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2018 was a great year for several male superstars. Not all of these competitors won championships in 2018 but they still had a great year. Whether it was in terms of promos, rivalries, their win/loss record. or the pure quality of their matches, these superstars shone in 2018.
This list includes male members of the main roster of both Monday Night Raw and SmackDown Live. A few superstars from 205 Live were also able to make the cut due to 2018's rejuvenation of 205 Live as a show only based on Cruiserweight wrestling.
Many superstars including Dean Ambrose, Kevin Owens, Rey Mysterio, & Sami Zayn will be unable to make the cut because they spent a decent portion of the year on the shelf (or competing in other promotions). Before we start the list, there are a few honorable mentions.
Rusev had a decent year. He turned face after spending his entire career as a heel, challenged for the United States Championship, the SmackDown Tag Team Championships, & the WWE Championship (for the first time in his career), competed in his first ever Money in the Bank ladder match, lasted for more than 30 minutes in the Royal Rumble, won a gauntlet match, and defeated the likes of Samoa Joe, Shinsuke Nakamura, Daniel Bryan, & The Miz.
However, he has not been booked strong enough on pay per view and has shockingly not won a pay per view match since 2016 and also disappeared from SmackDown Live for a decent amount of time.
Baron Corbin surprisingly had a breakout year in 2018. He has made considerable improvements in the ring and had several good matches with the likes of Kevin Owens, Shinsuke Nakamura, Seth Rollins, Finn Balor, & Roman Reigns.
He was in the main event of Fastlane and that match was one of the best matches of the year. Baron Corbin also was great as Constable of Monday Night Raw. However, he started to become a nuisance as general manager of Monday Night Raw and still has improvements to make in the ring.
Bobby Lashley made his return on the Raw after WrestleMania 34. While he looked dominant throughout the year, he had poor promos throughout the year as several segments involving Bobby Lashley are some of the worst segments of the year. This problem was fixed when he turned heel and was paired with Lio Rush. However, except for his series with Roman Reigns, Bobby Lashley has not had a truly great match which is what really messes him up.
#10 Shinsuke Nakamura
Shinsuke Nakamura started off the year extremely strong. He won the 2018 Royal Rumble match by last eliminating Roman Reigns (he also eliminated Sami Zayn) and defeated the likes of Shelton Benjamin, Baron Corbin, Aiden English, & Rusev on his Road to WrestleMania before facing AJ Styles.
While he was defeated by AJ Styles, he turned heel and two nights later he delivered the best promo of his career. He feuded with AJ Styles until Money in the Bank where he was finally defeated in one of the best matches of the year.
Shinsuke Nakamura then quickly became the United States Champion afterwards by defeating Jeff Hardy and then successfully retained the United States Championship by defeating wrestlers like Jeff Hardy, R-Truth and Rusev.
While he did sort of disappear from SmackDown Live, he is in the middle of a feud with Rusev and is likely to have a strong performance in the Royal Rumble match.
#9 Buddy Murphy/ Cedric Alexander/ Mustafa Ali
205 Live became rejuvenated this year and it was mainly due to the work of these three superstars. Cedric Alexander (the soul of 205 Live) finally became Cruiserweight Champion by outlasting Gran Metalik, TJP, Roderick Strong, and finally Mustafa Ali in a tournament. He then successfully retained his title in excellent matches against Buddy Murphy, Kalisto, Hideo Itami, & Drew Gulak.
Buddy Murphy was arguably one of 2018's breakout stars. He went from a forgotten superstar in NXT to 205 Live's very best superstar. He defeated Cedric Alexander to win the Cruiserweight Championship in his hometown of Melbourne, Australia, at WWE Super Show-Down.
He had excellent matches with Kalisto, Gran Metalik, Cedric Alexander, & Mustafa Ali and successfully defended his title against Cedric Alexander and Mustafa Ali. To put a cherry on top, Buddy Murphy is also undefeated on pay per view and has only lost to Cedric Alexander and Mustafa Ali.
Mustafa Ali was the Heart of 205 Live. He had excellent matches on a weekly basis against the likes of Drew Gulak, Buddy Murphy, Cedric Alexander and Hideo Itami.
He also became the first superstar to transfer from 205 Live to SmackDown Live and pinned current WWE Champion Daniel Bryan in his second match on SmackDown Live. All 3 of these superstars are arguably set for a huge 2019.
#8 Randy Orton
Randy Orton started the year as one of the favorites to win the Royal Rumble. He was one of the last superstars eliminated and shortly after that, the Apex Predator became a Grand Slam Champion by defeating Bobby Roode for the United States Championship.
Randy Orton lost the United States Championship to Jinder Mahal. He then took time off to get knee surgery and returned as a heel. He attacked Jeff Hardy (who had beaten him to retain the United States Championship) and viciously went after his ear. After having an underrated match with Jeff Hardy at Hell in a Cell he moved onto Tye Dillinger & Rey Mysterio.
Randy Orton viciously went after Tye Dillinger and defeated Rey Mysterio on SmackDown Live. He was also a part of the World Cup tournament and is rumored to face AJ Styles at WrestleMania 35 in 2019.
#7 The Miz
In The Miz's first match of 2018 and on the 25th Anniversary of Monday Night Raw, he defeated Roman Reigns to win the Intercontinental Championship for the eighth time. He successfully defended his title one week later against Roman Reigns before losing to Seth Rollins in the opening match of WrestleMania 34.
His match with Seth Rollins for the Intercontinental Championship was the one true highlight of Backlash and was one of the best matches of the year. He then moved to SmackDown Live and had an excellent match against Jeff Hardy to qualify for Money in the Bank.
He defeated Daniel Bryan in their big blowoff match at SummerSlam and made it all the way to the finals of the WWE World Cup. He is now part of a tag team with Shane McMahon and is one of the favorites to win the Royal Rumble.
#6 Finn Balor
Finn Balor started off the year by entering No. 2 in the Men's Royal Rumble match. He was the "Iron Man" of the match and lasted for nearly an hour. During this period of time, he eliminated Aiden English, the returning Dolph Ziggler and Rey Mysterio from the match while also being one of the final 4 superstars in the match.
He was one of the final 4 superstars in the 7 Man Elimination Chamber Match which determined who would face Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship at WrestleMania. He competed in the opening match of WrestleMania and was chosen as a representative of the LGBT community.
He had an excellent series of matches with Seth Rollins and was one of the first superstars to qualify for the Men's Money in the Bank ladder match. The Extraordinary One also defeated Baron Corbin at Extreme Rules and squashed Baron Corbin by resurrecting the Demon at SummerSlam. He finally received his Universal Championship rematch against Roman Reigns on the Monday Night Raw afterward.
He also has had a recent winning streak as he has defeated Dolph Ziggler on an episode of Raw, Drew McIntyre at TLC, and both Drew McIntyre & Dolph Ziggler on this week's episode of Monday Night Raw. This makes Finn Balor undefeated in singles pay per view matches in 2018 which is incredibly impressive. Finn Balor is also one of the favorites to win the 2019 Royal Rumble match.
#5 Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre
Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre arrived on Monday Night Raw together and were dominant. They completely destroyed Titus Worldwide, Heath Slater, & Rhyno before Money in the Bank. After Money in the Bank, they became true top stars when Drew McIntyre helped Dolph Ziggler defeat Seth Rollins for the Intercontinental Championship.
Drew McIntyre was then able to defeat Seth Rollins with help from the Intercontinental Champion at the team. Shortly after Seth Rollins won the Intercontinental Title back from Dolph Ziggler at SummerSlam, the two got involved in Monday Night Raw's top rivalry with the Shield.
Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre would win the Raw Tag Team Titles from the B-Team and then defended the titles against Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose in one of the best matches of the year. The Scottish Psychopath was also one of the sole survivors for Monday Night Raw during the elimination match at Survivor Series.
They then broke up afterward and have traded wins with each other. Drew McIntyre looks like he is set to become one of the true stars of the company and is one of the favorites to win the Royal Rumble this year while Dolph Ziggler will likely become a true face at some point in the future.
#4 Braun Strowman
Braun Strowman has had an interesting year. He started off the year by unsuccessfully challenging Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship at Royal Rumble. He then won a gauntlet match and set a record for eliminating 5 men (The Miz, Elias John Cena, Finn Balor, & Seth Rollins) in a 7 Man Elimination Chamber match that determined the #1 Contender to the Universal Championship.
He also had a long overdue WrestleMania moment when he defeated the Bar with the help of a young child to win the Raw Tag Team Titles and set a Royal Rumble record when he eliminated 13 men to win the Greatest Royal Rumble and won the Money in the Bank briefcase.
He did not successfully cash in Money in the Bank due to interference from Brock Lesnar who defeated him for the Universal Championship. After that, he eliminated 4 men from Team SmackDown Live at Survivor Series and defeated Baron Corbin at TLC. He is currently set to face Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship at Royal Rumble.
#3 Daniel Bryan
Daniel Bryan was shockingly cleared to compete earlier this year after being retired for more than two years. He had his WrestleMania moment when he teamed up with Shane McMahon to defeat Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn at WrestleMania 34.
He then set a new record by lasting for 1 hour and 16 minutes (breaking Rey Mysterio's 1 hour and 2 minutes record) in the Greatest Royal Rumble match and defeated Big Cass on back to back pay per views. The Yes Man reformed Team Hell No with Kane but unsuccessfully challenged the Bludgeon Brothers for the SmackDown Tag Team Titles.
He also had fun matches against Harper and Shelton Benjamin on SmackDown Live and faced off with Big E and Samoa Joe in a gauntlet match. He then entered into a dream rivalry with The Miz and came up on top.
After unsuccessfully challenging AJ Styles for the WWE Championship the first time that they faced off for the championship, Daniel Bryan turned heel and ended AJ Styles' historic WWE Championship reign. Daniel Bryan then competed in two back to back match of the year candidates when he faced Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series and defended his WWE Championship against AJ Styles at TLC. The WWE Champion will likely face Mustafa Ali for the WWE Championship at Royal Rumble.
#2 AJ Styles
AJ Styles started off 2018 as WWE Champion. He successfully defended the WWE Championship against Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn (in a handicap match) at Royal Rumble and against Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Baron Corbin, Dolph Ziggler and John Cena at Fastlane.
The Phenomenal One headed into WrestleMania strong and defeated Shinsuke Nakamura in a dream match for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 34 and feuded with Shinsuke Nakamura until Money in the Bank. AJ Styles vs Shinsuke Nakamura at Money in the Bank was a match of the year candidate and after that, AJ Styles really started to hit the ground running.
He beat Rusev in another good match at Extreme Rules and had 4 good matches with Samoa Joe afterward.
AJ Styles eventually lost the WWE Championship to Daniel Bryan in another good match and then lost to Daniel Bryan in a rematch at TLC which was one of the best matches of the year. Since then, AJ Styles has seemingly turned heel and will likely enter the Royal Rumble.
#1 Seth Rollins
Seth Rollins started off as Raw Tag Team Champion with Jason Jordan. He had a respectable performance in the Royal Rumble match before losing the Raw Tag Team Titles back to the Bar.
He then had a historic 65-minute performance in a gauntlet match by defeating John Cena & Roman Reigns before losing to Elias. The Man then won the Intercontinental Championship from The Miz at WrestleMania and became a Grand Slam Champion. The Intercontinental Champion successfully defended his title against The Miz, Elias, Jinder Mahal, and even Mojo Rawley in several good matches before losing the Intercontinental Championship to Dolph Ziggler. entered an excellent rivalry with Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre that led to the return of Dean Ambrose, The Shield, and Seth Rollins winning back the Intercontinental Championship at SummerSlam.
He then successfully defended the Intercontinental Championship against Dolph Ziggler and Kevin Owens and also challenged for the Raw Tag Team Championships in excellent matches with Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre. After Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose won the Raw Tag Team Titles, Dean Ambrose shockingly turned on him.
After defeating Shinsuke Nakamura at Survivor Series, the Kingslayer lost the Intercontinental Championship to Dean Ambrose. He will continue his feud with Dean Ambrose heading into 2019 and will likely enter the Royal Rumble match.
