10. Kazuchika Okada (58 ballots, 3107 points) – LOWEST RANKED 58 BALLOT WRESTLER
Last Year’s Rank: 13
High Vote: stephen malkmus, Liam (1)
Average Rank: 28.81
84.06% of Ballots Made

Recommended Matches
– vs. Jay White (NJPW, 1/4)
– w/ Togi Makabe vs. Kaito Kiyomiya & Yoshiki Inamura (NJPW, 1/21)
– vs. Kaito Kiyomiya (NOAH, 2/21)
– vs. SANADA (NJPW, 4/8)
– w/ Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tomohiro Ishii vs. Claudio Castagnoli, Jon Moxley & Shota Umino (NJPW, 6/4)
– vs. Bryan Danielson (AEW/NJPW, 6/25)
– vs. Great-O-Khan (NJPW, 7/15)
– vs. El Phantasmo (NJPW, 7/18)
– vs. Taichi (NJPW, 7/21)
– vs. YOSHI-HASHI (NJPW, 7/25)
– vs. Will Ospreay (NJPW, 7/27)
– vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (NJPW, 8/10)
– vs. EVIL (NJPW, 8/12)
– vs. Tetsuya Naito (NJPW, 8/13)
– w/ Orange Cassidy vs. Bryan Danielson (AEW, 10/25)

“2023 was another legacy year for The Man Who Makes Money Fall From The Sky. He was a victim of the 2023 Great Bank Robbery of Yokohama in Yokohama Arena, where he displayed the side of Rainmaker usually reserved for backstage interactions with the office when he is told to put over Great-O-Khan. The title loss against the now-serious transitional champion SANADA was great. His G1 performance where he looked to tie the record for most tournament wins was excellent, he ran through the block with his signature steeze and Bradylike confidence. (He will never break this record, Chono always wins) The remaining off-season run with the NEVER 6-man titles was solid enough, the only notable highlight being a very emotional and gritty Kourakuen main event against Makabe/Tenzan/Tiger Mask as the aging veterans looking for one last moment of Cerulean Blue Glory. Hopefully he can close out his peak years in AEW continuing to be a barometer for pace, match structure, and dink and dunk rally offense leading to the Rainmaker for 6 points.” ~ stephen malkmus

“Okada’s seemingly final full-time year in Japan was defined by a veteran stubbornness to destroy all youth both in the ring and behind the scenes. Because this is an in-ring poll, that works out well because Okada is at his absolute best when he is being a gatekeeping motherfucker. Kaito Kiyomiya is maybe my favorite wrestler in the world, but Okada showed him who the REAL ace of Japan is. Great G1 run. Great main events. The Goddamn Rainmaker.” ~ chris

9. Takuya Nomura (48 ballots, 3244 points)
Last Year’s Rank: 164
High Vote: Andy, Tommy, CFOS (2)
Average Rank: 16.13
69.57% of Ballots Made

Recommended Matches
– w/ Kento Miyahara vs. Naoya Nomura & Yuma Aoyagi (AJPW, 1/22)
– w/ Yuya Aoki vs. Isami Kodaka & Yuko Miyamoto (BJW, 1/26)
– w/ Fuminori Abe vs. Isami Kodaka & Yuko Miyamoto (BJW, 1/29)
– w/ Fuminori Abe vs. Masashi Takeda & Takumi Tsukamoto (BJW, 2/8)
– w/ Fuminori Abe vs. Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji Okabayashi (BJW, 2/13)
– w/ Fuminori Abe vs. Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji Okabayahsi (BJW, 4/16)
– w/ Fuminori Abe vs. Hiroyuki Suzuki & Takuho Kato (BJW, 5/4)
– vs. Daisuke Sekimoto (BJW, 5/28)
– w/ Fuminori Abe vs. Daisuke Sekimoot & Yuji Okabayashi (BJW, 5/28)
– vs. Kota Sekifuda (BJW, 7/2)
– vs. Satoshi Kojima (AJPW, 8/22)
– w/ Fuminori Abe vs. 1 Called Manders & Mance Warner (wXw, 9/22)
– vs. Fuminori Abe (KTDan, 10/12)
– w/ Fuminori Abe vs. Hideki Suzuki & Hikaru Sato (BJW, 10/22)
– w/ Fuminori Abe vs. Masashi Takeda & Takumi Tsukamoto (BJW, 12/30)

“TOP TEN TOP TEN TOP TEN TAKUYA NOMURA. Not my favorite year from the guy ever (didn’t work BASARA nearly enough) but the Astronauts’ 2023 run made me watch BJW the most I’ve done in like 7 years. Didn’t matter if he was having Strong BJ’s best matches in seemingly eons or stepping into the Crazy Lovers’ world of brutality, Nomura and Abe were two of the best big match wrestlers in all of Japan. Their ten-minute, two count rules time limit draw from 2021 BASARA is their best singles match together though sorry.” ~ chris

8. Darby Allin (58 ballots, 3303 points) – HIGHEST RANKED 58 BALLOT WRESTLER
Last Year’s Rank: 3
High Vote: chris, SolPosting (1)
Average Rank: 20.14
84.06% of Ballots Made

Recommended Matches
– vs. Samoa Joe (AEW, 1/4)
– vs. KUSHIDA (AEW, 1/18)
– w/ The Great Muta & Sting vs. AKIRA, Hakushi & Naomichi Marufuji (NOAH, 1/22)
– vs. Samoa Joe (AEW, 2/1)
– vs. Swerve Strickland (AEW, 4/12)
– w/ Orange Cassidy vs. Bishop Kaun & Toa Liona (AEW, 5/31)
– w/ Orange Cassidy vs. Keith Lee & Swerve Strickland (AEW, 7/5)
– vs. Swerve Strickland (AEW, 7/26)
– vs. Minoru Suzuki (AEW, 7/29)
– vs. Christian Cage (AEW, 8/19)
– w/ Sting vs. Christian Cage & Swerve Strickland (AEW, 8/27)
– vs. Luchasaurus (AEW, 9/3)
– vs. Roderick Strong (AEW, 9/9)
– vs. Christian Cage (AEW, 10/1)
– w/ Adam Copeland & Sting vs. Christian Cage, Luchasaurus & Nick Wayne (AEW, 11/18)

“My daughter’s new favorite wrestler.” ~ Bucky

“For all the plight and pain surrounding AEW in 2023, whether it be the stagnant booking or revolving door of main eventers getting to do whatever they want, Darby Allin was a shining bright spot. His month of January featured the best TV match of 2023 against KUSHIDA, where he not only showed he was on the same level as one of the best limbwork juniors in the world, but threw in a little bit of his “sober guy who’s only release is skateboarding” high spots. His performance in the final Great Muta match was the only interesting aspect of it, despite facing off against 2 lazy elderly men in Akira Nogami and Jinsei Shinzaki, and Memphis Grizzlies Derrick Rose Marufuji. Would probably be the unanimous number one vote for most if he wasn’t involved in the horrific MJF “Four Pillars of AEW” feud. He continues to be on one of the most impressive American wrestler runs in recent history, glad to see the Sting and Darby Allin arc play out to a satisfying end. The torch has been passed, now hopefully his soul isn’t claimed by Mount Everest.” ~ stephen malkmus

“I’ve been one of the top Darby voters in this iteration of the poll, The Chris 100 iteration AND the WDKW100 iteration. That hasn’t changed. He’s maybe the best wrestler of the past decade. Certainly the best American worker. He’s had half of the AEW roster’s best singles matches. He helped give us the all-timer Sting run. He takes more sickening bumps than any deathmatch guy and has an underrated technical ability. He’s an absolute fucking freak. Best wrestler of 2023.” ~ chris

7. Claudio Castagnoli (55 ballots, 3383 points) – HIGHEST RANKED 55 BALLOT WRESTLER
Last Year’s Rank: 21
High Vote: Raiden, Adrian, Stephen White II, Corwo (4)
Average Rank: 19.36
79.71% of Ballots Made

Recommended Matches
– vs. AR Fox (AEW, 2/25)
– vs. Eddie Kingston (ROH, 3/31)
– w/ Jon Moxley vs. Brandon Cutler & Michael Nakazawa (AEW, 4/12)
– vs. Rey Fenix (AEW, 5/10)
– w/ Bryan Danielson, Jon Moxley & Wheeler Yuta vs. Adam Page, Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson (AEW, 5/28)
– w/ Jon Moxley & Shota Umino vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii (NJPW, 6/4)
– w/ Jon Moxley vs. Chuck Taylor & Trent Beretta (AEW, 8/3)
– w/ Wheeler Yuta vs. Eddie Kingston & Katsuyori Shibata (AEW, 9/3)
– w/ Bryan Danielson vs. Big Bill & Ricky Starks (AEW, 9/16)
– vs. Eddie Kingston (AEW, 9/20)
– vs. Josh Barnett (AEW, 10/1)
– vs. Orange Cassidy (AEW, 11/1)
– vs. Eddie Kingston (AEW, 12/5)
– w/ Bryan Danielson & Jon Moxley vs. Cash Wheeler, Dax Harwood & Mark Briscoe (ROH, 12/15)
– vs. Bryan Danielson (AEW, 12/23)

“My wife’s favorite wrestler.” ~ Bucky

“The glue guy in all the Blackpool Combat Club tags and had a wonderful feud with Kingston. Y’all are kinda crazy for getting Bald Claude this high but very fun year!” ~ chris

6. Samoa Joe (60 ballots, 3464 points) – LOWEST RANKED 60 BALLOT WRESTLER
Last Year’s Rank: 41
High Vote: Jam (2)
Average Rank: 20.65
86.96% of Ballots Made

Recommended Matches
– vs. Darby Allin (AEW, 1/4)
– vs. Darby Allin (AEW, 2/1)
– vs. Mark Briscoe (ROH, 3/31)
– w/ Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Christopher Daniels & Colt Cabana (ROH, 5/7)
– vs. Matt Sydal (ROH, 6/4)
– w/ Jay White & Juice Robinson vs. Cash Wheeler, CM Punk & Dax Harwood (AEW, 6/17)
– vs. Roderick Strong (AEW, 6/29)
– vs. CM Punk (AEW, 7/8)
– vs. CM Punk (AEW, 8/27)
– vs. Shane Taylor (AEW, 9/3)
– vs. Jeff Hardy (AEW, 9/6)
– vs. Roderick Strong (AEW, 9/13)
– vs. MJF (AEW, 9/20)
– vs. Willie Mack (AEW, 10/14)
– vs. Keith Lee (AEW, 11/8)

“It’s such a miracle run he’s having. When he first appeared back in Tony’s ROH, I had very little interest in seeing him. I’m not sure why, even at his lowest, Joe is always great. He has made the absolute most of every position he’s ever found himself in, and he deserved to be rewarded with the World Title. Still one of the coolest dudes to ever do it, aging like a fine thing that ages good.” ~ Bucky

“His best in-ring work since….? I seriously am not sure when. Over a decade, certainly. The WWE run had highlights and there was plenty of stuff to like last year, but those feuds with Darby and Punk were SPECIAL. Sincerely did not think 45 year-old Samoa Joe had this in him.” ~ chris

5. Fuminori Abe (48 ballots, 3614 points) – HIGHEST RANKED 48 BALLOT WRESTLER
Last Year’s Rank: 166
High Vote: Cake, Tanner, Andy, Adam, Tommy, Timothy Robert Buechner, CFOS (1)
Average Rank: 12.92
69.57% of Ballots Made

Recommended Matches
– w/ Takuya Nomura vs. Masashi Takeda & Takumi Tsukamoto (BJW, 2/8)
– vs. Kota Sekifuda (BJW, 2/12)
– w/ Takuya Nomura vs. Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji Okabayashi (BJW, 2/13)
– vs. Adam Priest (wXw, 3/9)
– w/ Takuya Nomura vs. Yasufumi Nakanoue & Yuji Okabayashi (BJW, 3/17)
– w/ Takuya Nomura vs. Yasufumi Nakanoue & Yuya Aoki (BJW, 3/21)
– w/ Takuya Nomura vs. Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji Okabayashi (BJW, 4/16)
– w/ Takuya Nomura vs. Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji Okabayashi (BJW, 5/28)
– vs. Yuji Okabayashi (BJW, 5/28)
– w/ Ikuto Hidaka vs. Fujita Hayato & Masaaki Mochizuki (Michinoku Pro, 6/30)
– vs. Daisuke Sekimoto (ZERO1, 7/15)
– vs. Takuya Nomura (KTDan, 10/12)
– w/ Takuya Nomura vs. Hideki Suzuki & Hikaru Sato (BJW, 10/22)
– vs. Hikaru Sato (AJPW, 12/2)
– w/ Takuya Nomura vs. Masashi Takeda & Takumi Tsukamoto (BJW, 12/30)

“Whether its wrestling a literal swing, his fellow space, or anyone else Fuminori Abe brings so much personality, passion, skill, and versatility.” ~ Henry/HeadCheese

“The shittiest kid brother of all time. Constantly gets you in trouble with your step dad.” ~ Bucky

““Without a shadow of the doubt the best wrestler in the world in 2023. The workrate was there as evidenced in being a part of the best tag team in the world and one half of the MOTY as well, but when you wrestle in 200 matches in a year in which 90% make tape and 98% of those are good, that’s a rock solid case for me.” ~ Tanner

4. Adam Page (59 ballots, 3619 points) – ONLY 59 BALLOT WRESTLER, HIGHEST WRESTLER WITHOUT #1 VOTE
Last Year’s Rank: 23
High Vote: Cake, padraig, JML (2)
Average Rank: 18.07
85.51% of Ballots Made

Recommended Matches
– vs. Jon Moxley (AEW, 1/11)
– vs. Wheeler Yuta (AEW, 1/25)
– vs. Jon Moxley (AEW, 2/1)
– vs. Jon Moxley (AEW, 3/5)
– w/ Evil Uno & Stu Grayson vs. Claudio Castagnoli, Jon Moxley & Wheeler Yuta (AEW, 3/15)
– w/ Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson vs. Bryan Danielson, Claudio Castagnoli, Jon Moxley & Wheeler Yuta (AEW, 5/28)
– w/ Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson vs. Claudio Castagnoli, Jon Moxley & Wheeler Yuta (AEW, 6/14)
– w/ Eddie Kingston, Matt Jackson, Nick Jackson & Tomohiro Ishii vs. Claudio Castagnoli, Jon Moxley, Konosuke Takeshita, Shota Umino & Wheeler Yuta (AEW/NJPW, 6/25)
– w/ Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi, Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson vs. Claudio Castagnoli, Jon Moxley, Konosuke Takeshita, PAC & Wheeler Yuta (AEW, 7/19)
– vs. Brian Cage (AEW, 9/13)
– w/ Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson vs. Bishop Kaun, Brian Cage & Toa Liona (AEW, 9/20)
– vs. Swerve Strickland (AEW, 10/1)
– vs. Jay White (AEW, 10/10)
– vs. Swerve Strickland (AEW, 11/18)
– vs. Roderick Strong (AEW, 12/13)

“It’s hard to argue with his work as a bloody mess against Swerve and Mox. Hangman disappeared into the gimmick tag zone for the middle part of the year but he made it count when he was called upon.” ~ chris

3. Jon Moxley (60 ballots, 4464 points)
Last Year’s Rank: 1
High Vote: Stardy, padraig (1)
Average Rank: 9.35
86.96% of Ballots Made

Recommended Matches
– w/ Bryan Danielson vs. Dante Martin & Darius Martin (AEW, 1/6)
– vs. Adam Page (AEW, 1/11)
– vs. Adam Page (AEW, 2/1)
– vs. Adam Page (AEW, 3/5)
– w/ Claudio Castagnoli vs. Brandon Cutler & Michael Nakazawa (AEW, 4/12)
– vs. Kenny Omega (AEW, 5/10)
– w/ Homicide vs. El Desperado & Jun Kasai (NJPW, 7/4)
– vs. El Desperado (NJPW, 7/5)
– vs. Orange Cassidy (AEW, 9/3)
– vs. Great-O-Khan (NJPW, 11/4)
– vs. Orange Cassidy (AEW, 11/18)
– vs. Mark Briscoe (AEW, 11/22)
– vs. Rush (AEW, 12/6)
– w/ Bryan Danielson & Claudio Castagnoli vs. Cash Wheeler, Dax Harwood & Mark Briscoe (ROH, 12/15)
– vs. Eddie Kingston (AEW, 12/30)

“The true ace. Orange Cassidy match is a perfect character piece for him as well as Orange, and his run in the C2 is pretty awesome. The ever simmering feud with Eddie provided constant tension, and his performance in both the Anarchy in the Arena and Stadium Stampede is the anchor that keeps both of those matches from floating all the way out to sea. Oh shit and the Desperado feud. Damn idk just pull up der matchguide and scroll for a minute if you’re not sure! Resume speaks absolutely for itself. Oh yeah also I like guys who BLEED.” ~ Bucky

2. Eddie Kingston (60 ballots, 4473 points) – HIGHEST RANKED 60 BALLOT WRESTLER
Last Year’s Rank: 7
High Vote: Ryan Bingham, Joe, Ed, Simon, Adrian, Eamonn Bell, Joseph Montecillo (1)
Average Rank: 11.6
86.96% of Ballots Made

Recommended Matches
– vs. QT Marshall (ROH, 1/18)
– vs. Jay White (NJPW, 2/18)
– vs. Claudio Castagnoli (ROH, 3/31)
– vs. EVIL (NJPW, 7/19)
– vs. Tomohiro Ishii (NJPW, 7/26)
– w/ Katsuyori Shibata vs. Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta (AEW, 9/3)
– vs. Claudio Castagnoli (AEW, 9/20)
– vs. Katsuyori Shibata (AEW, 10/1)
– vs. Minoru Suzuki (AEW, 10/10)
– vs. Jeff Jarrett (AEW, 10/21)
– vs. Bryan Danielson (AEW, 12/1)
– vs. Claudio Castagnoli (AEW, 12/9)
– vs. Anthony Henry (ROH, 12/15)
– vs. Bryan Danielson (AEW, 12/27)
– vs. Jon Moxley (AEW, 12/30)

“Bum recognize bum. Some of us were born to be fat worthless pieces of shit. I identify with Eddie Kingston on a deep level. A wrestler that you can relate to.” ~ Bucky

“While I was disappointed that Eddie’s first ever G1 run consisted of the absolute most boring options for him to wrestle in New Japan with very few options for him to wrestle outside of his comfort zone, he more than made up for it by being one of the best TV wrestlers in the Tonyverse in both AEW and ROH. The ultimate everyman babyface had the year his fans have been rooting for him to have since he was stuck in Quackenbush’s Dungeon 20 years ago.” ~ chris

1. Bryan Danielson (64 ballots, 5764 points) – ONLY 64 BALLOT WRESTLER, MOST #1 VOTES,
Last Year’s Rank: 4
High Vote: Jam, João, Alvaro Merino, Charles Fluit, Raiden, Niko, MC, roach/brennan, Parm Mann, Nick Yeoman, Nathan, Maxi, Bucky, Dan Rice, Hayden Dockerty, Logan Kenny, Stephen White II, brad?, Stevan Savich, Austin, Camrod, Corwo, Austin Daniels, Jesse Mack, Onidinhas (1)
Average Rank: 3.91
92.75% of Ballots Made

Recommended Matches
– w/ Jon Moxley vs. Dante Martin & Darius Martin (AEW, 1/6)
– vs. Bandido (AEW, 1/18)
– vs. Rush (AEW, 2/8)
– w/ Claudio Castagnoli, Jon Moxley & Wheeler Yuta vs. Adam Page, Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson (AEW, 5/28)
– vs. Kazuchika Okada (AEW/NJPW, 6/25)
– vs. Ricky Starks (AEW, 9/3)
– w/ Claudio Castagnoli vs. Big Bill & Ricky Starks (AEW, 9/16)
– vs. Ricky Starks (AEW, 9/23)
– vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (AEW, 10/1)
– vs. Swerve Strickland (AEW, 10/10)
– vs. Christian Cage (AEW, 10/14)
– vs. Andrade El Idolo (AEW, 10/21)
– w/ Claudio Castagnoli vs. Kazuchika Okada & Orange Cassidy (AEW, 10/25)
– vs. Eddie Kingston (AEW, 12/2)
– vs. Andrade El Idolo (AEW, 12/5)
– vs. Daniel Garcia (AEW, 12/6)
– w/ Claudio Castagnoli & Jon Moxley vs. Cash Wheeler, Dax Harwood & Mark Briscoe (ROH, 12/15)
– vs. Brody King (AEW, 12/16)
– vs. Claudio Castagnoli (AEW, 12/23)
– vs. Eddie Kingston (AEW, 12/27)

“The best wrestler in the world. I love that everyone’s brains broke in the last few years and some people have convinced themselves that Danielson is overrated. I think those people are stupid. If you are one of those people, I think you are stupid. Everyone should go rewatch the Rush match in 240p with Spanish commentary.” ~ Bucky

“[to the tune of ‘Shady Lane’ by Pavement’]
wrestling match with the dragon, we had wristlocks and transitions
and the kick when it arrived we went YES YES YES” ~ stephen malkmus

“The first repeat winner in the almost-decade-long history of this poll, Danielson had the expected technical showcases but varied his year with a crazy brawls with Rush and Pretty Ricky. The American Dragon is starting to talk retirement and might not be working full-time by this time next year, but he’s putting up a hell of an end to his resume.” ~ chris