It’s that time of year as Northeast Championship Wrestling’s 2023 Season has come to a close and we look back on the year that was and celebrate the best of the best and our favorite 2023 moments! Voting in the 2023 Season Awards will be ongoing from December 29th through January 5th, 2024. Winners will be announced shortly after with the awards presented at our 2024 Season Kickoff!
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The NCW 2023 Men’s Wrestler of the Year has many viable contenders as the 2023 year comes to a close. “The Right Stuff” Steven Lust bowled over the competition in 2023 winning the Ox Baker Cup twice and successfully cashing in the Cup to win the NCW Heavyweight and New England Championships at NCW Red, White, & Bruised. Robbie “The Giant” Araujo led NCW as the Heavyweight Champion for eight months delivering some top notch performances while the former NCW New England Champion “RIOT” Kellan Thomas proved after 21 years he’s still one of New England’s best competitors. Thomas was also 2022 Wrestler of the Year, holding the distinction alongside the new NCW Heavyweight Champion “The Ace” Mike Montero, who went 44 minutes in the 2023 Big City Rumble before challenging Steven Lust at WrestleFest XVIII.
ZPB spent 2023 proving why people should not be sleeping on the veteran, putting on some amazing displays of action throughout the year culminating in the chaotic dive off the steel cage during War Games at NCW Total Elimination. “The Entitled” AJP had a banner year as well during his rivalry with Steven Lust, nearly winning the New England Championship at WrestleFest. “Flawless” Nick Diamond sent Dallas McCarthy packing from NCW after a year growing as a performer while “The Cold Hard Truth” Johnny Pierce dominated the competition while upping his game. Pierce found himself in great conflict with “Old School Cool” Cory Michael, who brought the heat this year becoming one of NCW’s most popular competitors.
Osirus built out his Alliance of Violence in 2023 before a striking loss to “RIOT” Kellan Thomas at WrestleFest, while BMT found himself challenging for championship gold throughout the Season. New England Pro Wrestling Hall of Famer Doctor Reginald Heresy continued to shine with years of experience, while his rival The Politician gained traction in the polls with his wily maneuvers. Samuel Radcliffe rose through the ranks this year gaining valuable experience, while also coming to blows with the former New England Champion “Insane” Dick Lane, who returned to NCW this Season to obtain world domination once more.
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The NCW Women’s division was defined by “The Nu-Thing” Elle Valentine’s 364 day reign as NCW Women’s Champion. Defeating Little Mean Kathleen for the Championship at WrestleFest XVII Valentine defended her title against all comers until the returning Amber pinned Elle in the Ballroom Blitz at WrestleFest XVIII to end her reign just one day shy of a year. Elle still goes into the record books as the longest reigning Women’s Champion in NCW history while also earning the respect of the NCW fans, while veteran Amber finally achieved her goal of becoming Women’s Champion after a 7 year gap competing in an NCW ring. Amber also brought Special Attraction to NCW, uniting Nikki Valentine and Kelly Brooks to her cause and changing the landscape of the NCW Women’s division after years of disrespect as the trio wrecked the competition with their sisterhood shining through… Until Amber eliminated Nikki from the Blitz.
“The Portuguese Powerhouse” Ariel continued her dominance in NCW this Season going beyond the Women’s division to win Tag Team Championship gold, but still took great pleasure in locking up with the women. Newcomer Salem Spikes pushed to prove they belonged in NCW and going to the limit with the likes of Elle Valentine and Isana, while “The Suplex Sweetheart” Isana made her triumphant return at Red, White, & Bruised refreshed and hungry after slumming in The League of Excellence for the previous two years. Big Juicy returned to NCW this Season bringing her colorful personality back into the fold, and “The Alleycat” Delilah Hayden continued to be one of the hardest working women on the NCW roster even after getting her eye gouged out by Special Attraction.
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The NCW 2023 Season saw the year end with The Hardwork Heroes (Aaron Cademia & Barnaby Combs) picking up Tag Team gold on behalf of the Osirus Alliance of Violence as Barnaby continued to struggle with the choice Aaron made to proactively join Osirus and his crew, but it can’t be said the decision didn’t result in good fortune for The Heroes. The Dirt City Murder Crue saw two reigns as Tag Team Champions in 2023 as Jason Devine & Mike Montero won the Tag Team Titles at NCW Don’t Stop Believin’ leading to The New England Power Couple (Ariel & BMT) winning the Championship as the first husband and wife championship duo before The DCMC rebounded at the Final Countdown to have Devine & Jamie Tucker survive the Gauntlet of the Gold to win the titles from The Power Couple
The Losers (Sean Leiter & Tom Billington) arrived in NCW looking for a fight and winning over the NCW fans while The Collective (Rylie O’Neil and Devin Justice) continue to impress in their appearances. Fans have hoped to see more of The Collective heading into 2024 while the enigmatic duo of Devin Blaze and Mike Graca dazzled NCW and dominated the ranks for the first half of 2023 while teaming.
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The NCW 2023 Match of the Year has many great candidates, with the year kicking off with a tremendous Heavyweight Championship showdown between NCW Champion Robbie “The Giant” Araujo and BMT at the NCW Bristol Bash followed up by an intense NCW New England Championship Match between “RIOT” Kellan Thomas and “The Masshole” Mike McCarthy at NCW Don’t Stop Believin’.
“The Right Stuff” Steven Lust and “The Entitled” AJP had a thrilling Ox Baker Cup Match at NCW Red, White, & Bruised leading to the absolute classic Title for Title challenge between Heavyweight Champion Robbie “The Giant” Araujo and “RIOT” Kellan Thomas leading to Steven Lust’s cash in and stealing of both title belts in the night’s Main Event.
The NCW 2023 Big City Rumble Match saw both “The Ace” Mike Montero and BMT go 44 minutes with a match going so hard the top rope snapped off the ring mid-match leading to Montero’s epic victory. The women of Special Attraction (Amber, Nikki Valentine, & Kelly Brooks) also united for the first time in Six Women Tag Team action at the Rumble when they battled the trio of “The Suplex Sweetheart” Isana, Delilah Hayden, & NCW Women’s Champion Elle Valentine.
NCW Total Elimination saw War Games come to NCW for the first time ever as Robbie “The Giant” Araujo, “RIOT” Kellan Thomas, & “Flawless” Nick Diamond colliding against Steven Lust, ZPB, and Anthony Stone in a brutal battle, while NCW Women’s Champion Elle Valentine defended her Women’s Title against “The Suplex Sweetheart” Isana for the first time ever.
NCW WrestleFest XVIII saw “Old School Cool” Cory Michael fight tooth-in-nail against “The Cold Hard Truth” Johnny Pierce while Dallas McCarthy and “Flawless” Nick Diamond went to hell in back in their Career vs. Career brawl and “Right Stuff” Steven Lust defending the NCW title against “The Ace” Mike Montero in the WrestleFest Main Event.
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While the Breakout Star of NCW is not necessarily a rookie, they are someone who broke out on the scene in a big way in 2023 and only poised to do more in the upcoming year. “The Cold Hard Truth” Johnny Pierce had some matches in 2022 before ending the year with a big battle with Teddy Goodz, and 2023 saw Pierce continue with big matches and big character development from the big man. Ending the year with a MOTY candidate against Cory Michael and aligning with Kevin Castro could only mean bigger things for Pierce in the new year. The Politician had a banner year in 2023, leveraging his rivalry with Dr. Heresy to build favor in the polls and become a top ranked candidate in NCW. Salem Spikes made headway in the NCW Women’s division after a great showing against Elle Valentine at NCW Aftermath, and building a strong resume of carnage throughout the year.
The Hardwork Heroes aligned themselves with The Osirus Alliance of Violence despite Barnaby Combs’ hesitations, but ended the year as NCW Tag Team Champions while The Collective made strides to establish themselves in tag team competition in NCW. Jamie Tucker was the youngest gun in The DCMC, but in 2023 stepped up in a big way to win the NCW Tag Team Championship this Season. Diego Alvarez ended the Season with a breakout moment winning the Ox Baker Memorial Cup and staking his claim with a victory over Robbie “The Giant” Araujo!
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The NCW Manager of the Year award continues to be one of the hottest contested categories in NCW as Kevin Castro spent the year trying to regain Tag Team gold for Da’ Hoodz only to twist a knife in their back and turn on the trio at WrestleFest XVIII while aligning himself with Johnny Pierce. William Miles the 3rd helped the Osirus Alliance of Violence after taking the Oath of Osirus, pledging his allegiance to the cause despite Doc Ozone thwarting Miles at every turn. Dallas McCarthy found his Season ending with his dismissal from NCW, but not before guiding Steven Lust to both the Heavyweight and New England Titles.
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2023 saw some of the most vicious feuds in NCW history go down, spear headed by the three way rivalry between “Right Stuff” Steven Lust, Robbie “The Giant” Araujo, and “RIOT” Kellan Thomas. “Old School Cool” Cory Michael and Johnny Pierce battled over the Ring of Thrones crown throughout the Summer heading into WrestleFest, while Dallas McCarthy and Nick Diamond had a war of words leading to a brutal war at WrestleFest in a Career vs. Career showdown.
Special Attraction (Amber, Nikki Valentine, & Kelly Brooks) dominated the women’s division in NCW this Season targeting the NCW Women’s Championship and Elle Valentine, Delilah Hayden, and Isana. Osirus continued to build his armada of all willing to take the Oath of Osirus while feuding with his Uncle the Mad Doctor Ozone.
The Politician and Dr. Heresy had a campaign to end all campaigns heading into the White Collar Street Fight at WrestleFest while Samuel Radcliffe and Dick Lane battled on the belief of magic and science colliding. Da’ Hoodz and The Dirt City Murder Crue had a tag team war throughout the year until both teams finally gave each other the respect they deserved at WrestleFest.
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In 2023 The Dirt Murder City Crue saw “The Ace” Mike Montero win the NCW Heavyweight Championship at WrestleFest XVIII while The DCMC had two reigns with the NCW Tag Team Titles, marking a banner year for the stable finally united after making amends with Ricky Medeiros.
The League of Excellence saw Dallas McCarthy’s flagship stable come to an end, but not before doing their best to wreak havoc prior to their dissolution at the Big City Rumble. Da’ Hoodz saw their relationship end with Kevin Castro at WrestleFest, but not before finding new life as fan favorites after a year of entertaining performances.
The Osirus Alliance of Violence was born of Osirus’ jealousy over The DCMC, forcing people to take his oath, while Amber returned after 7 years away to unite Special Attraction to spitefully attack the NCW women’s division.
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Who do you love?
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Who do you hate?
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Sometimes it’s more than just the in-ring action when it comes to NCW, which is why the best personalities in NCW barely step into the squared circle (while that doesn’t stop them from occasionally stepping into the ring). From announcers to commentators to referees to bartenders to security to food slinging merch gals who was your favorite of 2023?
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The NCW 2023 Holy $#!T Moment of the Year has many worthwhile nominees including Steven Lust’s shocking cash in of the Ox Baker Memorial Cup and winning both the NCW Heavyweight and NCW New England Titles at NCW Red, White, & Bruised.
Mike Montero and BMT’s epic performance in the 2023 Big City Rumble saw both men enter the match at #1 and #2 respectively leading to both men ending the match at 44 minutes and breaking the Big City Rumble record.
Amber returned to NCW after 7 years away to accept the NCW 2023 Honors, but not before running down the promoters of years past and smashing her award over promoter JC Marx’s skull. Amber returned later in the night with Kelly Brooks and Nikki Valentine during the NCW Women’s Title Match and using her high heel shoe to gouge out Delilah Hayden’s eye.
Dallas McCarthy saw his NCW career end at NCW WrestleFest at the hands of “Flawless” Nick Diamond, but WrestleFest also saw Kevin Castro shockingly turn on his family and leave Da’ Hoodz for “The Cold Hard Truth” Johnny Pierce! Samuel Radcliffe went on the record on Leo Connors’ show running down Dick Lane and Santa Claus, only to see Santa Claus show up at WrestleFest and deliver a brutal chokeslam to The Mechanic.
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