Mid-year best rasslors

It's July now, so that means we're halfway through the year!

So without further ado, here's my top-10 wrestlers of the first half of 2018. The list is based on the matches I've rated ***1/2+

10) Mike Bailey

Earlier this year I got the one month trial for DDT's streaming service, and I watched quite a bit of Speedball's work there during that month. He had a very good run in the Grand Prix tournament, with great matches against Shuji Ishikawa & Yukio Sakaguchi. Those 2 matches are definitely the highlight of his year so far, but he also has had some very fun multi-man tags + he's also been killing it with his singles matches in wXw. 

3 MATCHES TO WATCH:
vs. Shuji Ishikawa (DDT, 01/05)
vs. Yukio Sakaguchi (DDT, 01/11)
vs. Bobby Gunns (wXw, 03/10)

9) Hiroshi Tanahashi

I feel like this happens to me every year - even when it doesn't really "feel" like Tana is having a great year, he still is busting out ***1/2+ bangers very consistently. If it wasn't for ZSJ, Tana certainly would be the MVP of New Japan Cup w/ his killer performances, which resulted in some truly awesome matches. And of course there's the Okada epic, too - that's something I really wasn't looking forward to, but I ended up liking it very much. Go Ace!

3 MATCHES TO WATCH:
vs. Minoru Suzuki (NJPW, 01/27)
vs. Juice Robinson (NJPW, 03/16)
vs. Kazuchika Okada (NJPW, 05/04)

8) Marty Scurll

Heh, in 2016 Marty Scurll was one of my top-2 least favorite wrestlers around - but I've grown to like him at times. This year he has been pretty damn great - great matches against the likes of KUSHIDA, Dalton Castle, KUSHIDA, Will Ospreay, Punishment Martinez etc. I still wouldn't call him one of my favorites, but comparing to how I felt about his work in 2016 - 2017 & especially 2018 now have been HUGE upgrades.

3 MATCHES TO WATCH:
vs. Will Ospreay (NJPW, 04/01)
vs. Dalton Castle (ROH, 04/07)
vs. KUSHIDA (NJPW, 05/22)

7) Roderick Strong

Roddog has been killing it all year long with some awesome matches on NXT TV & 205 - and right now he's absolutely excellent in his role as a part of the Undisputed Era.

3 MATCHES TO WATCH:

vs. Pete Dunne (WWE, 02/01)
vs. Kalisto (WWE, 02/27)
w/ Kyle O'Reilly vs. Danny Burch & Oney Lorcan (WWE, 06/16)

6) Matt Riddle

He can be a bit too formulaic these days, but the broman still delivers really good to great matches on a very, very consistent basis.

3 MATCHES TO WATCH:
w/ Jeff Cobb vs. Timothy Thatcher & WALTER (PWG, 01/12)
vs. Minoru Suzuki (GCW, 04/05)
vs. Will Ospreay (WWN, 04/06)

5) Daniel Bryan

He's my favorite wrestler of all-time & I think he's the greatest, so his comeback has lifted my spirits up big time. There's nothing I look forward to more in wrestling right now than watching him wrestle. Every match he has is an absolute joy.

3 MATCHES TO WATCH:
vs. AJ Styles (WWE, 04/10)
vs. Jeff Hardy (WWE, 05/22)
vs. Big Cass (WWE, 06/17)

4) David Starr

OOH AAH DAVID STARR SAY OOH AAH DAVID STARR. Starr is such a FANTASTIC babyface performer - without a doubt one of the best in the business right now.

3 MATCHES TO WATCH:
vs. Absolute Andy (wXw, 03/11)
vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (PROGRESS, 05/06)
vs. WALTER (PROGRESS, 05/20)

3) Timothy Thatcher

Thatcher's one of my absolute favorites - not just today, but of all-time. Love his team with WALTER, and every time he has a singles match, I am 99% sure I am gonna enjoy it. That has been the story of his work this year, too.

3 MATCHES TO WATCH:
vs. WALTER (PROGRESS, 01/28)

vs. Absolute Andy (wXw, 03/11)
vs. Toni Storm (Beyond/WWR, 04/05)

2) Zack Sabre Jr.

Since his arrival in PWG (BOLA 2014), nobody has been more consistent when it comes to putting on ***1/2+ matches than this man. Sure there have been a couple of wrestlers who've had better years than him (2015 Roderick Strong, 2016 Chris Hero), but looking at the big picture of who has been the most consistent one of the last 4 years or so? The answer is clear in my eyes. Literally anywhere, everywhere he goes, he absolutely kills it. It's gonna be interesting to see if he ends up as the #1 by the end of the year, because right now it's pretty damn close..

3 MATCHES TO WATCH:
vs. Darby Allin (EVOLVE, 01/13)
vs. SANADA (NJPW, 03/18)
vs. WALTER (PROGRESS, 04/07)

1) WALTER

The rise of WALTER ever since his 16 Carat match vs. Ilja Dragunov last year has been spectacular to follow, and this year things have kicked up a notch. He has been an absolute machine & having quality matches EVERYWHERE - wXw, EVOLVE, PROGRESS, FCP, PWG, you name it. There isn't many things better in wrestling than watching the big lad.

3 MATCHES TO WATCH:

vs. Mark Davis (PROGRESS, 02/11)

vs. PCO (GCW, 04/06)

vs. Ilja Dragunov (wXw, 05/05)