To say Roman Reigns is the wrestler of 2023 isn’t a stretch by any means, but Dave Meltzer made his case.
In the latest Wrestling Observer, Meltzer claimed that Sami Zayn was the front-runner, but momentum shifted to The Tribal Chief.
“He may win tag team of the year, but I don’t know that Wrestler of the Year is a high percentage bet right now.”
Why Roman Reigns Unseated Sami Zayn For Wrestler Of The Year
Meltzer ran over Roman Reigns‘ astonishing accolades over the first part of 2023 and it’s hard to argue against The Head Of The Table.
“Roman Reigns may have the best case. He’s the biggest star for a company that is setting multiple records. And when it comes to non-major PPV shows, the ones he’s been on have done better than the ones he hasn’t. His match quality has been very high and his Zayn and Cody Rhodes matches were high-profile and his tag team match with Solo Sikoa vs, The Usos was as well. The lone negative is that he’s only had seven matches in the first six months of the year.”
The argument that Meltzer didn’t make was the merchandise sales, which Reigns is unarguably the top name for the company over anybody else. He says the other top contenders for WWE are Seth Rollins and Cody Rhodes and unlike Reigns, they have a lot more matches under their belt for 2023.
“Rollins has done 51 matches this year and Rhodes has done 48, but Rhodes’ matches are more memorable, including his match with Reigns that was the biggest match of the year.”