5 Worst Wrestling Matches Of 2018

DISCLAIMER: These are the opinions of the writer and do not reflect those of Sportskeeda

2018 has come and gone, and needless to say, it has been an underwhelming year for WWE. For some strange reason, no single main roster wrestler was able to have a truly outstanding match at any point this year. In fact, the best matches in WWE were in NXT, and those weren’t the absolute best of the year. No, the honor of putting on the best matches on average went to New Japan Pro-Wrestling once again.

But why is this? Why is it that so many outside critics argue that WWE’s in-ring product is so inferior to those seen elsewhere? Well, if you look at their big matches, everything feels slower and less risky. Pundits have long groaned over the dreaded ‘main-event-style’ that WWE makes all its performers work in, which leads to an awful homogeneity in the matches showcased. Meanwhile, in other companies you’re more likely to get so much more variety for more or less the same price.

But homogeneity in the structure isn’t the only problem that plagued WWE in 2018. Once again, their creativity hit a low point, which came through in the matches they decided to showcase. These main-event matches were all so disappointing that they definitely earned the dubious distinction of being the worst matches of 2018.

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#5 Roman Reigns vs. Samoa Joe - Backlash 2018

Even though a lot has happened since April, the winner of the ‘worst PPV of the year’ award will definitely be Backlash 2018. That show featured some of the most inexplicable booking seen this entire year and concluded with a main-event that was so poorly-received that people left in droves as soon as it ended.

Simply put, that match was poorly structured and went far longer than it needed to. On a show that was already going way longer than anticipated, the last thing people needed to see on a Sunday night was 'chin lock city' courtesy of Roman Reigns and Samoa Joe.

Worse, the fans were already tired and exasperated by the time it started, which made them more anxious to see the match end. To add further insult to injury, it was another main event match featuring Roman Reigns, so it was obvious to most people watching who was going to win.

These elements all made this a stinker of a main event, which isn’t entirely the fault of the wrestler. They were told what they had to do, so blame here should fall on the bookers and agents for putting this contest together in the way they did.

#4 Undertaker vs. John Cena – WrestleMania 34

For the second time in 2 years, WWE screwed up the booking for a John Cena match at WrestleMania. This time, after two years of planning, they finally put together a ‘feud’ between Cena and the Undertaker, leading to what people were hoping was going to be an exciting dream match.

Instead, what we got was an awful, two-minute squash that failed to live up to the hype in every way. Not only did ‘Taker’s entrance completely devalue the symbolism of last year’s event (which strongly hinted at the end of the Deadman character), but the actual match between two of WWE’s most legendary wrestlers lasted under three minutes.

While it’s true that Undertaker’s body is in bad shape, Cena was more than capable of working a longer, more dramatic and potentially more exciting match with him. In the end, WWE disappointed audiences with one of the most underwhelming matches of the entire year.

#3 Brock Lesnar vs. Kane & Braun Strowman - Royal Rumble 2018

This match makes the list simply because of how transparent the booking was. Although not particularly bad per se (the in-ring work was decidedly average), the decision to have this match and to include Kane of all people was the main reason for this match’s inclusion on this list.

Specifically, Kane was long past his prime here and brought precious little to the match. This isn’t a knock against Kane the performer; it’s simply amazing that Kane has lasted so long as an in-ring performer to begin with.

However, it was obvious from the opening bell that Kane was the one going to take the fall. After all, Kane hadn’t been booked that strongly in years leading up to this match, and both Lesnar and Strowman were already earmarked as future stars.

Since it would’ve been utterly foolish for WWE to book either Lesnar or Strowman to lose, WWE booked themselves into a corner, which led to them going with the most obvious conclusion. Because of that obvious direction, the match lacked drama and surprise, which led to a deflated and disappointed audience in the end.

#2 Braun Strowman vs. Kevin Owens - SummerSlam 2018

This match is being included because of just how unnecessary it was. WWE had actually put a lot of time and effort into making the blowoff match between Kevin Owens and Braun Strowman a big deal.

So for them to have the entire match last less than two minutes seemed like one of those typical Vince McMahon ‘swerve the audience’ moments that lacked much foresight. Owens looked utterly pathetic in the match, not getting any offense in whatsoever.

Keep in mind that this is a man that once held the WWE Universal Championship and was supposed to be a top heel on RAW. While destructive squash matches like this one do have their place in WWE, putting a former World Champion and one of your most dedicated wrestlers in the spot of jobber to the stars does far more harm than good.

#1 Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns – WrestleMania 34

These two men don't seem to have fans cheering when they're in the ring together

For the second time in four years, Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar main-evented WrestleMania. It was also Reigns’ fourth consecutive main-event, and it was the fourth straight time he suffered a torrent of boos until the show ended.

Neither man brought anything new to the table, with most of the in-ring work consisting of nothing more than signature and finishing moves. WWE tried their best to make Reigns look stronger than ever by making him eat six F-5s, but it still did precious little to get an already-apathetic audience to care about a man that has gotten more world title shots than anyone else on the roster.

Lesnar was supposed to be the evil, remorseless heel in this match yet he was cheered when he won. That reaction was as much satisfaction for Lesnar winning and not Reigns as it was the signal that the show was over.

If fans have that sort of feeling about a performer, you know something is very, very wrong with how that performer is being presented.