AEW Star Matt Hardy Picks His Favorite Wrestlers Of 2024

2023 is coming to an end, which means it's time for many within wrestling to take a look back at the year and determine just who did the best work. That includes AEW star Matt Hardy, who not only keeps up to date with his home promotion but has been watching closely elsewhere, including his former stomping grounds in WWE.

On the latest "Extreme Life Of Matt Hardy," Hardy went through some of his favorites in 2023, starting with three wrestlers he felt broke out from the pack.

"I think Swerve really had a breakout year," Hardy said. "I think LA Knight obviously had a breakout year. And someone else that I think really had amazing growth in 2023 was Dominik Mysterio. Those are probably the top three that pop into my mind."

Hardy would touch nearly every category, including naming FTR as the best tag team, MJF and Roman Reigns as the AEW and WWE wrestlers of the year, and Athena, Toni Storm, and Rhea Ripley as the best women's wrestlers of the year, while also throwing praise towards Christian Cage and Orange Cassidy for their years. But as far as who was the absolute best overall, Hardy believes that the AEW World Champion was just a cut above.

"My pro wrestler of the year for 2023 is Maxwell Jacob Friedman," Hardy said. "I just...once again, a breakthrough year for him, where he became legitimately AEW's top guy. He became the face of AEW. He started as a heel, he had this incredible transition to a babyface, the whole story with Adam Cole, just unexpectedly became the hottest thing on AEW programming. And they were so good as a tag team together. Better Than You Baybay. MJF, he just killed it."

To quote this article, please credit "The Extreme Life Of Matt Hardy" and provide an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription