B/R Wrestling Awards 2023: Ranking AEW's 10 Best Men's and Women's Wrestlers

2023 was a rocky year for All Elite Wrestling. It was a time of great highs and crushing lows.

Despite it all though, there is no doubt that many stars rose to new grand heights, helping define a growing new generation of stars in the wrestling industry.

For the first year since its founding, AEW truly felt like it had built its own top acts, raising homegrown stars to foundational places above even some of the best in the industry.

From MJF and Hikaru Shida to Orange Cassidy and Willow Nightingale, fresh names stepped up to the likes of Bryan Danielson and Toni Storm.

The following are the top 10 men and women that defined this shift in AEW based on their impact on the business, championship legacies and overall performance.

Men's Nos. 10-6

10. Hangman Adam Page

While The Cowboy's greatest moment of his career came at Full Gear 2021, 2022 was a down year for Page. He lost his AEW World Championship, struggled for direction and suffered a concerning concussion.

He rebounded in 2023 with some of the best matches of his career, including a pair of brutal Texas Death matches. In certain ways, he set himself apart from The Elite but also signed a major contract alongside Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks to recommit to AEW.

9. Swerve Strickland

It is only appropriate to place Swerve and Hangman next to each other, as their feud was arguably the best of the year for AEW. The two helped raise each other's stake, but it was most certainly The Mogul that came out on top.

2024 is likely to be The Mogul's year, but he has most certainly raised his stake to the main-event level in 2023, especially in the back half of the year. Even without a title, he is talked about amongst the top stars in AEW.

8. Ricky Starks

This was the year that The Absolute broke out, winning the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament and the AEW Tag Team Championship alongside Big Bill. He has become a priority star for the company.

Starks still has a higher ceiling to reach, lacking for a truly established rival. His feud with CM Punk pivoted to an abbreviated rivalry with Bryan Danielson that led to great matches but not a clear story throughout. He has more to give yet.

7. Claudio Castagnoli

The Swiss Superman is unlike anyone else. He may be the strongest man in AEW. He was a stalwart for both AEW and ROH while also making his New Japan debut in 2023.

Castagnoli was the ROH champion for the majority of the year before losing to Eddie Kingston at AEW Grand Slam, putting a bow on a 15-year rivalry. Castagnoli also continued to play a big role in the Blackpool Combat Club.

6. Eddie Kingston

The Mad King has turned heads for years without much recognition. It all paid off in 2023, when he represented AEW in the G1 Climax and won both the NJPW Strong Championship and ROH World Championship.

He has been the centerpiece of the Continental Classic, putting everything on the line to redefine his legacy. In many ways, he has defined what makes AEW special.

Women's Nos. 10-6

10. Jade Cargill

2023 was the end of Cargill's run in AEW, signing with WWE after an impressive 60-win streak to start her career and a TBS Championship reign that lasted 508 days.

She remains a work-in-progress as an in-ring wrestler, but she did have the best match of her career on the way out against Kris Statlander. Hopefully, she will find equal success in WWE when she officially debuts in 2024.

9. Saraya

The Glampire is not a favorite of the AEW faithful, but she had a pretty impressive 2023, especially just one year after her return from retirement. She won the AEW Women's Championship and has been frequently featured on AEW TV.

While she was only champion for 44 days, she was one of the best in-ring workers in the division in the back-half of the year. Her matches with Toni Storm and Hikaru Shida were standouts.

8. Jamie Hayter

Going into May 2023, Jamie Hayter was the hottest star in the women's division and looked unstoppable. Everyone assumed she would head into Wembley Stadium as AEW women's champion, and she earned that right.

However, a shoulder injury forced AEW to move the title off Hayter, and she has not been seen since. When she returns, she will be right back to top woman status.

7. Skye Blue

While Blue did not win any gold in AEW, she was arguably the biggest breakout star of the year through pure performance. She signed with AEW and immediately went to work.

She has wrestled 54 matches, which is by far the highest number in the division according to the records on the AEW official roster page. Her recent evolution should only fuel a bigger breakout year in 2024.

6. Julia Hart

The youngest champion ever in AEW at 22 years old, Hart stormed onto the scene in the back half of 2023. Her athleticism and growing ring awareness made her a fan favorite until AEW needed to crown her.

It is likely that she will be higher on this list in 2024 as she continues to grow her stardom. She has one of the best moonsaults in the business and a championship that she is not likely to lose soon.

Men's No. 5: Christian Cage

For those rare fans that watched Total Nonstop Action back when Christian Cage was NWA world champion, it may not be a surprise that Captain Charisma has been a standout as a heel outside the WWE system.

However, many are only truly getting to see what Christian can do in 2023, the 29h year of his professional wrestling journey.

At the age of 50, he is arguably putting together the best work of his career on the mic and in the ring. He has been so successful that he convinced his friend Adam Copeland to leave WWE for the first time in his career.

While Christian and Copeland are not likely to have many years left in their careers, they are working with renewed vigor, especially Captain Charisma.

He has brought more prestige to the TNT Championship than anyone since Cody Rhodes in his 90-plus day reign and the previous 98-day reign of Luchasaurus under his tutelage.

In many ways, he has taken up the premier veteran heel role held in previous years by Chris Jericho, and there is not a hotter heel in AEW right now.

Women's No. 5: Kris Statlander

Kris Statlander worked harder in the second half of 2023 that just about anyone in AEW, refining the TBS Championship as a workhorse title.

Her TBS Championship reign of 174 days included memorable defenses against Jade Cargill, Julia Hart, Britt Baker, Willow Nightingale, Skye Blue, Emi Sakura and more.

Since her return at Double or Nothing in May, she has worked to show that she is fully back, winning 18 out of 19 of her singles matches. The only blemishes on her record was a messy loss right at the end of the year to Blue.

While Julia Hart's late surge in popularity took away from some of Statlander's mystique, there is no doubt of her value to the company.

Even without her gold, she is a workhorse that could capture any women's championship in the coming years and defend it honorably.

Men's No. 4: Jon Moxley

Jon Moxley is AEW. No matter what happens in the company, The Death Rider soldiers on, taking whatever role is needed of him.

The only three-time AEW world champion may not have held the title again in 2023, but he did capture the International Championship, ending the incredible reign of Orange Cassidy.

More importantly, he was involved in some of the most important rivalries of the year. The year started with a memorable battle with Hangman Adam Page that turned into Blackpool Combat Club vs. The Elite.

He fought in Anarchy in the Arena, Stadium Stampede and Blood & Guts, bringing his signature level of brutality and violence.

He ended his year with a dominant run in the Continental Classic that could end with him as the Modern Triple Crown champion in 2024.

Women's No. 4: Willow Nighingale

2023 was the first full year that Willow was signed with AEW, and she made the most of it. She worked an impressive 34 matches for AEW and won the women's Owen Hart Foundation Memorial Tournament.

She also captured the NJPW Strong Women's Championship. While she only held it 45 days, she will forever stand as the inaugural champion.

As AEW established its new program, Collision, Willow was the central woman of the brand. She helped elevate Mercedes Martinez and Diamante back into regular TV positions.

While some hoped for her to reach an even greater heights, Willow's importance to AEW is unquestionable.

She has established herself as the newest staple piece of the women's division. All that is left to do is to give her an AEW women's title.

Men's No. 3: Bryan Danielson

Many have laid claim to the title of "best in the world", but few make a better case than Bryan Danielson. No one delivered a better in-ring body of work than The American Dragon in 2023, except perhaps Will Ospreay, who is 12 years Danielson's junior.

Danielson and MJF opened the AEW pay-per-view year with perhaps the greatest Iron Man match of all time. He followed up with a technical masterpiece with Zack Sabre Jr. and a brutal pair of battles with Ricky Starks.

This is not to mention a sensational run in the Continental Classic including battles with Kazuchika Okada, Christian Cage, Bandido and more.

While The American Dragon has unselfishly not pushed to win gold in AEW, he may be the most important veteran in the company. No one can replace him.

He is still in the prime of his career. It is a shame that he has made it known that 2024 will be the last year of his full-time career.

Women's No. 3: Athena

For the most part, the relationship of AEW and ROH has been an uneven affair. However, Athena's work has made it all worth it.

It could be argued that The Fallen Goddess should not be on this list at all. She hardly ever appeared in 2023 on AEW shows and instead focused entirely on ROH TV.

However, it could also be argued that Athena should be at No. 1, because there is no woman in AEW that had even close to her performance in 2023, including main-eventing two ROH PPVs (the first woman to ever do so).

Putting her at No. 3 is a a happy medium, honoring her work while also admitting that she should be used more by AEW.

The longest-reigning ROH women's champion of all time looks unstoppable and has the most untouchable aura of any woman currently signed by AEW.

Men's No. 2: Orange Cassidy

No one has delivered as a work horse in AEW quite at the level of Orange Cassidy. He is the first wrestler in AEW history to win over 50 matches in a single year.

His first International Championship reign was arguably the greatest single title reign in AEW's history. Over 326 days, he successfully defended the gold 31 times.

He took a championship that lacked purpose and built its legacy with his own. When Jon Moxley finally dethroned him, it was a monumental moment that earned its main-event status at All Out.

An unfortunate concussion caused AEW to pivot, and they recommitted to Freshly Squeezed as the defining International champion. It will take someone special to dethrone him again.

Cassidy has genuinely become a main-event act for AEW, building himself through pure character dedication and hard work. He is one of AEW's greatest success stories and will remain so for years to come.

Women's No. 2: Hikaru Shida

Hikaru Shida made history in AEW, winning the AEW Women's Championship twice to make her the first-ever three-time AEW women's champion.

While neither was a long run, The Shining Samurai still stands as by-far the longest-reigning women's champion in AEW history across those reigns with 436 total days.

This arguably solidifies her as the top woman in AEW over its first four years.

She walked into All In with the top women's championship. She delivered some of the most memorable women's matches of the year with Toni Storm, Emi Sakura and Saraya.

In 2023, one woman overshadowed her, but only because the history of these two women is so interlinked.

Men's No. 1: MJF

No one has had a year like MJF. The man once seen as a career heel became the longest-reigning AEW world champion in history while becoming AEW's top babyface.

While no one can deny his prowess on the mic, The Devil has arguably been even more impressive in the ring as a fighting champion.

In 2023, he put on an all-time-great Iron Man match with Bryan Danielson, an unforgettable Fatal 4-Way bout with the other three Pillars of AEW and a unique classic with Adam Cole in a packed Wembley Stadium.

His story with The Boom was the defining angle of 2023, as they went from the best of rivals to the best of friends. That angle is not done yet, delayed by Cole's ankle injury.

Anyone in the spotlight too long will receive some backlash from fans, and that could affect his 2024. However, for now, MJF is the top man in AEW by all measures.

Women's No. 1: "Timeless" Toni Storm

Toni Storm was the most important women's signing of 2022, and she is now by far the biggest name associated with the company in the division.

She evolved significantly over 2023. She started the year as a babyface, turned heel to join The Outcasts, then finally turned against The Outcasts to become "Timeless".

Over that span, she won her second and third AEW Women's Championship. She will hold that championship into 2024.

She is featured on more AEW promotional material than any other woman for a reason. She has a distinctive character that is only growing more unique among wrestling personas.

Taking on a throwback persona reminiscent of 50s Hollywood starlets, she's channeled the characters those starlets would embody in movies such as All About Eve and The Seven Year Itch.

While her best match in AEW so far was in 2022 with Jamie Hayter, she added some memorable performances with Hikaru Shida, Saraya, Skye Blue and more.

She is the most distinctive performer in the division and its top representative. As long as she can figure out how to best sell her character in matches, she will likely remain at the top in 2024.