The first annual EuroGraps.com Awards looks to recognise the very best in European Wrestling. We put our survey out to a carefully selected panel of journalists and fans from all across Europe to select their top three in a number of categories. 2018’s panel was @MikeKilby, @NordieByNature, @Spoilex16, @GaryOnGraps, @ArnoldFurious, @SarahFlann, @JPJipeee, @marv2punkt0, @ManuRomeroGraps, @TheKingofBoom, @RealPhillipDohm and @theianhamilton. Points were awarded with a first choice receiving 5 points, a second choice receiving  3 points and a third choice receiving 1 point. Not every person surveyed voted on every category.

 

TV/Episodic Show of the Year:

1: wXw Shotgun – 50pts

2: Revolution Pro World of Pro Wrestling – 13pts

3: GWF Three Count – 10pts

4: WOS Wrestling – 1pt

 

As expected, it was a fairly comprehensive victory for wXw’s now sadly missed Shotgun series. Shotgun provided a nice weekly dose of classic TV style wrestling which was long enough to satisfy but just the right length before burning the viewer out. Matches such as Zack Sabre Jr. vs. David Starr, WALTER vs. Pete Dunne and Veit Muller vs. WALTER were standouts in 2018. Shotgun was an unfortunate casualty of the restructuring that wXw went through in October – and although the monthly Road to… have effectively replaced the weekly series, these events haven’t quite recaptured the magic that made Shotgun such a must-see show.

In a distant second place, Revolution Pro’s World of Pro Wrestling brought the stars of New Japan Pro Wrestling to the small screen – with the likes of KUSHIDA, Jushin Thunder Liger and Roppongi 3K lighting up the York Hall along with UK-based stars such as El Phantasmo, Chris Brookes and David Starr. The neat eight-part series was praised for treating the wrestling as a legitimate sport and having NJPW’s Kevin Kelly on commentary was a master stroke.

Following up on wXw’s former flagship – fellow German promotion GWF’s Three Count attracted a decent portion of the rest of the voting – helped partly by a good crossover of familiar talent between GWF and wXw as well as the very unique cinematic style of the non-wrestling segments. The series had a near 100,000€ budget and was available for free on YouTube – and it’s clear where the money went because the cinematography was excellent in places.

Not faring quite as well as a cinematic experiment was PROGRESS Wrestling’s Freedom’s Road which barely featured any of the Camden promotion’s major stars and was an all-round baffling affair but an interesting experience to say the least. In what is one of the biggest shocks, WWE’s NXT UK featured in nobody’s lists despite having a few half-decent bouts over the course of the year. ITV’s WOS Wrestling made a comeback in the Spring after their one-off special nearly two years ago, having seemingly listened to some of the criticisms and presenting a slightly better programme than before with the likes of Will Ospreay and Doug Williams joining the roster. However, some fairly unremarkable matches, boring storylines and quite possibly the worst commentary team in recent memory showed there was still a long way to go and the voting has reflected this. In early 2018, FreeSports cancelled a deal with Preston City Wrestling and instead opted to run with the horrifically bad 5* Wrestling show which only ran for a handful of episodes before the company liquidated. Good riddance. PCW moved sideways to Fight Network UK in the autumn but haven’t made much noise – owing to the fact few have even heard of Fight Network UK.

✏️ @MikeKilby