It's the end of 2023 and it is time for the Best Matches Watched of 2023. I've been trying to stick to different themes/projects each month so I thought it right to organize my list accordingly. If you want to go back and read the reviews then this should help you out. Plus there's a lot of very good and great matches you'll be able to explore that are not included here. A plus sign (+) means its an all time classic match and a contender for Best Match Watched for '23. HM stands for Honorable Mention and is usually a near classic match (like ****1/4) and everything else is what I thought was a classic (****1/2 or more). So Honorable Mention to Classic to All Time Classic if its on a continuum.

January
Crush Gals vs. Jumping Bomb Angels (AJW 09/14/1987)
Miss A & Harley Saito vs. Shinobu Kandori & Rumi Kazama (JWP 10/10/90) HM
Mariko Yoshida vs. Manami Toyota (AJW 08/30/92)
Chigusa Nagayo vs. Mayumi Ozaki (JWP 05/22/94)
Aja Kong vs. Dynamite Kansai (JWP 05/22/94)
+Ayako Hamada & AKINO vs. Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda (ARSION 12/11/1999) +
+Momoe Nakanishi & Nanae Takahashi & Kaoru Ito vs. Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita & Kumiko Maekawa (AJW 12/9/00 - Cage Match) +
Momoe Nakanishi & Nanae Takahashi & Kaoru Ito & Tomoko Watanabe vs. Manami Toyota & Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita & Kumiko Maekawa - (AJW 2/28/01 - Elimination Match)
Yumiko Hotta & Manami Toyota & Mima Shimoda vs. Kaoru Ito & Tomoko Watanabe & Momoe Nakanishi (AJW 04/01/01)
Momoe Nakanishi vs Kaoru Ito (AJW 07/08/01)

February
Masato Tanaka vs. Tetsuhiro Kuroda (FMW 02/27/99)
Hayabusa & Jinsei Shinzaki vs Masato Tanaka & Tetsuhiro Kuroda (FMW 03/19/99)

March
Eagle Sawai & Mayumi Ozaki vs. Shinobu Kandori & Harley Saito (JWP 04/26/91) HM
Keiji Mutoh vs. Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW 02/24/2002)
Genichiro Tenryu vs. Satoshi Kojima (AJPW 07/17/2002)
Toshiaki Kawada vs. Takao Omori (AJPW 07/18/04) HM
Kaz Hayashi vs Shuji Kondo  (AJPW 08/30/09)

April/May
Jumbo Tsuruta vs Kerry Von Erich (AJPW 05/22/84)
Brody & Hansen vs Baba & Dory Jr. (AJPW 08/26/84)
Tiger Mask II vs Pirata Morgan (AJPW 12/08/84)
+Brody & Hansen vs Terry & Dory Funk Jr. (AJPW 12/08/84) +
+Bruiser Brody & Stan Hansen vs Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu (AJPW 12/12/84) +

May
Great Sasuke vs. Jinsei Shinzaki (M-Pro 03/31/1994)
Great Sasuke & Ultimo Dragon vs Jinsei Shinzaki & Gedo (M-Pro 07/30/1994) HM
Great Sasuke vs TAKA Michinoku (12/15/94) HM
Curry Man, CIMA & Super Boy vs Minoru Fujita, Shiryu II & Jody Fleisch (M-Pro 12/21/99)
Jado & Gedo vs The Great Sasuke & Tiger Mask IV (M-Pro 08/19/01) HM

June
Briscoes vs. Kota Ibushi & Naomichi Marufuji (NOAH 07/01/07) HM
Briscoes vs. Marufuji & Suguira (NOAH 03/02/08)
Briscoe Brothers vs Katsu Nakajima & Kota Ibushi (NOAH 09/06/08) Re-post but a classic
Go Shiozaki vs Joe Doering (AJPW 01/03/15) HM

July
Las Cachorras Orientales vs. Watanabe & Maekawa (AJW 06/18/97)
+Mayumi Ozaki & Devil Masami vs. Dynamite Kansai & Chigusa Nagayo (GAEA 04/15/95)+
Akira Hokuto & Toshie Uematsu vs KAORU & Kiyoko Ichiki (GAEA 01/19/97) HM
Meiko Satomura vs Sonoko Kato (GAEA 08/23/98)

August
LAX (Homicide/Hernandez) vs AJ Styles & Christopher Daniels (TNA Bound for Glory 2006)
James Storm vs Chris Harris (TNA Sacrifice 2007) Re-watch but a classic
Samoa Joe vs Homicide (ROH Death Before Dishonor 2, Night 1 07/23/04) 

September
Bryan Danielson vs Paul London  (ROH - Night of the Butcher 12/07/02)
Bryan Danielson vs Samoa Joe vs AJ Styles (TPI 2004 Finals 09/18/04 IWA-MS)
Bryan Danielson vs Chris Hero (TPI 2005 09/24/2005 IWA-MS) HM

October
Kuniaki Kobayashi vs Tiger Mask (AJPW 06/21/85)
Riki Choshu vs Genichiro Tenryu (AJPW 06/21/85)
Kuniaki Kobayashi vs Tiger Mask (AJPW 08/31 aired 09/07/85)
Stan Hansen/Ted DiBiase vs Jumbo Tsuruta/Genichiro Tenryu (AJPW 08/31 aired       
  09/07/85)HM 

November
Ric Flair v. Rick Martel (AJPW 10/21/85)
Riki Choshu/Yoshiaki Yatsu vs Jumbo Tsuruta/Genichiro Tenryu (AJPW 11/30/85)
Shoehi Baba/Dory Funk Jr v. Jumbo Tsuruta/Tenyru (AJPW 12/12/85)
Stan Hansen/Ted DiBiase vs Riki Choshu/Yoshiaki Yatsu (12/12/85 aired 12/14) only 1/2    
  aired

December
Meiko Satomura & Sonoko Kato vs. Aja Kong & Mayumi Ozaki (GAEA 04/04/99)
LCO vs Hokuto and Ozaki (GAEA 09/15/99) HM
Sonoko Kato vs. Meiko Satomura (GAEA 10/11/99)
+Aja Kong vs KAORU (GAEA 02/13/00)+

-----

I'll sort by decade as well. Why not?

1980's
Jumbo Tsuruta vs Kerry Von Erich (AJPW 05/22/84)
Brody & Hansen vs Baba & Dory Jr. (AJPW 08/26/84)
Tiger Mask II vs Pirata Morgan (AJPW 12/08/84)
+Brody & Hansen vs Terry & Dory Funk Jr. (AJPW 12/08/84) +
+Bruiser Brody & Stan Hansen vs Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu (AJPW 12/12/84) +
Kuniaki Kobayashi vs Tiger Mask (AJPW 06/21/85)
Riki Choshu vs Genichiro Tenryu (AJPW 06/21/85)
Kuniaki Kobayashi vs Tiger Mask (AJPW 08/31 aired 09/07/85)
Stan Hansen/Ted DiBiase vs Jumbo Tsuruta/Genichiro Tenryu (AJPW 08/31 aired       
  09/07/85)HM 
Ric Flair v. Rick Martel (AJPW 10/21/85)
Riki Choshu/Yoshiaki Yatsu vs Jumbo Tsuruta/Genichiro Tenryu (AJPW 11/30/85)
Shoehi Baba/Dory Funk Jr v. Jumbo Tsuruta/Tenyru (AJPW 12/12/85)
Stan Hansen/Ted DiBiase vs Riki Choshu/Yoshiaki Yatsu (12/12/85 aired 12/14) only 1/2    
  aired
Crush Gals vs. Jumping Bomb Angels (AJW 09/14/1987)

1990's
Miss A & Harley Saito vs. Shinobu Kandori & Rumi Kazama (JWP 10/10/90) HM
Eagle Sawai & Mayumi Ozaki vs. Shinobu Kandori & Harley Saito (JWP 04/26/91) HM
Mariko Yoshida vs. Manami Toyota (AJW 08/30/92)
Great Sasuke vs. Jinsei Shinzaki (M-Pro 03/31/1994)
Chigusa Nagayo vs. Mayumi Ozaki (JWP 05/22/94)
Aja Kong vs. Dynamite Kansai (JWP 05/22/94)
Great Sasuke & Ultimo Dragon vs Jinsei Shinzaki & Gedo (M-Pro 07/30/1994) HM
Great Sasuke vs TAKA Michinoku (12/15/94) HM
+Mayumi Ozaki & Devil Masami vs. Dynamite Kansai & Chigusa Nagayo (GAEA 04/15/95)+
Akira Hokuto & Toshie Uematsu vs KAORU & Kiyoko Ichiki (GAEA 01/19/97) HM
Las Cachorras Orientales vs. Watanabe & Maekawa (AJW 06/18/97)
Meiko Satomura vs Sonoko Kato (GAEA 08/23/98)
Masato Tanaka vs. Tetsuhiro Kuroda (FMW 02/27/99)
Hayabusa & Jinsei Shinzaki vs Masato Tanaka & Tetsuhiro Kuroda (FMW 03/19/99)
Meiko Satomura & Sonoko Kato vs. Aja Kong & Mayumi Ozaki (GAEA 04/04/99)
LCO vs Hokuto and Ozaki (GAEA 09/15/99) HM
Sonoko Kato vs. Meiko Satomura (GAEA 10/11/99)
+Ayako Hamada & AKINO vs. Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda (ARSION 12/11/1999) +
Curry Man, CIMA & Super Boy vs Minoru Fujita, Shiryu II & Jody Fleisch (M-Pro 12/21/99)

2000's
+Aja Kong vs KAORU (GAEA 02/13/00)+
+Momoe Nakanishi & Nanae Takahashi & Kaoru Ito vs. Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita &    
  Kumiko Maekawa (AJW 12/9/00 - Cage Match) +
Momoe Nakanishi & Nanae Takahashi & Kaoru Ito & Tomoko Watanabe vs. Manami Toyota & Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita & Kumiko Maekawa - (AJW 2/28/01 - Elim. Match)
Yumiko Hotta, Manami Toyota & Mima Shimoda vs. Kaoru Ito, Tomoko Watanabe & 
  Momoe Nakanishi (AJW 04/01/01)
Momoe Nakanishi vs Kaoru Ito (AJW 07/08/01)
Jado & Gedo vs The Great Sasuke & Tiger Mask IV (M-Pro 08/19/01) HM
Keiji Mutoh vs. Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW 02/24/2002)
Genichiro Tenryu vs. Satoshi Kojima (AJPW 07/17/2002)
Bryan Danielson vs Paul London  (ROH - Night of the Butcher 12/07/02)
Bryan Danielson vs Samoa Joe vs AJ Styles (TPI 2004 Finals 09/18/04 IWA-MS)
Toshiaki Kawada vs. Takao Omori (AJPW 07/18/04) HM
Samoa Joe vs Homicide (ROH Death Before Dishonor 2, Night 1 07/23/04)
Bryan Danielson vs Chris Hero (TPI 2005 09/24/2005 IWA-MS) HM
LAX (Homicide/Hernandez) vs AJ Styles & Christopher Daniels (TNA Bound for Glory 2006)
James Storm vs Chris Harris (TNA Sacrifice 2007) Re-watch but a classic
Kaz Hayashi vs Shuji Kondo  (AJPW 08/30/09)

Feud of the Year: There's been some really good feuds this year. I think the ones that stick with me are Brody & Hansen vs All Japan in '84. Another one is SSU is GAEA in '99...I didn't get into it but its basically Lioness Asuka and stars of the 90's + Ozaki's students vs Chigusa and GAEA. Early on LCO vs AJW specifically Kaoru Ito. I think the feud of the year is Riki & co. vs All Japan in 1985. You have the amazing early part of '85 which is very much Riki and his pals (Yatsu, Hamaguchi, Masa Saito, Killer Khan, Teranishi, Kobayashi) and a variety of tags. These might not have made the Best Matches Watched list BUT these are night in-night out great matches. And absolutely worth mentioning here as part of the BMW superlatives.

Wrestler of the Year: Piggybacking off the feud of the year, Riki Choshu is a man worthy of best wrestler. I'd also say Stan Hansen for his work in '84 & '85 AJPW... same goes for Jumbo Tsuruta. I think Dory Funk Jr. & Genichiro Tenryu have a case to be made as well. For Joshi, I would definitely highlight Kaoru Ito who was an absolute beast. Mayumi Ozaki was a consummate talent throughout the year in early JWP and GAEA. Similarly Aja Kong was ubiquitous presence in my joshi watching (1997 AJW, Arsion and GAEA). Chigusa Nagayo and perhaps Devil Masami should be in consideration too. In January, Kaoru Ito was the clear front runner and deserves a big time nod. All that said, I think Jumbo and Aja Kong are the best wrestlers of 2023. The quality and consistency of their work as top talent earn them this distinction. With Jumbo, I think about his excellent matches with Greg Gagne and Jim Brunzell. With Aja Kong, I think about her matches with Meiko Satomura and KAORU. In both cases, they elevated their opponents and the matches through their work. This was the case in every match I saw.

Surprise of the Year: I pushed myself this year by trying to post once a week. I also tried to have monthly themes to help keep things fresh as well as keep me on track watching stuff I've been meaning to watch and not get distracted. So in a way I could say there were no big surprises. That's not truly the case because I have been pleasantly surprised with how much I have enjoyed GAEA. Originally I had only 15 matches listed to watch. That's a two week project. So I've been surprised that I'm liking it so much despite dismissing it for a long time. Thank goodness it's available on YouTube! A negative surprise would be that I've not really loved the Satomura vs Kong matches as everyone else has. Those are sort of the sure thing of GAEA but both have done better work there. Perhaps if I had limited my GAEA watching to 15 matches then, those may have been classics to me. Aja's work is phenomenal in them but I feel that Satomura lacks variety in these matches... she's only debuted in 1995 so it's completely understandable. I think the matches were overrated in the past. In the context of GAEA they absolutely accomplish what they set out to do by elevating Satomura.

Match of the Year/Best Match Watched: The most difficult choice to make. I've added plus signs (+) to the all time classic matches above. Let me separate those below to help:

+Brody & Hansen vs Terry & Dory Funk Jr. (AJPW 12/08/84) +
+Bruiser Brody & Stan Hansen vs Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu (AJPW 12/12/84) +
+Mayumi Ozaki & Devil Masami vs. Dynamite Kansai & Chigusa Nagayo (GAEA 04/15/95)+
+Ayako Hamada & AKINO vs. Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda (ARSION 12/11/1999) +
+Aja Kong vs KAORU (GAEA 02/13/00)+
+Momoe Nakanishi & Nanae Takahashi & Kaoru Ito vs. Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita &     
    Kumiko Maekawa (AJW 12/09/00 - Cage Match) +

That's helluva list! Kong vs KAORU is the only singles match so we can say it is the best singles match watched for 2023. But is it the best of them all? Shit...this is really hard to pick since they all have great wrestling and amazing storytelling. I'm going to take LCO vs Hamada & AKINO as well as Kong vs KAORU off the table for the fact that these bouts lack the historical depth that the others have. That's to say, the remaining matches have a history both within the year as well as amongst the wrestlers. So we have:

+Brody & Hansen vs Terry & Dory Funk Jr. (AJPW 12/08/84) +
+Bruiser Brody & Stan Hansen vs Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu (AJPW 12/12/84) +
+Mayumi Ozaki & Devil Masami vs. Dynamite Kansai & Chigusa Nagayo (GAEA 04/15/95)+
+Momoe Nakanishi & Nanae Takahashi & Kaoru Ito vs. Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita &     
    Kumiko Maekawa (AJW 12/09/00 - Cage Match) +

That's better. Now I'll pick top men's and top women's match based on which one "stuck with me more" throughout the year...those are:

+Brody & Hansen vs Terry & Dory Funk Jr. (AJPW 12/08/84) +
+Momoe Nakanishi & Nanae Takahashi & Kaoru Ito vs. Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita &     
    Kumiko Maekawa (AJW 12/09/00 - Cage Match) +

Applying that same criteria, my Best Match Watched of 2023 is:

+Momoe Nakanishi & Nanae Takahashi & Kaoru Ito vs. Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita &     
    Kumiko Maekawa (AJW 12/09/00 - Cage Match) +

This was one of the earlier matches watched in 2023 but it has stuck with me all year. It's been that match that others are compared against this past year. In some ways I see the bias since it was put upon a pedestal early and perhaps the others were never allowed to stand on their own. On the other hand, it's been 300+ days since I've seen it and I've watched a good bit of wrestling in the meantime. I won't lie, there's a couple matches on the month by month list that I don't remember. Any of the All Time Classic matches are ones that you just don't forget. So all 6 get my highest recommendation and you really ought to give them a watch.

Hopefully this helps you out if you're looking for something different to watch. Or maybe there's something here you've passed over in your wrestling journey because of a luke warm review in the past. Either way it has been a fantastic year for watching old wrestling and I recommend checking some of these out. 

Thanks for reading!