10 Best Wrestling Matches Of 2023
7. The Elite Vs. Blackpool Combat Club - AEW Double Or Nothing
While not as chaotic nor as iconic as the original, the second Anarchy In The Arena match was an extraordinary spectacle - and you were still almost happy that the director missed the odd spot. If everything was shot perfectly, it wouldn't feel like an unhinged war impossible to control.
The Elite's involvement changed the tenor of the best stipulation match concept of the century. This was was more spectacular than it was heated up with pure animosity, but it was no shallow stunt-fest. The Elite's four-way dive sequence early was awe-inspiring in and of itself, but it was a warm, stirring experience watching the boys slowly come back together. That story beat was subverted when Kenny Omega mistakenly booted Hangman Page in the face, but the miscommunication enabled the reunion of their classic tag team soar deeper in the match. Fans who stuck with AEW in the closed-set Daily's Place era were rewarded with a sequence more touching than they might like to admit.
A fully whole Elite was stronger than the BCC in a nice, emotive story articulated with incredible aerial synchronicity, but the fans were not short-changed on violence. In a lovely nod to PWG lore, in order to convey the what-the-hell-is-going-on energy of the genre, Rick Knox got busted open immediately by a cackling Claudio Castagnoli.
Claudio then brutalised Matt Jackson in a crazed backstage brawl. Matt Jackson's tweak on Eddie Kingston's heroic return spot was sensational. In a great moment, he hid a bomb in his sneaker and blasted Jon Moxley with an exploding superkick.
A PWG x vintage Memphis x FMW hybrid of fun, emotional ultra-violence, AITA II was as much a triumph as the wider story was a tad underwhelming - a demented melting pot of AEW's vision.