10 Best Wrestlers Of 2023 (So Far)

4. MJF

Sami Zayn
AEW

When All Elite Wrestling first launched, there was so much discussion about paradigm shifts in the industry that Jon Moxley was able to rename his finisher in accordance with them. But four years later, current AEW World Heavyweight Champion Maxwell Jacob Friedman has proven the best example of the most significant one.

The paradigm has shifted significantly enough that a company's top heel can preserve his bump card, protect his character's integrity, and wrestle instant classics at an exclusive rate. Well, one company's top heel can, and Roman Reigns isn't on the level of The Devil in 2023.

To underserve the ‘Salt Of The Earth’ based on the few times he’s laced up the boots this year would be to misunderstand his value to AEW and the industry grossly. He recently boasted after Double Or Nothing 2023 that he'd worked the best ever four-way match following on from the best ever iron man match, and even though the joke is as old as the man himself, everybody had no choice but to reply with the Bobby Fish gif in response.

Peerless on the microphone, he sang pennies from heaven while drawing dollars from hell if the Four Pillars build hits anything close to those early 130k+ buyrate predictions and he's living up to his Roddy Piper perceptions by constantly changing the questions when opponents and pundits alike think they've got all the answers.

Contributor
Contributor

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