Another top-ten list? What are we, WhatCulture?
Love you, Simon Miller.
If you didn’t know, I’m Andrew Vendelis. I’m one-half of the Regular Wrestling Review, along with my compadre Taylor Yates (he’s probably drafting a bad-joke tweet right about now). We like to chat about wrestling on our podcast, which you can listen to here. We’re still new to this whole “blog” thing, but we’re working on it, okay.
Like I said in our last post, 2023 has been a stellar year for professional wrestling inside of the ring. Now, outside and behind the scenes? It’s been an absolute dumpster fire, but we’re not here to talk about that. As we’re halfway through the year, I’d like to bring you a list of what I feel are the best professional wrestling events of 2023.
WWE Wrestlemania 39 – Los Angeles, CA
I’m particularly talking about night one, but both nights were jammed-packed with moments. We knew that the fed would be pulling out all of the stops on this one; but, we didn’t know what surprises they’d have in store. From Shane McMahon returning–and subsequently pulling a move out of his father’s book, tearing his quad at a pay-per-view–to feel-good moments, and a sprinkle of heartbreak, WWE put on one of the most-fun Wrestlemanias in a decade. I can’t remember having this good of a time watching Wrestlemania in almost a decade, when Daniel Bryan won the world title; and Mania 31, which had a head-scratching build, but was a breeze to enjoy on the network.
Sami Zayn (with the help of his friend Kevin Owens) was looking for revenge on The Usos and the Bloodline, and boy was it sweet. In a match of the year contender, Zayn was able to finish his own story and end The Usos’s record-breaking reign atop the tag team division in a love letter to tag team wrestling. Elsewhere on the card, the Street Profits, Braun Strowman & Ricochet, The Viking Raiders and the Alpha Academy put on a very fun house-show-esque showcase, and Rhea Ripley and Charlotte Flair tore it down right before in night one’s semi-main event.
While matches like John Cena vs. Austin Theory and Asuka vs. Bianca Belair may have gone out with a whimper, both nights of Wrestlemania were packed with very high-octane fun bouts such as Seth Rollins defeating Logan Paul (and KSI dressed up as a Prime bottle, fantastic spot), and a triple threat show-stealer for the Intercontinental Championship between Gunther, Sheamus, and Drew McIntyre.
The main event of night two saw Cody Rhodes, the prodigal son, returning to win the Royal Rumble and challenge Roman Reigns for the WWE Undisputed Universal Championship. And Cody lost. Granted, we’ve seen the story play out, giving us a great program between the American Nightmare and Brock Lesnar, while The Bloodline begins to crumble. Main event and a couple of duds aside, both nights of Wrestlemania 39 had plenty for everyone to enjoy.
AEW Revolution – San Francisco, CA
If you read my last article about matches of the year, you’d know that the aforementioned Wrestlemania and this event dominated my list. In a turbulent time backstage for both major wrestling promotions, WWE and AEW were both able to put on some quality wrestling events in the earlier half of the year.
The Devil Himself MJF was just kicking his reign of terror as AEW World Champion into gear, and Bryan Danielson was out for revenge after the champion viciously attacked William Regal. Danielson was looking to add another world championship to his collection and silence MJF’s claims that he was a better wrestler. First, Danielson had to overcome challengers such as Konosuke Takeshita, Bandido, Brian Cage, and Timothy Thatcher. Beaten down and battered from five weeks of matches, Danielson entered Revolution not fully 100-percent. The bout went over an hour, with MJF ultimately submitting the American Dragon with his own version of a LaBell Lock to win 4-3.
Elsewhere on the card, Hangman Page and Jon Moxley put on my favorite deathmatch to take place on an American television medium, absolutely obliterating each other with anything and everything under the sun (and the ring). After Moxley put Page on the shelf for months, the two traded victories on Dynamite in the buildup to their pay-per-view showdown. Page would get the last laugh after choking Moxley with a dog collar and making the All-Elite ace tap out.
People seem to already have forgotten about Ricky Starks and Chris Jericho’s show-opening bout, which was a pretty decent follow up to their earlier Dynamite encounter. Starks was able to pin Jericho clean for the second time in a row. Wardlow regained the TNT Championship in an okay match against Samoa Joe, also making Joe pass out to his own submission hold.
For me, what puts this pay-per-view into contention for show of the year is the strong undercard. “Jungleboy” Jack Perry and Christian Cage blew off their feud in a “final burial” match which saw Perry win after literally sending Cage to hell. The battle between the House of Black and the Elite for the AEW World Trios Championships also cracked my match of the year list, in a 20-plus minute action-filled bout with a sprinkle of PWG goodness and strong style for good measure.
WWE Money in the Bank – London, England
Who would’ve thought that if you gave England a pay-per-view, they’d go rabid? Everyone would have, especially when this was London’s first PLE since Summerslam 1992. The crowd definitely elevates this show into “show of the year” contention for me, because they bought into nearly every bout like it was the main event. Starting red hot with the men’s Money in the Bank match was smart in hindsight, considering Damian Priest’s shock victory over safe bet Logan Paul or fan-favorite LA Knight (YEAH). Immediately after, Shayna Baszler turned her back on partner and co-champion Ronda Rousey, leaving the former UFC champion for the pickings as Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez regained the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships.
Gunther beat Riddle in a short but fun encounter, which saw the return of Drew McIntyre, who left the Ring General laying in the middle of the ring with a Claymore. Cody Rhodes beat Dominick Mysterio in another short bout which saw some fun interactions with Rhea Ripley and her usual interference. Iyo Sky became Ms. Money in the Bank, climbing the ladder over a handcuffed Bayley and Becky Lynch to secure herself a future world title shot in a very fun match with an extremely creative ending.
Oh, and John Cena returned! He promised to bring Wrestlemania to London! Yeah! We’ll see!
Seth Rollins retained his WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Finn Balor, with dissension brewing as newly-crowned Mr. Money in the Bank Damian Priest unintentionally cost his Judgement Day partner the title. In the main event, Jey Uso became the first man to pin Roman Reigns in three years after he and brother Jimmy defeated Reigns and Solo Sikoa. “The Bloodline Civil War” took a little bit of feeling out at first, but a fantastic sequence of false finishes, near-falls and the usual Reigns ref bump took the last half of this match into greatness. Even after smashing and stacking the Usos, Reigns couldn’t put them away. With Sikoa taken out on the outside, Jimmy and Jey leveled the Head of the Table with superkicks and Jey secured the win with the Uso splash. Great stuff.
What do you think has been the best event in professional wrestling this year? Leave a comment below and tag us on Twitter @RegWresReview to know when our latest podcast goes live!
Regular Wrestling Review 