POST Wrestling’s Best of 2018 Show was released earlier this week with the panel of John Pollock, Wai Ting, Braden Herrington, and Davie Portman.
You can download the show to here the picks along with honorable mentions and discussion of the all the categories.
Below is the list of winners from the panel and the results of our listener’s choices with their top three picks in each category.
The Worst of 2018 Show will be released this Friday, December 28th.
STORY OF THE YEAR
John Pollock: The WWE’s television deals with Fox and USA Network, stock soars
Wai Ting: WWE Crown Jewel controversy
Braden Herrington: Ronda Rousey joins the WWE
Davie Portman: Daniel Bryan returns
Listener’s Picks:WWE Crown Jewel controversy (20.5%), All In (19.9%), Roman Reigns’ leukemia diagnosis (18%)
BEST WRESTLER (Male)
John Pollock:Hiroshi Tanahashi
Wai Ting:Kenny Omega
Braden Herrington:Kenny Omega
Davie Portman:Johnny Gargano
Listener’s Pick:Kenny Omega (22.9%), Johnny Gargano (18.6%), Seth Rollins (12.9%)
BEST WRESTLER (Female)
John Pollock:Becky Lynch
Wai Ting:Becky Lynch
Braden Herrington:Becky Lynch
Davie Portman:Meiko Satomura
Listener’s Pick:Becky Lynch (71.5%), Charlotte Flair (5.5%), Ronda Rousey (3.6%)
BEST TAG TEAM
John Pollock: The Undisputed Era
Wai Ting:The Golden Lovers
Braden Herrington:The Young Bucks
Davie Portman:The Young Bucks
Listener’s Pick:The Young Bucks (38.4%), The Undisputed Era (25.1%), The Golden Lovers (5.8%)
BEST PROMOTION
John Pollock: New Japan Pro Wrestling
Wai Ting:New Japan Pro Wrestling
Braden Herrington:NXT
Davie Portman:NXT
Listener’s Pick:New Japan Pro Wrestling (48.2%), NXT (37.4%), WWE (7.1%)
BEST FEUD
John Pollock: Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
Wai Ting:Tommaso Ciampa vs. Johnny Gargano
Braden Herrington:Tommaso Ciampa vs. Johnny Gargano
Davie Portman:Tommaso Ciampa vs. Johnny Gargano
Listener’s Pick:Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa (59.9%), Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair (8.5%), Kenny Omega vs. Cody (5%)
MEN’S MATCH OF THE YEAR
John Pollock: Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega (NJPW Dominion)
Wai Ting:The Golden Lovers vs. The Young Bucks (NJPW Strong Style Evolved)
Braden Herrington:Kenny Omega vs. Chris Jericho (NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 12)
Davie Portman:Andrade Cien Almas vs. Johnny Gargano (NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia)
Listener’s Pick:Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega at Dominion (33.8%), Andrade Cien Almas vs. Johnny Gargano at TakeOver: Philadelphia (16.9%), Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa at TakeOver: New Orleans (11.4%)
WOMEN’S MATCH OF THE YEAR
John Pollock: Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair (Evolution)
Wai Ting:Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair (Evolution)
Braden Herrington:Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair (Evolution)
Davie Portman:Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair (Evolution)
Listener’s Pick:Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair at Evolution (71.2%), Charlotte Flair vs. Asuka at WrestleMania (7.3%), Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte Flair at Survivor Series (6.5%)
BEST ON THE MIC
John Pollock: Samoa Joe
Wai Ting:Samoa Joe
Braden Herrington:Tommaso Ciampa
Davie Portman:Daniel Bryan
Listener’s Pick:Samoa Joe (24.7%), Becky Lynch (22.2%), The Miz (15.6%)
BEST CHARACTER
John Pollock: Becky Lynch
Wai Ting:Becky Lynch
Braden Herrington:Velveteen Dream
Davie Portman:Velveteen Dream
Listener’s Pick:Becky Lynch (24%), Velveteen Dream (21%), Tommaso Ciampa (8.7%)
BEST BROADCASTER
John Pollock: Mauro Ranallo
Wai Ting:Kevin Kelly
Braden Herrington:Mauro Ranallo
Davie Portman:Mauro Ranallo
Listener’s Pick:Mauro Ranallo (39.3%), Kevin Kelly (26.3%), Corey Graves (11.5%)
BEST EVENT
John Pollock: NXT TakeOver: New Orleans
Wai Ting:NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 12
Braden Herrington:NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 12
Davie Portman:NXT TakeOver: New Orleans
Listener’s Pick:NXT TakeOver: New Orleans (30.2%), All In (17.1%), NJPW Dominion (14.4%)
BEST WRESTLING TV SHOW
John Pollock: GLOW
Wai Ting:NXT
Braden Herrington:NXT
Davie Portman:NXT
Listener’s Pick:NXT (66%), WWE SmackDown (16.8%), Being the Elite (3.9%)
BEST WRESTLING TV EPISODE
John Pollock: Ring of Honor TV September 8th (Jay Lethal vs. Jonathan Gresham Ironman match)
Wai Ting:GLOW Season 2 Episode 4 “The Mother of All Matches”
Braden Herrington:WWE NXT July 11th (The Undisputed Era vs. Moustache Mountain)
Davie Portman:WWE NXT July 11th (The Undisputed Era vs. Moustache Mountain)
Listener’s Pick:Other (30.7%), NXT July 11th feat. Undisputed Era vs. Moustache Mountain (9.7%), WWE Raw Feb 19th feat. Gauntlet Match (8.5%)
BEST BOOK
John Pollock: NITRO by Guy Evans
Wai Ting:n/a
Braden Herrington:n/a
Davie Portman:n/a
Listener’s Pick:NITRO by Guy Evans (32.5%), Eggshells by Chris Charlton (27.6%), Crazy Like a Fox by Liam O’Rourke (6.5%)
BEST DIGITAL SERIES
John Pollock: Ten Pounds of Gold
Wai Ting:Being the Elite
Braden Herrington:WWE 24
Davie Portman:WWE 365
Listener’s Pick:Being the Elite (66.2%), E&C Show (5.9%), Ten Pounds of Gold (5.2%)
BEST MUSIC (Entrance or PPV theme)
John Pollock: Dvorak Symphony No. 9 IV (Walter’s theme)
Wai Ting:Wrestle and Flow’s Guerrillas of Destiny theme
Braden Herrington:“All In” by Downstait
Davie Portman: “Blood // Water” by Grandson (NXT TakeOver Brooklyn theme)
Listener’s Pick:Shinsuke Nakamura (16%), Aleister Black (10.6%), The Undisputed Era (9.5%)
BEST PIECE OF MERCHANDISE
John Pollock: Bad Luck Fale’s “Fuck ‘em” shirt
Wai Ting:Villain Club Gold Edition shirt
Braden Herrington:Custom CHAOS Chicago style shirt
Davie Portman:Kairi Sane’s pirate hat
Listener’s Pick:Becky Lynch “The Man” shirt (17.8%), POST Wrestling shirt (4.7%), Bullet Club shirt (3.7%)
BEST CELEBRITY INVOLVEMENT
John Pollock: Wheatus performs at Joey Janela’s Lost in New York
Wai Ting:Wheatus performs at Joey Janela’s Lost in New York
Braden Herrington:Stephen Amell at All In
Davie Portman:Stephen Amell at All In
Listener’s Pick: Stephen Amell at All In (52.5%), David Arquette vs. Nick Gage (22.9%), Ronda Rousey in WWE (10.3%)
ANGLE OF THE YEAR
John Pollock: Gedo turns on Kazuchika Okada
Wai Ting: The Bullet Club is Fine
Braden Herrington: Aleister Black’s Parking Lot Attack
Davie Portman: Aleister Black’s Parking Lot Attack
Listener’s Pick: The Rise of Becky Lynch (19.6%), Aleister Black Parking Lot Attack (18.7%), Golden Lovers’ Reunion (7.5%)
MOST IMPROVED PERFORMER
John Pollock: Hangman Page
Wai Ting: Becky Lynch
Braden Herrington: Cody
Davie Portman: Becky Lynch
Listener’s Pick: Velveteen Dream (19.3%), Becky Lynch (10.8%), Hangman Page (10.1%)
BEST SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNT
John Pollock: Game Changer Wrestling
Wai Ting: Becky Lynch
Braden Herrington: Tommaso Ciampa
Davie Portman: Becky Lynch
Listener’s Pick: Becky Lynch (60.9%), Tommaso Ciampa (5.6%), Kevin Owens (3.6%)
BEST PODCAST (NOT ON THE POST WRESTLING NETWORK)
John Pollock: Wrestling Observer Radio
Wai Ting: Wrestling Observer Radio
Braden Herrington: Sunday Night’s Main Event
Davie Portman: Something to Wrestle with Bruce Prichard
Listener’s Pick: Something to Wrestle with Bruce Prichard (12.7%), Wrestling Observer Radio (8.2%), E&C’s Pod of Awesomeness (6.5%)
BEST INTERVIEW (Podcast, YouTube, Media Outlet)
John Pollock: Kenny Omega on Talk is Jericho
Wai Ting: Kenny Omega on Talk is Jericho
Braden Herrington: John Cena
Davie Portman: Kenny Omega on Talk is Jericho
Listener’s Pick: Kenny Omega on Talk is Jericho (7.3%), The Undertaker with Ed Young (7.3%), The Elite on Talk is Jericho (6.5%)