10 Absolute WORST Wrestling Moments Of 2023

5. Paul Wight Completes A Weird Quartet

Cody Rhodes Roman Reigns
AEW

The former Big Show became a totem for AEW's creative decline in November 2023 when he appeared on the stage of a Dynamite and stood still as Kyle Fletcher ran into his "WMD" fist.

Wight's hire in 2021 was a weird one, but even then he was used as the man to talk about a man - a random appearance on the Revolution go-home edition of Dynamite was was used to tee up Christian Cage's surprise debut. Two years later, and he was the surprise.

As the fourth man joining Kenny Omega, Chris Jericho and Kota Ibushi against the Don Callis family, Wight was seen an aged veteran too far. Just a week after Ric Flair's debut with the group (and 24 hours before his official signing), the organisation felt as far away from its initial mission statement as it had ever been. Wight was not the only symbol of it, but he was fittingly the biggest.

 
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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett