AEW: 20 Best Matches of 2023 (Part 3)
We’ve reached the halfway point of our list of AEW’s 20 best matches of 2023. So far, we’ve see huge title matches, violent brawls, and some of the biggest stars in All Elite Wrestling. As we enter the second half of this list, be prepared to read about not only some of the best matches AEW produced last year, but some of the best matches any wrestling company produced all year. Let’s not waste any more time and get into the top 10.
My name is Sam Palmer from Vendetta Sports Media, and here is part three of my countdown of All Elite Wrestling’s 20 best matches from 2023!
10. Bryan Danielson vs. Rush – Dynamite (Feb. 8):
One of the best matches that took place on Dynamite all year was a match that saw two of AEW’s toughest competitors going hell for leather for two completely different reasons.
Rush is a man motivated by money, and he was promised a lot of money by MJF if he was able to injure Bryan Danielson, who would have become the number one contender to Max’s AEW World Championship if he was able to pick up the victory here. The American Dragon had already beaten the likes of Bandido, Konosuke Takeshita and Brian Cage in the weeks leading up to this bout, so Rush was his final task.
However, Rush was never going to make it easy for Bryan. He strangled him with cables, threw him off the apron and busted him open with a gleeful arrogance that AEW fans have grown to love from El Toro Blanco. That said, never count out the American Dragon when he’s backed into a corner as he was able to fire back with some violence of his own. This bout was one of the early highlights of the year for All Elite Wrestling, Bryan Danielson, and Rush, and will go down as one of the best Dynamite matches of 2023.
9. FTR vs. Bullet Club Gold [2 out of 3 Falls Match for the AEW Tag Team Championship] – Collision (July 15):
When AEW Collision debuted in June, it truly felt like a completely separate entity from the rest of the company. With CM Punk at the top of the mountain, wrestlers whom fans have wanted to see more often got the chance to strut their stuff on Saturday nights, and there were no bigger benefactors of Collision debuting than Bullet Club Gold. Jay White, Juice Robinson and The Gunns have become one of the most popular acts in AEW in large part due to their work on Collision, and this match between White, Robinson and FTR from July 15 is a prime example.
The “Bang Bang Gang” (yes that is their nickname) defeated FTR the week before in an Eliminator match to earn a shot at Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler. Their confidence was so high that they were willing to have the title match a week later under 2-out-of-3 falls rules, FTR’s specialty. Fans knew they were getting something special when all four men opened up the July 15 edition of Collision, but as the match passed 30, 40 and 50 minutes, no one knew what was going to happen next. If you have a spare hour or so in the next few days and you don’t know what to do with yourself, put on this match, the best AEW match that happened on Collision in 2023.
8. Darby Allin vs. Christian Cage [2 out of 3 Falls Match for the AEW TNT Championship] – WrestleDream:
I mentioned in part one that Darby Allin and Samoa Joe did great work elevating the AEW TNT Championship to the level it was a few years earlier. However, no one did more for the title in 2023 than the “father of the year,” Christian Cage. Despite only holding it for a few weeks in the lead-up to WrestleDream, he carried the belt around and proclaimed himself as the TNT Champion since Luchasaurus won it on the debut episode of Collision. Darby wanted to take the belt away from Cage, so what better way to do it than in from his hometown fans in Seattle?
Another match contested under 2-out-of-3 falls rules, this bout descended into madness around the halfway mark. Darby has taken some insane bumps throughout his career, but even some of his fans watched this match. and thought “calm down dude.” WrestleDream’s main event was violent, it was dramatic, it was borderline hard to watch at certain points, but that’s what made it special.
All Elite Wrestling has done a great job in making their mid-card titles feel important in 2023, especially in the second half of the year, and rounding off this match with the debut of Adam “Edge” Copeland, this is easily one of the best times I had watching wrestling in 2023.
7. Bryan Danielson vs. Ricky Starks [Strap Match] – All Out:
There is a part of me that feels sorry for Ricky Starks. His 2023 looked like it was going to put him amongst the main event scene multiple times, but things just got in the way. He won the World Title Eliminator Tournament in 2022 to earn a shot at MJF, but by the next pay-per-view, he was in a backward feud with Chris Jericho.
Then He won the AEW Tag Team Championships in October, but his reign has felt secondary to some of the other teams in the company. Starks won the Owen Hart Foundation tournament which propelled him into a feud with CM Punk. A bout between the two was slated for All Out, but Punk got fired the day before the show, giving Starks another setback.
Fortunately for Starks, All Elite Wrestling was able to “break glass in case of emergency” and parachute Bryan Danielson in to replace Punk for a Strap Match at All Out. Bryan had only just recovered from a broken arm, something Ricky was more than happy to exploit in one of the most violent matches of the year. There weren’t any major spots involving tables, ladders or chairs. It was just two men turning each other purple and red by beating each other senselessly with a strap ending with a great visual of Ricky trying desperately to hang on; this is the best strap match in wrestling history and a true coming out party for Ricky Starks.
6. Hangman Page vs. Jon Moxley [Texas Death Match] – Revolution:
It’s incredible what you can do when something goes off-script. Moxley legitimately knocked out Hangman in Oct. of 2022 during a match on Dynamite, which caused Page to forget his baby’s name for a brief second. It was this brief second that turned a competitive rivalry to be the best into a blood feud that would only end when one of the men involved simply couldn’t get up. Hangman and Moxley picked up one win each in the opening months of 2023, but considering how their initial meeting ended, they felt like they needed a definitive end to this feud.
Culminating at Revolution in March, Hangman and Moxley upped the ante for their Texas Death Match. There were chains, bricks and buckets of blood in a match that elevated both men through the violence. Hangman looked like a true outlaw trying to tame the unstoppable red beast that was a bloody Jon Moxley. Page ended the match with a grotesque spot involving a chain that lived up to his namesake of “The Hangman” in a match that was wonderfully violent and violently wonderful. It would have been the best bloodbath of the year, but you’re going to have to wait for the final part of this list to find out what that match was.
That’s the end of part 3! Stay tuned to see what the best AEW match of 2023 will be! Don’t forget to follow myself and Vendetta Sports Media on all of your favorite social media platforms!
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