AEW and WWE Stars Who Had the Best Summer of 2023

FTR and Ricky Starks are among the biggest beneficiaries of AEW Collision since its launch.Credit: All Elite Wrestling

The documented success of super-shows such as SummerSlam and All In made the summer of 2023 an eventful one for both WWE and All Elite Wrestling.

Raw received a significant boost at the start of the summer with the introduction of the World Heavyweight Championship, leading to Seth Rollins becoming the featured face of the program once again. Finn Balor, Damian Priest and Shinsuke Nakamura have all benefited from having a top title to fight for again as well.

SmackDown has hosted the meteoric rise of LA Knight, whose popularity has skyrocketed since June. With the wins he's racked up in recent months, it wouldn't be a stretch to see him holding gold before long.

Meanwhile in AEW, MJF and Adam Cole have exceeded all expectations with their storyline that transitioned from them being enemies to partners with possible underlying tension. The rest of the roster continues to succeed, ending the season with an electric All Out pay-per-view over the weekend.

These 10 AEW and WWE stars shined the brightest this summer and now head into the final few months of the year with major momentum.

Seth Rollins was essentially Raw's uncrowned world champion long before he became the inaugural world heavyweight champ back at Night of Champions in May.

The Visionary was already a recurring highlight on Monday nights and securing the title only cemented his spot atop the card.

Damian Priest was the first step up and ultimately fell short following a strong showing. Rollins then conquered newcomer Bron Breakker in NXT before besting Finn Bálor on back-to-back occasions.

Those terrific matches were followed by Rollins retaining against Shinsuke Nakamura in a hard-fought affair at Payback. Throughout it all, he's remained at the forefront of the red brand and as beloved as he's ever been.

Even with a wounded back, his run as world heavyweight champion doesn't appear to be in danger of ending any time soon.

Who would have thought that a double clothesline would be one of the most over moves in all of wrestling?

Adam Cole vs. MJF was always expected to be an enjoyable feud, but what fans didn't expect was for it to evolve into the scintillating storyline that it has.

Immediately following their hot Dynamite match in June, Cole and MJF were forced to link up in an impromptu blind eliminator tag team tournament. They not only made the most of their pairing but they also ended up developing exceptional chemistry as partners.

They opened All In by capturing the ROH World Tag Team Championship and closed the event at Wembley Stadium with a competitive clash for the AEW World Championship. Their weekly vignettes and interactions in the ring have proved to be just as entertaining as their matches.

AEW was wise to keep the angle going beyond All In and not rush into one turning on the other. A betrayal is inevitable, but the road they're taking to get there has been great fun to follow.

Cody Rhodes has been back in WWE for almost 18 months, and his white-hot momentum has yet to falter.

He was put on the shelf with an injury in June 2022 that prevented him from having a successful summer, but he's managed to maintain his standing with the audience through all the ups and downs he's experienced since returning to the ring at the Royal Rumble.

The American Nightmare spent his summer this year feuding with Brock Lesnar. The rivalry quickly became repetitive but saw Rhodes score not one but two decisive victories over the multi-time WWE world champion, including in emphatic fashion at SummerSlam.

The reactions he's been receiving from the audience as of late are truly on another level. Certain stars tend to cool off eventually, but Rhodes connects with crowds in a way few others do, and it's kept him in a prominent spot on Raw for this long.

Finishing the story should be next on his to-do list, but that likely won't come until closer to WrestleMania 40 season.

Regardless of how fans feel about his character, there can be no denying Orange Cassidy has become one of AEW's most valuable players this past year, specifically in the final few months of his International Championship reign over the summer.

He was the definition of a fighting champion by defending his title almost every week and never having anything less than a great match. He's shed a lot of the comedic elements of his character and proved he can hang with some of the best in the business.

There was no one feud that defined his summer, but the matches he was having and the caliber of opponents he was beating spoke for themselves. There was always a chance the frequent nature of his title defenses would wind up costing him, and although that's exactly what happened, it took longer than many expected.

Cassidy couldn't have closed out his summer on a hotter note than by going to war with Jon Moxley in the main event of All Out for the International Championship. He couldn't get the job done but was elevated in defeat thanks to the impressive performance he had.

The Intercontinental Championship hasn't been this sought after in decades, and it's all thanks to Gunther's remarkable reign dating back to June 2022.

Once he emerged from WrestleMania 39 with the gold still in his grasp, it became clear that he had to hold onto it long enough to break The Honky Tonk Man's all-time record of 454 days. But he first had to ensure he survived the summer as champion.

From Mustafa Ali to Matt Riddle to Drew McIntyre, he set back all challengers on consecutive pay-per-views. His feud with Chad Gable only came together in the last few weeks but has been his strongest storyline all year.

His latest win over the Olympian on Monday's Raw means he's set to break the record at the end of the week, and there's a chance he closes out 2023 still the intercontinental champion, too. His dominance over the Raw roster has been unparalleled along with the incredible quality of his matches.

Gunther's booking as one of WWE's top attractions was consistent throughout the summer.

Although FTR capturing the AEW World Tag Team Championship for a second time in April was well overdue, the reign was largely treated like an afterthought for the first two months. They weren't too active as champions and weren't put in any important programs.

That changed once Collision came along, and they hit the ground running once again. In the span of a few weeks, they had two of their best bouts ever with Jay White and Juice Robinson as well as the duo of MJF and Adam Cole, coming out on top on both occasions.

Their biggest victory came in the form of a successful title defense against The Young Bucks at All In in front of a capacity crowd of over 80,000 people in London.

They've used their extended television time on Collision this summer to get tag team wrestling back in the limelight and elevate other teams to their level. They're reminding the world week-by-week what they can do and why those belts belong around their waists.

The "Yeah!" Movement is running wild and doesn't seem to be slowing down any time soon.

LA Knight's television time on SmackDown was greatly curtailed following his feud with Bray Wyatt at the onset of 2023. There was little optimism that bigger and better things awaited him post-WrestleMania considering WWE couldn't find a spot for him on a major show in a city that shared his name.

Despite that, crowd reactions for The Megastar grew louder every week, and by Money in the Bank, his fan favorite status was undeniable. He didn't walk away with the briefcase that night, but his loss did cause the crowd to rally behind him even more.

To their credit, WWE finally began pushing him more aggressively from that point forward, culminating in him winning the Slim Jim Battle Royal at SummerSlam with a capacity crowd chanting his name when he won.

His most recent win over The Miz at Payback should get him one step closer to championship gold and keep him on the fast track to super-stardom.

Ricky Starks' 2023 in AEW has been tumultuous to say the least, but the way he has stepped up his game and made himself more of a main event player has not gone unnoticed.

Similar to FTR, he has also benefited from the launch of Collision. He was lost in the shuffle on Dynamite in the spring but became a focal point of the new Saturday night show straight from the get-go.

In addition to winning the men's Owen Hart Cup, he turned heel and kicked off a feud with CM Punk, whose abrupt departure caused it to be cut short. Punk's replacement at All Out, Bryan Danielson, wound up stealing the show with Starks in what was a classic strap match.

His growth as a performer has been especially evident this summer, and closing the season in such spectacular fashion with Danielson could mark a turning point in his promising career.

Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, has specialized in sports and entertainment writing since 2010. Visit his website, WrestleRant, and subscribe to his YouTube channel for more wrestling-related content.