The first-ever WrestleMania main event contested for the tag team championship. The triumphant culmination of one of WWE’s most popular and compelling underdog stories. Quite possibly the best tag team match in WWE history, period.

The best match of 2023? Yeah, probably also that.

As usual with anything involving The Bloodline, we tend to remember the words exchanged, the feelings expressed, the moments of pure, dramatic emotion. Jey Uso telling Sami Zayn he should never have left the group. Kevin Owens’ often inarticulate screams of rage, punctuated by his final battle cry, “Let’s end it!” Sami telling Jey, just before the finish, “You chose this, Uce.” Michael Cole’s amazing call on the final three-count: “The Bloodline be damned!” But going back and watching it again, the really incredible thing about this match is the structure and the pacing. Like many WWE headliner matches, it doesn’t waste any time getting the action to epic levels, but in this case there’s a reason for that — the match is actually three matches combined, with all the fat trimmed away and only the final one including an actual fall. The inflection points are all hot tags between Zayn and Owens, followed by Owens attempting to hit a Stunner, and the differences in those three spots tells the entire story. In other words, this is a match so beautifully and deliberately designed that it even has its own three-act structure.

And yet, even beyond its elegant construction, it’s the real-life victories this match represents that takes Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens vs. The Usos over the top. Zayn, a man who not so long ago was a floundering comedy heel, is now a WrestleMania main-eventer, and has been used as a main-eventer on TV and PPV in the months since Mania. If his hometown loss at Elimination Chamber was heartbreaking for many, the Mania win represented redemption, especially as it took place alongside Owens, his lifelong wrestling soulmate. The two have always wanted to win the WWE tag titles together; in 2023, they won them in the first-ever tag team WrestleMania main event. It’s a moment shared by the Usos, who wholeheartedly deserved it, and a major milestone in Jey’s own main event journey. And it’s a massive victory for tag team wrestling as an idea, particularly in WWE, where the format hasn’t typically been given its due.

This match wasn’t just great. It was more than great. It meant something. How many wrestling matches, in any year, can say the same? (Written by Miles Schneiderman)

Runner-up: Tie — Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay (NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17 Night 1), Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay (AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door)

Others receiving first-round votes: Roman Reigns vs. Sami Zayn (WWE Elimination Chamber), MJF vs. Bryan Danielson (AEW Revolution), Rhea Ripley vs. Charlotte Flair (WWE WrestleMania Night 1), Drew McIntyre vs. Sheamus vs. GUNTHER (WWE WrestleMania 39 Night 2), Bad Bunny vs. Damian Priest (WWE Backlash), Ilja Dragunov vs. Dijak (WWE NXT Battleground), FTR vs. Jay White and Juice Robinson (AEW Collision 7/15/23), Roman Reigns vs. Jey Uso (WWE SummerSlam), MJF vs. Adam Cole (AEW All In), Volador Jr vs. Angel de Oro (CMLL 90th Anniversary Show), MJF vs. Kenny Omega (AEW Collision 10/28/23), Swerve Strickland vs. “Hangman” Adam Page (AEW Full Gear)