60. Chad Gable (27 ballots, 1031 points) – LOWEST RANKED 27 BALLOT WRESTLER
Last Year’s Rank: 266
High Vote: Logan Kenny, Austin Daniels, SolPosting (15)
Average Rank: 46.15
39.13% of Ballots Made

Recommended Matches
– vs. Cody Rhodes (WWE, 2/27)
– w/ Otis vs. Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford vs. Braun Strowman & Ricochet vs. Erik & Ivar (WWE, 4/1)
– w/ Otis vs. Erik & Ivar (WWE, 7/17)
– vs. Gunther (WWE, 7/31)
– vs. Gunther (WWE, 8/21)
– vs. Ludwig Kaiser (WWE, 8/28)
– vs. Gunther (WWE, 9/4)
– w/ Otis & Tommaso Ciampa vs. Giovanni Vinci, Gunther & Ludwig Kaiser (WWE, 9/11)
– w/ Otis vs. Brutus Creed & Julius Creed (WWE, 10/30)
– vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (WWE, 11/20)

“Shorty G fights the big Nazi is a story I booked in my dreams. Keep fighting Shorty G.” ~ Bucky

59. Volador Jr. (22 ballots, 1062 points) – HIGHEST RANKED 22 BALLOT WRESTLER
Last Year’s Rank: 474
High Vote: Puroluchitas (4)
Average Rank: 41.73
31.88% of Ballots Made

Recommended Matches
– vs. Rocky Romero (CMLL, 1/20)
– vs. Templario (CMLL/NJPW, 2/27)
– vs. Rocky Romero (CMLL, 3/17)
– w/ Atlantis Jr. & Star Jr. vs. Euforia, Hechicero & Mephisto (CMLL, 6/2)
– vs. Rocky Romero (CMLL, 6/30)
– w/ Virus vs. Rocky Romero & TJP (CMLL, 8/11)
– vs. Angel de Oro (CMLL, 9/16)
– w/ Soberano Jr. vs. Mascara Dorada & Mistoc (CMLL, 11/3)
– vs. Soberano Jr. (CMLL, 11/10)
– vs. Andrade El Idolo (CMLL, 12/29)

“Volador is a guy I’ve always kind of pushed aside as an older wrestler who can go when he wants to, but largely doesn’t. But 2023 Volador Jr. was the most keyed in he’s been in forever. The Rocky Romero feud was particularly hot, but he seemed much more inspired even on your average Friday trios. I don’t know what got into him this year, but I like it.” ~ chris

58. Yuma Aoyagi (18 ballots, 1086 points) – HIGHEST RANKED 18 BALLOT WRESTLER
Last Year’s Rank: 590
High Vote: Jacob Shearin (3)
Average Rank: 28.56
26.09% of Ballots Made

Recommended Matches
– w/ Naoya Nomura vs. Kento Miyahara & Takuya Nomura (AJPW, 1/22)
– vs. Kento Miyahara (AJPW, 2/4)
– w/ Kento Miyahara & Suwama vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima, Kenoh & Manabu Soya (NOAH, 2/21)
– vs. Kento Miyahara (AJPW, 4/8)
– vs. Satoshi Kojima (AJPW, 4/23)
– w/ Kazuchika Okada & Kenoh vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kaito Kiyomiya & Kento Miyahara (All Together, 6/9)
– vs. Yuji Nagata (AJPW, 7/2)
– vs. Kento Miyhara (AJPW, 10/21)
– w/ Kento Miyahara vs. Ryuki Honda & Yuma Anzai (AJPW, 10/31)
– vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima (AJPW, 11/5)

“A great tag team wrestler. especially in cross promotion match In an amazing tag team with Kento Miyahara but, also amazing alone. He’s so amazing at placing trolling and being a fun jerk in his matches in a way that increasing the energy of his matches. His confidence radiates through. Hoping to watch AJPW in 2024 and Yuma Aoyagi is probably the wrestler I am most excited to see.” ~ Henry/HeadCheese

“Finally got the chance to show what he is capable of. Great CC and RWTL runs, himself and Naoya Nomura were looking to be front runner for TTOTY prior to Nomura’s early injury and a phenomenal Triple Crown run on top of it. Easily one of the best in the world at this point and I hope he continues to show up with performances like these for the foreseeable future.” ~ Tanner

57. Tomohiro Ishii (29 ballots, 1094 points) – LOWEST RANKED 29 BALLOT WRESTLER
Last Year’s Rank: 99
High Vote: Jacob Shearin (6)
Average Rank: 44.45
42.03% of Ballots Made

Recommended Matches
– vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (NJPW, 2/5)
– vs. David Finlay (NJPW, 3/6)
– vs. El Desperado (NJPW, 4/15)
– w/ Kazuchika Okada & Rocky Romero vs. Jon Moxley, Shota Umino & Wheeler Yuta (NJPW, 5/21)
– vs. Jon Moxley (AEW, 6/28)
– vs. David Finlay (NJPW, 7/16)
– vs. Eddie Kingston (NJPW, 7/26)
– vs. HENARE (NJPW, 8/2)
– w/ Kazuchika Okada vs. Bad Dude Tito & Zack Sabre Jr. (NJPW, 9/24)
– w/ Toru Yano vs. Ren Narita & Shota Umino (NJPW, 12/1)

56. Hechicero (24 ballots, 1097 points)
Last Year’s Rank: 180
High Vote: brad? (11)
Average Rank: 38.63
34.78% of Ballots Made

Recommended Matches
– vs. Euforia (CMLL, 1/13)
– w/ Euforia & Mephisto vs. Blue Panther, Panterita del Ring & Valient (CMLL, 1/20)
– w/ Euforia & Mephisto vs. Esfinge, Mistico & Titan (CMLL, 1/29)
– w/ DOUKI & Templario vs. El Desperado, Mistico & Soberano Jr. (CMLL/NJPW, 2/26)
– vs. Soberano Jr. (CMLL/NJPW, 2/28)
– w/ Euforia & Mephisto vs. Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr. & Ultimo Guerrero (CMLL, 3/17)
– w/ Euforia & Mephisto vs. Atlantis Jr., Star Jr. & Volador Jr. (CMLL, 5/26)
– w/ El Desperado vs. DOUKI & Templario (CMLL, 7/2)
– w/ Barbaro Cavernario & Templario vs. Averno, Euforia & Mephisto (CMLL, 7/7)
– vs. Stuka Jr. (CMLL, 11/24)

“Somehow I think 2023 seemed like a base year for Hechicero. The sort of year where he got a certain level of opportunities and did well with them. But he didn’t put in the sort of life-affirming performances he had back in something like 2014 (OMG I’m so old). You can’t stop someone this skilled and unique as Hechicero on the mat. Could guide a trained monkey through one of his grappling sequences.” ~ Sam DiMascio

55. Sami Zayn (27 ballots, 1130 points) – HIGHEST RANKED 27 BALLOT WRESTLER
Last Year’s Rank: 95
High Vote: Andy (6)
Average Rank: 44.52
39.13% of Ballots Made

Recommended Matches
– vs. Kevin Owens (WWE, 1/13)
– vs. Roman Riegns (WWE, 2/18)
– w/ Kevin Owens vs. Jey Uso & Jimmy Uso (WWE, 4/1)
– w/ Kevin Owens vs. Damian Priest & Finn Balor (WWE, 5/15)
– w/ Kevin Owens vs. Roman Reigns & Solo Sikoa (WWE, 5/27)
– w/ Kevin Owens vs. Gunther & Ludwig Kaiser (WWE, 6/12)
– vs. Gunther (WWE, 6/26)
– w/ Kevin Owens vs. Damian Priest & Dominik Mysterio (WWE, 7/17)
– w/ Kevin Owens vs. Damian Priest & Finn Balor (WWE, 9/2)
– vs. Drew McIntyre (WWE, 12/4)

“If they decided to give Zayn the title, like they should have, this could have been an even better year. However, they moved him into a tag team for most of the year. That said, he fucking delivered there, and it was great to see him back as the great babyface he is.” ~ Steven Graham

54. Atlantis Jr. (21 ballots, 1132 points) – HIGHEST RANKED 21 BALLOT WRESTLER
Last Year’s Rank: 100
High Vote: Parm Mann, Dan Rice (9)
Average Rank: 30.52
30.43% of Ballots Made

Recommended Matches
– w/ Mistico & Templario vs. Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr. & Ultimo Guerrero (CMLL, 1/10)
– Titan & Volador Jr. vs. Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr. & Ultimo Guerrero (CMLL, 2/5)
– vs. Mistico (CMLL/NJPW, 2/28)
– vs. Mistico (CMLL, 3/10)
– vs. Rocky Romero (CMLL, 4/7)
– w/ Esfinge & Panterita del Ring Jr. vs. Euforia, Hechicero & Mephisto (CMLL, 5/12)
– w/ Star Jr. & Volador Jr. vs. Euforia, Hechicero & Mephisto (CMLL, 5/26)
– w/ Mistico & Volador Jr. vs. Hiromu Takahashi, Soberano Jr. & Titan (CMLL, 8/25)
– w/ Mascara Dorada & Mistico vs. Angel de Oro, Niebla Roja & Templario (CMLL, 10/27)
– vs. Soberano Jr. (CMLL, 12/22)

“Like his dad, not always the most talented, but brings an emotional weight that not everyone can. It is the gift and the curse with Atlantis. When he is playing second fiddle in trios, he doesn’t bring the sudden bursts of awe-inspiring action. When his pairing is the lead couple, that is a whole different wrestler in there folks. The Soberano Jr. match from December is the match of the year and in huge part to all the skills that get highlighted in those types of trios matches.” ~ Sam DiMascio

53. Tetsuya Naito (23 ballots, 1176 points)
Last Year’s Rank: 27
High Vote: stephen malkmus, Logan Kenny (2)
Average Rank: 27.83
33.33% of Ballots Made

Recommended Matches
– vs. Keiji Mutoh (NOAH, 2/21)
– w/ BUSHI & Hiromu Takahashi vs. Barbaro Cavernario, El Desperado & Ryusuke Taguchi (NJPW/CMLL, 2/27)
– vs. SANADA (NJPW, 3/17)
– vs. Jeff Cobb (NJPW, 7/16)
– vs. Hirooki Goto (NJPW, 7/19)
– vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (NJPW, 8/2)
– vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi (NPJW, 8/9)
– vs. Will Ospreay (NJPW, 8/12)
– vs. Kazuchika Okada (NJPW, 8/13)
– vs. Jeff Cobb (NJPW, 9/24)

“etsuya Naito had a very funny year. He started out with 2 of the most humiliating psuedo-burials of Kenoh and Shota Umino where he swagged his way through at 40 percent effort and hit the Destino once he felt like he wanted to clock out. He followed this up by having a match formed with pure emotion and pro wres love with his all time favorite wrestler, his Bugs Bunny tactics leading Muto to feel a deep desire to Moonsault one last time. He ran through D Block in the G1, having a great underdog performance against the overwhelming force of Hikuleo in the Quarterfinal, a MOTYC against Will Ospreay in the semi, and the final match of a generational rivalry in the final against Okada. He won Tokyo Sports MVP for a reason, as he remains the lifeblood of a New Japan undergoing a drastic rebuilding processs. He remains one of the coolest wrestlers of all time and will continue to be an integral part of New Japan until his career ends.” ~ stpehen malkmus

52. Arisa Nakajima (23 ballots, 1179 points)
Last Year’s Rank: 169
High Vote: Andy (3)
Average Rank: 43.74
33.33% of Ballots Made

Recommended Matches
– w/ Hiroyo Matsumoto & Ryo Mizunami vs. Itsuki Aoki, Riko Kaiju & Riko Kawahato (SEAdLINNNG, 1/13)
– vs. Riko Kawahata (SEAdLINNNG, 2/16)
– vs. Mio Momono (Marvelous, 2/21)
– vs. Ayame Sasamura (SEAdLINNNG, 3/20)
– w/ Takumi Iroha vs. Ayame Sasamura & Riko Kaiju (SEAdLINNNG, 4/30)
– w/ Itsuki Aoki vs. Riko Kawahata & Sareee (SEAdLINNNG, 7/26)
– w/ Takumi Iroha vs. KAIRI & Sareee (Sareee Produce, 8/4)
– vs. Sareee (8/25)
– w/ Sareee vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto & Riko Kaiju (SEAdLINNNG, 11/17)
– w/ DASH Chisako vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto & Ryo Mizunami (SEAdLINNNG, 12/28)

51. Kenoh (24 ballots, 1211 points)
Last Year’s Rank: 111
High Vote: Adrian (11)
Average Rank: 42.21
34.78% of Ballots Made

Recommended Matches
– vs. Kaito Kiyomiya (NOAH, 1/1)
– w/ Katsuhiko Nakajima & Manabu Soya vs. Kento Miyahara, Suwama & Yuma Aoyagi (NOAH, 2/21)
– vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima (NOAH, 5/31)
– w/ Shuji Kondo vs. Susumu Mochizuki & Yasushi Kanda (DG, 6/2)
– w/ Manabu Soya vs. Kento MIyahara & Yuma Aoyagi (AJPW, 6/15)
– vs. Go Shiozaki (NOAH, 6/22)
– w/ Jake Lee vs. El Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. & Go Shiozaki (NOAH, 7/15)
– vs. Yoshiki Inamura (NOAH, 8/10)
– vs. Jake Lee (NOAH, 8/27)
– vs. Go Shiozaki (NOAH, 9/3)

“Tetsuya Naito disrespected him and made him change the color of his pants. One of the most fascinating if not inconsistent wrestlers in the world.” ~ chris