Highlights

• WWE's Triple H wins Booker of the Year with decisive votes, signaling fan approval of his innovative booking for WrestleMania 40.
• AEW's Tony Khan loses out on top position, but still earns recognition for Best Major Wrestling Event and Best Weekly Show.
• While the awards are significant, they may not reflect the entire wrestling fanbase's opinions, urging both companies to improve where needed.

Each year, wrestling sites and magazines come out with their awards. The PWI's Top 500 might be the most well-known rankings for wrestlers. When it comes to other awards, the Wrestling Observer's Newsletter has carved out quite a niche for itself as a source for picking promotions of the year, booker of the year, and matches of the year among other distinctions. Not all wrestling fans find them an effective platform to speak for the mass audience of wrestling fans, but among those who put stock in their rankings is Tony Khan, owner of AEW.

Ironically, he's not going to like the results of this year's rankings.

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WWE's Paul "Triple H" Levesque has emerged victorious as the Wrestling Observer Newsletter's Booker of the Year for 2023, dethroning Tony Khan, who had held the title for the past two years. And, the decision wasn't close. With 360 votes in favor of Triple H compared to Tony Khan's 146, the WWE executive proved to be the clear choice among Observer readers. Considering Khan has often publicly acknowledged how important it is to win the award, that he didn't won't sit well.

It should also be a clear message to Khan about how many fans are viewing his product.

Triple H's influence and innovative booking at the helm of WWE have been acknowledged for breathing new life into the wrestling landscape. The ongoing momentum heading into WrestleMania 40 has only heightened fan interest in the WWE product. Meanwhile, AEW has been criticized for illogical and poor booking decisions, while also facing dwindling attendance.

Also of note, this marks the first time WWE has claimed the Promotion of the Year award since the Attitude Era, a testament to the company's record-breaking achievements with shows in London, Saudi Arabia, and Puerto Rico. Nick Khan, another figure associated with WWE, was named Promoter of the Year.

This is not to say AEW didn't pick up a whole handful of awards. Khan, despite losing the Booker of the Year title, earned recognition for Best Major Wrestling Event with Revolution and Best Weekly Show for Dynamite, showcasing there is loyal interest in All Elite Wrestling.

This Doesn't Mean Much In the Grand Scheme Of Things

At the end of the day, this likely means nothing to WWE and it shouldn't mean much to AEW. It's one publication's view of the wrestling landscape and does not likely represent the vast array of global wrestling fans. If anything, the hope will be that both companies take a look at what didn't work in some people's eyes and see if they can improve on it.