Jim Cornette Provides Surprising Choice For 2023 Pro Wrestler of the Year

2023 was a wild time for pro wrestling, and many stars hit their stride. Jim Cornette was paying close attention all year, but only one man received the honor of being Cornette’s top pick for 2023’s standout performer.

During his Jim Cornette Experience podcast, the legendary pro wrestling manager weighed in on several subjects, as he is known to do. When he gave his honest pick for the best pro wrestler of 2023, it may have shocked some.

Jim Cornette spoke about who he would name as his wrestler of 2023, which would be WWE’s LA Knight, who came up short in challenging Roman reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Title at Crown Jewel. 

“Even if you don’t want to go with the obvious that is Roman Reigns. Would you then have to go with, because Roman, I will say it’s obvious for the people that might not know because he’s on top of the biggest company in the world and the biggest shows he’s on top of are all better than the ones he’s not on. But then also, you have to be realistic. At this point, would that not be the LA Knight Award?“

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“If Cody was inspirational because he came back from his injury, he’s the most popular babyface in the business. Is not the wrestler of the year the guy who is now the second most popular babyface in the business? And this time last year, or maybe more recently, was a goddamn joke manager of a modeling agency. What kind of turnaround, how has that ever happened before this quickly in the wrestling industry? You go from you hate the gimmick you’re doing, everyone else hates the gimmick that you’re doing and you’re not doing it very well and they are about to fire you to you’re a goddamn superstar and you’re the main event of a $50 million show in Saudi Arabia in 9 months.“

Here’s the thing, he didn’t improve because he was always that good. He overcame bad booking and made them use him, I say that’s wrestler of the year. Yeah!”

LA Knight is selling a ton of merchandise, and his gimmick is getting over. After receiving so much criticism for being a merge of The Rock and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, it stands to reason that the WWE Universe’s thirst for nostalgia may have influenced his rise in popularity. Either way, he is riding a wave of momentum, and Jim Cornette is very happy for the former Eli Drake.

We will have to see what 2024 has in store for LA Knight. This is his time, and he appears to be doing everything to seize each opportunity as they come to him, yeah.

What’s your take on LA Knight’s rise in popularity in WWE? Would you say he’s the best wrestler of 2023? Let us know what you think in the comments section!