2023 was... quite an interesting year for professional wrestling. Record-breaking shows, retirements, new promotions, backstage fights over real glass (cry about it), and much more. Some promotions stumbled while others hit their stride, but regardless of what promotion you are a fan of, there were many great matches and moments throughout the year.
So, we here at AOW thought it would be a good idea to look back at the year and crown our favorite talents, matches, and events of the year. This part will focus on individual accolades while part two will discuss our choices for the top matches of the year. As we are a much smaller group, we wanted to make sure each of our three members had equal input into the voting for each accolade. So, the breakdown of the point system will be in the picture below; essentially, the person(s) or event with the most points was given the award for the designated accolade. Now with that out of the way, let's get into our accolades for 2023.
*Each member submitted their top three picks for each award in order from 1st to 3rd, points were awarded by the system shown above
Event of the Year: Keiji Muto Grand Final Pro-Wrestling Last Love Hold Out (6 pts)
Runner Up: All-Star Grand Queendom, Revolution, All In (Tie, 5pts)
February 21, 2023 would see professional wrestling lose whatever love remained as Keiji Muto rode off into retirement. Though this show was not the first choice for any of our members, it was certainly worthy of picking up this award. A show that saw moments such as Okada whooping Kaito Kiyomiya for over 15 minutes, a fantastic match between Kongo and Zennichi Shin Jidai (and Suwama), and a solid bout between Hiromu Takahashi and AMAKUSA. However, we cannot mention this event without talking about the main event itself: Keiji Muto vs Tetsuya Naito.
Naito entered in grand fashion as he is known to do, but Muto's entrance was a spectacle to behold. Though Muto was far past his prime and Naito has slowed down in recent years, they put on a very fine match worthy of being Muto's last... well sort of. After the match with Naito, Muto would have a brief impromptu bout with Masahiro Chono that brought a tear to many fans' eyes. Overall, this was a very good show that any fan of Japanese pro wrestling should check out if they haven't already (or just want to rewatch).
Promotion of the Year: DEADLOCK Pro-Wrestling (10 pts)
Runner Up: All Elite Wrestling (9 pts)
In the year 2023, there were very few (if any) wrestling promotions on the level of DEADLOCK Pro-Wrestling. Whereas AEW may have had the higher highs of 2023, they also had their fair share of lows. DPW was on fire throughout the year and had possibly their biggest year yet. A show in Japan with Gatoh-Move, big free agents performing like the Grizzled Young Veterans, and a host of great champions at the heart of the promotion.
This also goes along with the fact that DPW had some of the best matches to take place this year, such as Jay Malachi vs Myron Reed, Bojack vs Calvin Tankman, the DPW National Championship four-way match at DPW Live 3, and many more we do not have the time to mention. Now, DPW enters 2024 with a slew of new champions, including Motor City Machine Guns as DPW Worlds Tag Team Champions and Miyuki Takase as DPW Women's Worlds Champion, and a wave of momentum that will likely carry them to new heights.
Under the Radar Award: Komander, Yuma Aoyagi, Lio Rush (Tie, 5 pts)
Ok, there was a big dilemma here with this award... we submitted 9 completely different wrestlers as our choices. So, we thought it would be best to just give our take on why we chose a wrestler as our number one pick. For this award, we chose the person who we felt... well... flew under the radar. Essentially, it's the wrestler who had a very good year but was often overlooked for one reason or another. Now with that out of the way, let's get into our winners for the Under the Radar Award.
Komander (Unno's Pick):
This was actually quite a tough pick for me as there were honestly a few names I felt like I could have gone with. But, for my money, I had to give this award to Komander. Ever since his introduction to AEW back in March 2023, Komander has been insanely impressive with his high-flying lucha style and has been a part of some of the most fun matches to take place this year, including: his match versus Vikingo at Supercard of Honor, the Surivival of the Fittest match at Final Battle, and Top Flight/Andretti vs Penta/Vikingo/Komander.
I gave Komander this award because many people seem to overlook him as a competitor and see him as just a "spot monkey", but I really think Komander is a great talent with a bright future as he is just 25 years old. With two AAA titles won just this year (the World Tag Team Championship with Arez and the Cruiserweight Championship), I think the future holds a lot for this young luchador.
Yuma Aoyagi (Jake's Pick):
For me, when it comes to a wrestler who is "Under the Radar" I feel it is a wrestler who wasn't recognized across the board for what they were achieving. Yuma Aoyagi had an incredible 2023 within AJPW, which also had its own incredible year, which he was a major part of. While most will look to the work that Kento Miyahara and Katsuhiko Nakajima did with the Noah vs AJPW feud earlier this year, I feel Yuma was just as much (if not more) important along the way. His year consisted of incredible matches with Kento (twice), Yuji Nagata, Katsuhiko Nakajima, and played major roles in the cross-promotion matches he found himself in at Muto's final show and the All Together main event (which included the top stars from all 3 major Japanese promotions).
By far, his biggest achievement this year was finally obtaining the Triple Crown title after beating Yuji Nagata in front of a hot Korakuen Hall crowd entirely on his side and cheering for him. That wasn't his only accomplishment of the year, Yuma also managed to capture the AJPW World Tag Team Championship with Kento as a part of Zennichi Shin Jidai (who I voted as tag team of the year) and he won the Tenryu Project United National Tag Team Championship with his brother Atsuki Aoyagi. Yuma held all 3 of these titles at the same time culminating in an incredible image of him holding 6 belts draped over him simultaneously (triple crown being 3 separate belts, AJPW titles are 2 separate belts, and the Tenryu Tag title).
All Japan deserves a lot of praise for the incredible year they had, but, a lot of people will credit Kento and Nakajima for it. However, "The Fool" Yuma Aoyagi ultimately deserves far more credit for what he did and for raising the name of All Japan back into the mainstream of puro.
Lio Rush (King's Pick):
If there is one word to describe Lio Rush in 2023 it is "reborn". Rush found success in wrestling at a pretty young age, and at 29 years old he has already competed in every major and independent promotion most young wrestlers only dream of making. He's been in CZW, ROH, WWE, AEW, and most recently has been doing great work in places like GCW, IMPACT/TNA, and NJPW. Still though, many seem to sleep on the immense talent Rush has when it comes to the sport and art of professional wrestling.
After Rush's short stint in AEW during late 2021- early 2022 many people began writing him off. It was the same sentiment many had about NJPW when they struggled to get hot again after the pandemic. While there is much to attribute to the early 2023 resurgence of the company too, Rush is someone who deserves more credit than he gets. To start the year, Lio Rush and his tag team partner YOH faced Catch 2/2 for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 17 after winning the Super Junior Tag League. This was just one of many big matches he would have in an amazing run in Japan.
He also had a rivalry with Hiromu Takahashi for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, which was the highlight of the division for much of the year. They saw each other in a multitude of multi-man tag team matches and a couple of wonderful singles matches. One match Takahashi won for the championship, and one match Rush won in the Best of the Super Juniors Tournament. Besides getting a win against the current Junior Heavyweight Champ, Rush had an impressive tournament showing in the BOSJ earning himself 12 points.
He then came back to America and won the IMPACT X Division Championship against an IMPACT/TNA mainstay, Chris Sabin. There are many wrestlers who have had a great year in 2023 that deserve their flowers, but, I want to make sure that Lio Rush gets his as well.
Best Non-In-Ring Talent: Prince Nana (15 pts)
Runner Up: Nigel McGuiness (4 pts)
One of only two unanimously decided awards, Prince Nana takes the cake for Best Non-In-Ring Talent. A brilliant foil for the cold, brooding Swerve Strickland and the big brutes of the Gates of Agony and Brian Cage, Prince Nana is just the right blend of goofy and calculated to make him a truly magnificent manager. He has his moments in the spotlight, often hitting the wildly popular swerve dance, but he is never the focal point of what is happening with his clients (we're looking at you, Don Callis). Prince Nana has quickly established himself as an important and endearing piece of the Mogul Embassy, and we hope to see him standing by Swerve's side when he finally puts singles gold around his waist.
Tag Team of the Year: Bishamon (Group Decision, 4 pts)
Runner Up: Workhorsemen, Aussie Open, Zennichi Shin Jidai (Tie, 5 pts)
Another award that came down to a group decision, Bishamon claims the award for Tag Team of the Year. Quite the turbulent year for tag team wrestling, Bishamon truly did stand out amongst many tag teams with fantastic bouts against Tanahashi and Okada, Aussie Open, and Hikuleo and El Phantasmo. Bishamon picked up the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championships at Wrestle Kingdom 17 from FTR before dropping the belts to Aussie Open in April. They would then win the titles again in June along with the NJPW Strong Tag Team Championships (which they dropped to Bullet Club War Dogs).
Now holding the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championships for over 200 days (at the time of writing this), winning NJPW's World Tag League 2023 (the first team to ever three-peat and the first team to win the tournament as champions), and on a collision course to (likely) unify the IWGP and NJPW Strong tag titles, there were not many teams who had quite as impressive of a 2023 as Bishamon.
Men's Wrestler of the Year: Bryan Danielson (13 pts)
Runner Up: Will Ospreay (10 pts)
Though 2024 is the calendar year of the dragon, it seemed to come a year early for AEW's Bryan Danielson. Danielson opened up the year with fantastic matches against the likes of Konosuke Takeshita and RUSH, amongst others, en route to his classic iron man match with MJF at Revolution. Though he would spend quite some time sidelined with injury throughout the year, this didn't stop Danielson from having a fantastic year in the squared circle.
Returning with a vicious strap match against Ricky Starks and going on the run of a lifetime during the inaugural Continental Classic would ultimately push his case and earn him this award. There may be some eyebrows raised as to how Danielson won over Will Ospreay, but it can mostly be accredited to Ospreay's time off (having only one match between his title defense on November 4 and the end of the year) while Danielson partook in the C2. Otherwise, the result of this award could have looked very different; but, as the year came to a close there seemed to be nobody truly on the level of the American Dragon.
Women's Wrestler of the Year: Athena (15 pts)
Runner Up: Natsupoi, Sareee, Iyo Sky (Tie, 3 pts)
Surprise, surprise, Ring of Honor's forever champ is our Women's WOTY. The first unanimous decision that was made during our voting, there truly could not have been anyone else to claim this title. Holding the ROH Women's World Championship for just over a year at the time of writing this, "dominating" may be an understatement for how Athena has handled the ROH women's division.
An impressive series of matches with Willow Nightingale, a brutal street fight with Kiera Hogan, and a brilliant story-laden match with Billie Starkz are just the major highlights of this great title reign and phenomenal year for the Fallen Goddess. With the first chapter of her story with Starkz now closed and defeating nearly every competitor under the ROH banner, it will be interesting to see how Athena maintains her status as one of the best wrestlers in the world (regardless of gender) heading into 2024.