was much better, but unsuccessful for Ishii, as he was pinned with the Go 2 Sleep. Finished the year in an excellent doubles clash with Will Ospreay, taking on EVIL and the returning Hiromu Takahashi at Korakuen Hall on December 21st. 44 year old finds himself in the prelims of the Wrestle Kingdom shows, but is clearly hurting from all the punishment he’s taken over the years, so some time off probably wouldn’t go amiss.
4b, SHINGO TAKAGI - Former Dragon Gate star made the right choice in jumping to New Japan. Team with BUSHI won the IWGP Jr Tag Titles at WK13 in a fun, but much too brief 3-way tag. Teams Title defences against Kanemaru & Desperado, and Roppongi 3K in February and March were both respectively excellent. Was the star of numerous great six and eight man tag matches throughout the Spring months. He and BUSHI’s title defence against SHO and YOH on April 26th was a tremendous bout, and the best Junior tag team match held in New Japan in years. Entered the BOSJ and went undefeated throughout, having fantastic showings against the likes of SHO, Marty Scurll, Dragon Lee, Jonathan Gresham, and Taiji Ishimori, before losing in the outstanding tournament final against Will Ospreay on June 5th, which was the best match held anywhere in the world in 2019. Officially moved up to Heavyweight with an excellent victory over veteran Satoshi Kojima at Dominion. Entered his first G1 Climax in July and August. Whilst not as successful as his BOSJ run, and despite finishing with only 8 points (much like fellow BOSJ finalist Ospreay) still looked fantastic throughout, having truly great bouts with Juice, Taichi, and Jon Moxley, as well as exceptional contests with Jay White and Jeff Cobb, and three of the best matches all year against fellow LIJ stablemate Tetsuya Naito, Tomohiro Ishii, and Hirooki Goto, the latter two of which he won. Lost to Goto in a fab rematch in Kobe on September 22nd, and has kept a relatively low profile ever since. Here’s hoping The Dragon has a much larger profile in the heavyweight scene in 2020.
5, JAY WHITE - The incredibly divisive Switchblade had a breakout year in 2019. Best heel in the business cleanly pinned Okada in a great Tokyo Dome outing, then followed that up by unseating Hiroshi Tanahashi to win his first IWGP Heavyweight Title in an excellent bout on Feburary 11th. Pinned Will Ospreay in the fantastic main event of the 47th Anniversary Show on March 6th. Dropped the IWGP belt in his first defence to Kazuchika Okada in the tremendous main event of the G1 Supercard at Madison Square Garden. Beat Hirooki Goto on April 29th, and Hiroshi Tanahashi in his return from injury at BOSJ Final Sumo Hall show on June 5th, in yet more great matches. Nefarious heel had an interesting G1 Climax, in which it was more about telling a compelling story as opposed to having blow-away matches. Started the tourney on a losing streak, looking at the lights for Goto and Ishii in excellent outings, before beating Shingo in another quality outing. Had really good victories over Jon Moxley and Juice Robinson, before pinning Tetsuya Naito with the Blade Runner, to the shock of many, to win the B Block. Lost to Kota Ibushi in one of the greatest G1 Climax finals ever on August 12th, and looked amazing in doing so. Victory over Naito ensured him a shot at the IWGP Intercontinental Championship on September 22nd, which he very surprisingly won in an unsurprisingly excellent bout. Defeated Goto again in his first defence of the title on November 3rd, and he too expressed a desire to be ‘double champion”. Will defend the “white belt” against Naito at WK14 on January 4th. The 26 year old is a super-smooth worker, and his heel persona is first-rate, however, his methodical style and reliance upon intereference and shenanigans leaves him marmite to the “work rate” crowd. Regardless, it seems White, a homegrown talent, is destined to be at the top of the NJPW totem pole for quite some time to come.
Honourable Mentions: Kento Miyahara, Yuji Okabayashi
Top 5 Matches Of The Year:
1, Will Ospreay vs. Shingo Takagi (BOSJ Final, June 5th, *****)
2, Kota Ibushi vs. Jay White (G1 Climax Final, August 12th, *****)
3, Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kenny Omega (WK13, January 4th, *****)
4, Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay (G1 Climax, July 20th, *****)
5, Kazuchika Okada vs. Kota Ibushi (G1 Climax, August 10th, *****)
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