Welcome to the seventh annual Voices of Wrestling Match of the Year Poll.

ORIGINS

The brainchild of VOW co-owner Rich Kraetsch, it all started in 2012 with a modest four-person panel of myself (Joe Lanza), Rich, VOW’s then-PWG reviewer Larry, and Billy Carpenter of 4 Corners Radio. We each selected our ten best matches of the year, wrote short blurbs on why each match was selected and combined the lists to come up with a collaborative top ten.

We produced a fine list of matches, but a list that was the product of four voters who for the most part had very similar tastes in wrestling. There was a ton of crossover on the four lists, and while an impressive variety of five different promotions ultimately ended up being represented in our collaborative top ten, we were dealing with a tiny sample size of voters who essentially watched and enjoyed the same pool of matches over the course of the year.

For 2013, I approached Rich about expanding upon his original idea by extending invites to dozens of other wrestling critics. Each year in the world of film, there are media/critic polls ranking the top films of the year. There was nothing like those critic polls that we see in film that had ever existed for wrestling matches. With that template in mind, we sent ballots to dozens of journalists, bloggers, radio hosts, podcasters, historians, reporters, and critics who we knew loved wrestling, had a reputation for having a solid base of knowledge and strong opinions and had quality endeavors that we could help expose to our readers in exchange for participating. We knew not everybody would respond, but we were quite pleased with who did, and we feel like the results did bear out the variety of matches and wrestling styles that we were seeking. 25 total voters responded by voting for over 90 matches from 23 different promotions.

The growth continued with the 2014 poll, with 67 voters voting for 156 different matches, from 35 different promotions. The 2015 poll featured 97 voters voting for 199 different matches from 42 different promotions. We once again shattered all previous records for the fourth consecutive year in 2016. An utterly ridiculous 117 voters checked in and accounted for the widest variety yet, with 239 matches emanating from 49 different worldwide promotions. The 2017 poll saw the diversity grow again, with 54 different promotions represented. This year, we have 68 different promotions represented across 282 total matches. Our voter base grew to 122 with voters representing 25 different US states and 16 countries.

For a full archive of our past Match of the Year countdowns, visit voicesofwrestling.com/match-of-the-year/archive/.

We’ll get to the matches in a bit. But first, here is your panel of voters for the 2018 Voices of Wrestling Match of the Year Poll, followed by an explanation of how the results are tabulated (note – some voters chose to not include websites/affiliations and/or Twitter handles):

HOW THE VOTING WORKS

Each voter was sent a ballot and asked to vote for ten best matches of the year, ranking them from 1-10. We use the same weighted balloting system used by Major League Baseball for their Most Valuable Player voting, with a first-place vote worth 14 points, and a descending 9-8-7… scale from there, a system which places heavy emphasis on each voter’s choice for best overall match of the year.

The points for each match are then totaled, with any ties broken in the following order:

• 1.) Most total votes
• 2.) Match which received the highest singular vote on any ballot

For example, if two matches are tied in total points, with one match appearing on more total ballots, it will not require the second step tiebreaker. The match appearing on more total ballots would place higher.

If two matches are tied in total points and remain tied by appearing on the same number of ballots, the match with the highest singular vote wins the tiebreaker.

Each voter was also encouraged to add short blurbs explaining why they voted for each match. These blurbs give our panel a voice to explain why they voted for each match, and as we move deeper into the results, give the reader multiple perspectives of why a given match was great.

Our panel was free to vote for any worked match in the world that took place between January 1, 2018 – December 31, 2018. 

Our long term goal is to become the most comprehensive and respected MOTY poll in all of wrestling while continuing to cross-promote the great ventures of our voter pool and exposing fans to matches that they otherwise never would have discovered. Please note that in cases of taped matches, some dates may reflect air dates while others may reflect the day the match was taped. We apologize for this inconvenience.

We’ll begin today with a look at the honorable mentions (dubbed “Sadness Village” by current staff member John Carroll ), with a new chunk of matches released each day until we reveal the Top 10 on Friday, February 1 (with a sneak preview of the Top 10 to be released to our Patreon subscribers).

1 Point

“Imagine, less than six months into your wrestling career, your boss tells you and a fellow rookie that you’re going one-on-one in the main event. Now, picture the same thing, except the two of you are 17 & 16 years old. This was the scenario at Marvelous’s December 17 show. In the main event, we got two teenage girls attacking each other like it was a long-running blood feud. From the moment the match started until the final bell, both wrestlers seemingly threw out every hold, technique, attack, and ounce of energy they had in order to win this spotlight match and prove that they were better. It was a match that drew emotion out of the crowd, and of every single person who has watched it since. If you’re curious about the future of pro wrestling, watch this match, because Shindo and Hoshizuki are set up to become future stars.” –Derek Tillotson on Mikoto Shindo vs. Mei Hoshizuki

“The Japanese equivalent to the Moustache Mountain vs. O’Reilly/Strong match. The Aggression works like an old-school Southern tag team filtered through a puroresu lens. You see them cutting of the ring, isolating an opponent and working a body part in all their matches along with Nakajima and Kitamiya hitting the ever-loving snot out of them at the same time. This feud between GoKai and The Aggression is up there with great modern tag feuds like The Revival vs. American Alpha, #DiY vs. Authors of Pain, The Usos vs. The New Day and LAX vs. The Lucha Bros. It helped make NOAH a must-see for discerning puroresu fans and you should watch all their matches in order saving this one for last.” -WH Park on Go Shiozaki & Kaito Kiyomiya vs. The Aggression 

“One of my favourite things in all of wrestling in 2018 was Natural Vibes’ terrific Triangle Gate championship reign in Dragon Gate. It was a turbulent year for the company, and at times it felt vaguely gloomy to be following them, but Kzy, Genki Horiguchi and Susumu Yokosuka could always be relied upon the lift the mood. I would sincerely recommend basically every single one of their defences, but the match where they won the title in the first place was the pick of the bunch, featuring some of the most extraordinary, gripping near falls of the year; even though I watched the match with the result spoiled, there were still moments where I got completely sucked in by the drama of them.” -Jack Stevenson on Jason Lee, Masato Yoshino, Naruki Doi vs. Genki Horiguchi, Kzy, Susumu Yokosuka 

2 Points

“De los mejores exponentes en su estilo, una gran mezcla de Strong Style y lucha a ras de lona.” –Apolo Valdés on Daga vs. Hechicero

“Strong veteran vs. rookie storytelling, with innovative offense and some of the best counterwork I’ve seen this year.” –aguakun on Emi Sakura vs. Suruga Mei 

“This match is not the most finely crafted match, nor does it have the best psychology. It is, however, a stunning spectacle of athleticism that announced to the world that Chinese-styled pro wrestling is going to be here to stay. It was the first time we witnessed Gao Jingjia’s leap from the floor to the inside of the ring, and capped off the narrative of the whole show very well. I’ve seen some matches that I can consider technically better matches in 2018, but not many quite as memorable.as memorable” –James “NuclearConvoy” Snelgrove on CIMA/Gao Jingjia/Wulijimuren vs. Dezmond Xavier/Zachary Wentz/Shingo Takagi

3 Points

“Chikara Atomicos matches are everything that is good about wrestling. When this match was surprised announced everyone knew they are in for a treat. Plus who doesn’t want to watch Mike Quakenbush be flung out the ring and onto 6 of his students” -Leon Noel on Boomer Hatfield, Fire Ant, Mike Quackenbush, Solo Darling vs Merlok, The Whisper, Travis Huckabee, Volgar 

“This is the best professional wrestling match I have ever seen live. Featuring a beautiful sequence where Starr nearly decapitated Angel in the ring with a superkick, this match is by far the C*4 Match of the Year for good reason. It was fantastic to watch live and it was fantastic to rewatch after the fact. Absolutely great, eh!” -Griffin Peltier on David Starr vs. Matt Angel

“In my opinion, this clearly was the match of the night at Marufuji’s anniversary show because it truly felt like an old school Japanese interpromotional match and you know what? It actually was one! The background of Akiyama & Aoki having left NOAH years ago and finding a new home in All Japan made this even more special. Unlike any other match NOAH was able to put on last year this one had the benefit of a big and hot crowd. A crowd that maybe heard the name Daisuke Harada for the first time, but they certainly didn’t forget him. He was the one that really stepped up in defending his promotion against All Japan and him standing up to the much bigger Akiyama made for some great sequences.” -STRIGGA on Atsushi Aoki & Jun Akiyama vs. Takashi Sugiura & Daisuke Harada

4 Points

“ALL IN weekend saw 4 wrestling shows in Chicago. Two AAW shows, ALL IN, and Warrior Wrestling. The first of those 4 shows had the best match of the entire weekend. Lucha Bros. vs. Flamita and Bandido had a hot crowd that was ready to blow the roof off of Logan Square Auditorium. Throw in an incredible match and you get one of the most memorable wrestling matches in Chicago indy wrestling.” -Doug Fowler on Lucha Bros. vs Flamita & Bandido 

“This was a fantastic example of telling a story in a match. Dream looked at Ricochet and thought, “I can do what this guy does,” and set out to prove it. He took to the air, stole Ricochet’s moves, even wore trunks inspired by Ricochet’s Prince Puma gimmick from Lucha Underground. He showed off a few new tricks, but came up short as Ricochet was just better. Ricochet then showed that he could not only out-do Dream with his own style, but that he could even best Dream at what Dream does best. Perhaps it’s because these subtle stories are so infrequently told in this company, but this match landed with me big time. I may be the high man on it, but I don’t care. I loved this match.” -Jeremy Sexton on Ricochet vs. Velveteen Dream

“Perhaps best known for the insane reactions (dueling “Gunns, Bobby Gunns” “ILJA!” chants for over 15 minutes), this is a match that anyone who was inside the Turbinenhalle live perhaps couldn’t fail but be wrapped up in. I went the full 5* on the night, and while the match itself perhaps isn’t going to be too high up on this list, the entire package of the match and the atmosphere stands out in my mind).” -Ian Hamilton on Ilja Dragunov vs. Bobby Gunns

5 Points

“A match that starts out with one man posing for photos and another man diving into him, leaving them both laying in the dirt and discarded bottle caps. Eterno is a great unheralded base in a country full of flyers, destined to be lost in meaningless matches for years at a time before finally getting something to make great. Aramis brings the flying and the energy. They deliver something that completely works as hometown heroes having their big match.” -thecubsfan on Aramis vs Eterno

“This match was all about the crowd reaction to hometown boy Buddy Murphy. From cutting his teeth in Melbourne City Wrestling to now wrestling in the country’s largest stadium, for the world’s biggest wrestling promotion it really was an emotional evening for everyone in attendance. Just watch the crowd reaction at the end of this match to understand how special this moment was.” -Jamie Apps on Buddy Murphy vs Cedric Alexander

“Jericho destroys Naito. The bell rings. Jericho continues to destroy Naito. Jericho wins the IC title. Who in the hell saw that coming? Surprising, brutal and the definitive proof that even as a nearly 50-year-old man, Chris Jericho can still reinvent himself and shock the world.” -Jason Westhaver on Chris Jericho vs. Tetsuya Naito

VOW 2018 Match of the Year