2023 has been an awesome year in wrestling. The indies are rocking, AEW continues to grow, and WWE has been putting together some of its best shows in quite a while. MJF and Adam Cole became best friends in 2023, en route to the biggest-ever live wrestling event at All In. Roman Reigns’ Bloodline has finally started to falter, leading to the creation of two of the most popular singles stars in wrestling right now — Sami Zayn and “Main Event” Jey Uso. This will be the first (and most likely only) single calendar year to see CM Punk appear on TV for both AEW and WWE.
Videos by ComicBook.com
There has been no shortage of wrestling goodness in 2023, and celebrating that is exactly what we’re doing with this section of our annual ComicBook.com Golden Issue Awards. We want to honor the very best that professional wrestling had to offer this year, from the breakout stars to the very best matches we got to watch. A lot of great things happened in the ring this year; let’s take a look at all of the nominees for our six wrestling awards.
Best Male Wrestler
2023 was the Year of the Fighting Champion. Four of the five nominees up for this year’s Best Male Wrestler award have not only spent most (if not all) of 2023 holding a championship, but they’ve been consistently working in the ring on a regular basis.
Orange Cassidy, the current AEW International Champion, has put together an incredible run with the company’s new title, delivering the best matches on AEW Dynamite nearly every week. There’s also AEW World Champion Maxwell Jacob Friedman, who has put his title on the line less frequently than Cassidy but has remained the main attraction for All Elite Wrestling throughout 2023. In addition to defending the Triple B, MJF has also enjoyed a reign as one half of the ROH Tag Team Champions, alongside his number one brochacho Adam Cole (Bay Bay).
Gunther, the Ring General and leader of Imperium, has been dominant as WWE’s Intercontinental Champion, setting the record for the longest reign ever with that particular title. And of course, you can’t talk about fighting champions without Seth Rollins, who holds the World Heavyweight Championship and has defended it in some incredible bouts against the likes of Shinsuke Nakamura, Drew McIntyre, and Finn Balor.
Then there’s the one non-champion among our nominees, who just might be the most impressive professional wrestler working today. Will Ospreay, who just signed a contract with AEW, has brought the house down in nearly every match he’s participated in. His bout with Kenny Omega is one of the most acclaimed matches of the year.
- Gunther
- MJF
- Orange Cassidy
- Seth Rollins
- Will Ospreay
Best Female Wrestler
The women’s divisions of most major professional wrestling promotions experienced massive success in 2023, led by some incredible champions and absolutely dominant forces who will likely be marquee names and main eventers for years to come.
You can’t talk about wrestling dominance without mentioning Mami herself, Rhea Ripley. Since joining (and eventually taking over) the Judgement Day, Ripley has been without a doubt one of the most notable wrestlers in all of WWE. The current Women’s World Champion has long been known as a phenomenal force inside the ring, but the development of her character and story in 2023 has taken her to new heights.
There’s also Athena, who has essentially become the face of ROH this year, leading the program on Thursday nights and delivering some of the best matches the company has seen all year. After leaving WWE last year, Trinity made her way to IMPACT and quickly took hold of the company’s already impressive women’s division. The current Knockouts World Champion is delivering some of her best ever work in the ring, which is saying a lot given how great she’s always been.
IYO Sky, the WWE Women’s Champion, has also enjoyed a fantastic 2023, flying high from the ropes and doing impressive things on SmackDown every single week. AEW Women’s World Champion Toni Storm has held the title before, but her recent win at Full Gear is the first time taking home the gold since debuting her “Timeless” character. This new persona has transformed Storm into must-watch television.
- Athena
- IYO Sky
- Rhea Ripley
- Toni Storm
- Trinity
Best Tag Team
Jimmy and Jey Uso may not be working as a tag team anymore, but we’re lucky to be wrestling fans at a time when there are a slew of incredible tag teams taking to the ring on a weekly basis. Regardless of what company you’re watching, tag team wrestling has been an area of focus across the board.
Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler, aka FTR, have long been considered one of the greatest tag teams of our time (or potentially any time), so it’s not a surprise to see them show up in our nominees. What may be surprising, however, is the success of Austin and Colten Gunn. The Bullet Club Gold duo has grown leaps and bounds over the last couple years to become one of the more impressive tag teams in AEW.
AEW also boasts the current ROH Tag Team Championship pair of MJF and Adam Cole, unlikely allies who were forced to team together while preparing to face one another for the AEW World Championship. They’ve become one of the most popular stories in all of wrestling over the past several months.
The current Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships belong to the Judgement Day’s Finn Balor and Damien Priest, who have become two of the most prominent stars of Monday Night RAW as of late. And while a roster shake up caused them to split for the time being, there may not be a more popular tag team in WWE than Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn.
- Adam Cole & MJF
- FTR
- The Gunns
- Judgement Day
- Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens
Best Rising Star
There are names in wrestling that everyone knows because they’ve been a fixture of their promotion for years. Then there are names in wrestling that everyone knows because they burst onto the scene and stole the spotlight away from your favorite wrestler. That’s what the Golden Issue for Best Rising Star is all about, competitors who spent 2023 grabbing our attention and cementing themselves as a future fixture in the industry.
LA Knight has been around for a while but his rise from lesser-known player to main event superstar in a matter of months is something you rarely see happen so organically. After almost being cut from the company, Knight is now one of the biggest superstars in all of WWE — YEAH!
Also on WWE SmackDown is Solo Sikoa, the youngest but perhaps most terrifying member of the Bloodline. After being brought onto the main roster in 2022, Sikoa has established himself as a brutal enforcer for Roman Reigns and physically gifted in-ring performer. Then there’s NXT’s Tiffany Stratton, who many fans of the Tuesday night program are hoping to see called up to the WWE sooner rather than later. She’s got all the makings to be the face of the women’s division in WWE for decades.
Over in AEW, Julia Hart has remade herself since joining the House of Black, and became an incredible professional wrestler while people weren’t paying attention. She won the TBS Championship at Full Gear in November, and her win over Kris Statlander and Skye Blue shows just how much she’s grown as a competitor. And you can’t talk about breakout stars in AEW without talking about Swerve Strickland. He arrived with plenty of anticipation in 2022 and enjoyed a great run as Tag Team Champion alongside Keith Lee. But Swerve’s transformation into AEW’s most ruthless heel has turned him into one of the biggest names in the entire company.
- Julia Hart
- LA Knight
- Solo Sikoa
- Swerve Strickland
- Tiffany Stratton
Best Wrestling Storyline
The actual wrestling takes place in the ring, but where would professional wrestling be without great stories? This year has delivered some awesome storylines that are vying for our next Golden Issue award.
The saga of Roman Reigns and the Bloodline has been a focal point of WWE for years, but 2023 has given the stable some of its most memorable moments yet. This year saw the “Honorary Uce” Sami Zayn turn on Roman to save Kevin Owens, which ultimately prompted Jey Uso to also stand up to the Tribal Chief and leave his family behind for a solo run on RAW. And speaking of the Red Brand, the Monday show now has its own massive stable in the Judgement Day, who have become a dominant force in the company.
AEW has villains of its own, and none more ruthless than Don Callis, who turned on Kenny Omega and built an entire stable dedicated to dominating his former protege. There’s also 2023’s Father of the Year: Christian Cage. The current TNT Champion has grown into the role of one of the most despicable — and hilarious — heels in all of wrestling. If you like your storylines a little more uplifting, look no further than the improbably brochachos Adam Cole and MJF. The former rivals have put friendship above all and seemingly changed one another for the better.
- The Bloodline Turmoil
- Christian Cage: Father of the Year
- Don Callis Betrayal/The Elite Reunion
- MJF and Adam Cole Bromance
- Rise of the Judgement Day
Best Wrestling Match
There have been some awesome wrestling matches in 2023. So many, in fact, that choosing just one feels impossible. But that’s the task ahead of us with these Golden Issues, and we’ve narrowed the field down to five finalists.
Cody Rhodes may not have finished the story at WrestleMania earlier this year, but his match with Roman Reigns stands out as one of the best of the Tribal Chief’s record title run. The women’s Money in the Bank match also delivered in a major way, and set up IYO Sky to eventually become a champion.
FTR’s bout with Bullet Club Gold is arguably the best tag team match of the year, as you’d expect given the teams involved. Mercedes Money vs. KAIRI also got a nod in our nominees, as did Kenny Omega and Will Ospreay’s second one-on-one brawl.
- FTR vs. Bullet Club Gold
- Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay 2
- Mercedes Mone vs. KAIRI
- Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes
- Women’s Money in the Bank
