At the beginning of the year, I came up with the phenomenal idea, to keep note of all major events in the World of Wrestling. You’ll likely see that my approach to this project changed quite a bit over the course of the year. I likely won’t do this project again, just because it was the most time consuming thing I ever wrote. But anyways, here are the major things that happened in 2023!
January 1st
- Jake Lee appears in NOAH
- Shinsuke Nakamura vs Great Muta in NOAH
January 3rd
- Samuray del Sol is in DDT
January 4th
- ZSJ joins TMDK
- WWE contracted Karl Anderson wrestles at Wrestle Kingdom
- Omega vs Ospreay
- Mercedes Mone debuts at Wrestle Kingdom
- New Dynamite Setup
- Darby Allin becomes TNT champion
January 5th
- Taichi, Desperado and Minoru Suzuki form a new stable
- Jay White vs Hikuleo Loser Leaves Japan is announced
- Omega and Okada team up at New Years Dash
- WSJ: Vince Mcmahon reportedly wants to come back
January 6th
- Vince Mcmahon returns as Executive Chairman and appoints George Barrios and Michelle Wilson as Board Members
- Additionally, Ignace Lahoud and Man Jit Singh have resigned from the Board
- Meeting led by Steph that everything is fine
- WON: CM Punk pushing to do business
January 7th
- Daniel Garcia kicks a muppet at PWG
January 8th
- Chris Jericho wrestles for PWG
January 10th
- Stephanie Mcmahon resigns and Nick Khan is new CEO
- Muehlhausen and Cassidy Haynes: WWE sold to Saudi Arabia
- Fightful: Jay White rumored to go to America, WWE are sure they get him
- Randy likes an anti-vax tweet
January 11th
- Helwani, Thurston, Rich Greenfield: WWE not close to selling to Saudi
- Dragongate: High-End disbands, BxB Hulk betrays Z-Bratz and joins Golden Class
January 12th
- Dragongate: Shun Skywalker wins the Open the Dream Gate title
- Adam Cole returns
- MJF with JBL-like promo on Takeshita
- Elite wins Trios titles
- Mercedes doesn’t debut in AEW
January 13th
- Fightful: HHH leads talent meeting, Vince is just there to sell
- Santino Marella and Frankie Kazarian are in Impact
- Mickie James wins Career vs Title match
January 14th
- Jinny decides to retire
- wXwNOW transitions to Youtube
January 15th
- Ringside News and Dave: Vince Mcmahon giving suggestions for creative (Hours before Louis Dangoor said the powers that be in WWE won’t let him back in creative)
January 16th
- Cody enters in the Rumble
January 17th
- Vince McMahon no longer needs stockholders’ approval for his actions.
- Detroit’s Police & Fire Retirement System sue Vince McMahon
- No more indie content on the Network
January 18th
- Jay Briscoe passes away
- Warner won’t let AEW Dynamite be a tribute show, separate tribute show on Youtube is announced
- Nick Khan referenced the Rita Chatterton lawsuit as a hurdle
January 19th
- WSJ: Vince McMahon reached a multimillion-dollar settlement with Rita Chatterton
January 20th
- Fightful: Ronda not part of Rumble plans
January 21st
- Kaito Kiyomiya kicks Okada’s head off, brawl ensues
- Keiji Mutoh vs Tetsuya Naito is official
- Fightful: Talks were there for AJ Styles at Wrestle Kingdom
January 22nd
- Mutoh card is announced
- Kento Miyahara & Takuya Nomura vs. Yuma Aoyagi & Naoya Nomura
- Darby Allin, Sting and Great Muta team up, Muta retires (as Muta)
January 23rd
- All Star Junior Festival is announced
- WWE2k23 info drops – cena showcase
- Fightful: Huge offer for Austin vs Reigns
- Fightful: AOP rumored for WWE
- RawXXX – Taker and Wyatt square off, Brock is back
January 24th
- Mark Briscoe isn’t allowed to wrestle for AEW
- Mark Briscoe is allowed to wrestle for AEW (vs Jay Lethal)
- #WWEWomenDeserveBetter is trending after appalling match times for womens matches and after a Becky/Bayley Steel Cage match got scrapped
January 25th
- Mark Briscoe vs Jay Lethal, both honor Jay Briscoe
January 26th
- AEW and Dazn create deal for 40 countries
- Cheering restrictions in japan lifted
January 27th
- BJW books 2 venues on the same day
- MLW sends cease and desist to WWE because they wanted talent for a Bloodline segment
- Hulk Hogan can’t feel his legs after back surgery
- WWE doesn’t call Sheamus and Drew Banger Bros anymore cause porn
January 28th
- Sami Zayn is out of the Bloodline
- Cody Rhodes and Rhea Ripley win the Rumble
- Gunther lasts over 70 minutes in the Rumble
January 29th
- Higuchi loses his KO-D Openweight Championship to Yuji Hino
- Robert Dreissker’s skull is broken
January 30th
- Eddie Kingston and Masa Kitamiya battle on Twitter
January 31st
- Ibushi is a free agent and announced for GCW
February 1st
- Joe kills Darby
- AEW Houseshows are announced, Moxley double booked for AEW and OTT.
February 2nd
- Larry Poffo dies
- Another lawsuit filed against WWE
- Investors Call: Khan said Vince will step down if the best suitor isn’t interested in keeping him.
February 3rd
- ROH will finally start taping during the last weekend of February
- Keiji Muto reached out to the Rock to be his final opponent
February 4th
- NXT is going to allow talent to work select indies going forward
- Commander Azeez comes back to NXT
- AJPW vs GLEAT on the 18th of March in Korakuen
- Yuma Aoyagi vs Kento Miyahara
- NXT is not going to allow talent to work select indies going forward
- Dijak breaks his finger
February 5th
- Roman Reigns vs Dave Meltzer Deepfake
February 6th
- MJF protects Nash Carter
- Jericho Cruise
February 7th
- Drew Parker announces his last Deathmatch on american soil
- Jerry Lawler suffered a stroke
February 8th
- The Gunns win the Tag Team Titles
February 9th
- Eddie Kingston meltdown on Twitter
February 10th
- Himeka announces her retirement
February 11th
- Oney Lorcan retires
- Maki Itoh & Miyu Yamashita win the Max Heart Tournament
- Kazuchika Okada beats Shingo Takagi
- Jay White loses ‘Loser leaves Japan’ match
- wXw is vacated and will be on the line at 16 carat gold
- Tyrus vs Bully Ray is teased as the main story on NWA
February 12th
- Okada attacks Kaito on a NOAH PPV
- TK: WWE and AEW hate each other
February 14th
- Jerry Jarrett passes away
February 15th
- ROH TV returns on March 2nd
- Fightful: Rosa apologized in a meeting
February 16th
- Drew Parker announces retirement from deathmatches
- Chris Jericho Files Trademark On ‘Jeri-Show’
- Eddie Kingston and Jay White agree to Loser Leaves NJPW
February 17th
- DarkPuroresuFlow: Ibushi open to work with AEW
- Bloomberg: Vince wants $9 Billion to sell WWE
- Fightful: WWE believe they can land Kenny Omega
- Tony Khan call Ariel Helwani a fraud
- Sami Zayn uses Worlds Apart
February 18th
- Dave: Vince has creative influence
- Bronson Reed wants to have rubber match vs Okada
- KENTA does the GTS while CM Punk is in the crowd at Battle in the Valley
- Mercedes Moné is the new NJPW Women’s champion
- Okada and Tana and Okada and Moné tease a team
- Eddie kicks Jay White out of NJPW
- David Finlay is the new leader of Bullet Club
- Logan Paul attacks Seth in the Elimination Chamber
- Sami Zayn comes up short against Roman Reigns
February 19th
- Yuji Nagata beats Kento Miyahara and becomes the 5th wrestler to hold all three top titles of the major japanese promotions
February 20th
- Mike Bailey vs KENTA for Impact is cancelled and replaced with Bailey vs Haste and Kenta vs Alexander
- Jay Briscoe’s Daughters released from Hospital
February 21st
- Mike Bailey is hit by a fan
- Muto vs Chono
- Okada kills Kaito
February 22nd
- Gunther gets the rating 88 in WWE 2k23
- Satoshi Kojima leaves NOAH
- Gunther gets the rating 89 in WWE 2k23
- Tony Khan announces reality show
February 23rd
- Bad Bones helps a child
February 24th
- Lince Dorado announces that he will ditch the mask
- WON: Mercedes vs Mayu at the 23rd of April
February 25th
- Komander is announced for next Dynamite
- Shibata shows NJPW contract on a shopping stream, likely to renew
- ROH Tapings take place
February 27th
- Insane Spot at ICW involving Rhio
February 28th
- MJF calls del Rio a racist, bitch and much more
March 1st
- Sonya got arrested for having a firearm without a valid permit
- All Star Junior Festival
March 2nd
- Wrestlevotes: Lesnar/Omos planned by Vince
- Fightful: Brock was offered Wyatt as an opponent, declined
- Ring of Honor debuts – Kingston challenges Claudio
- D’courage wins the Rey de Parejas
March 3rd
- WON: AEW wanted Vikingo, but couldn’t get him
- MoistCr1TiKaL creates a wrestling promotion
- WON: Punk didn’t pressure TK to change the finish vs Hangman
March 4th
- Drew Parker has his last deathmatch
- Prominence win Triangle Derby
March 5th
- FTR returns (with “Live in Colour” Shirt)
- MJF vs Danielson
- MJF similarities to CM Punk in the press conference eating pickles
- MJF throws drink at kid
- Moxley submits to Hangman
- House of Black new AEW Trios Champions
- New Japan Cup starts
March 6th
- NJPW 51st Anniversary – Okada and Tanahashi team
- David Finlay is in Bullet Club (and leads it?)
- Vince McMahon spotted at Raw
March 7th
- Vince’s Mustache makes its debut
- Wardlow car gets broken into
March 8th
- Fightful: Brian Cage agreed to work through Supercard of Honor
March 9th
- Tokyo Sport: Sareee leaves WWE
March 11th
- Cuatrero was arrested for attempted femicide against Stephanie Vaquer
- Andrew Zarian: Another AEW show rumored
March 12th
- Shigehiro Irie wins the 16 Carat Gold tournament
March 13th
- Sareee officially announces leaving WWE
- Bray Wyatt missed WWE live event, Fightful: “Physical Issue”
March 15th
- MJF’s Re Bar Mitzvah
- Will Ospreay withdraws from the New Japan Cup due to a shoulder injury
- The Great Muta will join the Hall Of Fame
- Taya Valkyrie is All Elite
March 17th
- Tsukasa Fujimoto talks about the inner problems of Ice Ribbon – Yappy goes off
- Numerous Companies sever their ties with Davey Richards due to domestic abuse allegations
March 19th
- Jake Lee is new GHC Heavyweight Champion
March 20th
- Andy Kaufman joins the WWE Hall Of Fame
- Sexxxy Eddy does his thing
March 22nd
- Kenny Omega vs Vikingo
- Tony Khan comments on Goldberg
March 23rd
- CM Punk shares the Instagram story
March 24th
- Mickie James not able to defend her Women’s championship
- KAIRI says she’s a free agent again
- CM Punk is willing to apologize
- Komander triple books himself
- CM Punk shares the Shawn Michaels fanfiction
March 26th
- XPW has a needle dick
March 27th
- Stacy Keibler will be inducted into the Hall Of Fame
March 30th
- Kota Ibushi injured his shoulder but he’s back
- “There’s only one person that actually runs WWE… Vince McMahon.” – Nick Khan
March 31st
- Fightful: Will Ospreay vs Konosuke Takeshita was planned
- Drew McIntyre’s contract will end this year
- Dante Martin is injured
- Nigel McGuinness appears in ROH
April 1st
- Gisele Shaw is insulted by Rick Steiner
- Shane Helms makes a dumb comment about ADHD
- Enzo Amore is released by MLW
- WWE uses footage from Auschwitz in promo package
- KSI appears
April 2nd
- Cody loses against Roman
- Snoop Dogg beats The Miz after Shane McMahon screws up his Leg
- Aaron Henare vs Shingo Takagi
- WWE to be sold to Endeavor with UFC and WWE forming a new company
April 3rd
- Endeavor/WWE/UFC deal is officially announced with Vince in creative on a higher level instead of “in the weeds” – Ari Emanuel doesn’t want Vince to go
- The Grizzled Young Veterans requested their release
- Bushwhacker Butch passes away
- Raw after Mania gets review bombed – Vince was mainly in control of the Raw episode
- Brock Lesnar turns on Cody Rhodes
April 4th
- Bayley and Drew post cryptic tweets
- WWE under investigation by Ademi LLP lawfirm
April 5th
- All In in Wembley Stadium is announced
- Sherilyn Guerrero talks about her family’s issues and being sexually assaulted by her stepfather
- Vickie responds to the comments – threatening to sue her daughter
- Jay White is All Elite
- FTR extend their deals
- Jim Johnston offered to do entrance themes for AEW
- Nigel McGuinness is All Elite
April 6th
- AEW hires the former Vice President of Communications of WWE Adam Hopkins
April 8th
- Sabu hospitalized after serious Medical Emergency
- Aussie Open win IWGP tag titles after Fletcher suffers a brutal cut
- SANADA wins IWGP World title
April 10th
- Logan Paul extends WWE contract with a photoshopped picture
April 12th
- NJPW, NOAH, AJPW announce All Together Again
April 13th
- GCW comes to Germany
- Nakajima knocks out Jake Lee
- Punk return rumors continue
April 14th
- Mickie James relinquishes her title
- Shinsuke Nakamura returns
April 15th
- Brandon Cutler and Tay Melo comment on gossip on Twitter
- Zarian: “AEW:Collision” planned for Saturdays
April 17th
- Effy goes off on Gabe Sapolsky
April 18th
- WWE reaches deal to allow talent to stream on Twitch
April 19th
- Dax Harwood’s podcast ends
- Charly Caruso/Arnolt speaks about cancel culture
- Komander is All Elite
April 21st
- Rumor: Punk return on June 17th
April 23rd
- Masada sets himself on Fire
April 24th
- CM Punk visits Raw
April 25th
- WWE deny the release of the Grizzled Young Veterans
- Joey Janela pranks Hulk Hogan
- Snitsky appears at MLW
April 26th
- WWE sued over racist scripts for Bianca Belair, Apollo Crews and more, 9/11 angle planned for Mansoor, Shane Haste hunting Reggie
April 29th
- Trinity debuts in Impact Wrestling
- A fan enters the NOAH ring and berates Kaito
- Britt Baker T-Shirt controversy
- CM Punk visits Impact
May 1st
- Carmella announces pregnancy
May 2nd
- Tessa Blanchard announced for XPW
- All In Tickets go on sale – 35000 sold
May 3rd
- AEW Dark and AEW Dark: Elevation have ended
May 5th
- Death of Sara Lee confirmed as suicide
May 8th
- Yuka Sakazaki will graduate from TJPW
May 14th
- Brett Lauderdale and Alex Colon beef on Twitter
- El Hijo del Vikingo wrestles in pouring rain
May 15th
- Superstar Billy Graham in critical condition
- Bray Wyatt not listed on internal roster
May 16th
- Sareee produces her first show
May 17th
- AEW Collision is announced
- Punk and AEW argue over Ace Steel
- CM Punk publishes instagram story about Bryan Alvarez and a 10 year old email
May 18th
- Jamie Hayter is injured
- Billy Graham passes away
May 23rd
- Hana Kimura Memorial show
May 28th
- Necro Butcher fails to rip apart a cardboard cutout of Joe Biden
May 31st
- Baron Corbin shows up in NXT
- WWE touted success of AEW to avoid being labeled a monopoly in the MLW lawsuit
June 8th
- Sandra Grey retires
June 10th
- Rush quits AAA
June 11th
- Bandido Done with AAA
June 13th
- AEW terminates agreement with BJ Whitmer following his arrest on domestic violence charges
June 16th
- Aubrey Edwards wrestles a match
- CM Punk ESPN Interview, apparently doesn’t want the Kenta match at Forbidden Door
- Judge Edward Davila denies WWE’s motion to dismiss MLW’s amended antitrust complaint
June 17th
- AEW Collision debuts
June 21st
- AEW Dynamite and AEW All Access listed on Emmy nomination ballot
- CM Punk vs Kenta no longer planned for Forbidden Door
- The Elite isn’t at Dynamite, so Punk appears
June 23rd
- Okada wants a match against Punk
- TK wanted AI to write an Episode of Dynamite, but in crammed too much into it
June 24th
- Crowd celebrates Anthony Bowens with “He’s gay” chants
June 25th
- Stardom 6 vs 6 cage elimination match
- Bryan Danielson suffers a fractured forearm at Forbidden Door
June 30th
- John Cena teases Wrestlemania in the UK
July 1st
- Kota Ibushi announced for first match in Japan since G1 Final
July 3rd
- Utami Hayashishita announced for 3 GCW shows
July 5th
- Eddie Kingston wins the NJPW Strong Openweight Championship in Korakuen before taking part in the G1
July 10th
- Matt Hardy beefs with Jim Cornette
July 11th
- Jeff Hardy accounced for GCW show
July 14th
- AEW bans certain things like seizure sells
- NJPW G1 press conference – ELP promo without being there
July 15th
- Ospreay vs Marufuji announced
- QT Marshall beats Pentagon Jr.
- Miyahara vs Nakajima
- FTR vs. Bullet Club Gold
July 18th
- Teddy Hart is arrested
July 23rd
- Megan Bayne debuts in Stardom
July 26th
- “Book the womens division better” sign is shown on AEW Dynamite
July 29th
- Lufisto/AEW drama
August 2nd
- The Elite re-sign with AEW
August 5th
- Jimmy betrays Jey
August 11th
- Triple H will not be on the Board of Directors of TKO
August 12th
- QT beats Penta at Triplemania
August 17th
- Marty Scurll announced for AAA
August 18th
- Cash Wheeler has a gun
August 23rd
- Terry Funk passes away
August 25th
- Bray Wyatt passes away
- Arisa Nakajima vs Sareee
August 27th
- AEW All In breaks the all time paid attendance record
- CM Punk attacks Jack Perry
- TK announces AEW WrestleDream, an Event dedicated to Antonio Inoki
August 31st
- EC3 beats Tyrus for the NWA Title
- Kevin Kelly leaves NJPW
September 2nd
- CM Punk is fired
September 3rd
- Bryan Danielson enters to Final Countdown
September 4th
- 1PW owes a lot of wrestlers money
September 6th
- Punk competed in a novice BJJ tournament, which had 3 competitors, and placed third
September 7th
- Kaito Kiyomiya announced for Wrestling Revolver
September 8th
- Gable Steveson removed from the WWE NXT roster
September 12th
- Vince McMahon is back to making creative changes and giving input again following spinal surgery
September 15th
- The Rock appears on Smackdown
- Minoru Suzuki vs Sanshiro Takagi in a Shinkansen
September 16th
- Volador Jr. faces Angel de Oro with a heavy arm injury
September 20th
- Eddie Kingston overcomes Claudio Castagnoli
September 21st
- Sukeban has its first show
- Smackdown leaves Fox and goes to the USA Network
- Mustafa Ali, Rick Boogs, Dolph Ziggler, Shelton Benjamin, Riddick Moss, Emma, Aliyah, Elias, Top Dolla, Dana Brooke, Mace, Mansoor, Quincy Elliott, Shanky, Dabba Kato, Ikeman Jiro, Matt Riddle are released
September 22nd
- GCW is in Germany
September 26th
- WWE signs Jade Cargill
September 30th
- Ilja Dragunov wins the NXT Title
October 1st
- Adam Copeland AEW Debut
- Bryan Danielson vs Zack Sabre Jr
October 5th
- CMLL announces Tessa Blanchard for an event
October 10th
- John Cena, The Undertaker and more appear on NXT
- NWA announces return of territory system
- “If Sir Vince McMahon said this, it would be the least of his alleged misdeeds.”
- WWE turns CM Punk down
October 12th
- Abe vs Nomura
October 13th
- Vladimir Kozlov is in Impact
- Kota Ibushi signs with AEW
October 18th
- Sting announces retirement
October 20th
- Yasutaka Yano and Kinya Okada arrested on suspicion of groping a young woman
October 21st
- Katsuhiko Nakajima smacks Kento Miyahara with flowers
- Ospreay vs Bailey
October 25th
- WWE announces Bash in Berlin
- Ric Flair appears on AEW
October 29th
- Bryan Danielson injured his orbital bone
November 2nd
- Ric Flair is All Elite
November 4th
- Will Ospreay vs Shota Umino
November 6th
- Sareee signs with Sukeban
- WWE wants to sign Giulia
November 8th
- The CW was willing to offer an eight figure TV deal to the NWA, but cancelled it because of a cocaine spot on a show
- Arez requests his release from MLW, who reply by saying that they already released Arez and Aramis 6 months earlier and that apparently AAA didn’t relay that information to the talent
November 9th
- Tony Khan declined ROH deal with CW
November 10th
- Katsuhiko Nakajima vs Yuma Aoyagi becomes the first 5* rated AJPW match in 24 years
November 12th
- Chris Danger makes his pro wrestling debut
November 13th
- Great Muta has found a baby in the mountains
November 14th
- Mayu Iwatani dislocated her finger
November 15th
- CMLL introduces Flip Gordon as the newest member of their roster.
- Kota Ibushi is All Elite
November 16th
- WWE announces Backlash in Lyon
November 17th
- WWE are interested in Okada
November 19th
- Chris Hero has his return match in WCPW
- Jay Malachi relinquishes the DPW title
November 22nd
- The Continental Classic starts
November 25th
- Absolute Andy passes away
- CM Punk returns to WWE
- Randy Orton returns to WWE
November 28th
- QT Marshall leaves AEW
November 30th
- “18-28 no boyfriends no husbands meet me at my hotel room” – Ric Flair
- All parties in Brawl Out signed NDAs
December 1st
- Arisu Endo, Miu Watanabe, Moka Miyamoto, Suzume & Yuki Arai vs. Miyu Yamashita, Mizuki, Rika Tatsumi, Shoko Nakajima & Yuka Sakazaki
December 2nd
- Kota Ibushi vs Naomichi Marufuji is announced
- Andrade returns to CMLL
December 6th
- Yuka Sakazaki has her graduation ceremony in TJPW
- Ren Narita joins House of Torture
- Hokuto Omori and Katsuhiko Nakajima win the Real World Tag League
December 7th
- Worst ever attendance for a Stardom Show at 114
December 12th
- WWE on Fox account using the Dem Boyz phrase
- TJPW have a show in an aquarium
- AAA Wrestlers are promoting a protest to support Cuatrero who is currently in jail because of the attempted femicide on his ex-girlfriend
December 13th
- TNA signs Kushida
- TK books Vikingo vs Taurus after Luchablog asks him to
December 15th
- United Japan Pro-Wrestling is formed
- Kenny Omega has diverticulitis and would have nearly dies
- Liv Morgan got arrested for being in possession of marijuana
- Charlotte Flair will be out for 9 months
December 17th
- Barry Bloom works for Kazuchika Okada
December 20th
- The Tokyo Dome might be torn down for luxury apartments
December 21st
- Matt Riddle joins MLW
- Ali has loads of matches announced
December 23rd
- Hiroshi Tanahashi is new NJPW President
- NXT will send a talent to AJPW
December 24th
- Katsuyori Shibata is All Elite
- Dana Massie is set to finish up with AEW
- Luis Mante wins the Open the Dream Gate title
- NXT talent revealed to be Charlie Dempsey
December 26th
- CM Punk has his first WWE match in MSG
- Jericho NDA Twitter drama
December 30th
- Adam Cole is revealed as the Devil
- Samoa Joe becomes AEW World Champion
- Eddie Kingston wins the North American Triple Crown
December 31st
- Katsuhiko Nakajima beats Kento Miyahara again
- Charlie Dempsey wrestles in AJPW