Another year has somehow come and gone, 2023 is at its end.
We’re all a little older, we’re all a little wiser, and we’ve all seen a little bit more wrestling.
Some of it good, some of it bad, and some of it good enough to earn five stars from Uncle Dave.
Here we are once again putting one man’s opinion on a pedestal but really I just look at this list as an opportunity to look at some of the very best matches of the whole year.
I hope you like Will Ospreay!
26. Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay – Wrestle Kingdom 17 (6.25 Stars)
Only three things are guaranteed in life, death, taxes, and a match of the year candidate on January 4th. But even for January 4th standards, this match was special.
Will Ospreay and Kenny Omega put on many people’s match of the year at Wrestle Kingdom.
Capping off years of pent up animosity and exceptional reality-based storytelling through violent brilliance while still somehow leaving the door open for more to come.
Kenny f*cking DDTs Will on an exposed turnbuckle and I think now nearly a year later, it is still the most brutal and exceptionally performed spot I have seen in 2023.
Kenny Omega in a New Japan ring is as close as this fan can get to perfection and I certainly hope we haven’t seen the last of it.
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25. The Elite vs. Death Triangle – AEW Dynamite (Jan 11) (5 Stars)
The culmination of the Best of 7 Series between The Elite and Death Triangle, in the Young Bucks’ home territory, helped to get AEW’s 2023 started off hot.
It is no secret that these two teams work extraordinary well together, but informed the uninitiated with a very not tame ladder match.
From fear factors and hurricanranas onto ladders to Brandon Cutler cold spraying Alex Abrehantes in the eyes. Everybody came out of this match a bit worse for wear.
It wouldn’t be long before the Trios titles would take a massive dip in importance. However, in January 2023 these two teams made these belts a prize worth going through hell for.
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24. Hangman Page vs. Jon Moxley – AEW Revolution (5 Stars)
2023 has been the year that Hangman Page became the AEW king of the deathmatch, which I didn’t personally see coming but as the protagonist of the promotion, I absolutely welcome Page having that distinction.
The highly personal rivalry between Hangman Page and Jon Moxley had started as a respectful bit of competition. However, after a concussion and some harsh words, they found themselves going through hell to be called the better man.
Bricks, and tacks and barbed wire were only some of the popuri found in this match before the Hangman lived up to his name, choking Moxley out with a chain for the win.
This sort of match may not be everyone’s bag, but if it is or could be, you won’t find too many examples of this sort of match being done better than this.
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23. MJF vs. Bryan Danielson – AEW Revolution (5.75 Stars)
Less than an hour later, we went from one of the greatest deathmatches of all time to THE single greatest Iron Man match of all time.
MJF’s reign of terror as AEW World Champion was still in its infancy at Revolution so with a need to get a classic pay per view title defence under his proverbial belt, there would be no one better to turn to than Bryan Danielson.
MJF sobbing after having been forced to wrestle the best in the world for an hour, while Bryan is stood smiling, in his element, is so perfect.
MJF needing to be put on an oxygen machine while Bryan does jumping jacks, all leading to the first Bryan-led yes chant in AEW before he is forced to tap to his own hold. A perfect match.
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22. Kenny Omega vs. El Hijo del Vikingo – AEW Dynamite (Mar 22) (5 Stars)
The long-awaited dream match between Kenny Omega and the Twitter gif come to life El Hijo del Vikingo was just that, a dream come true.
Vikingo is a generational high-flyer and it is because of matches like this that I don’t feel I have to come on these lists at the end of the year and sing his praises.
Now, everyone knows just how brilliant he is. Crazy flipping reverse ranas, inverted dragon ranas and springboard 630s all sound like moves you should only be able to pull off in a video game and we got to see it all on free television.
Matches like this are what AEW was built for and I feel blessed to have witnessed it.
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21. Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn vs. The Usos – WrestleMania 39 Night One (5 Stars)
We had to wait for the 39th WrestleMania for the WWE Tag Team Championship to be defended in a main event but thankfully that wait produced maybe the best WrestleMania main event of all time.
Now we all know how WrestleMania ended, but at the halfway mark, we were still on pace for the greatest blowoff in WWE history because of this match.
There was only one finish that made sense for this match and it was Sami Zayn pinning Jey Uso, and that is exactly what we got.
Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn finally winning tag gold together in WWE, ending the record setting reign of The Usos after everything The Bloodline had put them both through, was truly euphoric.
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20. Shingo Takagi vs. Aaron Henare – NJPW Road to Sakura Genesis Night 2 (5.25 Stars)
Breaking up the two days of WrestleMania is pesky ol New Japan and the King of Pro Wrestling championship of all things.
It its three years of existence it has not been a title known for the quality of its matches. It is a belt defended with a different stipulation every time: blindfold matches, sumo matches, take the turnbuckle pad off matches, you get the idea.
However, put the title on Shingo Takagi and have him wrestle a best of five falls match where to win you have to win your three falls by pinfall, submission AND knockout, and you get a 5 star king of pro wrestling match.
Aaron Henare is a hell of a big meaty man to battle Shingo and by the end when these two are both only trying to knock the other out, you get the kind of big meaty men slapping meat match that gets the blood flowing.
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19. Gunther vs. Sheamus vs. Drew McIntyre – WrestleMania 39 Night Two (5 Stars)
Speaking of big meaty men slapping meat, we heard you liked that Gunther vs. Sheamus match from Clash at the Castle and decided to give it to you again this time with an additional 50% more meat!
Drew McIntyre’s presence also added loads to the story of the match as his friendship with Sheamus had dissolved as a result of Drew and Sheamus liking the same girl, pardon me title.
Sheamus’ final goal in his career was winning the IC Title and seeing his friend Drew choose to go after the same prize drove a wedge between them and that was very much the case during this epic WrestleMania classic.
And I’ve barely mentioned Gunther! At this point I’m convinced he is a top five in-ring performer in WWE history and if you think that is hyperbole I would just tell you to go watch this match again.
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18. Master Wato vs. Titan – NJPW Best of the Super Juniors Final (5 Stars)
What a difference three years can make for young Master Wato.
From strolling into an empty building with bright blue hair and stinking out the joint in his debut, looking like the biggest goober in New Japan, to winning the Best of the Super Juniors tournament in one of the best matches of the year.
The same can honestly be said about Titan, who now, comfortably sits as one of the best juniors in the promotion as well.
The match they had in the final of the tournament was a 25 minute classic with momentum shifting more times than I can count, and with a roaring crowd, this had the atmosphere of one of the biggest matches in New Japan this year.
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17. Anarchy in the Arena – AEW Double or Nothing (5 Stars)
For the second year in a row, the Blackpool Combat Club walked into Las Vegas to have a big ol brawl around the arena.
But while this one may not have had Eddie Kingston with a gascan, it did have The Elite superkicking the annoying ass band that missed their cue.
The Young Bucks continued their forray into shoe-based warfare, this time putting an explosive on the bottom of their shoe.
This match was just as all over the place as its predecessor, which may not have been to everyone’s liking, but the match and its finish of Konosuke Takeshita turning on The Elite, capped off this chapter of gang warfare rivalry.
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16. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii vs. Blackpool Combat Club & Shota Umino – NJPW Dominion (5 Stars)
Jon Moxley and Claudio Castagnoli enlisted the help of Shota Umino in their attempt to relieve the New Japan all-stars Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Tomohiro Ishii of the NEVER Openweight six-man tag titles
There is so much to love about this match. The crowd are so excited to see Claudio in New Japan and pop big when he starts the match against Tanahashi.
Moxley and Ishii reignite their old rivalry and Okada continued his bitter veteran diatribe against the next generation of New Japan stars, beating down and eventually pinning Umino.
This is just an electric match filled with star power, exciting combinations and storytelling and that doesn’t even factor in the post-match announcement of Okada vs Danielson for Forbidden Door! And speaking of…
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15. Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay – AEW/NJPW Forbidden Door (6.25 Stars)
Two wrestlers, two matches, two identical ratings. It is up to you whether you think this match or Ospreay and Omega’s Wrestle Kingdom classic is the better of their two 2023 encounters.
But after months, watching both back and letting them marinate, I think Wrestle Kingdom is just marginally better. But if you told me this one was the match of the year I wouldn’t argue with you.
The first match was Omega’s turn to get the bulk of the offense but this was Ospreay’s time and he responded with pure vicious bellended-ness.
Combine that with Omega’s fighting spirit, providing the best kick out of one in goddamn years, and you have the best meeting of England and Canada since Tempest.
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14. Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Kento Miyahara – Pro Wrestling NOAH One Night Dream (5.25 Stars)
On the surface this may seem like just a Pro Wrestling NOAH vs. All Japan Pro Wrestling match, with Miyahara being All Japan’s ace and Nakajima calling NOAH home, but rather this was an intensely personal battle between former partners.
Miyahara is the best substance over style wrestler in the world. That’s not to say he isn’t exciting, but everything he does is very simple, and he still manages to have fantastic matches, telling phenomenal stories.
Here he and Nakajima exchange the best strikes you’ll see in wrestling this year, and through those strikes you feel all of the animosity these guys are feeling towards one another.
This match slaps, and also punches, elbows and knees, and you will not be disappointed going out of your way to see it. You don’t need to know loads about NOAH to enjoy it, you just have to like good wrestling.
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13. FTR vs. Bullet Club Gold – AEW Collision (July 15) (5.25 Stars)
When last year’s tag team MVPs got to let loose in a near hour long two-out-of-three falls match, we got the tag team excellence we had been craving.
FTR and Bullet Club Gold carried Collision from an in-ring standpoint for the first month of the show’s existence and their 58 minute blowoff match remains maybe the best match in the show’s short history.
From all the callbacks to the teams from days yor, to the excellent commentary from JR and Nigel McGuinness, to White being just the best heel worker, this is just a phenomenal match.
A statement which seems redundant considering every match on this list is, but if you have an hour of your day to carve out for some wrestling, you won’t go wrong watching this.
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12. Tetsuya Naito vs. Will Ospreay – NJPW G1 Climax Day 18 (6 Stars)
Do you like Will Ospreay? Well, you’re about to hear his name a lot! The back half of the year was absolutely dominated by Ospreay and while that began with beating Kenny Omega, his momentum really took hold in the G1 Climax.
After a very good showing in block competition, Ospreay had his tournament run ended by Tetsuya Naito in the very best match of the whole tournament.
Naito being unable to resist going for the Stardust Press and failing made me weep my lil eyes out.
But Ospreay legitimately knocking Naito out with an errant kick, then managing to hit himself with two Destinos as Naito gets his bearings back was maybe the most impressive wrestling I have seen all year.
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11. Tetsuya Naito vs. Kazuchika Okada – NJPW G1 Climax Final (5 Stars)
New Japan Pro Wrestling on the whole may not be the promotion that it was before the pandemic, but I don’t know if there is a single wrestler’s character I am more emotionally invested in than Tetsuya Naito.
REGARDLESS of the state that New Japan is in.
Let me tell you, I was not expecting the last ride of Naito to come in 2023. Naito going for his third G1 victory at this stage in his career was among the most emotional matches I saw this year.
And after finally managing to put away longtime rival Kazuchika Okada in yet another legendary G1 Climax Final, Naito proved that even in the twilight of his career, he is still New Japan’s Shuyaku.
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10. Will Ospreay vs. Shingo Takagi – RevPro 11th Anniversary Show (5 Stars)
Twas the night before All In and all through the Copper Box, not a creature was sleeping not even Tegan Nox.
Listen its hard to find a rhyme for Copper Box.
Ospreay didn’t give himself enough credit in his Dynamite promo, he didn’t just work an indie the night before All In, he tore the house down the night before All In.
Ospreay and Shingo have beyond incredible chemistry and to see just how crisp their movements are up close was an experience like no other.
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9. Bryan Danielson vs. Ricky Starks – AEW All Out (5 Stars)
Not bad for a backup plan, eh?
While this was not the CM Punk vs. Ricky Starks blowoff match, Bryan Danielson returning to defend the honor of Ricky Steamboat in a brutally violent strap match was probably a better match than we would have gotten.
Ricky Starks went into this match motivated and clearly very frustrated and took all of that aggression out on Danielson.
Namely by making him bleed like a stuck goat, which only helped the presentation of it all when Bryan mounted an equally violent comeback.
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8. Kenny Omega vs. Konosuke Takeshita – AEW All Out (5 Stars)
Then a half hour later we had part two of our buy one get one free 5 star extravaganza as Kenny Omega and Konosuke Takeshita had their long awaited singles match.
For as much as it hasn’t felt like it since, Takeshita did indeed beat Omega clean.
These are two of the most dynamic wrestlers in AEW, nay, the world.
Whether it is as beautiful as an avalanche Blue Thunder Bomb, or as simple vicious as the bare bone knee there was a different kind of artistry to this match compared to the strap match. Both excellent but up to you which you prefer.
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7. Will Ospreay vs. Yota Tsuji – NJPW Destruction in Kobe (5 Stars)
No one brought out the best of the new Three Musketeers of New Japan in 2023 like Will Ospreay.
Yota Tsuji has a great presentation, with wild eyes and a crazy smile, features that spooked Ospreay for a moment just after Tsuji had pressed triangle and stole Ospreay’s finisher.
But while Tsuji definitely has a bright future ahead, Ospreay spent the second half of 2023 being practically untouchable.
Making another statement in 2023 by notching another win in his title reign and giving Tsuji the best match of his career thus far.
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6. Bryan Danielson vs. Zack Sabre Jr. – AEW WrestleDream (5.5 Stars)
The cursed Forbidden Door event took so many classic matches from us last year but thankfully, we got one back.
There are loads of styles of wrestling and I am not going to say that everyone has to love every style.
But if you love technical wrestling or think that you could love technical wrestling, you will not find a better example of technical wrestling excellence than this match.
At least, you won’t until we see the rematch where that coward Bryan Danielson won’t take the easy way out and win with a strike.
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5. Will Ospreay vs. Zack Sabre Jr. – NJPW Royal Quest III (5.5 Stars)
While we may have already seen Will Ospreay and ZSJ wrestle dozens of times, this was one of the best matches from either I have ever seen.
I could recite all the insane moves and counters in this match but that would bore people so I will not be reciting how Zack countered the handspring back kick into an ankle lock.
And I will not be reciting how Ospreay countered the octopus hold into a piledriver. And I certainly will not be reciting how Zack countered the Hidden Blade into an excellent Triangle Choke.
I certainly will not be doing any of that, despite how great it all was.
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4. Will Ospreay vs. ‘Speedball’ Mike Bailey – IMPACT Bound For Glory (5.25 Stars)
Last year it could be argued that voted for Speedball Mike Bailey was wrestler of the year. I love his work and I love this match.
The story of Speedball proving himself as one of the best in the world against THE best in the world on the run of his career.
The arrogant Ospreay did everything he could to let Bailey know they weren’t on the same level was fantastic and accentuated perfectly by Speedball having multiple devastating counters to Ospreay’s biggest moves.
And to cap it off, Ospreay hitting a Styles Clash in the former home of Mr. TNA AJ Styles was the cherry on top of this match that I feel totally comfortable calling the best match in IMPACT history.
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3. Will Ospreay vs. Shota Umino – NJPW Power Struggle (5.75 Stars)
Just as Yota Tsuji tried to dethrone Will Ospreay as the IWGP UK Champion, Shota Umino took his turn at Power Struggle and holy smokes, bologna, fudge and mustard, did Shota ever look like the future ace he is destined to be.
Umino has shown more of the edge you would expect out of Moxley’s protege, and in this match he wasn’t having any of Ospreay’s attitude. Throwing a table at his head and walking forward into Ospreay’s chops like an absolute badass.
I don’t know if it is because I have seen so many Ospreay matches this year but the Stormbreaker into the hurricanrana is probably my favourite counter in wrestling right now an they do it to perfection in this match.
I love Shota, and my heart breaks for him to have lost this match right in front of his father… Jon Moxley.
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2. Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Yumi Aoyagi – AJPW Giant Series Day 11 (5.25 Stars)
For as infrequently as we get to talk about Pro Wrestling NOAH here, All Japan Pro Wrestling comes up even less!
But when the promotion earns its first 5 star match in 24 years, I reckon that’s as good a reason to check out the second oldest Japanese wrestling promotion as I could ever hope for.
In fact the promotion has been slowly experiencing a resurgence of late and it is due in no small part to wrestlers like Yumi Aoyagi and matches like this.
Aoyagi had been a great Triple Crown Champion and was defending against the outsider Nakajima in a match with stiff strikes and a hot crowd. Basically if you like strong style, you will like this match.
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1. Hangman Page vs. Swerve Strickland – AEW Full Gear (5 Stars)
This match is either the greatest thing you have ever seen in wrestling or the worst thing you have ever seen in wrestling.
At least that’s what Twitter would have you believe, but one way or another, a five star rating it did receive.
I am much more on the positive end of the spectrum in regards to this match, because while death matches are not necessarily my cup of tea, I can certainly appreciate the incredible skill and craftsmanship.
Hangman getting the barbed wire caught in his face is horrifying.
Swerve taking the barbed wire chair off the chest on a moonsault makes me want to shrivel up into a ball.
This is the best death match I have ever seen.
Hangman Page is a vampire. Swerve should be the next AEW World Champion and that is all for this list.
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