Brian Damage
2023 really was an amazing year all around for the pro wrestling industry. Sure, there were a few down moments, but overall, the business saw so much growth and a renaissance that hadn’t been seen since the Monday Night Wars of the 1990’s. Today’s ‘Top Five’, looks at five of the greater moments that the business gave us fans this past year.
WWE Opens Their Own “Forbidden Door”
The year began with a bang for WWE, as the company allowed one of their contracted stars to wrestle outside the WWE bubble. That star was Shinsuke Nakamura, who returned to Japan to wrestle the legendary Great Muta in one of his retirement matches for Pro Wrestling NOAH. While it wasn’t the first time WWE has allowed wrestlers to compete for other promotions, it hadn’t been done in years and not without very tight constraints from the watchful eye of Vince McMahon. Nakamura’s return to Japan certainly set the tone for the year ahead.
Vince McMahon Removed From WWE Creative
As important as Vincent Kennedy McMahon was to the initial growth of pro wrestling/sports entertainment business in the 1980’s, he had become more than an albatross to WWE in recent years. His creative decisions left a lot of fans turning away from the product. Long promo, goofy gimmicks and comedy segments, combined with his failed overhaul of NXT hurt the company more than it helped. When McMahon sold a majority stake of his company to Endeavor, Vince was slowly pulled away from creative and making last minute changes to the product…leaving Triple H alone to create a new vision for the company moving forward. Endeavor/TKO has been rewarded with better matches, better ratings and record breaking attendance figures almost daily.
All Elite Wrestling Goes All In At Wembley Stadium
Tony Khan and AEW took a huge gamble to fill up London’s Wembley Stadium for a non-WWE wrestling show this past summer. Regardless of the final attendance figures being a record breaking 82,000 plus or the lower 70,000 or so…it was still a major achievement in AEW’s young history and for that…should be commended and recognized.
The Rebirth of TNA Wrestling
The name of TNA in pro wrestling circles has been considered very much a disease in years prior to 2023. The dark days of Dixie Carter and Hulk Hogan bringing in former WWE and WCW stars and ignoring the reason TNA was so special initially nearly killed the company. Enter Scott D’Amore and Anthem Sports, who slowly rebuilt Impact/TNA one match at a time for a couple of years. Today, Impact/TNA has gotten out of the wrestling cellar and has strengthened itself enough that they are traveling more and booking bigger venues. The icing on TNA’s cake, was the new infusion of money they now have. So much so, it was reported that they offered Will Ospreay a seven figure deal to sign with them. Even though they were unsuccessful in securing Ospreay, they have shown themselves to be back and ready to compete as a legitimate and profitable company moving forward.
Overall Health of The Wrestling Industry
No doubt, 2023 was a banner year overall for the viability of professional wrestling. It has seen record gates, wrestlers making more money now and have legit options to go places that they probably couldn’t go before. WWE, AEW, Impact and even New Japan Pro have been growing and expanding their reaches more globally this past year. There is more money to be made, even outside of the major promotions mentioned. A perfect example is Matt Cardona (The former Zack Ryder in WWE) who has been able to make a very profitable career for himself on the independent circuit. All in all, a very great 2023. Can it be sustained in 2024 and beyond is another question for another day. For this year alone, 2023 was a great year business wise.
Ring the Damn Bell 
Matt Cardona has been one of the most exciting figures in pro wrestling in the last few years and I think is now an even bigger star than he ever was in WWE. I can agree on all five of these gifts as I’m glad Meekmahan is gone from creative but I also worry that he might come back and ruin things.
LikeLiked by 3 people
That’s always a distinct possibility, although…this isn’t his company anymore and it appears at least for now…that they are letting Triple H call the creative shots. As long as the ratings are solid and arenas are selling out, I doubt Vince will be back.
LikeLiked by 2 people
“Anything can happen in the World Wrestling Federation.” 😉
LikeLiked by 2 people
2023 was a CRAZY year for professional wrestling, much like 2022 was. I expect more of the same for 2024, especially with so many potential free agents at play.
LikeLike
Maybe it’s just me and it’s the gimmick, but Cardona is unlikable to me. Reports of pressuring promoters for belts and outcomes. Again maybe the big Indy stars can do that? But what gets me the most is the pictures of wads of cash made at these shows and the innuendo that it’s tax free. Seems like a dumb thing to publicly put out there, though I understand no one is perfect when it comes to the taxman.
That said he definitely has found his way, seems happy and is making money. A lot to be said for that.
LikeLiked by 1 person