Best Wrestler of 2019: WILL OSPREAY

 
     I just watched AJPW's Kento Miyahara successfully defend his title at Korakuen Hall against Jake Lee. Granted, this match happened in 2020 (January 3rd), but Miyahara is such a great performer that he actually got people to watch and pay attention to All Japan Wrestling in 2019. Miyahara was so great in 2019, but there was someone better. Realistically, he's been one of, if not the best, wrestlers on the planet for years now. We're talking, of course, about Will Ospreay. It's kind of surprising that in 2019 he even had a toned down style and still was the best. One of the reasons is that Kenny Omega left NJPW and they pushed Will Ospreay and he finally got a bigger role in the company to showcase his many talents. His first match of 2019 was even disappointing in a sense, as Kota Ibushi vs. Will Ospreay should have been the greatest match in the history of the world. No, it was merely good. But then he went on to have great match after great match all year long. It helped that he was in the Super Jr. tournament and the G1 tournament (his first G1). While his Super Jr. final against Shingo Takagi was definitely going to be good (it was, and won the Best Match of the Year award), Will Ospreay was so talented, charismatic, dramatic, and athletic, that random matches with lesser foes turned into epic and awesome bouts (like his G1 first round match in Dallas against Lance Archer). His G1 match against Okada could have very well been the best match of the year. His match against Dragon Lee at Dominion was great. His match against Amazing Red in Tacoma, Washington in the Super J Cup was great. His match at the King of Pro-Wrestling show against El Phantasmo was one of the year's best. And he ended the year in two very entertaining tag bouts with the returning Hiromu Takahashi. When Ospreay started he was insane, suicidal, and wildly entertaining. He learned to be less suicidal and learned how to work an entire match while still being exciting. Anytime you see him you expect greatness. And 2019 was his year.