There were so many great wrestlers in NJPW this past year that it's hard to pick the best. Shibata, Nakamura, AJ Styles, Goto, Tanahashi, Honma, and Okada were all in some spectacular matches. Daniel Bryan in the WWE was in the best match at The Royal Rumble and the two best matches at Wrestlemania. He was the highlight of the early part of the year for sure and the only reason to watch or care about that promotion for a long time. But the WWE hates him and did a lot of damage. First, turning him heel for no reason then quickly reversing it. Having him feud with Kane. And of course, pissing off the fans by not putting him in the Royal Rumble. Bryan was out of action after May, though, and while I love his in-ring work and the crowd's reaction to him, the one wrestler that was continuously in the best matches this year and was always the one you wanted to see was Tomohiro Ishii of New Japan. At 39, his best years are probably behind him. He even separated his shoulder in August and kept wrestling through the year. But the number of amazing matches he was in this past year was astounding. His match in February against Naito was excellent. In May against Honma he delivered another awesome performance. And in the G1 tournament he was the star. He took part in seven of the best matches during that tournament. He's fucking nuts because he takes so punishment but he also dishes it out. He has the best top rope suplex in the game, always gives a wicked clothesline either on a standing opponent or a kneeling one, always ends up with a final five minute dramatic flurry to end a match, and always puts his body on the line. He is the epitome of giving you your money's worth. He's, sadly, probably going to end up a broken shell of a man physically but he certainly entertained the hell out of his fans. Ishii was the best wrestler of 2014.
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