Around the squared circle: 3 questions for WWE, AEW and New Japan Pro Wrestling in 2023

The past year in professional wrestling is going to go down as one of the most eventful in the history of the sport. Leadership changed, and the product immediately improved in WWE after a scandal forced Vince McMahon to retire as WWE Chairman.

AEW dealt with its own issues as a CM Punk post-event press conference following a pay-per-view went awry and caused a brawl in the locker room, resulting in suspensions and titles being stripped from several top competitors.

Pandemic era restrictions were loosened for New Japan Pro Wrestling, a company that further made headlines by co-promoting a pay-per-view with AEW in June. We take a look at three stories to watch for each of the biggest wrestling promotions in the world as 2023 begins.

Also don't miss out as B.J. Lisko from the Akron Beacon Journal and myself hand out our 2022 awards in a special podcast at the link below!

WWE

Year of the Nightmare?

"The American Nightmare" Cody Rhodes seems poised for a big 2023. Rhodes made waves by returning to WWE for Wrestlemania in 2022 despite being one of the key figures in the founding of AEW. He quickly built momentum before a torn pectoral in the summer ended his year. Rhodes somehow managed to compete with the injury and defeated Seth Rollins in a "Hell in a Cell" cage match before going under the knife, providing one of the defining moments of 2022. Rhodes is set to return to the ring sometime in early 2023.

Will the Roman Empire come to an end in 2023?

Roman Reigns has held the WWE Universal Championship for over two years. He also captured the WWE Championship last year from Brock Lesnar to unify the two biggest prizes in the company. Reigns has seemingly run through every top contender to his throne. The question isn't so much who is next for Reigns but who is left to challenge him. Much of the intrigue for this year should center around if anyone is able to finally end the long title run of Reigns.

Will WWE pry any major free agents away from the competition?

The end of the McMahon era in WWE was marked by releases and budget cuts. Those trends came to an end after McMahon retired. New WWE chief content officer Paul Levesque made waves by bringing back several talents that were previously released over the course of the pandemic. The biggest coup for WWE was convincing AEW vice president Cody Rhodes to defect. With a more stable hand running the ship and a bevy of contracts coming up (FTR, Young Bucks, Kenny Omega, Will Ospreay) for top talent in competing promotions, can Levesque convince any other big names that things have changed in WWE?

AEW

What will become of CM Punk?

It's a night that is going to go down in infamy. New AEW World Heavyweight champion CM Punk attended a post event press conference after the "All Out" pay-per-view and proceeded to unleash a profanity laced tirade directed at the attending media and his fellow wrestlers while eating a muffin. Punk's actions touched off a brawl afterwards in the locker room that resulted in the suspensions of himself and AEW Trios champions Kenny Omega, Nick Jackson and Matt Jackson, among others. All were stripped of their titles and suspended pending an investigation. The results of the investigation have not been made public, but Omega, Nick Jackson and Matt Jackson recently returned to AEW television. Punk, who suffered an injury the night of the brawl, has not been seen since. There were rumors of a buyout for Punk's contract but nothing ever materialized. His status remains more uncertain than ever as we head into 2023.

Can AEW avoid the injury bug?

Much of 2022 was hampered by injuries as much as controversy for AEW. The list of marquee performers who missed time or are still out is staggering. Prized free agent signing Adam Cole suffered a nasty concussion in June and there is no word on his status. Fellow Undisputed Elite faction member Kyle O'Reilly underwent neck surgery and missed the second half of the year. Adam "Hangman" Page is still working his way back from concussion after a hard clothesline from Jon Moxley knocked him out cold in the ring in October. AEW Women's World Champion Thunder Rosa went down over the summer and had to relinquish her title. This is only a small sampling of some of the issues the company dealt with. Better luck would be appreciated by all in 2023.

How long will MFJ's self-proclaimed "reign of terror" as AEW Champion end?

All eyes will be on 26-year old prodigy Maxwell Jacob Friedman as 2023 begins. The AEW World Champion is the most disliked man in professional wrestling and is known for his quick wit and presence on the microphone. He produced memorable feuds with CM Punk, Wardlow and Jon Moxley in 2022. The pressure and stakes for Friedman will be high. He is believed to be a free agent in early 2024 and has much riding on how the company performs while he is on top of the card.

New Japan Pro Wrestling

Who will come out on top as Kingpin battles Cleaner?

It was a tumultuous 2022 for Kenny Omega. A plethora of surgeries and a suspension sidelined him in AEW for nearly the whole year. Omega has mostly been involved in trio tag matches since his return and has yet to test himself in a singles match. There will be no tune up. "The Cleaner" is jumping into the deep end by returning to New Japan for the first time since exiting in 2019 to take on "Common Wealth Kingpin" Will Ospreay in the Tokyo Dome on Jan. 4. Ospreay seemed poised to inherit Omega's top spot but the pandemic and injuries curtailed his ascent. Both sparred on social media during 2022. Two of the most athletically gifted wrestlers in the world should produce an instant classic.

Will New Japan issue a Banks statement to start 2023?

Sasha Banks was one of the top women's wrestlers in the WWE for nearly her entire career. Her WWE run came crashing to a close in 2022 after Banks relinquished her half of the WWE Women's Tag Team Champions and left the company after creative differences with McMahon. There are rumors that Banks may appear at Wrestle Kingdom 17. Such an appearance would be a huge coup for a company hit hard by pandemic travel restrictions the past few years.

Still the Switchblade era?

The main event of Wrestle Kingdom on Jan. 4 will feature a clash between two of the very best in the world for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. "Switchblade" Jay White and "Rainmaker" Kazuchika Okada have battled at some of the biggest events in the history of the promotion. White got the better of Okada in June to win the title at Dominion and declared the company was now living in his era. The 35-year old Okada is one of the greatest world champions in the history of the sport despite his relatively young age. The focus of the company for the first half of the year will be decided by the winner of this match.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Storylines to watch in WWE, AEW and New Japan Pro Wrestling in 2023