Independent Wrestling: Best matches of July 2018

Tomohiro Ishii vs Kota Ibushi – NJPW – G1 Climax Night 10

Just the thought of these two facing each other brought a smile to the faces of wrestling fans the world over. The impenetrable 'Stone Pitbull' against the crazy and risk taking 'Golden Star'. Bruiser vs Speed. It’s everything I love in wrestling. Ishii being the ever present, under-appreciated mid carder and Ibushi the hard to pin down superstar. 

The match started a 100 miles an hour, both guys just running into each other with an onslaught of strikes from moment one until the end. With it being Ibushi we had the moonsault from the balcony spot as well as the punching each other in the throat and both guys nearly dying spots. It was brutal; it was beautiful; it was strong style out the ying yang and it’s currently my match of the year. At only 16 minutes it was a sprint of a match that was exactly what it needed to be. Truly incredible

Tomohiro Ishii vs Hiroki Goto – NJPW – G1 Climax Night 6

While Ishii and Ibushi was a mixture of styles, this match was a straight up strong style battle. Two big bulls just trying to beat the crap out of each other. There aren’t many in the business who hit harder than these two, so this was always going to be brutal. While Ishii is universally loved, Goto sometimes gets forgotten about. Stuck in the upper mid card, Never Openweight title matches but when it comes to it he can put on classic matches when faced with the right opponent. His matches this year with both Suzuki and Omega is evidence of this. 

This one started at a slower pace than the last match, both guys trying to feel out the other. An early forearm exchange was in itself so brilliant that the match could have ended right their and the fans would have still been happy. Of course that didn’t happen, and we got another 20 minutes of a strong style clinic that is the very definition of Japanese wrestling.

Kenny Omega vs Tetsuya Naito – NJPW – G1 Climax Night 2

This was the 3rd consecutive G1 where these two have met. The finalists of last year's tournament, this time they faced each other on the first night of B Block action. The chemistry between these two is just incredible, something about their styles just mesh together and when they go at full pace there is nothing quite as exciting. You get a match full of incredible athleticism, drama and the right amount of danger. 

Omega kicking out of a destino brought the crowd out of their seats and the closing stretch as always with Omegas matches, was an exhilarating race to the finish line. Omega hitting the one winged angel finally brought an end to proceedings to make it two wins to one in G1 meetings. Much like their other matches this was an obvious match of the year contender and was a perfect way to start what went on to become a fantastic G1 Climax.

Honourable Mentions

Juice Robinson vs Jay White – NJPW – G1 Special in San Francisco

Minoru Suzuki vs Tomohiro Ishii – NJPW/Rev Pro – Strong Style Evolved UK

WALTER vs 'Speedball' Mike Bailey - Riptide - International Waters

Kota Ibushi vs Zack Sabre Jr. – NJPW – G1 Climax Night 2

Tetsuya Naito vs Tomohiro Ishii – NJPW – G1 Climax Night 4

Zack Sabre Jr. vs Tomohiro Ishii – NJPW – G1 Climax Night 8

LAX vs The OG’s – Impact Wrestling – Slammiversary

Wrestler of the Month

Tomohiro Ishii

Trying to come up with a wrestler of the month for what was a fantastic month of wrestling was ridiculously difficult. With the G1 B Block throwing out classic matches almost every night, it’s fair to say that KotaI Ibushi, Kenny Omega, Zack Sabre Jr and Tetsuya Naito could all be in the running this month. It was in fact another B Block competitor that takes it. That is the 'Stone Pitbull', Tomohiro Ishii. 

The man who is loved by wrestling fans everywhere is often underutilised in New Japan. His age and height seeming to go against him but nobody can argue that when it comes tto in the ring, there are very few on the level of Tomohiro Ishii. His matches in July saw two MOTY contenders with Kota Ibushi and Hiroki Goto, as well as classics with Tetsuya Naito, Zack Sabre Jr, Minoru Suzuki and even a very enjoyable contest with Yano. Just an absolutely brilliant month of wrestling from every bodies favourite Pitbull. 

Show of the Month

Beyond – Americana 2018

With New Japan dominating wrestling in July, I decided to look outside of the company for our show of the month.. A show that brought in record numbers for Powerbomb.tv in front of a sold out White Eagle centre in Worcester, Beyond Wrestling's Americana 2018 is our show of the month for July. The card was a good mixture of talent, from the mixed tag opener to the big lads wrestling of Josh Briggs vs Brody King and PCO vs Brian Cage. There was something for everyone. The main event saw the culmination of a classic feud in Independent wrestling as David Starr battled Joey Janela in a no rope, barbed wire match which was apparently Janela's last foray into the world of death match wrestling. Beyond have been putting on solid shows so far this year and this was probably the best of the bunch. 

The show is available to watch on Powerbomb.tv 

What did you think were the best indie matches in July? Let us know in the comments below!