Most Outstanding Wrestler 2019

Most Outstanding Wrestler 2019

10) SANADA (NJPW)

SANADA had a quiet year in 2019 in terms of in-ring output. He isn’t what I typically look for in a wrestler but he did stand out. You can pretty much credit NJPW’s booking for that as they put him in a spot to perform at a high level and paired him with great talent. Normally a tag wrestler, his singles performances is what lands him on this list. He had 15 matches on my 4+ Star Matches list and one 4.75 star match, which made my top 10 overall. He excelled in his matches with Kazuchika Okada and in tournaments, where he had the majority of his singles matches.

9) Zack Sabre Jr (NJPW, RPW)

ZSJ is another one of these wrestlers that go under the radar. He is one of the most consistent wrestlers in the world and his style matches up with pretty much anybody’s style. He is the best technical wrestler in the world. The style he wrestles can be boring, but Zack makes it interesting. He had 18 matches on my 4+ Star Matches list but the reason he ranks a bit low is that none of them were match of the year contenders, which are 4.75 and 5 star rated matches for me. He did have a few 4.5 star matches, including KENTA’s best match since going to NJPW. 

8) Momo Watanabe (STARDOM)

Momo is easily the best woman wrestler on the planet and being on this list makes her one of the best overall wrestlers in the world. Her run with the Wonder of STARDOM champion in the first half of the year was an all-timer for that belt. She also mixed in great tag wrestling as well as great tournament work. She had 18 matches that I rated 4 stars or higher and one that I rated 4.75, which made my top 10 matches of the year. She’s the youngest wrestler on this list at 19 years old. She may end up being one of the greatest wrestlers of all time should she keep with this pace and barring any serious injury or early retirement like is custom in the world of Joshi.

7) Kazuchika Okada (NJPW)

Yet again we have another underrated and under the radar year for a professional wrestler’s in-ring year. What hurts Okada the most is that his title reign was a little underwhelming, especially considering his previous reign. It took up NJPW’s main event scene for the entire year and it made it a little boring. However, Okada still delivers when it matters, and his 17 4+ star matches support that. He excelled in the G1 and in the New Japan Cup and some of his title matches were overlooked, like the SANADA one in October and the Suzuki one in England. Okada had 4 matches that I rated 4.75 stars, which is the second most out of anyone. He had an entry in my top 10 matches of the year with his G1 bout against SANADA. Okada continues to deliver even when no one is paying attention.

6) Hiroshi Tanahashi (NJPW, RPW)

Coming off an incredible comeback in 2018 Tanahashi continued the momentum in 2019 with a great in-ring year. Being over 40 does not stop this machine from putting out banger after banger. He had 17 matches rated over 4 stars including one at 4.75 stars against Will Ospreay and one at 5 stars against Kenny Omega. Doing all of that despite his body being a broken down mess makes it all the more impressive. Genius is a word that I do not like to throw around often. People overuse it. There’s not many people I would call geniuses at what they do. Hiroshi Tanahashi is a genius. He knows exactly what to do with what he has in order to create the intended reaction. He probably will end up being my favorite wrestler of all time once I get to his 2000s NJPW work.

5) Tomohiro Ishii (NJPW)

Ishii is always on this list. It’s almost a given. He was one of those wrestlers this year that fell a little under the radar. You can always count on him to deliver. He is the guy who can get great matches out of pretty much everyone. He had 18 matches at 4 stars or higher this year including 3 matches at 4.75 stars, one with Jon Moxley in the G1, Shingo Takagi in the G1, and Kazuchika Okada in the New Japan Cup. The fact that Ishii pretty much had all his singles matches in tournaments goes to show how he is the most consistent wrestler on the planet. He was the MVP of the G1 Climax as his match quality averaged 4.42 stars per match. One of my favorite wrestlers of all time and he will never get the props he deserves.

4) Kento Miyahara (AJPW)

Miyahara had an incredible year filled with great matches. He is a guy that can get people over in his matches and still remain a babyface at the end. His Triple Crown title reigns is the best world title reign since Okada’s legendary reign. It was easily the best World title reigns this year. Miyahara had 18 matches at 4 stars or higher. 3 of those matches I gave 4.75 stars which included a Suwama match in March, a Zeus match in July and the Naoya Nomura match in September which made my top 10 matches of the year. He got Yoshitatsu’s best match of his career. He went through a main event scene that is basically like 4 guys and made it interesting. He had a lot of repeat matches this year and still managed to make them interesting and meaningful. Kento is one of the best in the world today.

3) Kota Ibushi (NJPW)

Ibushi’s first year after signing for life with New Japan was a great one. He really went all out this year. He had a great series of matches with Tetsuya Naito, which was one of the best feuds of the year. I rated 18 of his matches 4 stars or higher including 5 matches at 4.75 stars, the most of everyone this year. Those matches included two against Naito in April and June, one in July against Ospreay, one in August against Okada and another in August against Jay White, which was White’s best match ever. He is a unique talent. Injuries do not seem to slow him down. He is determined and will continue to put on masterful performances as long as his body lets him.

2) Shingo Takagi (NJPW)

After jaded fans claimed Shingo would never have an interesting match ever again after joining New Japan, he goes out there and puts together one of the greatest in-ring years in the history of professional wrestling. Shingo is one of these guys who can adapt to any style and work a match around an opponent’s style. He can work hard-hitting, fast paced, technical whatever the match calls for. He had 17 matches that I rated 4 stars or higher and while that’s lower than some other people behind him on this list 2 of those matches were 4.75 stars and 3 of them were 5 stars. I only gave a 5 star rating 6 times this year and Shingo was in half of them. His 4.75 star matches included one against Dragon Lee in the Best of the Super Juniors and one against Tomohiro Ishii in the G1 climax. His 5 star matches were against SHO in the Best of the Super Juniors opening night, Will Ospreay in the Best of the Super Juniors finals and against Tetsuya Naito in the G1 Climax. He had 3 entries in my top 10 matches of the year with one more coming just missing the mark at number 12. Shingo is also one of the most consistent wrestlers as he really only wrestled singles matches in tournaments. Shingo was one of my favorites in Dragon Gate when I first started watching. He had more of these years there but they always flew under the radar. I am so happy that a wider audience can finally see how great this man is.

1 ) Will Ospreay (NJPW, RPW, ROH, other indies)

Will Ospreay was undeniable this year. He is the most outstanding wrestler of 2019 by a landslide. This may be the best in-ring year of any wrestler in the history of professional wrestling. The term “workhorse” doesn’t even begin to describe him. He worked his ass off in 2019. He was in almost every tournament that NJPW has to offer: New Japan Cup, Best of the Super Juniors, G1 Climax, Super J Cup and the Super Jr Tag Tournament. He had great matches in other promotions as well. Ospreay was everywhere. Detractors of Will Ospreay blew him off as the most outstanding wrestler of the year because he had more opportunity than most wrestlers being that he was put in better spots. While true that he had more opportunities to shine, you can’t take away his accomplishments. This was his year. Ospreay had 33 matches at 4 stars or higher. 33 MATCHES. He almost doubled everyone else on this list. He had 3 matches at 4.75 stars, one being against Kota Ibushi, another against Kazuchika Okada and one against Hiroshi Tanahashi, all in the G1. He had the number 2 match of the year against Shingo Takagi in the Best of the Super Juniors finals that I gave 5 stars. It was a special year and I was happy to be there along for the ride.