18 Ups & 15 Downs For WWE In 2023

1. WrestleMania 39 – Night One

For one night, WWE felt like the perfect promotion, finally unshackled from Vince McMahon’s death grip and allowed to act like it was the biggest wrestling company in the world with the best talent available.

WrestleMania 39 was ambitious as hell with its two-night card and numerous angles all peaking at the right moment. The problem WWE had always faced in these situations was landing the plane – they invariably have struggled to deliver satisfying conclusions to even some of their better storylines.

When everything started falling into place on night one, it gave fans hope that this new era under Triple H would be the realization of everything WWE could – and should – be. Seth Rollins defeated Logan Paul in an excellent bout that exceeded expectations. Rey Mysterio finally put a fatherly beating on Dominik Mysterio in a cathartic match. And Charlotte Flair and Rhea Ripley tore the house down with their title match.

And finally, there was the previously mentioned tag title match between Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens and the Usos, which perfectly capped Sami’s story and closed the book on one major Bloodline story. Even some of the supporting matches were fun and inoffensive (save for the John Cena/Austin Theory match).

For that one night, everything felt right with WWE, and it delivered a near-perfect show. Taken on its own, that was the high point of the year for the company, and it’s very deserving of the top spot.