I wanted to do a ranking of some of the best wrestling matches of the year that was 2023, but there’s so much wrestling to consume nowadays that I haven’t been able to keep up with any company this past year near to the extent that I have WWE. Therefore, I didn’t think it was fair to rank and rate any company outside of WWE so this list will strictly be regarding the year that was in the World Wrestling Entertainment.
#10: Edge vs Sheamus: Edge’s 25th Anniversary Celebration (Smackdown, 8/18/23)
This match was admittedly more about the atmosphere and vibe surrounding it more than in ring, but as of now this is Edge’s final match in the WWE and he went out on his terms, facing who he wanted so I couldn’t not include it. Edge and Sheamus have been close compadres and Sheamus was one of the people that helped train Edge upon his return and get him ring ready but he never got the chance to lock up with him on a televised event. Enter Edge’s 25th Anniversary Celebration where he chose his buddy Sheamus to a friendly competition in the main event of the night. Edge got to go out with a win in his last WWE match and celebrate with a tall glass of Guiness with Sheamus backstage. Cheers!
#9: Damage CTRL (Bayley, Kairi Sane, Asuka, and Iyo Sky) vs Bianca Belair, Charlotte Flair, Shotzi, and Becky Lynch: War Games match (Survivor Series 2023)
This match was an expertly executed chaotic hodgepodge, exactly the way a War Games match should be. Every woman entered with weapon in hand swinging and every woman had a big spot and a moment to shine amidst the chaos, so no one felt like they fell too far to the background ever. The cage was well used in the match as well with Iyo divebombing from the top with a trash can and Charlotte moonsaulting from the top onto everyone, but it never felt too relied on or in the way. In the end, Becky manhandle slammed Bayley through a table to end it in the hardest hitting and best match of this year’s Survivor Series.
#8: Seth Rollins vs AJ Styles: Inaugural World Heavyweight Championship match (Night of Champions 2023)
When these 2 step into the ring together, 2 of arguably the best pound for pound wrestlers on the planet, expectations are understandably high and I feel like they delivered in the highest way in their new World Heavyweight Championship crowning match at this year’s NOC, arguably their best match together ever in my opinion. An aged AJ Styles in a year where he didn’t compete much still was able to deliver one of the best back and forth, pure wrestling matches in the WWE on the year. Rollins now a seasoned vet himself certainly didn’t disappoint either (but then when does he really ever) and was able to hit a game ending Pedigree and Stomp combo on Styles to be crowned the new and inaugural World Heavyweight Champion, a title he has valiantly and respectably carried throughout the rest of the year of 2023.
#7: Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn vs Jimmy and Jey Uso (The Usos): WWE Undisputed Tag Team Championship match (WrestleMania 39)
This was probably the biggest feel-good moment of this past year’s WrestleMania as Sami Zayn finally got a win on the Bloodline and had his hand raised in victory with his best pal Kevin Owens on the main event of Night 1. The in-ring work was nothing to sleep on either as every man brought their A game that night. Brainbusters, Swanton Bombs, 1Ds, and more oh my! There were many near falls that would’ve had any even casual fan of wrestling on the edge of their seats. In the end Sami hit 3 Helluva kicks onto Jey to seal the deal and end The Usos run as the longest reigning tag team champs in WWE history.
#6: Trish Stratus vs Becky Lynch: Steel Cage match (Payback 2023)
This little return run Trish had in the midst of 2023, rivaling with Becky and becoming a mentor of sorts to Zoey Stark, was among some of her very best work of all time in the wrestling business. A woman in her mid to late 40s, in Trish, and a seasoned vet and newer mother herself, in Becky, put on more than likely the best Women’s Steel Cage match ever in WWE and the best Steel Cage match on WWE programming in 2023. The cage was utilized perfectly in the atmosphere, there were shout outs to Lita and Victoria within the match, a huge superplex from the top of the cage, and the crumbling of Zoey and Trish’s partnership. This match was a great sendoff for this heel run of Trish and the best in the Lynch/Stratus saga that took place throughout the year.
#5: Gunther vs Sheamus vs Drew McIntyre: Intercontinental Championship Triple Threat match (WrestleMania 39)
This match to quote Jim Ross was nothing less than a “slobber knocker”. One of, if not the most hard-hitting match of the year, these guys beat the piss out of each other. Laying in strong armed chops, forearms, and punches throughout the match it was believable that these 3 massive brutes were actually in an unsanctioned shoot fight and they had the cuts and bruises across their body to support that claim by the end of this match. In the end, Gunther capitalized off a distraction as McIntyre and Sheamus were busy with one another and ended up powerbombing Drew onto Sheamus to retain the belt. Gunther still has his stranglehold on that championship to this day, currently the longest reigning IC Champion of all time.
#4: The Judgment Day (Damian Priest and Finn Balor) vs Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn: Steel City Street Fight for the Undisputed Tag Team Championships (Payback 2023)
This match was intense, and chaos fueled, and I ate up every minute of it as these 4 men battered and battled each other all throughout the arena in a hard-hitting match with death defying moves throughout. This match was filled with weaponry from start to finish, we saw a busted open Kevin Owens at one point, outside interference from the Judgment Day leading to more chaos in and out of the ring, and even a wardrobe change at one point as Zayn and Owens disappeared and reappeared wearing Penguins jerseys and toting hockey sticks. In the end, the Judgment Day came out on top and picked up the belts after a briefcase smash from Dom to Owens head set Balor up for the pin, but not before a brutal and hard-fought battle from all parties involved.
#3: Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa vs Jimmy and Jey Uso: Bloodline Civil War (Money in the Bank 2023)
This match was seemingly the grand finale and encapsulation of the Bloodline storyline, I suppose it’s still going but in a different direction and not as hot as it was at this point in time. One of the most exciting and feel-good moments of the year as well, as we saw The Usos finally get the courage to fight back against the Bloodline’s dictator, Roman, and beat him together. They stood on top the world for a brief moment that night as a team. Until a month later when everything got flipped on its head and Jimmy turned on Jey, costing him the title in the process but that’s another story for another day. The match was made all the better by the expert storytelling leading up to it and the red-hot London crowd on the night of the event. “Stand up if you hate Roman” may still go down as the best crowd chant of the year. In the end, after a double superkick and a big Splash from Jey, Roman was pinned for the first time since 2019 and the only time in 2023.
#2: Bad Bunny vs Damian Priest: San Juan Street Fight (Backlash 2023)
I know, I know. How can I have a match with a celebrity this high on the list?! I internally battled that fact myself, but this was no regular celebrity match. Bad Bunny laid it all out here and truly put his body on the line in this match, proving you can do more than a few sloppily executed moves as a celebrity guest if you actually have the heart and desire for pro wrestling and put in the work. There was absolutely no shortage of weapons here either as Bunny came down the ramp with a shopping cart full of chairs, kendo sticks, trash cans, and more. Perhaps the craziest spot is when Priest hit a Broken Arrow to Bunny off of a platform and through a table below them. Outside interference from Judgment Day, and the LWO, and even a returning Carlito made this match feel crazy and messy in the best way possible and this Puerto Rico crowd erupted for Bunny in one of the best crowd reactions of the entire year. In the end, Bunny beat down Priest with a chair and connected with a Canadian Destroyer for the win, making a lot of naysayers believers on that night and upping the standards for celebrity matches for the rest of time.
#1: Charlotte Flair vs Rhea Ripley: Smackdown Women’s Championship match (WrestleMania 39)
Rounding out my #1 spot of the year is the absolute wrestling clinic put on by none other than Rhea Ripley and Charlotte Flair. Charlotte is the cleanest and most polished in ring competitor on the women’s roster in my opinion and has been for a while, that’s why this was going to be Rhea’s toughest competition to date and her chance to cement herself as a main event competitor in WWE and boy, she didn’t disappoint. This was a WrestleMania rematch from years back under similar circumstances, as Rhea was coming in the Rumble winner and Charlotte the champion but this was a much different Rhea. Darker, more vicious, and more confident, but still that didn’t mean that facing Charlotte at Mania would ever be a cakewalk. Not a single weapon or outside involvement in this match but I was kept on the edge of my seat and thoroughly invested based strictly on the in ring work these 2 were able to produce. Quick reversals, heavy power moves, believable submissions, and plenty of near falls had me thinking this match was over a handful of times before it actually was. In the end, Rhea dodged a dive in the corner from Flair and connected with a top rope Riptide for the victory, after a long and hard fought battle where these women put every ounce of talent and energy they had in them, on the biggest stage of them all. Rhea has gone on to hold that title the entire year, beating any and everyone who steps to her, but none of her defenses have came close to touching the quality of this match yet.
