10 Most Improved Wrestlers Of 2023

5. Julia Hart

Julia Hart
AEW

The initial handling of Julia Hart's turn to the dark side may have been a little ropey in and of itself - Malakai Black spitting mist in Hart's eye - but the 22-year-old has gone from strength to strength since formally joining the House of Black at Double or Nothing 2022.

Even after joining HOB, though, Julia initially struggled to get any in-ring time on AEW television. Instead, she was stuck working her vast majority of matches on Dark and Dark: Elevation. For example, all 15 of Hart's post-Double or Nothing matches for the rest of the year took place on the company's YouTube shows. Likewise, of Julia's total 23 AEW matches of 2022, period, only two took place on TV; a two-minute Rampage loss to Jade Cargill, and an Owen Hart Cup loss on Dynamite to Hikaru Shida.

Since June of this year, though, Julia Hart has wrestled fairly regularly on weekly AEW programming, and man, has she developed into quite the capable worker. Matches against Willow Nightingale, Skye Blue, a No Holds Barred bout against Anna Jay, and a PPV challenge for Kris Statlander's TBS Championship at AEW WrestleDream all gave Julia the chance to wow in longer matches than the short squash affairs she's often been used in previously - before she finally took that TBS Title from Stat at Full Gear.

Even in those shorter matches nowadays, Hart has been great as the dominant, vicious heel as she wears her sinister persona like a second skin.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer and Presenter, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund and Eli Roth to Kevin Smith and the Russo Brothers, to Kevin Conroy and Frank Miller, to Bret Hart and Sting, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, and Brian Flynn, to many, many more. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is a long-standing season ticket holder and an FSA Award-winner for his time co-hosting the Fearless in Devotion podcast.