2023 was a banner year for WWE. The company saw a rise in interest and the quality of the product crew favorably in tremendous fashion at times. There were plenty of high spots and memorable moments. And as usual, there were also plenty of terrific matches.
And so, The Comeback is here to provide you with our Top 25 WWE matches of the year. We’ll be doing this in blocks throughout the week.
The way we came up with this was simple. Rob and I, Chris, took a list of nominations we both came up with. We then blindly created our own Top 25s. Amazingly, we wound up with the same matches on our lists besides just a few. I averaged out the rankings, and we have our list to unveil.
Before we get there, here is what everything looked like to this point:
Without further ado, here are the Top 5 WWE Matches of the Year!
5. Gunther vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Sheamus, Intercontinental Championship (WrestleMania 39 Night 2, April 2023)
WWE realized they struck gold with the combination and rewarded the three, who had been fighting each other in multiple different combinations over the previous six months, with a match at WrestleMania 39. Fans who had seen their previous matches had a certain expectation of what this match would look like going in, and they certainly were not disappointed. The three brawled and battered each other as Gunther emerged victorious to retain his Intercontinental Championship. — Robert O’Neill
4. Damian Priest vs. Bad Bunny, San Juan Street Fight (Backlash, May 2023)
When Bad Bunny, a lifelong WWE fan, had a match at WrestleMania 37 where he and Priest picked up a victory over The Miz and John Morrison, everyone was left wondering when he would return to the ring. The perfect opportunity arose in May when Backlash was in Puerto Rico, where Bad Bunny is from. He challenged Priest to a San Juan Street Fight and yet again blew everyone’s expectations out of the water with an incredible 25-minute brawl with Priest in front of a red hot crowd. — Robert O’Neill
3. The Usos vs. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, Undisputed Tag Team Championships (WrestleMania 39 Night 1, April 2023)
After finally standing up for himself and turning his back on The Bloodline, Sami Zayn still had to convince Kevin Owens he could trust him. The ultimate test came when the two longtime friends teamed up to take on The Usos at WrestleMania, in just the second tag team match to ever main event the show. Both teams went above and beyond to deliver a classic, and night one ended on a jovial note as Owens and Zayn celebrated their championship win over the longest-reigning tag champions in WWE history.
2. Charlotte Flair vs. Rhea Ripley, Smackdown Women’s Championship (WrestleMania 39 Night 1 April 2023)
Charlotte Flair vs. Rhea Ripley is the top-ranked women’s match of 2023. It’s also my personal No. 1 rated match of the year, as I haven’t enjoyed a match quite like this all year. It’s a slow-burn match that evolves and gets better as it paces on. Rhea and Charlotte do a great job working with each other, and it’s easy to see why both are the stars that they are. Charlotte pieced together her best big-match performance in many years. It’s also very easy to understand why everyone is so gaga over Rhea. This was phenomenal. — Chris Novak
1. Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes, WWE Undisputed Universal Championship (WrestleMania 39 Night 2, April 2023)
While the result of the match will continue to be debated until the end of time, Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns delivered one of the best WrestleMania main events in history to top off our list. From the moment the entrances began, the big fight feel was evident. Reigns and Rhodes told an incredible story across nearly 35 minutes of action. This will presumably be the main event of next year’s WrestleMania 40 as well, and it will be fascinating to see how the match compares and contrasts to 2023’s. — Robert O’Neill
