Folks & Things We Enjoyed 2k23- Wrestlers Part 2
It’s 2024 and yeah everyone already did their best of’s, polls, and the what-haves-you to celebrate all that was more than magnificient in 2023. Well, I have stuff to do and this is late. Last year we had our IAPW Fold & Things We Enjoyed 2k22, and the year before that we had our Holiday Buyer’s Guide podcast episode. So to keep up with tradition, because tradition is all we have left on this godforsaken hellscape, we are once again looking back and the people and inanimate institutions that made 2023 a good place to be, wrestling wise. Oh, and you should definitely keep an eye on them for 2024. I’m what my smart wife calls an “early adopter” when it comes to trends or something like that.
Here you’ll find some of the wrestlers I believe you should pay attention based on their 2k23 and what also what their future entails. Also check out wrestlers part 1, wrestling promotions, and wrestling and non-wrestling adjacent things we’ve enjoyed.
The Wrestlers Part 2
You likely already read this, but if you haven’t:
One thing I should make clear is that this is a biased list based purely on what my eyes see, and what my brain configures as good. I am by no means an expert when it comes to wrestling, and I have not watched even 10% of the wrestling available within the last year. However, I’ve seen my fair share of what is out there, I know what I like, and usually I’m right about these things. If there is someone you think should be on here, awesome good for you. If you think there is someone on this list that shouldn’t be, fuck off and go write your blog thing.
Trish Adora
Trish Adora falls very much in line with the other women wrestlers mentioned in Part 1, Heidi Howitzer and Masha Slamovich, in that her accomplishments from the last few years have been outstanding, and yet she definitely has the potential to take women’s professional wrestling to the next level.
Trish stared 2023 hot by having a tour in Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling (TJPW) in January. While there she immediatelhy challendged Miu Watanabe for TJPW’s International Princess Title in Korakuen Hall, faced Watanabe, Rika Tatsumi, and Pom Harajuku in a six person tag match, and beat Hyper Misao to finish out. From there she was featured in NJPW Strong, AEW, GCW, Prestige, Enjoy, LLL, Pro Wrestling Revolver, Hoodslam, Black Label Pro and more.
Adora first caught my eye during GCW’s Collective, For the Culture show back in 2020, when she won the Pan-Afrikan World Diaspora Wrestling Title from Suge D. For the most part I only caught gifs of the match on Twitter initially. From what I saw I immediately sought the event and watched match to match, and from there on I was fan of her work, look, and downright ability to take all the attention in the house, and make it hers.
Since now Adora is on television regularly, being a part of Ring of Honor, and AEW I know that she has the possibility to show a larger audience what she is capable of. To me these attributes can come through work, but I think Adora has it naturally, she has something special to her. If she can continue to build upon this gift in the next couple of years, she will be considered as one of the top wrestlers in the states, if not the world.
Trish Adora
Austin Reddick
Do you like wrestlers that have watched, and memorized every Terry Funk and Steven Regal match? Do you like cheap almost carnie heat, but too not too carnie to the point it makes you cringe? Do you like facial hair? If answered yes to one of these, then I would say Austin Reddick would be your man.
Similar to Royce Isaacs, I am an Austin Reddick dick rider. I’m not ashamed of it, nor should I be. He’s fucking good. Reddick has the uncanny ability to understand what is needed from him in the match. Now a lot of that comes from the fact that he obviously has lived and loved wrestling for a great portion of his life. He is a student of wrestling. Since he knows about the small things, he implements them into a match. From using the right footwork from coming out of a move, to an exaggerated grimace after a chop from an opponent, he knows everything matters.
In the couple of years I have seen Austin at shows, the one thing that I have come to appreciate is how he is able to compete in different types of matches (technical, brawling, comedy, strong/Kings Road) at a more than proficient level, and all the while keeping Austin Reddick the same. You can tell that he is comfortable with being a loud mouth redneck from Texas, and he has not problem taking that redneck into those different styles without hesitation. It is pretty common among wrestlers where you can tell that they are not sure exactly who they are supposed to be, thus allowing the situation, or match, dictate who they are. With Austin, that’s not the case.
In the last year I saw him get the shit kicked out of him in a true brawler with Masha Slamovich, hold his own with 1 Called Manders, and Hoodie Howlett essentially a bar room brawl match, show his hole to the crowd with Effy, and work an intergender match with Stormi Renee that got the crowd of old hipster millennials who watch wrestling more as a goof, into an old Memphis style ferver. Either way, book Austin. He’s a helluva hand, a good “locker room guy”, and you will love to see him get his ass kicked.
Photo by @DDMartinImages
Did you see how I did that Doug? I gave you credit for your photo, and then tagged you so people can be like, “oh maybe I should see what else they do.”
Austin Reddick
Violence is Forever
Since I am essentially professing my confessions to you all in the last piece and here I figure may as well continue the trend. This time I am going to full on admit that I am late on Violence is Forever. My self professed love of tag team wrestling just had not directed me their way. I had been hearing the names of Kevin Ku, Dominic Garrini, and even Violence is Forever the last couple of years. However, I never decide to take a look into them until about six months ago. While I should be damned for my ignorance of the past, I have also become blessed with being graced with their wrestling.
One thing in the last year or so that I have figured out is I truly enjoy the idea of combative wrestling. I like the idea where there are groups of participants that want to win the match, and they are going to do everything necessary to do just that. This is Violence is Forever. The believe that everything they do within a match is in order to win the match. Nothing else is important to them, and because of this I can easily engross myself into what they are doing on my screen.
Ku and Garrini wrestle in such a way that I legitimately forget that I am watching pro wrestling, instead I am watching a pair of fighters wrestling another pair of fighters, which to me establishes you as one of the best. This is not to say that they completely rely on their suspension of belief skills. In fact they are great in balancing their in-ring story telling abilities with their natural charisma. You can take one look at either man, and you completely understand who he is, where he came from, and where he wants to go.
While not yet featured on television Violence is Forever is incredibly similar to The Workhorsemen in that I am putting my chips on them to revitalize the mainstream tag team wrestling scene once again. They are too damn good not to be witnessed by idiots like myself on IWTV or YouTube. I truly think if they are given the opportunity to show what they can do on a larger platform, they will have instant success, and be mentioned in the likes of The Midnight Express, The Rockers, The Heart Foundation, FTR, and so many more.
Violence is Forever
Kevin Ku
Dominic Garrini
Miyu Yamashita
2022/2023 was year that Tokyo Yoshi Japan Pro Wrestling decided to take their product state side. Wrestling fans were treated to a major non-Stardom Joshi product for the first time in awhile and they immersed themselves into it immediately, and Miyu Yamashita was the primary driver for the success of the promotion.
In the last few years Yamashita has been featured in the some of the most prominent United States independent promotions (Prestige, DEFY, DPW. West Coast, LLL, Wrestling Revolver, West Coast Pro, NJPW Strong, and many more), and also in major events for Japanese promotions (TJPW, NOAH, DDT, and Gatoh Move Choco Pro). Currently she holds TJPW’s Princess of Princess Championship in which she just recently defended against Masha Slamovich in Tokyo.
Like many of the other wrestlers that are in this list, Yamashita presents a demeanor of a killer in the ring. At any moment she can hit her opponent with her “Pink Striker”, Malaki Black’s Black Mass but way the fuck better, at any moment, and the match will be done. However, like many on this list she has no problem shifting gears and working a lighter, more comedic style. When she tags with Maki Ito as 121000000 she is able to compliment Ito’s psychotic cuteness perfectly. In fact the 121000000 matches that I watched this year were some of my very favorite of Yamashita’s.
Miyu has been a fine ambassador for TJPW in bringing the promotion to a new audience. I also truly believe that she will also excel as being the a stalwart to the future of not just Joshi or women’s pro wrestling, but pro wrestling as a whole.
Miyu Yamashita
Black Taurus
Black Taurus is good. Black Taurus is scary. Black Taurus is cool. Black Taurus is a hunk, Black Taurus is one of the best luchadores in the world. If anyone has paid any attention to AAA, IMPACT, or the West Coast wrestling scene you know who he is. You know what he is capable of. If you were able to watch Ring of Honor’s Final Battle last year you know that he carried El Hijo del Vikingo to one of the best matches of the year in the United States.
Taurus just announced that he is no longer going to work for AAA, and thus being in my opinion the hottest free agent out there (sorry Enzo). It would be insane for CMLL, New Japan, AEW, IMPACT, or even WWE not to swoop in and pick him up and make him exclusive. Just look at him for christsakes!
Truly one of my biggest regrets of last year was not seeing Black Taurus when he was in Denver for IWC Legacy against Jacob Fatu. I am a fucking moron. Because of this I have lost all credibility as a wrestling person. Ah fuck it.
Honorable Mentions:
My list was really quite large, but I get so sleepy and tired so please also look into these folks as well:
- The Howletts
- Mick Moretti
- Emi Sakura
- Dalton Castle
- Kyle Fletcher
- Leyla Hirsch
- Jack Moody
- Maddox
- Boa
Well I rode enough dick for two blogs.
Check out wrestlers part 1, wrestling promotions, and wrestling and non-wrestling adjacent things we’ve enjoyed.
