After a turbulent year for both AEW and WWE, the calendar has turned over to 2023.

The new year offers an opportunity for a fresh start, learning from the mistakes of the past 12 months and making things even better going forward.

Thankfully, as bleak as some times in 2022 were, there are some aspects of 2023 that already look worth getting excited about.

Here are some of what's to come in WWE and AEW in 2023 that fans should be eagerly anticipating.

The New Regime's First Road to WrestleMania

Christmas might be the most wonderful time of the year for most people, but for wrestling fans it is The Road to WrestleMania.

No matter how many bumps are on that road, it is always when WWE kicks things up a notch.

This year will be even more interesting since Vince McMahon is no longer steering the ship. This will be the first time Royal Rumble, Elimination Chamber and WrestleMania are under the creative thumb of Triple H, Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan without Vince's oversight.

How will they tweak the formula? Will Royal Rumble follow the usual template or be something wildly different? Are there any surprises in store leading up to The Showcase of the Immortals?

With the possibility of legends like The Rock returning to action along with everyone working at their fullest capacity to put on the best shows possible, all eyes are on the new regime's success or failure.

They'll be more motivated than ever to prove WWE is in good hands, which could result in the best January-through-April run the company has ever seen.

Changes to the WWE Premium Live Event Calendar

Speaking of how the new leadership in WWE has the ability to change The Road to WrestleMania, there are many other opportunities for sweeping changes for premium live events this year.

Triple H has already talked about Hell in a Cell going away. What other plans are in mind?

Could Money in the Bank revert back to a WrestleMania match? Can this new creative team do a better job with that briefcase than how it's been managed in previous years?

Is King and Queen of the Ring going to be a pay-per-view, or just a tournament on Raw and SmackDown? In any case, the hype to crown a new king and queen is already intriguing.

Will there be another pay-per-view outside the United States like Clash at the Castle?

2023 could see the return of events like Bash at the Beach, Starrcade, Clash of Champions and so many new ideas, too.

AEW X NJPW Forbidden Door 2

The first Forbidden Door event proved the crossovers between AEW and New Japan Pro-Wrestling don't have to be limited to Tony Khan lending some talent for Wrestle Kingdom or NJPW allowing someone to wrestle one random match on Dynamite every couple of months.

It was messy, with some injuries changing the card around even at the last minute, but it still managed to be one of the most interesting events of 2022.

Now that a baseline has been established and some of the growing pains are over, AEW and NJPW are likely going to have an even better plan for a follow-up.

Not only should there be more effort put into crafting storylines leading up to the event, but we should be able to see some dream matches take place that were off the table last time.

Bryan Danielson alone has Kazuchika Okada, Will Ospreay, Zack Sabre Jr., Tetsuya Naito and a laundry list of potential opponents. Maybe we'll see The Elite against The Bullet Club in full form, too.

This could be the event that has many matches you'd normally never get the chance to see and some Match of the Year candidates.

More Progress for Ring of Honor

While technically separate from AEW, Ring of Honor is very much a sister promotion in the way NXT operates under WWE. If something benefits AEW or ROH, it benefits the other by proxy.

Recently, while speaking to TV Insider, Tony Khan said he's ready to take the training wheels off ROH and start making much more progress.

2022 was about acquiring the brand, keeping it limping on and trying to establish some foundation for a new era. 2023 should be about taking even bigger steps forward in this brand growing into Khan's vision.

Honor Club's resurrection will provide a home for ROH fans to have access to everything from the past, as well as more content to come.

This is likely the year ROH levels up to a better position than it has arguably ever been.

MJF's "Reign of Terror" Title Run

After a few years of telling everyone he's better than them, MJF finally reached the top of the mountain in AEW at the tail end of 2022.

So far, he's already defended the belt and his Dynamite Diamond Ring against Ricky Starks in a fantastic match in a great start to his run.

While MJF is already hyping up a "reign of terror" as champion, wherein he'll barely ever wrestle and just hold the title hostage, AEW surely has learned lessons from watching WWE make that mistake in the past and won't follow suit.

Those ideas are great to toss out for heat right now, but it's safe to assume 2023 will actually be a year of amazing things from MJF, who has the creativity to do one of the most interesting title reigns in the modern era.

His approach to being champion could be completely different from what we've seen before, breaking the mold as a refreshing change of pace.

Wrestlers Returning from Injuries

It's always great to see wrestlers return to the ring after spending several months on the shelf due to injuries, and some major names could be back in action in 2023.

All eyes will be on Cody Rhodes when he returns, as he has to be one of the favorites to win the Royal Rumble.

Logan Paul had an amazing performance at Crown Jewel. If he's ready to go for WrestleMania, there's no telling what he might be booked for.

Hopefully, Randy Orton's back injury will heal enough to see The Viper step back between the ropes soon enough. A built-in feud with Matt Riddle to split up RK-Bro is on the table any time he can get cleared to compete.

Now that Johnny Gargano is on Raw, he and Tommaso Ciampa will undoubtedly have some great segments together once the latter is back.

On the AEW side, here's hoping Adam Cole and Kyle O'Reilly are healthy enough to go at some point this year. Without having too much information on their injuries, that remains hard to forecast.

Thunder Rosa will inevitably be back in the ring at some point in the coming months, as will Kris Statlander, Christian Cage and Scorpio Sky, among others.

Not only can all these performers put on great shows in 2023, but their absence for half of last year or longer means their returns will freshen up the roster, too.

NXT Europe

NXT UK saw its demise in 2022, but its rebirth is set to come in 2023 with a rebrand of NXT Europe.

Details are extremely scarce about this new approach outside of the name, which comes with some implications. Clearly, this will focus on talent that expands beyond just the countries in the United Kingdom, but little is known beyond that.

Will the traditional European Championship return, or will it be classified under a new lineage?

Will it operate effectively the same as NXT UK, with top men's and women's titles, tag team championships and something like the Heritage Cup, which is still mysteriously listed as an active title on WWE's website? Or will it have an entirely different structure?

Who will WWE sign to be on this roster? Will any main roster talent make the jump over to help with star power?

As we don't know much about NXT Europe, that makes it even more interesting. The sky's the limit.

The Bloodline Title Changes: New Champions and/or New Belt Designs

2022 was the year The Bloodline solidified its spot on top of WWE by breaking records, retaining championships and unifying titles.

2023 will be the year where we no longer see Roman Reigns and The Usos with belts in both hands.

That could happen a number of different ways, all of which are exciting in their own fashion.

WWE could unify these titles, creating new championship belts. This could happen heading into WrestleMania or following it, likely in the 2023 WWE Draft.

Of course, Reigns and The Usos could also lose those titles separately or unified and with or without new belt designs.

If that's the case, who will be the new champions?

Will Sami Zayn break off from The Bloodline, team with Kevin Owens and dethrone The Usos, or will Logan Paul and Jake Paul get that honor?

Could The Tribal Chief lose to The Rock? Rhodes? For all we know, Stone Cold Steve Austin?!

2023 should be when we see a payoff for all the years of building up The Bloodline as the best WWE has to offer.

New Additions to the Rosters

Whether it is someone entirely new being brought into AEW like Konosuke Takeshita and Action Andretti, a rehiring like Bronson Reed to WWE, or even the NXT talent who will be called up to the main roster, there will be plenty ways both companies shake up their rosters in 2023.

Khan will be looking to sign talent to ROH while shuffling around some of the current AEW stars to fit that bill. He'll undoubtedly also look to pick up some free agents, which could result in someone like Sasha Banks joining the roster this year.

Likewise, WWE has been bringing back talent but will also assuredly try to acquire some others from the indies or AEW stars like FTR when their contracts are up, and they will continue to add more recruits to the Performance Center.

By the end of 2023, there could be dozens of breakout talents stealing the show who aren't even employed by AEW or WWE at this moment.

The possibilities are endless for new wrestlers to join the fray and have a personal hand in making 2023 the best year in pro wrestling.

Anthony Mango is the owner of the wrestling website Smark Out Moment and the host of the podcast show Smack Talk on YouTube, Spotify and everywhere you find podcasts. You can follow him on Facebook and elsewhere for more.