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    The Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards 2023 – Category A & B

    Angelica ReynoldsBy Updated:6 Mins Read

    Some will call it the pinnacle of excellence in professional wrestling as the winners of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards 2023 have emerged. Wrestling Observer Newsletter Readers honour the best athletes, matches, and moments that define the year. From jaw-dropping performances to unforgettable rivalries, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards 2023 showcase the industry’s finest.

    Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards 2023
    LOU THESZ/RIC FLAIR AWARD     (WRESTLER OF THE YEAR)

    1. WILL OSPREAY (302) 1,814
    2. Cody Rhodes (119) 1,330
    3. MJF (80) 927
    4. Roman Reigns (106) 904
    5. Bryan Danielson (49) 590

    MIXED MARTIAL ARTS MOST VALUABLE

    1. JON JONES (57) 474
    2. Islam Makhachev (51) 472
    3. Leon Edwards (34) 332
    4. Israel Adesanya (33) 224
    5. Sean Strickland (18) 139

    MOST OUTSTANDING WRESTLER

    1. WILL OSPREAY (548) 3,086
    2. Bryan Danielson (122) 1,773
    3. Kenny Omega (19) 590
    4. Zack Sabre Jr. (15) 282
    5. Kento Miyahara (11) 185

    MOST OUTSTANDING FIGHTER OF THE YEAR

    1. ISLAM MAKHACHEV (129) 793
    2. Leon Edwards (26) 367
    3. Sean Strickland (32) 306
    4. Alex Pereira (10) 114
    5. Jon Jones (6) 79

    TAG TEAM OF THE YEAR

    1. FTR (344) 2,341
    2. Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn (106) 1,128
    3. Hirooki Goto & Yoshi-Hashi (71) 712
    4. Takuya Nomura & Fuminori Abe (82) 473
    5. Young Bucks (42) 435

    BEST ON INTERVIEWS

    1. EDDIE KINGSTON (199) 1,483
    2. MJF (140) 1,441
    3. Christian Cage (148) 921
    4. Jon Moxley (50) 705
    5. Cody Rhodes (51) 626

    PROMOTION OF THE YEAR

    1. WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT (406) 2,359
    2. All Elite Wrestling (194) 1,965
    3. New Japan Pro Wrestling (17) 1,011
    4. CMLL (90) 965
    5. UFC (52) 580

    BEST WEEKLY TV SHOW

    1. AEW DYNAMITE (430) 2,707
    2. AEW Collision (74) 1,483
    3. WWE Smackdown (128) 1,434
    4. CMLL Super Viernes (67) 518
    5. WWE NXT (3) 309

    PRO WRESTLING MATCH OF THE YEAR

    1. KENNY OMEGA VS. WILL OSPREAY 1/4 TOKYO (474) 3,018
    2. Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay 6/25 Toronto (116) 1,227
    3. MJF vs. Bryan Danielson 3/5 San Francisco (115) 1,065
    4. Swerve Strickland vs. Adam Page 11/18 Los Angeles (33) 464
    5. FTR vs. White & Robinson (5) 266

    MMA FIGHT OF THE YEAR

    1. ALEXANDER VOLKANOVSKI VS. ISLAM MAKHACHEV 2/11 PERTH, AUSTRALIA (164) 822
    2. Alexandre Pantoja vs. Brandon Moreno 7/8 Las Vegas (7) 285
    3. Justin Gaethje vs. Rafael Fiziev 3/18 London (2) 171
    4. Geoff Neal vs. Shavkat Rakhimonov 3/4 Las Vegas (3) 91
    5. 5. Jamahal Hill vs. Glover Teixeira 2/21 Rio de Janeiro (8) 83

    “CATEGORY B” AWARDS

    DETERMINED BY FIRST PLACE VOTES UNITED STATES/CANADA MVP

    1. CODY RHODES 268
    2. Bryan Danielson 139
    3. MJF 135
    4. Roman Reigns 109
    5. Jon Moxley 36

    KOICHI YOSHIZAWA AWARD JAPANESE MVP

    1. WILL OSPREAY 434
    2. Kazuchika Okada 243
    3. Tetsuya Naito 80
    4. Kento Miyahara 67
    5. Yuma Aoyagi 30

    MEXICO MVP

    1. MISTICO 416
    2. El Hijo del Vikingo 314
    3. Rocky Romero 68
    4. Volador Jr. 30
    5. Pentagon Jr. 7

    EUROPE MVP

    1. WILL OSPREAY 754
    2. Michael Oku 45
    3. Zack Sabre Jr. 26
    4. Spike Trivet 8

    HODGE AWARD/NON-HEAVYWEIGHT MVP

    1. EL HIJO DEL VIKINGO 189
    2. Hiromu Takahashi 144
    3. Darby Allin 139
    4. Orange Cassidy 83
    5. Mistico 34

    WOMEN’S WRESTLING MVP

    1. RHEA RIPLEY 359
    2. Giulia 162
    3. Athena 114
    4. Tam Nakano 65
    5. Becky Lynch 63

    WOMEN’S MMA MVP

    1. ALEXA GRASSO 147
    2. Zhang Weili 45
    3. Amanda Nunes 20

    FEUD OF THE YEAR

    1. SAMI ZAYN & KEVIN OWENS VS. BLOODLINE 268
    2. Adam Page vs. Swerve Strickland 119
    3. Kento Miyahara vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima 98
    4. Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay 91
    5. Adam Page vs. Jon Moxley 44

    BEST BOX OFFICE DRAW MMA

    1. JON JONES
    2. Israel Adesanya
    3. Islam Makhachev

    PRO WRESTLING

    1. ROMAN REIGNS
    2. Cody Rhodes
    3. John Cena

    MOST IMPROVED

    1. JULIA HART 117
    2. Dominik Mysterio 86
    3. Mariah May 49
    4. Shota Umino 49
    5. Swerve Strickland 47

    MOST CHARISMATIC

    1. MJF 162
    2. Roman Reigns 88
    3. Kento Miyahara 81
    4. Giulia 57
    5. Cody Rhodes 49

    BRYAN DANIELSON AWARD (BEST TECHNICAL WRESTLER)

    1. BRYAN DANIELSON 549
    2. Zack Sabre Jr. 427
    3. Josh Alexander 17

    BRUISER BRODY MEMORIAL AWARD (BEST BRAWLER)

    1. JON MOXLEY 383**
    2. Tomohiro Ishii 91
    3. Adam Page 78
    4. Eddie Kingston 74
    5. Gunther 46

    BEST FLYING WRESTLER

    1. EL HIJO DEL VIKINGO 595
    2. Will Ospreay 52
    3. Rey Fenix 37
    4. Mascara Dorada 36
    5. Komander 28

    ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

    1. YUMA ANZAI 205
    2. Action Andretti 140
    3. Megan Bayne 65
    4. Oleg Boltin 49
    5. Kelani Jordan 38

    BEST NON-WRESTLER

    1. DON CALLIS 266
    2. Paul Heyman 198
    3. Prince Nana 175
    4. Renee Paquette 31
    5. RJ City 18

    MOST OVERRATED

    1. SANADA 114
    2. Roman Reigns 109
    3. CM Punk 63
    4. Tyrus 62
    5. MJF 55

    MOST UNDERRATED

    1. CHAD GABLE 84
    2. Konosuke Takeshita 80
    3. Daniel Garcia 50
    4. Mike Bailey 49
    5. Yota Tsuji 42

    BEST TELEVISION ANNOUNCER

    1. EXCALIBUR 183
    2. Ian Riccaboni 139
    3. Kevin Kelly 137
    4. Nigel McGuinness 133
    5. Chris Charlton 89

    WORST TELEVISION ANNOUNCER

    1. BOOKER T 198
    2. Kevin Patrick 162
    3. Jim Ross 90
    4. Michael Cole 48
    5. Corey Graves 42

    BEST MAJOR WRESTLING SHOW

    1. AEW REVOLUTION 3/5 SAN FRANCISCO 188
    2. AEW/NJPW Forbidden Door 6/25 Toronto 128
    3. AEW All In 8-27 London 111
    4. WWE WrestleMania night one 4/1 Los Angeles 101
    5. AEW All Out 9/3 Chicago 72

    WORST MAJOR WRESTLING SHOW

    1. WWE CROWN JEWEL 11/4 RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA 141
    2. NWA Samhain 10/28 Cleveland 89
    3. AEW Worlds End 12/30 Uniondale, NY 79
    4. WWE Fastlane 10/7 Indianapolis 51
    5. AAA TripleMania 8/12 Mexico City 50

    BEST WRESTLING MANEUVER

    1. WILL OSPREAY HIDDEN BLADE 139
    2. Will Ospreay stormbreaker 76
    3. Kenny Omega one winged angel 68
    4. El Hijo del Vikingo second rope step up 630 58
    5. Komander ropewalk shooting star 32

    MOST DISGUSTING PROMOTIONAL TACTIC

    1. WWE ENABLING VINCE MCMAHON AND HIM BEING BACK IN POWER/TKO KEEPING HIM IN POSITION OF POWER 197
    2. WWE Continued relationship with Saudi Arabia 140
    3. NWA cocaine spot on PPV 89
    4. Powerslap and continuing on TV after Dana White slapped his wife 83
    5. AEW signing Ric Flair 49

    WORST TELEVISION SHOW 1. NWA POWERR 194

    1. WWE Raw 176
    2. WWE NXT 112
    3. Powerslap: Road to the Title 109
    4. AEW Rampage 80

    WORST MATCH OF THE YEAR

    1. BRAY WYATT VS. LA KNIGHT 1/28 SAN ANTONIO 105
    2. Tyrus vs. EC 3 8/27 St. Louis 85
    3. Shane McMahon/Snoop Dogg vs. The Miz 4/2 Los Angeles 58
    4. Baron Corbin vs. Gable Steveson 7/30 Cedar Park, TX 47
    5. Ronda Rousey vs. Shayna Baszler 8/5 Detroit 44

    WORST FEUD OF THE YEAR

    1. MJF VS. THE DEVIL 167
    2. Outcasts vs. AEW Originals 114
    3. Tyrus vs. EC 3 74
    4. Ronda Rousey vs. Shayna Baszler 57
    5. Adam Cole vs. Chris Jericho 48

    WORST PROMOTION OF THE YEAR

    1. NWA 456
    2. AAA 88
    3. WWE 61
    4. Control Your Narrative 17
    5. MLW 16

    BEST BOOKER

    1. PAUL LEVESQUE 360
    2. Tony Khan 146
    3. Juan Manuel Mar 104
    4. Shuji Ishikawa 74
    5. Rossy Ogawa 68

    PROMOTER OF THE YEAR

    1. NICK KHAN 371
    2. Tony Khan 239
    3. Dana White 146
    4. Chavo Lutteroth III 112
    5. Rossy Ogawa 34

    BEST GIMMICK

    1. TONI STORM 239
    2. Christian Cage 204
    3. Orange Cassidy 48
    4. Bloodline 38
    5. Brochachos 36

    WORST GIMMICK

    1. THE DEVIL 76
    2. QTV 72
    3. Toni Storm 49
    4. House of Torture 40
    5. Outcasts 39

    BEST PRO WRESTLING BOOK

    1. THE LAST REAL WORLD CHAMPION BY TIM HORNBAKER 77
    2. Tod is God by Tod Gordon 50
    3. Ringmaster by Abraham Josephine Riesman 49
    4. Keirn Chronicles by Steve Keirn and Ian Douglass` 39
    5. Wrestling Observer Complete Collection 1989 by Dave Meltzer 22

    BEST PRO WRESTLING DOCUMENTARY

    1. DARK SIDE OF THE RING: CHRIS AND TAMMY 97
    2. VOW: The Life, career and death of Eddie Gilbert 80
    3. American Nightmare: Becoming Cody Rhodes 69
    4. Dark Side of the Ring: Marty Jannetty 65
    5. Dark Side of the Ring: Magnum T.A. 34

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