Wrestling’s Top 10 Matches of January: A Month of Heartbreak

For wrestling, the month of January brought fans some incredible matches, and here, we will find out which ones were the best.

After the amazing year for wrestling that was 2017, 2018 is already off to an equally promising start. From Wrestle Kingdom where finding a bad match is like trying to find Waldo, to three PROGRESS chapters with great matches scattered all over, and to Royal Rumble weekend with a historic TakeOver and two terrific Rumble matches, 2018 has had it all.

Plus, EVOLVE had a pair of really good shows with Sabre Jr. and WALTER clashing in a rematch from their epic PWG encounter, but what was good enough to make the Top 10? Let’s find out. HERE is a quick spoiler warning.

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This year’s Royal Rumble was terrific. From the way it was laid out to its surprise winner, 2018’s Royal Rumble will be one to remember for a long time. Being there live, it was an amazing experience to soak in, and for Nakamura to get that big break many had been waiting for, it made the moment that much sweeter.

NXT stars like its champion Andrade “Cien” Almas and Undisputed Era leader Adam Cole getting a shot in the Rumble was a great introduction for them, but seeing the legends of my childhood like the Hurricane and especially Rey Mysterio helped wrap this Rumble up in a nice, nostalgia-filled bow.

Within the match itself, Finn Bálor was the perfect choice for the ironman. He had been getting a very solid push for a couple months now, and lasting over 57 minutes in a Rumble is an achievement few others hold.

The old guard of Rey, Cena, and Orton facing off against the new guard in Nakamura, Reigns, and Bálor was an amazing moment. However, Nak standing in the ring with Reigns and Cena, two men who, if they had won, would’ve caused a riot in Philadelphia, was an all-time great Rumble moment. The tension created through uncertainty throughout the final three was so thick, you could cut it with a knife. When Nakamura eliminated Cena, the tension thickened. As a result, when Nakamura flipped Reigns over the top rope and won, the Wells Fargo Arena erupted in one of the loudest roars I’ve ever heard first hand, concluding one of the best Royal Rumbles ever.

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It was billed as the “Battle of the Best” for a reason. Zack Sabre Jr., the world’s best technician, against WALTER, the best wrestler in Europe. This was the rematch of their classic match from PWG All-Star Weekend 13, and it was almost just as good. Sabre Jr. showed throughout the match that his selling, everyone’s biggest critique of him, is terrific, and he played the underdog perfectly. Therefore, this led to WALTER controlling a lot of this match, leaving Zack’s chest a crimson shade of red.

Every time Sabre Jr. would fight back to his feet, he’d continuously make the same mistake and try to match strikes with the world’s most lethal chopper. As a result, he’d find himself back down on the canvas, having to battle his way up again. It was beautiful storytelling, and it was something very different to their first encounter and everything else on the card.

The realism of the way the two wrestle really brings out the best possible technical bout where every move means something which, in today’s independent wrestling, is a rarity. Sabre Jr. is only going to continue to make big waves in wrestling, and WALTER is a star on the rise who is primed to make a worldwide impact. I definitely recommend seeking out this match as well as their PWG epic.

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Coming out of Wrestle Kingdom 12, The Young Bucks had just reclaimed their IWGP Junior Tag Team belts against Roppongi 3K, becoming seven time champions.

However, it came at the cost of Matt Jackson’s back. This match did a brilliant job building off of that, basically making Matt an incredibly weak link for Nick. On the flip side, YOH was dealing with a similar back injury sustained in that Wrestle Kingdom match as well. However, Roppongi’s ability to minimize his time in the ring helped them out in the end while Nick Jackson kept his faith in his brother’s abilities, eventually leading to their demise.

As everyone knows, the Bucks are very much an aerial based tag team who can do everything at an incredibly high work rate. However, this would be what cost them the match because after a dive off the ramp onto both SHO and YOH, Matt’s back became a problem again. Matt began to struggle holding up either member of Roppongi 3K, and in the end, his back couldn’t withhold the torque after locking the Sharpshooter on, forcing him to relinquish the hold.

Sometimes wrestling doesn’t need to be complicated. Something as simple as a back injury can drive the story of the match and make it great as it did here. We all know how great the Bucks are, but Roppongi 3K are becoming a top tier team in the world, helping bolster a very weak tag division in New Japan.

Chapter 62: Fear No More, Come To Dust – Photo Source: @ThisIs_Progress

As barbaric and painful a match that I’ve ever seen, the two members of Ringkampf clashed in a war over PROGRESS Wrestling’s Atlas Division Championship.

PROGRESS’s Atlas Title is basically the opposite of a cruiserweight division. Anyone can challenge for the championship; the only qualification? The competitor has to be over 205 pounds. Rampage Brown was its inaugural champion, but he eventually lost the belt to Matt Riddle. This led to one of the company’s best rivalries between Riddle and WALTER with the belt being held by each man twice, WALTER still in the midst of his second reign.

A few chapters back, James Davis put his Atlas Title shot on the line against Timothy Thatcher. One thing led to another and Thatcher became the new number one contender, thus leading to the match that made PROGRESS unofficially change the name of the chapter to Chop Party. WALTER throws the stiffest chop in the world, and about five minutes after the match started, Thatcher’s chest was busted wide open. However, bleeding appeared to wake up Thatcher who is as resilient as they come, and he ate every chop the big Austrian hit him with and kept coming back for more.

Eventually, Thatcher began to take control, but he’d go for a backdrop driver that WALTER countered, leading to this:

I have no earthly idea how Thatcher kicked out of that, but he did. That is just a little taste of how that match went, and these guys are tag team partners. Just imagine what they do to others.

Photo Source: njpw1972.com

Originally, I had thought that if it had just been Ospreay and Scurll, it probably would’ve helped the story amplify more, but I doubt New Japan would have wanted to have a show with multiple gaijin-only matches, and KUSHIDA and Hiromu had their own claims for the title, hence the four-way. It ended up being the right call, and it played out perfectly, being good enough for the number six slot on this list.

This match had some of the weirdest build – attribute that to Hiromu – I’ve ever seen, but at the core of it, it was Will Ospreay can’t beat Marty Scurll. This has been a theme wherever they’ve wrestled, whether it be New Japan, PROGRESS, RevPro, or anywhere else. This, however, was Ospreay’s shining moment.

In what ended up being an insanely fast paced match, the psychology especially between the two was off the charts. With the juniors, you expect ridiculous aerial spots and there were, but it was Ospreay as well as the comedy from Hiromu at times that really put this match over the top.

However, as the match wound down, it was Ospreay and Marty left in the ring, and, at last, Ospreay was able to hit the OsCutter and end his losing streak against The Villain, reclaiming his IWGP Junior Championship.

PROGRESS Chapter 60: Unboxing Live 2

As we enter the top five, there’s a carryover name from number six, that being Will Ospreay. The Aerial Assassin returned to PROGRESS as Travis Banks’ surprise opponent, and the match they put on was nothing short of a classic for the promotion.

Ospreay made his way down to the ring to a roaring ovation, kneeling down to kiss the logo in the center of the ring. The biggest star to ever come out of PROGRESS was set to square off with their current champion.

The pacing of this match was perhaps the biggest surprise to me of anything. It wasn’t a fast paced, edge of your seat speed customary for a Banks or Ospreay match, but instead it was a beautifully laid out much like a New Japan main event.

Towards the middle of the match, Ospreay was in complete control. He decided it was Rainmaker time, but Terminator Travis had other plans. Ospreay reared his arm back and laid one in, but Banks just looked him dead in the eyes, and it was then that Ospreay knew he’d made a mistake. It was a truly beautiful spot.

As the match neared its finish, Banks had Ospreay locked in the Lion’s Clutch in the center of the ring, the move that has made most everyone tap during his title reign.

Ospreay was fighting with everything in his being to get to the ropes, but when he couldn’t, he realized his inevitable fate. He looked down before tapping, reached for the logo in the center of the ring, grabbing at it as if it could save him, and then he tapped out, finishing a beautiful PROGRESS main event.

Photo Source: njpw1972.com

A dream match turned blood feud gave wrestling fans worldwide one of the best matches of the month as Chris Jericho battled Kenny Omega in the co-main event of Wrestle Kingdom 12.

It was brutal and personal with some crazy moments that really made you question Omega’s sanity. It appeared that Jericho drove him to a breaking point as seen in the press conference for the match where a brawl broke out and tables were thrown. In addition, Jericho attacking Omega from behind with his own belt and busting him open was what set it all over the top, making this a very personal rivalry.

Alpha vs. Omega. The Best In The World at What He Does vs. The Best Bout Machine. Every headline that could sell tickets for this show was done through this match, and the two men did not disappoint. Omega was going through tables, Jericho was taking cameras from the photographers and taking pictures of him flipping them the bird. The heat Y2J was drawing from this crowd was almost unthinkable before the match started as they were fully behind him, but as the match progressed, all of his dirty tricks didn’t sit well with the Tokyo Dome crowd.

However, resilient as ever, Omega fought his way back, getting V-Trigger happy in the process which led to some brutal shots to Jericho’s jaw. His resiliency was on display all match, but when he was able to not only get out of the Walls of Jericho but the Liontamer as well, that’s when the crowd as well as those watching live at home found out just what The Cleaner was made of.

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This war not only helped bolster what may possibly be the best show of the year, but it proved that while Jericho is one of the best ever, Omega is the best going today.

Photo Source: njpw1972.com

No match on this list or for the rest of the year will have as much historical impact as this one. At many points, the brutality shown by Suzuki was uncomfortable to watch as he dissected and destroyed the torn biceps as well as the shredded up knee of New Japan’s Ace Hiroshi Tanahashi.

Like a surgeon, Suzuki picked his spots to attack, letting Tanahashi give every last bit of energy to end the match as soon as he could to preserve his body before going in for the kill. Tanahashi would fight back to his feet and try to throw forearms, but Suzuki would just laugh at him with the most disturbing laugh you will ever hear and go right back to work.

There was a moment in this match where Suzuki had the Sleeper locked in and transitioned to the Gotch Piledriver. Usually this is a sign of bad things to come for Suzuki as his marriage with the Gotch is very one sided. He can almost never hit it, but, here, he was able to hit it, but he didn’t go for the cover. He locked Tanahashi’s knee right back up in the knee bar, leading to the most agonizing, painful few minutes of the Ace’s career.

However, Tanahashi refused to tap, scratching and clawing at anything he could get his hands on to break the hold, but it was no use. Consequently, the referee called for the stoppage, putting an end to the match, Tanahashi’s title reign, and possibly his career. The reign of The Sadist is only just beginning, and if this match foreshadowed anything, it’s that there’s going to be an abundance of broken limbs left in the path.

Photo Source: njpw1972.com

Everything indicated that it was Naito’s time. The stage couldn’t have been bigger, the crowd couldn’t have been hotter, the lights couldn’t have been brighter for Naito to reach the peak of the mountain top and topple the historic reign of Kazuchika Okada.

DESTINO!

Out of nowhere, Naito hit Destino on Okada! All he had to do was cover him and the most coveted prize in all of wrestling was his!

But he didn’t.

The crowd was going insane, urging him to cover Okada, but he didn’t. Instead, he pulled Okada back up to his feet, looking for a second Destino, but this time he was not so fortunate.

Rainmaker.

The comeback story was ruined by one fatal error.

The match went on for over 30 minutes, but all it took for Okada to end the dreams of Tetsuya Naito was three seconds. A stunned crowd, almost all of whom were pulling for Naito, sat there deflated, angry, and confused.

Naito’s destiny to becoming the top champion in the promotion he was once the laughing stock of  was derailed because he had to take a moment soak it all in.

Heartbreak should never be so beautiful, but it seemed to be thematic in the month of January.

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Much like Naito, it felt like it was Gargano’s time. He had failed to beat Almas twice before, but he had moved on from Ciampa. DIY was finally in his rearview, and his sights were firmly set on proving he could beat Almas and taste gold in the main event of TakeOver: Philadelphia. However, it’s never as easy as it sounds, and the champion, Andrade “Cien” Almas, had some proving to do as well.

Andrade’s rise to the top in NXT was one that everyone knew could happen, but his attitude prevented him from doing so. He chose partying over giving effort in the ring, leading to a big losing streak until one Zelina Vega came along and not only changed his mindset but saved his career. However, just winning a few matches wasn’t enough to show he was ready, and even after beating Drew McIntyre for the NXT Championship, he was still very unproven. This was his chance to prove to the world that he IS El Idolo, the top of NXT.

The match was done at an incredible pace, and as the match progressed, the more evident it became that Almas couldn’t beat this Gargano. Not without a little bit of help that is. Gargano had just hit a suicide dive, appearing to have all the momentum. However, Vega would hit a running rana off the apron, sending Gargano face first into the stairs. This would lead to Almas hitting the Hammerlock DDT, but Gargano kicks out!

Next: Keep AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura Simple

The involvement of Candice soon after, taking Vega out of the match was an awesome moment. But in the end, Almas was just too much for Johnny Wrestling, drilling him with the double knees on the apron and hitting a top rope hung Hammerlock DDT to put away the hopes and dreams of Gargano and 10,000 fans.