The top wrestlers this past year have been the usual bunch from New Japan; Kota Ibushi, Kenny Omega, Will Ospreay, Hiromu Takahashi, Tomohiro Ishii, and Kazuchika Okada. But I tend to go for the wrestler that lucked out by being in the best matches, feuds, and storylines, and if you factor that in then Johnny Wrestling, aka Johnny Gargano, from WWE's NXT was the best wrestler of 2018. He was the type of wrestler that was so great that he wrestled in the main event of NXT's biggest show, their Takeover the day before WrestleMania, in a match that wasn't even for the title. Gargano kicked off the year in January with a great match in Philly at the Takeover show against Andrade "Cien" Almas. Then he was in the feud of the year against his former tag partner, Tommaso Ciampa, with three straight main event Takeover matches. Those three matches were awesome and brutal and had the type of big fight feel and drama that the WWE sadly does not deliver very often anymore. His last Takeover match against Aleister Black was also exceptional, and he ended the year in another good match on the NXT TV show against Black in a steel cage. Gargano has that special something; he's got great charisma and a terrific arsenal, he's smooth and quick and has a great knack for storytelling and getting the crowd in the palm of his hand. He turned heel halfway through the year and never did end up winning the title, but it didn't matter. He delivered a legendary year and became a star. Let's hope he wrestles for NXT forever.
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