2023 End Of The Year Awards
So in short, I could not have phoned these in more last year if I tried. They were pathetic and I was called out for not putting in the effort, which absolutely was the case. I could feel it as I was writing them and yeah, they were lame. I’m going to trim this down a bit as there are some categories that I’ll be dropping. Some of them have just been around because I’ve done them for years and that’s no reason to keep going with something.
I’ll also be cutting out some of the rather needless Honorable Mentions, as it felt more like I needed to fill in space rather than having something to say about it. If there are multiple options for something then sure, but there are some that are just not worth talking about anything but the winner. I’m also going to try to avoid repeating the same things in different awards, as you’re smart enough to get the point the first time around. I hope you like these better, because point blank you deserve better if you’re going to give me your time.
Note that I do not watch much in the ways of independent wrestling or much from Japan or Mexico. If there is something glaring missing, it’s because I probably didn’t see it or didn’t see enough of someone to include them
Also note that I intentionally left off Worst Major Show Of The Year, as looking back over what would be considered major gave me a B- as the lowest overall rating. If that’s the worst we had, there’s no need to include it this time around. Rookie/Newcomer Of The Year was left off as well as no one really stood out enough.
News Story Of The Year
Winner: WWE Sold To Endeavor
This is one where I can save time from the start because there is no other realistic option. WWE has been in the hands of the McMahon Family since its inception and that is no longer the case. Whether you liked Vince McMahon or not, there is no denying that he was the king of wrestling. Now, McMahon’s time with the company, at least the on-screen part of it, is over, and that is an amazing change.
In addition to that, you have the fallout that comes with it. Triple H is now in charge and things seem to be going better already. There are reports of higher morale along with the stories and television being better. WWE is clearly on a high from the changes and my goodness that is a fun thing to be able to say. When is the last time WWE had this much energy and this long of a streak without being so bad?
McMahon being gone is not just going to be a case of addition by subtraction, but it also opens up a variety of doors. Endeavor is a media powerhouse and the company could bring quite a bit more to WWE. This is an exciting time and it all came from the huge sale, which absolutely shook up the wrestling world. On top of even that, it didn’t get sold to the Saudis, which would have taken things in the completely wrong direction. This is hands down the winner and it’s a good story to have on top.
Note that I’m intentionally leaving off Bray Wyatt passing away, as it’s worth a mention, but calling it honorable feels wrong.
Most Improved Of The Year
Winner: Dominik Mysterio
This is kind of a gimme again, as Mysterio went from nothing more than Rey’s son to a completely separate entity who can do all kids of things on his own. The key was getting him away from his legendary father, who was (unintentionally) holding him back. Remember about three years ago when Dominik was the annoying kid who was fighting Seth Rollins in the never ending Rollins vs. Rey feud?
Well now he’s in the big Raw heel stable, is a multiple time singles champion, had an outstanding team with Rhea Ripley and had an incredible entrance/match at Wrestlemania. Who in the world saw that coming just a few years ago? Oh and on top of that: he gets booed out of the building so hard that the fans won’t even let him talk. It’s amazing to see what he is doing and my goodness the kid actually seems to have a real future with this stuff.
Honorable Mention: Rhea Ripley
This one might sound a little weird but think about it. Ripley had one previous Women’s Title run on the main roster and it was nothing special in the slightest. She was a star, but she was barely on the top shelf of the women’s division. Compare that to now, when she is not only the biggest star in the women’s division (by a mile) but feels like one of the biggest stars in all of WWE. Her telling Paul Heyman to acknowledge her made me gasp because it actually worked and didn’t feel like a cheap line. Ripley has gone from good to one of the biggest stars in the history of women’s wrestling and that deserves a lot of respect.
Non-Wrestler Of The Year
Winner: Paul Heyman
Ok let’s get this easy part out of the way, because the honorable mentions are a bit more interesting here. Heyman is still one of the best talkers in the world and can make you believe anything he’s talking about. That is a skill few have had in wrestling history and he more than deserves the praise. We might as well name the award after him at this point, but there are a few other options here.
Honorable Mention: Renee Paquette
Is there anything she can’t do? Paquette has an ability to go from the fun interviewer to serious to disgusted in the blink of an eye. She actually brings something to her role and that is not something you get very often. Yes there are a lot of people who are able to go out there and ask questions, but there is a lot more to it than holding up the microphone and standing there. Paquette gets that and she makes it work like no one else right now.
Honorable Mention: Prince Nana
It’s the dance. If that doesn’t get you some respect, nothing is going to.
Honorable Mention: Scott D’Amore
Being the boss is not an easy role for a wrestler and D’Amore does it as well as anyone else right now. He plays the role perfectly well and doesn’t waste a lot of time with anything he does. It feels like a real person doing his job (read as he’s not Santino Marella) and I never dread seeing him on the show. D’Amore is someone who doesn’t get the attention he deserves and while he might not be the best around, he’s perfect at what he does.
Surprise Of The Year
Winner: CM Punk Returns At Survivor Series
At the end of the day, this feels like the definition of a surprise. I know they were teasing it for a few weeks, but it’s Punk returning to WWE. This is in the same vein as Bret Hart returning to WWE in 2010 and yet here we are, seeing something that felt absolutely impossible for the better part of the last ten years. The fact that Punk seems primed for a major Wrestlemania match makes it that much better as there are some serious possibilities.
The best praise I can give this moment is that I was stunned. It takes a lot to truly surprise me these days but they managed to make it happen. That takes some talent and I’m very interested in seeing where Punk is going to be going from here. There is a very good chance that it doesn’t work, but my goodness Punk actually came back to WWE after all that time.
Honorable Mention: AEW Brings Back And Fires CM Punk
This is something that felt like a possibility but then it actually happened. Punk being brought back was a big enough surprise after all of the hullabaloo but then everything went nuts again and he was let go a few months later. It ends a total mess, though there is a very real chance that this winds up being a bigger mess for AEW if everything works out for Punk in WWE.
Honorable Mention: The Rock Shows Up On Smackdown
Yes he does this on occasion but that doesn’t mean it’s any less awesome. The Rock showed up on Smackdown and beat up Austin Theory in a cool moment, at least partially due to him appearing on ESPN College Gameday around the same time. Either way, you can feel the energy when the Rock shows up and that was on full display here.
Honorable Mention: Adam Copeland Debuts For AEW
There isn’t much to say here, but it was a cool moment and made up for a not so thrilling pay per view. That’s at least worth a mention.
Honorable Mentions: AEW Knocks All In Out Of The Park
When I first heard that AEW was going to Wembley for their biggest show ever, I (like many others) rolled my eyes because it felt like a horrible idea. Then they absolutely smashed the whole thing, making it look and feel like their version of Wrestlemania. This was an outstanding moment and something AEW should be bragging about for a good while.
Honorable Mention: Impact Wrestling Becomes TNA Again
It was a surprise. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing but it was certainly a surprise.
Worst Wrestler Of The Year
Note that this would probably be better named “Most Annoying Wrestler Of The Year” as it isn’t about their in-ring work.
Co-Winner: Joe Gacy
He’s a cult guy and somehow makes it as terrible as possible. At the end of the day, Gacy had a cult that was never really explained and it seemed to exist for him to to his stupid speeches that said nothing in particular. I dreaded seeing him show up on NXT and it never got any better throughout the year. Even now that Schism is done, we have to deal with Gacy doing….whatever it is now, and it’s terrible.
Co-Winner: Deaner
Somehow this guy is the discount version of Gacy and while he might be worse, he wasn’t featured as prominently so we’ll call it a wash. Violent By Design was terrible enough and now he’s managing to take his own version to even lower levels. That is hard to manage to make work but Deaner has somehow manages to make it worse. Absolutely cannot stand this guy and hopefully he’s done with this nonsense with the new TNA stuff.
Honorable Mention: Akira Tozawa
This one is a stretch but I cannot stand “designated comedy guys” but that is what Tozawa has become in the Alpha Academy. He’s there to do “funny”/”wacky” stuff and it has yet to come close to entertaining me whatsoever.
Honorable Mention: QTV (Powerhouse Hobbs Version)
If anyone can explain what this did for Hobbs, you’re a lot smarter than me. At least the Johnny TV stuff was a bit better, but my goodness this was some terrible stuff.
Honorable Mention: Top Dolla
It’s Top Dolla.
Wrestler Of The Year
Winner: Maxwell Jacob Friedman
I’m not sure if MJF is that much better than everyone else, but he beats the rest of the options. Not only has he dominated the AEW World Title scene, but he has the talking ability to go with it. His stuff with Adam Cole was the best thing about a pretty weak time for AEW and while we won’t be seeing him for a bit due to the injury, I’ll take what he did in 2023 over anyone else.
Honorable Mention: Cody Rhodes
To say Rhodes was on fire for the first part of the year would be an understatement, and even after the complete weirdness that was the main event of Wrestlemania, he was still headlining the biggest show of the year. He came back with a heck of a feud against Brock Lesnar and then closed it out with a good feud against Judgment Day. The big Royal Rumble win helps, but not winning the World Title brings him down just enough to keep him out of the top spot.
Honorable Mention: Gunther
Gunther very well may have become the best Intercontinental Champion of all time, set the record for longest reign in history, and can break the record for most combined days as champion if he holds the title for about three more weeks. The best thing I can say about Gunther though is that he brings the big fight feel. He made a feud with Chad Gable must see TV because the idea of him losing the title felt almost impossible to believe. Gunther is going to be in the main event scene by the end of the year and it comes after a heck of a 2023.
Honorable Mention: Seth Rollins
This is one that kind of speaks for itself. He’s been one of the focal points of Raw for the better part of a year, has good matches with just everyone and is presented as the top star on the shoe. That deserves a mention and he’s getting just that here.
Honorable Mention: Samoa Joe
Joe might not have had the most complete year, but dang there is something special about seeing him. He’s the definition of “I can’t convince them that this is real, but I can convince them that I’m real” and that is invaluable. It is great to see him out there feeling like the most awesome thing around and it feels like he knows that’s what he is. It’s no surprise that he wound up getting the AEW World Title because he has more than earned it.
Honorable Mention: Rhea Ripley
I didn’t bother with a Women’s Wrestler of the Year because Ripley exists. She has gone so far and above the rest of the women’s division (pretty much everywhere) that it wasn’t worth a competition. Ripley is one of the biggest stars in wrestling and she got her big moment at Wrestlemania. She doesn’t wrestle very often, but her presence alone feels like a big deal and that is what makes her special.
Major Show Of The Year
So rather than trying to list a bunch of shows, I’ll be going with the shows I gave the highest overall rating this year. For the sake of avoiding a bunch of pitchforks, I’ll go with one each from WWE and AEW (the fact that they tied helped as well).
Winner (WWE): Backlash
While I would go with Wrestlemania higher overall, Backlash on its own was better than either night on its own. Backlash had a molten hot crowd with some outstanding matches. Watching the fans turn Iyo Sky into one of the biggest stars in the world all of a sudden was great, but they blew the roof off the place when Bad Bunny showed up. This was a show where the crowd took it from great (which it was) to special, which is all the more important. This was an awesome show and one I wouldn’t mind watching again.
Winner (AEW): Full Gear
This was a three way race along with Forbidden Door and All In. Forbidden Door didn’t quite work as well as it felt like a co-production rather than an AEW show and All In, unfortunately, is remembered more for the backstage insanity rather than how great the show was. That leaves us with Full Gear, which was full of strong matches and felt like one of the great AEW shows from years past.
Worst Match Of The Year
Winner: Pheromones vs. Bussy – GCW vs. DDT
Do not watch this. Do not look this up. Do not accuse it of being wrestling. This is in the running for worst thing I have ever seen in wrestling and that’s covering a lot.
Honorable Mention: Pheromones vs. Takagi Army – DDT Goes Hollywood
This ONLY received an F. Nothing is coming close to these two and it didn’t take any real thinking.
Worst Angle/Feud Of The Year
Winner: Adam Cole vs. Chris Jericho
These two had a singles match at Double Or Nothing which for some reason involved Sabu as the guest enforcer. That alone put the feud off on the wrong foot and then it went even further down the hole as Sabu was every bit as terrible as you could imagine. The match wasn’t any good either, leaving everything to fall apart for nineteen agonizing minutes. Their mixed tag follow up wasn’t much better, making this one of the biggest “why is this happening and why is it so bad” feuds in recent memory.
Honorable Mention: The Outcasts
AEW is supposed to be different than WWE but they couldn’t have had a more WWE style angle if their lives depended on it. This was every stereotypical women’s moment you could ask for as the Outcasts were NWO Lite, with a feud that just kept going and little to care about. Thankfully Toni Storm escaped to do something else, because this is just death for everyone involved.
Honorable Mention: Fall Of Chase U
Chase U is one of the goofiest things in wrestling today but Andre Chase has made it work through almost pure willpower. The thing is so ridiculous and silly but it turned into a fan favorite with the team FINALLY winning something in the Tag Team Titles. Then they lost the titles three weeks later and the school was involved in a weird cheating scandal which seems to be leading to its decline. The whole thing was such a hard shift after something actually went right and I don’t get the point. It’s more disappointing than anything else and I’m actually bugged it went this way.
Honorable Mention: Tommy Dreamer vs. Bully Ray
ECW has been over for twenty three years and these two are still having violent hardcore matches. As has been said for the last 15+ years: LET IT END ALREADY.
Promo Of The Year
Winner: Jimmy Uso Is Out
Backstage at the entrance to the Memphis television studios, there was a sign that said “personal issues draw money”. That is what we had here, with Jey Uso having to pick which side he was on. While Jey was thinking about going with Jimmy, Roman Reigns revealed that Jimmy was the one who didn’t want Jey to become the next right hand man.
What followed was a promo that came from Jey’s heart and soul, as he vented about always being the younger brother and how Jimmy was always the one who got his way and was always the star. Jey wrapped it up by saying that for the first time, Jimmy was the one who was out….and then Jey superkicked Reigns to say they were both out.
This whole thing was a roller coaster and I wanted to see how it was going to end, as they went from one direction to the other in just a few seconds. As has been said: this worked because they had built the story up and when it came to a big moment, it was a smash. The fact that I was in person for this made it even better, as the roof came off of the place when Jey gave the (second) big line.
Honorable Mention: Cody Rhodes Face To Face With Roman Reigns
This was a feud that had to be built up over time, as you had a pair of second generation wrestlers who knew what they were doing and had to bring the crowd into the palms of their hands. This was the night where Reigns laid out the WWE Title and asked if Rhodes had ever won that one, with Rhodes talking about how much he wanted to do this for his father. You had two guys who don’t get a ton of praise for their talking showing what they could do and it was great.
Honorable Mention: Chris Jericho and Will Ospreay’s Contract Signing
Honorable Mention: LA Knight’s Bray Wyatt Tribute Promo
I don’t get choked up much while watching wrestling. Knight saying “run” at the end of his promo on Miz did it.
Group/Tag Team Of The Year
Winner: Usos
FTR originally had this spot but the more I thought about it, the more impressive the Usos’ year really was. Not only were they still one of the best teams in the world, but they headlined Wrestlemania, pinned Roman Reigns, and had one of the best moments of the year. The Usos are one of the best teams WWE has seen in a long time and the fact that they were pushed as hard and as strong as they were this year shows you just how important they are.
Honorable Mention: Bloodline
If this was an award for most of the year, you could give this to the Bloodline in a heartbeat, but once Summerslam was over, the team just stopped being interesting. Again it’s almost like having Roman Reigns leaving for months on end is an easy way to kill off the biggest story in wrestling. There was little more interesting in the first half of the year though, and that puts them rather high on the list.
Honorable Mention: Judgment Day
They’ve been up and down for a lot of the year, but the team has had success while being a constant on Monday Night Raw. Rhea Ripley has more or less taken over the team and become one of the biggest stars in WWE at the same time. If the team had gotten that one big win they would have a better chance at this, but they’re just not high up enough.
Honorable Mention: FTR
I originally had these guys as the winners but I’m not sure they were quite as high up on the list as the Usos. As usual, FTR is going to have a good to great match against just about anyone and their stuff against Bullet Club Gold was outstanding. At the same time though, they’ve kind of flown under the radar, despite being one of the best teams in recent memory. FTR is still one of the best things about all of AEW and that is rather impressive.
Honorable Mention: Sami Zayn/Kevin Owens
They’re not a real threat to win, but that Wrestlemania main event and some of their ensuing matches were more than worth a look. They’re a great team and seeing them get that huge moment in the main event of Wrestlemania is incredible.
Angle/Feud Of The Year
Winner: The Battle For Jey Uso
You often hear about long term storytelling in wrestling but it is so rare to actually see it. Every so often you will see it happen and when it is done right, there is little like it anywhere to be found. WWE did it with this story though and my goodness it was amazing. The whole Bloodline story has seen Uso rise up from nothing more than a heck of a tag team wrestler to become one of the most intriguing stars the company has.
Uso has been groomed as Roman Reigns’ next big star almost since the beginning of the Bloodline, with the story having a variety of twists and turns. Once Jimmy came back from injury, he and Jey became the most dominant team in modern WWE, but at the same time, they were still individuals with their own personalities. They kept having issues over whether or not Reigns was really in their corner, with Reigns and Paul Heyman playing on the idea of Jey finally getting to be the big star.
That all came to a head with Jey’s speech to Jimmy about Jimmy always being the older brother and Jey always living in his shadow. The twist then came with Jey realizing that Reigns was trying to split them apart when his brother, the one who had been right there with him since the beginning, was always right there by his side. The two joined together, because at the end of the day, family is what matters over power. That’s what Reigns never realized, with Jey showing the real version of the Bloodline rather than whatever Reigns has been pushing for years.
Honorable Mention: Cody Rhodes vs. Brock Lesnar
It’s the kind of story that Rhodes needed to have after the loss to Roman Reigns. There is almost no one in WWE history like Lesnar and while he has become something of a cliché these days, it still means something when someone beats him. Rhodes did it twice in a year and even got Lesnar’s respect after the last match. That’s not bad.
Honorable Mention: The Brochachos
This was, for a time, the best thing about AEW, as the two of them were absolutely hysterical together with one over the top idea after another. They then headlined the biggest show in AEW history and had the big reveal at the last show of the year. The ending didn’t exactly go well (partially due to both of them getting terribly hurt) but these guys were great at what they did for a good while.
Honorable Mention: Rey Mysterio vs. Dominik Mysterio
This is almost something of a career achievement award for Dominik, as he has gone from little more than a whipping boy to one of the best stars in WWE today. Their Wrestlemania match was a near show stealer and Dominik’s entrance alone was great. This was the feud that Dominik needed and he knocked it out of the park as his career is taking off in a huge way.
Moment Of The Year
Co-Winner: Jey Uso Is Out Too.
I’m more than a bit biased towards this one as I was in the arena live. You could feel the air go out of the place when Jey told Jimmy that he was out….but then Jey said he was out too and the roof came off. To make it even better, you had Roman Reigns laughing his head off because he thought he had won, only to get DROPPED with the superkick. Throw in Paul Heyman panicking over the whole thing and this was one of the best moments I’ve seen in longer than I can remember.
Co-Winner: Sami Zayn Turns On Roman Reigns
Yeah I’m cheating but I can’t pick between these two. There are times in wrestling where you can tell how big something is by how the audience reactions. That was more than the case here as the Alamodome didn’t cheer for Zayn turning on Reigns at the Royal Rumble but rather completely lost their minds. It was one of the loudest reactions I’ve ever heard and that shouldn’t be a surprise.
The reason this worked was you could see what was happening to Zayn and how sincere he was to want to help everyone while Reigns was only using him. It made Reigns pushing him over and over that much better as fans wanted Zayn to fight back and stop taking this from him, which made that chair shot all the better.
It was the same way that the Shield was broken up, which led Reigns to form the Bloodline in the first place (he couldn’t trust his friends but he KNEW he could trust family….and the one non-family member was the one who turned on him). This was the real main event of the Royal Rumble and even set up two more main events in a row. Where else are you going to get that kind of a moment?
Honorable Mention: The Rock Returns On Smackdown
This one is kind of self explanatory as it’s always cool to see the Rock come back, even if it’s just to beat someone up and promote whatever he’s doing.
Honorable Mention: CM Punk Returns To WWE
I didn’t think it would ever happen and yet here it was. They even did the copyright logo before having him come out, just to make it feel that much more out of left field.
Honorable Mention: Sami Zayn’s Elimination Chamber Entrance
There is very little like a hometown return in wrestling and Zayn got the full hero’s welcome, even when he wound up losing to Reigns. This was set up with Zayn as a near dark horse candidate to win the title, but the entrance alone was more than worth it.
Honorable Mention: Bad Bunny At Backlash
This was one of the best shows of the year and Bad Bunny might as well have been 1999 Steve Austin out there. The fans ate the whole thing up and you could feel the energy coming through the screen.
Honorable Mention: The Bray Wyatt Tribute Video
When his daughters were shown on screen….my goodness.
Honorable Mention: All In
AEW wanted to make a Wrestlemania level show and that’s what they did. This felt like one of the biggest shows ever and the visual when the show came on the air felt every bit like a Wrestlemania opening. That is an outstanding accomplishment and AEW deserves every single bit of praise they received.
Match Of The Year
Winner: Drew McIntyre vs. Gunther vs. Sheamus – Wrestlemania XXXIX
This is one of the matches that stuck with me for a good bit, to the point where I actually watched it again after. That isn’t something I have any interest in doing most of the time but my goodness it worked well. These guys beat the living daylights out of each other in a match where you could feel every single shot. It was exactly what it was advertised as being and All three were clearly having a blast hitting each other than hard. You don’t get this kind of a match very often but when it works, it’s excellent, and that was the case here.
Honorable Mention: FTR vs. Bullet Club Gold – Collision
It was 2/3 falls, it ran about an hour and my goodness it was excellent. This was one of the better TV matches I’ve seen in a very long time and it was absolutely worth the look. Check this out if you haven’t had the chance before.
Honorable Mention: Cody Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns – Wrestlemania XXXIX
There are matches that are built up over time and feel like they belong on the biggest stage of them all. That is the level they reached with this one and it very well could have been the winner if Cody hadn’t choked in the biggest match of his life. I’m still not sure they made the right decision here but dang it was good while it lasted.
Honorable Mention: Swerve Strickland vs. Hangman Page – Full Gear
This was the violent match on the list as it was one of the bloodiest things that AEW has ever done. They might have gone on a hair too long, but it was the kind of match that makes someone a star. After it was over, Strickland seemed ready to move into the World Title picture, which is the level of praise that the match deserved.
Honorable Mention: Bryan Danielson vs. Kazuchika Okada – Forbidden Door
It was a match where you knew it was going to be good based on who was involved and then they lived up to the hype. The fact that Danielson had a broken arm for a good chunk of the match makes it that much more impressive.
Honorable Mention: Bryan Danielson vs. Maxwell Jacob Friedman – Revolution
This was an Iron Man match and they managed to tell a heck of a story, with MJF having to prove that he can wrestle with Danielson and Danielson getting a bit too cocky. They made the time limit fly by and it was a great main event despite a tricky gimmick to pull off.