My Top 55 WWE Matches of 2025
- Linus O'Howell
- Dec 21, 2025
- 32 min read
For the entirety of 2025, I have reviewed every single Monday Night Raw, Friday Night SmackDown, NXT, and all of the various Premium Live Events (plus Saturday Night’s Main Event) have brought me to here! See, I have given 55 matches across WWE programming in 2025 a B+ or better, and we’re going to talk about them all as we eventually wind down to finding out what were my top matches of the year! So, strap yourselves in, because this is going to be quite the ride!
Becky Lynch VS Bayley VS Lyra Valkyria: Evolution (13/07)
We start this list with the opening match from Evolution as Becky Lynch, Bayley, and Lyra Valkyria all aimed to end the night as the Women’s Intercontinental Champion! I remember Bayley being the standout in this match, but what I really liked about this contest is that you had three women who were all connected in some way, even if they’ve had quite different careers! There was also plenty of breakups of pinfalls in this one, and when it looked like Bayley was going to get the win after flooring Lyra with a Rose Plant, Becky took advantage and rolled up The Role Model to successfully retain her Women’s IC Title! A great way to begin this list!
Ricky Saints VS Ethan Page: NXT Stand and Deliver (19/04)
The first match that properly kicked off WrestleMania weekend saw Ethan Page challenge Ricky Saints for the NXT North American Championship! Ricky Saints had only recently debuted in WWE at this point, having won the NXT North American Championship in record time, a previous NXT record held by one Ethan Page (when he won the NXT Championship in May 2024)! The story was there, the history was there, and both men delivered a really fun match that eventually ended with Saints pinning Page following a little Rochambeau! Trust me, this won’t be the last time you see these two on this list!
Roman Reigns and Jey Uso VS Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed: Summerslam Night 1 (02/08)
Easily the best match of Night 1 of this year’s Summerslam was actually the first one, as Roman Reigns and Jey Uso reunited to take on Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed of The Vision! This was a good opener; Roman and Jey are very good together, and I thoroughly enjoy every interaction that we get between Reigns and Bron Breakker! Breakker’s intensity throughout this whole match was on another level, as was Bronson Reed, whilst eventually, Reigns sacrificing himself (which he never does) opened the door for “Main Event” Jey Uso to beat Reed with a Spear/Uso Splash combo! YEET!
Fallon Henley VS Stephanie Vaquer: NXT Vengeance Day (15/02)
Another opening contest, another great match as NXT Vengeance Day kicked off with Stephanie Vaquer challenging Fallon Henley for the NXT Women’s North American Championship! This was early in the run of Stephanie Vaquer in WWE, before she became a major star on the Main Roster, and she had an opponent in Fallon Henley who is very, very good! Ultimately, after dealing with the rest of Fatal Influence on the outside, Vaquer was able to nail Fallon with both an SVB and a wonderful Spiral Tap to get the win, crowning La Primera as the brand-new Women’s North American Champion (in the process)!
Sami Zayn VS Rey Fenix: Friday Night SmackDown (12/09)
The United States Open Challenge was well and truly back as Sami Zayn looked to remain Champion against a rising star in Rey Fenix! This was genuinely a really, really good match; both guys are insanely talented, I’ve been so impressed with Rey Fenix in 2025, whilst Sami Zayn is of course one of the best wrestlers in the industry! The near-falls were also strong; particularly when Rey barely kicked out of the Blue Thunder Bomb, but eventually, a Helluva Kick was enough for Zayn to keep his Open Challenges going for at least another week! In a time where SmackDown was a pretty weak show, these US Title Open Challenges were the only reason to watch!
Jacob Fatu VS LA Knight VS Drew McIntyre VS Damian Priest: Backlash (10/05)
It’s very much becoming a trend that the opening matches of shows seem to be pretty damn good! That was no exception at Backlash as Jacob Fatu had to put his United States Championship on the line against LA Knight, Drew McIntyre, and Damian Priest in a Fatal 4-Way! This was a really strong contest, with LA Knight rolling to begin with, Damian Priest getting in plenty of offence in the middle portion of the match, whilst Drew McIntyre started to dominate late on! Priest pulled the referee out of the ring to cost McIntyre the Title (in what was another great moment in their long-term story), before both men went crashing through a table following a crazy South of Heaven out in the crowd! LA Knight then looked destined to capture Gold, only for Jeff Cobb (now known as JC Mateo) to make his shock WWE debut by attacking The Megastar, allowing Jacob Fatu to retain his US Title!
Becky Lynch VS Maxxine Dupri: Monday Night Raw (06/10)
Whilst Maxxine Dupri would go on to eventually dethrone Becky Lynch for the Women’s Intercontinental Championship, their first encounter back in October was the one that really stood out to me! Becky can be very good at making her opponents look great, and that’s exactly what happened here, with Maxxine looking the best she’s ever looked inside the squared-circle! The one near-fall in particular looked amazing; I genuinely thought Dupri had scored the upset of all upsets, and I guess she technically did as referee Jessika Carr pulled a bit of a screw job with her count, meaning Maxxine defeated Becky via count-out! I said at the time that I wasn’t sure that WWE could’ve executed this any better, and I still stand by that!
Ethan Page VS Ricky Saints: NXT The Great American Bash (12/07)
Told you we’d be seeing these two again! Amazingly, this is the first match on this list that didn’t open the show (in terms of in-ring action), but it was easily the best match at this year’s NXT The Great American Bash! What I loved about this contest between Ethan Page and Ricky Saints was that the stipulation for this match was Falls Count Anywhere, but they were performing in an incredibly small Center Stage! What made everything even cooler as whilst they were brawling in the bar area, you could literally see cars driving past outside, and that’s an insanely unique visual that I have never seen before whilst watching Professional Wrestling! On top of the setting, the actual action was also very strong, with Ricky taking a couple of horrendous bumps onto both the steel steps and steel railings! Eventually, All Ego was able to successfully retain his North American Title over Saints, but that wasn’t without another crazy bump, as Page sent Saints crashing off the stage and through a pair of tables (with the Ego’s Edge)! Complete madness!
Oba Femi, Trick Williams, Je’Von Evans, and Moose VS DarkState: NXT (12/08)
NXT’s version of the Fantastic 4 teamed together as Oba Femi, Trick Williams, Je’Von Evans, and Moose were out to finally put an end to DarkState! This was all about the Babyface team, with Oba Femi and Moose chucking Trick Williams at DarkState at one point, to the point where Trick seemed to love this so much that he was fist-bumping everyone! Je’Von Evans then went on one of the best hot tag runs I’ve ever seen, Moose had his own great run of just destroying everyone in sight, and they were honestly just so much fun to watch together! However, of course, Trick would show his true colours eventually as he abandoned Je’Von, leaving DarkState to pick off The Young O.G. to score the 1.2.3!
Women’s Royal Rumble (01/02)
The Royal Rumble was one of WWE’s best shows in 2025, and it started off on a great note with the Women’s Royal Rumble! Having Iyo Sky, Liv Morgan, and NXT’s Roxanne Perez be the opening 3 combatants was a statement in itself, and some of the highlights included Jordynne Grace making her proper WWE debut, Alexa Bliss making her long-awaited return to honestly the biggest pop of the night, and getting an awesome Main Roster VS NXT standoff between Bayley, Charlotte Flair, and Bianca Belair taking on Giulia, Stephanie Vaquer, and Roxanne Perez! Eventually, the returning Charlotte was able to eliminate Roxanne to record her second-ever Royal Rumble victory, and whilst the ending was slightly underwhelming, the rest of the match was great!
Je’Von Evans VS Wes Lee: NXT (29/07)
This match was never advertised, but a bust-up earlier in the night meant Ava had no choice but to book a match between Wes Lee and Je’Von Evans! Thank goodness she did, because we got a great match between two of the best high-flyers in the world! I remember watching this match thinking it felt like the NXT of old, where we’d just get amazing matches almost every week! The moment where Evans’ foot touched the rope after a Kardiak Kick was superbly done, and eventually, The Young O.G. came out victorious after nailing Wes with quite the insane O.G. Cutter!
Ilja Dragunov VS JD McDonagh: Friday Night SmackDown (21/11)
Given we just talked about previous years of NXT, it’s quite fitting that we now talk about Ilja Dragunov and JD McDonagh renewing their rivalry in the United States Championship Open Challenge! The action here was super hard-hitting and strong (what else would you expect?), with incredible counters throughout (including a ridiculous Spanish Fly), whilst JD delivered a picture-perfect Moonsault for a near-fall! These two are absolutely incredible, and it’s why the United States Championship Open Challenge has been one of the best things in all of WWE in 2025! Because these two don’t like each other, Dragunov was more than happy to wreck McDonagh with a Torpedo Moscow/Powerbomb/H-Bomb triple combo to put out an emphatic ending to a very strong encounter!
Jacy Jayne VS Lola Vice: NXT No Mercy (27/09)
After multiple weeks of video packages and home-field advantage, it felt like it was finally going to be Lola Vice’s time as she challenged Jacy Jayne to the NXT Women’s Championship at NXT No Mercy! Funny story: I watched this match at St. Pancreas Station in London, so my setting was slightly different to how I would usually watch matches! However, I still really enjoyed this match; I thought it was easily the best match of Lola’s career to date, whilst you could very much make the same argument regarding Jacy too! There were also some great near-falls, with Fallon Henley pulling the referee out of the ring, whilst I literally gasped when Vice kicked out of Jayne’s wicked Rockstar knee-strike! Eventually, just as I’d brought into Lola Vice winning it all, she got wiped out by a hooded individual (soon to be revealed as Lainey Reid), allowing Jacy Jayne to nail Vice with a Rolling Encore to retain her NXT Women’s Championship!
DIY VS FRAXIOM: Friday Night SmackDown (16/05)
In a match that very much gave off NXT vibes, DIY and FRAXIOM were able to put on a show on a random Friday Night SmackDown in May! This match was full of great near-falls, attacking offence, and super good selling! This was very much what we saw regularly with Axiom and Nathan Frazer throughout their time in NXT, so it was great to see them back at their “best”! Eventually, the newcomers were able to defeat the veterans before the Motor City Machine Guns ran down to make the save (after Ciampa and Gargano reattacked Axiom and Frazer)!
Ethan Page VS Je’Von Evans VS Rey Fenix VS Laredo Kid: Worlds Collide (07/06)
The first-ever Worlds Collide event between WWE and AAA certainly had some exciting encounters, including a Fatal 4-Way which saw Etahn Page defend his NXT North American Championship against Je’Von Evans, Rey Fenix, and Laredo Kid! This was a really good match where everyone involved performed to a high level! Laredo Kid and Rey Fenix were extremely exciting to watch, whilst we know how great Je’Von Evans is! Ethan Page also played his role as the night’s biggest Heel to perfection, stealing the win away from Je’Von, before pinning Kid following a Twisted Grin! All Ego is the best!
Giulia VS Jordynne Grace: NXT (06/05)
We’ve got yet another TV match to talk about, this time between Giulia and Jordynne Grace on the May 6th edition of NXT! At the time, this match was to determine the new Number 1 Contender to face Stephanie Vaquer for the NXT Women’s Championship at NXT Battleground, and this was also a battle between two of the most hyped-up WWE signings in years! Giulia is so damn good; this match firmly cemented that, whilst Jordynne Grace is just great! Eventually, a Juggernaut Driver was what did it for Jordynne to defeat Giulia, and yeah, this was the perfect example of why NXT has the best Women’s Division in the world!
Rusev VS Sheamus: Clash in Paris (31/08)
We got treated to an absolute war at Clash in Paris as Rusev and Sheamus collided in a “Good Ol’ Fashioned Donnybrook Match”! What I liked so much about this match was that both men were clearly out to prove a point, with Sheamus having his first singles PLE match for over a year, whilst Rusev has come back with a vengeance since he returned back in April! Shillelagh’s, whiskey barrels, and wooden bars were all used to hurt one another, whilst Rusev kicking out of a Brogue Kick was a genuinely great near-fall! The ending was also a bit of a surprise, with Sheamus tapping out of Rusev’s unique version of the Accolade (something The Celtic Warrior rarely does)!
Oba Femi VS Je’Von Evans: NXT (09/12)
Oh, not again! After winning the Iron Survivor Challenge just days before, Je’Von Evans had no interest in waiting for New Year’s Evil as he challenged Oba Femi for the NXT Championship on the first NXT show-post Deadline! I said it during that article, and I’ll say it again here: Oba and Je’Von are magic together! Their styles gel so well together, and the shock at the end made it all the better! After some great action, Je’Von looked certain to grab Gold, only for Ricky Saints to pull the referee out of the ring, screwing The Young O.G. in the process! Oba then took advantage of this by wrecking Evans with an uppercut/Fall from Grace combo to successfully retain his NXT Title! So good!
Raquel Rodriguez VS Rhea Ripley: Night of Champions (28/06)
On a show that had its fair share of below-par action, by far the best match on Night of Champions came when Rhea Ripley and Raquel Rodriguez renewed their long-term rivalry in a Street Fight! Rhea Ripley is someone who usually puts on some great matches across the year, but we haven’t seen it much from Raquel Rodriguez since she debuted on the Main Roster, even though she’s certainly good enough to do so! As such, these two delivered another great contest to add to their list from their meetings back in NXT, and the bump that Rhea took into the steel steps (face-first) was brutal! Despite an appearance from Roxanne Perez, Ripley was the one who came out on top after dropping Raquel with a Super Riptide!
Ethan Page VS El Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr.: NXT Halloween Havoc (25/10)
Ethan Page’s position as the Greatest North American Alive would once again be tested as El Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. challenged All Ego for the NXT North American Championship in a “Day of the Dead” match! It’s a close call as to what to go with as the match of the night from this year’s NXT Halloween Havoc (we’ll get to the other one soon), but this was easily enjoyable! Ethan Page has had the best year of his career in 2025, whilst Dr. Wagner Jr. is so good; hence why he entered this match as the AAA Latin American Champion! Some of the bumps were nasty, Page ripping part of Wagner’s mask created a really cool visual, and in the end, a wicked Twisted Grin through a table was enough for Ethan to continue his run as the Champion of all of North America!
Ilja Dragunov VS Nathan Frazer: Friday Night SmackDown (31/10)
On a special Halloween edition of Friday Night SmackDown, Ilja Dragunov continued his United States Championship Open Challenge with a defence against Nathan Frazer! Two years ago, I included an NXT match between Ilja and Nathan in my Top 40 WWE Matches of 2023, so it’s kind of cool that they’re back this year in a different capacity! These two are insane, the speed and frantic action was off the charts, and it is sort of what you would expect given Dragunov and FRAXIOM headlined my last two awards articles! The Phoenix Splash that Frazer delivered was picture-perfect, but so was the eventual H-Bomb that secured Dragunov the victory! What can’t these two do?!
Sol Ruca VS Kelani Jordan: NXT Battleground (25/05)
NXT Battleground 2025 got off on the right note as it began with Sol Ruca and Kelani Jordan clashing for the NXT Women’s North American Championship! A year prior, these two faced off at NXT Heatwave (with the roles reversed in terms of Champion VS Challenger), and that match came very close to making my Top 50 match last year! However, I firmly believe that their rematch at Battleground this year was better, and that’s why it’s easily made it onto this year’s list! The action was strong between two of the best women NXT has to offer, and the finish wasn’t the cleanest as after Zaria protected Sol, this cost Kelani (as she missed her attempt at One of a Kind), allowing Ruca to nail Jordan with a Sol Snatcher (the best finisher in all of WWE) to hold on to her Women’s North American Title!
AJ Styles and Dragon Lee VS Leon Slater and Je’Von Evans: Saturday Night’s Main Event (13/12)
On a show that was (mostly) about showcasing the future of the industry, no two better people could’ve been picked in Leon Slater and Je’Von Evans as the reigning TNA X-Division Champion and NXT’s Iron Survivor faced off against the World Tag Team Champions, AJ Styles and Dragon Lee! This match started off hot with ridiculous dives from both Leon and Je’Von, and the pace never slowed down! This match didn’t even reach the 7-minute mark, but it didn’t really need to as everyone delivered! Yes, AJ slipped at one point, but that only made me become even more impressed with Leon Slater, who responded like a true veteran! Eventually, Styles would score the win by pinning Slater with a Styles Clash, and what a wild time to see AJ Styles fighting the current X-Division Champion!
Gunther VS Axiom: Friday Night SmackDown (14/03)
When Gunther made a surprise appearance on Friday Night SmackDown, live in Spain, no one would’ve expected that his chosen challenger would be NXT’s (and Spain's own) Axiom! This match was so cool, not only because it was unexpected, but it firmly felt like something either on NXT or a House Show! Axiom actually kicked out of a Powerbomb at one point, and the Spanish Superstar somehow managed to convince me that he was going to win following a Golden Ratio! Of course, that didn’t happen, as the reigning World Heavyweight Champion was able to put 1/2 of the NXT Tag Team Champions away, but yeah, all of this was just super cool!
Jacy Jayne VS Tatum Paxley: NXT Halloween Havoc (25/10)
I told you we’d get back around to NXT Halloween Havoc as the other best match on that show saw Tatum Paxley challenge Jacy Jayne for the NXT Women’s Championship! Whilst the in-ring action was maybe slightly weaker than the Page-Wagner bout, what this match had going for it was the drama! Both Fatal Influence and The Culling kept getting involved, leading to an amazing near-fall where it genuinely looked like Tatum was going to win following a greatly executed 450 Splash! Jacy then came close herself as she nailed Pax with her Rockstar Knee, before the referee getting distracted opened the door for Izzi Dame to smash her friend with the NXT Women’s Championship! However, that never happened as Jayne floored Dame with a Rolling Encore, opening the door for Tatum Paxley to hit her finisher to get the win! At the time, this was another shocking Title change in NXT, but to say that Tatum Paxley deserved this moment would be an understatement!
Je’Von Evans VS Josh Briggs: NXT No Mercy (27/09)
Before I travelled down to London, I watched the start of NXT No Mercy, which kicked off with a great one-on-one match between Josh Briggs and Je’Von Evans! Josh Briggs has become one of NXT’s most hated superstars, but that doesn’t mean that he’s also not one of the best in-ring workers on the entire brand! Combine that with a super-talented Babyface in Je’Von Evans, and you have all the makings of what we got! Je’Von also decided to honour prime Johnny Gargano or Wes Lee with the amount of late kickouts he performed, and eventually, Evans would come out victorious in a match that really could’ve gone either way!
Bron Breakker VS Finn Balor VS Dominik Mysterio VS Penta: WrestleMania 41 Night 2 (20/04)
A magical moment in 2025 took place on Night 2 of WrestleMania 41 as Bron Breakker, Finn Balor, Dominik Mysterio, and Penta all battled with the aim of leaving The Show of Shows with the Intercontinental Championship! The best part about this match was easily the fact that, for whatever reason, the Las Vegas crowd were absolutely loving everything that Dominik Mysterio did; the exact opposite of how the crowd usually reacts to him! This created quite the dynamic, but the in-ring action was also strong, with Bron wrecking Carlito with a ridiculous Spear through the announce table! The ending was also great as when it looked like Finn was going to win after successfully hitting Breakker with a Coup de Grace, Mysterio nailed Balor with a Frog Splash to not only pin his Judgment Day brotherin, but to also become the brand-new Intercontinental Champion! I can’t lie, Dom running back down to the ring to celebrate even more is one of my favourite WWE moments of the entire year (I’m being serious)!
Stephanie Vaquer VS Jordynne Grace: NXT Battleground (25/05)
Another women’s match from NXT Battleground that delivered saw Jordynne Grace get her one-on-one NXT Women’s Championship match against Stephanie Vaquer! This was a really great battle between the two top women of NXT at the time, which is worth mentioning given both Giulia and Roxanne Perez had recently been called up! Stephanie continued her strong run of matches, whilst Jordynne performed another great match just weeks after her battle with Giulia (which we’ve already spoken about)! Neither Vaquer nor Grace knew what it was going to take to win, with JG even kicking out of an SVB (which had never been done before)! Eventually, Stephanie Vaquer was able to retain her NXT Women’s Championship after nailing Jordynne Grace with her wonderful Spiral Tap, and yeah, this was great!
Gunther VS Je’Von Evans: Monday Night Raw (17/11)
In a fully sold-out Madison Square Garden, Je’Von Evans stepped into the spotlight as he faced a returning Gunther in the First Round of The Last Time is Now Tournament! This match was a simple reminder that Gunther is, without a doubt, one of the best wrestlers on the entire planet; everything he does is great, whilst Je’Von continued his standout year on a pretty giant stage! Gunther was clearly peeved off with Evans’ high-flying nature, meaning the beatdown only came across as more personal! Eventually, The Ring General left The Young O.G. with no choice but to tap out (in a sleeper hold), and I expect to see this match again down the line!
Cody Rhodes VS Kevin Owens: Royal Rumble (01/02)
Along with the namesake matches, this year’s Royal Rumble played host to the end of a heated rivalry as Cody Rhodes and Kevin Owens went to war in a Ladder Match for the Undisputed WWE Championship! Not only was this match physical, but it was also rough, with Cody taking a horrible bump onto a ladder (in particular)! Little ladder also deserves a mention because those spots were hilarious, and we also got a great bit of storytelling as Sami Zayn ran down to check on both men, but he had no interest in helping his best friend when Cody snapped! Rhodes eventually put Owens through another ladder (in what was an even worse spot than Cody’s one), before he lifted both the WWE and Winged-Eagle Championships aloft! Not only was this match great at the time, but it deserves even more praise now given the fact that Kevin Owens went away soon after to have neck surgery!
Naomi VS Rhea Ripley VS Iyo Sky: Summerslam Night 2 (03/08)
The first-ever Night 2 of Summerslam kicked off with the Women’s World Championship on the line as Naomi, Rhea Ripley, and Iyo Sky clashed in Triple Threat action! I felt at the time that Naomi had stepped up; she looked much better in this match than she had done before, and that’s honestly even more impressive given she was actually already pregnant at this point! Rhea and Iyo also did their usual great things, with both women coming close to recapturing Gold following Riptides and Over the Moonsaults (respectively)! However, after a Super Riptide from Ripley to Sky, Naomi took advantage to sneak away with a roll-up victory, retaining her Women’s World Title in the process!
Oba Femi VS Je’Von Evans: NXT Heatwave (24/08)
I told you these two are magic together! Back at NXT Heatwave, Je’Von Evans aimed to defy all the odds by dethroning Oba Femi for the NXT Championship in what was easily the best match of the night! The final 5 minutes of this one were crazy; the uppercut that Oba delivered to a mid-air Je’Von was insane, as was the Cutter that Evans delivered! We then got a ref bump, which led to a controversial decision, and all of this angered Femi to the point where he just chucked Evans through the announce table (from inside the ring)! A Fall from Grace was then enough for The Ruler to successfully retain over The Young O.G., and that table spot has to go down as one of the best spots all year!
El Hijo del Vikingo VS Chad Gable: Worlds Collide (07/06)
The Main Event of the first-ever Worlds Collide event between WWE and AAA saw Chad Gable challenge El Hijo del Vikingo for the AAA Mega Championship! It was really nice to see Chad Gable headlining a show, given he’s an unbelievable performer, and this was my second time watching El Hijo del Vikingo do his thing (spoiler alert: he’s incredible)! Gable came close on multiple occasions, a moment that would’ve been firmly deserved, but Chad was left with no chance after being nailed with the best Mexican Destroyer that you will ever see! Vikingo then dropped Master Gable with his finisher to get the win, and like I said at the time, I’d love to see this match again down the line!
CM Punk VS Seth “Freakin” Rollins: Monday Night Raw (10/03)
The Main Event of the 10th of March episode of Monday Night Raw, live from Madison Square Garden, saw CM Punk and Seth “Freakin” Rollins battle inside a Steel Cage! The great story of this match was that both men could’ve won had they not hated each other so much, but it also led to some great near-falls, particularly when Seth kicked out of a third GTS! The ending was also excellent, with Roman Reigns dragging Seth out of the steel cage, meaning Rollins won the match as Reigns beat his rival up with a Spear and a Stomp! Paul Heyman was then checking on CM Punk in the ring, and this angered Roman even more as he wrecked Punk with a Spear too! This was such a clever way to book the end of this match, and it led perfectly into their WrestleMania Triple Threat (which we’ll get to later)!
Ilja Dragunov VS Tommaso Ciampa: Friday Night SmackDown (12/12)
Another strong match in Ilja Dragunov’s United States Championship Open Challenge run saw him finally take on Tommaso Ciampa after weeks of build! Out of all of Ilja’s matches as Champion, I genuinely feel like this was the best one of them all, and that was partly to do with the fact that Ciampa is damn good in the ring! What this match really had in its favour compared to other matches in Dragunov’s run was the fact that you could actually buy Ciampa winning here, given the story that had been told! After Candice LeRae got involved, we got a genuinely strong near-fall following a Ciampa Knee Strike, but ultimately, The Mad Dragon was able to retain with a roll-up victory! Tight margins!
Joe Hendry VS Trick Williams: NXT Battleground (25/05)
On a show where the women delivered, the men finally showed up in the Main Event as Trick Williams looked to make history when he faced Joe Hendry for the TNA World Championship! This whole thing was already off to a great start before any contract was made, simply because the video package, the entrances, and the crowd reactions made this feel like one of the biggest NXT Main Events in a while! Both men came close to winning after hitting their respective finishing manoeuvres, and the shenanigans button was then pressed as Trick brought the TNA World Title in the ring! Williams then dropped Hendry face-first onto the Championship, before he nailed Joe with a Trick Shot to pick up the win, stunning the crowd in the process! At the time, it seemed like WWE and TNA were reluctant to have other superstars hold their Titles, but that changed here and thank goodness it did!
Men’s Royal Rumble (01/02)
Whilst the Women’s Royal Rumble was strong, the Men’s Royal Rumble was on another level, particularly in the second half of the match! Besides an insane spot which saw Bron Breakker nearly kill IShowSpeed with a bullet-like Spear, the match really started to get going when TNA World Champion Joe Hendry arrived at Number 15, with Roman Reigns then coming out next! Reigns would eliminate both Hendry and Breakker, but to say he survived against Bron would be putting it lightly! Roman Reigns, CM Punk, John Cena, and Seth “Freakin” Rollins were all in the ring at one point, giving us an incredible visual, whilst Logan Paul entering at Number 30 was superb Heel work! CM Punk then eliminated both Seth and Roman, leading to Rollins delivering the most vicious Stomp you will ever see (to Reigns), before Jey Uso “shocked the world” by eliminating John Cena to book his ticket to a World Championship match at WrestleMania! I genuinely feel like if this match had started from when Joe Hendry arrived, this would be a proper contender for match of the year!
Ricky Saints VS Trick Williams: NXT (11/11)
After failing to recapture the gold at Halloween Havoc, Trick Williams had one last opportunity to become a 3-time NXT Champion when he challenged Ricky Saints in a Last Man Standing Match! I wasn’t particularly excited going into this match because it really shouldn’t have ever been booked to begin with, but I guess it’s a good thing that it did, because this match was great! This was definitely one of the best Last Man Standing matches that I’ve ever seen, with both guys going heather-for-leather to come out on top! One bump was so rough that it busted Trick up, and Williams’ delivery of a Trick Shot off a steel chair was superb! Eventually, Ricky would retain his NXT Title by spearing Trick through the announce table, from the crowd, in what was a crazy ending to a pretty crazy contest!
Oba Femi VS Moose: NXT Roadblock (11/03)
NXT Roadblock, which took place in the Theatre at Madison Square Garden, proved to be one of NXT’s best shows of the entire year, and one of its headline bouts saw TNA X-Division Champion Moose challenge Oba Femi for the NXT Championship! Not only was the crowd great throughout this one, but the performance from both stars was also incredibly strong, with this truly feeling like a heavyweight clash between two titans! When the NXT-TNA partnership was announced, Oba VS Moose was one of the matches that fans were most hopeful to see, and this was the prime example as to why! Moose putting Femi through the announce table was a pretty great spot, but despite that, The Face of the Franchise just wasn’t able to take advantage of his opportunity, with Oba Femi eventually retaining his NXT Title following a Fall from Grace! We’re firmly getting to the point where I question how or why these matches aren’t even higher up on my list (this is one of 16 matches from 2025 that I gave an A- Grade)!
Kevin Owens VS Sami Zayn: Elimination Chamber (01/03)
Two of the greatest Canadian Professional Wrestlers of all time battled inside Toronto’s Rogers Centre as Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn went to war in an Unsanctioned Match! Whilst this match did deserve to be on WrestleMania, it actually worked out quite well being on this show, given this year’s Elimination Chamber took place in Toronto, Canada! There were multiple bumps throughout this match that felt pretty brutal, particularly when Kevin landed face-first onto a steel chair, whilst Sami using barbed-wire was actually insane! Given how the ending of Rhodes-Owens at the Royal Rumble went down, KO wasn’t holding back, smashing Zayn neck-first into the steel ring posts (whilst having his head wrapped around a steel chair), before 2 apron Powerbombs were finally enough for Owens to get the win! Like I said with Kevin Owens’ previous match on this list, the fact he performed in this type of match with an already banged-up neck is both commendable and pure insanity!
John Cena VS Gunther: Saturday Night’s Main Event (13/12)
The final match of John Cena’s illustrious WWE career saw him face Gunther at the final Saturday Night’s Main Event of 2025! Everything about this was expertly executed, from the video packages to the entrances to the ring announcements, and the actual match itself was very strong! Gunther destroyed John for large parts of this match, with Cena fighting back because he’s a super Babyface! Cena tried his best to keep fighting, proving his “Never Give Up” mantra to be true, but ultimately, it wasn’t as Cena tapped out following being in Gunther’s Sleeper Hold for at least a good 3-to-4 minutes! I said it last weekend; I don’t think WWE could’ve produced this match any better. I know why people didn’t like it, but I personally thought it was great!
Iyo Sky VS Rhea Ripley: Evolution (13/07)
The Main Event of Evolution saw Iyo Sky and Rhea Ripley do battle for the right to be called Women’s World Champion! Evolution was all about showcasing the top women’s performers in WWE, and having Iyo and Rhea Main Event was the perfect decision! This match lasted 26 minutes; a long time for a women’s match, but it deserved every minute (and more)! Ripley kicking out of Sky’s Over the Moonsault was a really great near-fall, before, out of absolutely nowhere, Naomi cashed in her Money in the Bank contract successfully to end the night as the brand-new Women’s World Champion! I do think the cash-in hurt this match overall, mostly because I feel like it could’ve been executed better! However, the wrestling between Rhea and Iyo was on such a high level that I still rate it highly!
John Cena VS Logan Paul: Clash in Paris (31/08)
John Cena’s final-ever match in Europe saw him face Logan Paul in France’s Capital, Paris! At the time, this was easily my favourite match in John Cena’s Retirement run, and massive props need to be given to Logan Paul! Logan was excellent here, as he usually is, and that is why WWE keeps putting him in big positions like this! This was also a bit of a “spot fest”, with plenty of nods to other wrestlers! Cena delivered Baron Corbin’s End of Days, Roxanne Perez’s Pop Rox, and a Styles Clash, whilst Logan pulled off a wonderful Zig Zag (shout out Dolph Ziggler)! As someone who loves easter eggs, this match was kind of made for me, and Cena getting the win with a pair of AA’s brought quite the reaction out of a fabulous Paris crowd!
The Street Profits VS Motor City Machine Guns VS DIY: Friday Night SmackDown (25/04)
The Main Event of the first Friday Night SmackDown post-WrestleMania 41 saw The Street Profits, DIY, and the Motor City Machine Guns clash in a Triple Threat TLC Match for the WWE Tag Team Championships! This match deserved to be on WrestleMania, but honestly, because it wasn’t, this match got an awful lot of time, 25 minutes to be exact! Everyone got their moment to shine, with a ridiculous amount of tables/ladders/chairs spots, but for me, the two best spots came when Tommaso Ciampa delivered an air-raid crash to Montez Ford through a ladder, and Angelo Dawkins’ Spear to Ciampa through a table! In the end, it was Montez Ford who grabbed the Gold to successfully keep The Street Profits as the reigning WWE Tag Team Champions, and whilst I was incredibly impressed by this match, I wasn’t exactly surprised either!
John Cena VS Dominik Mysterio: Survivor Series (29/11)
The large majority of Survivor Series: WarGames was pretty weak, but by far the standout match of the night came when Dominik Mysterio challenged John Cena to a rematch for the Intercontinental Championship! This was proper sports entertainment, with Roxanne Perez and Raquel Rodriguez hitting moves on John Cena (whilst Dominik was pretending to be injured), whilst a ref bump led to Cena having to fight off both Finn Balor and JD McDonagh! Liv Morgan then made her shock return way earlier than expected, and she decided to attack Mysterio, only to pull an “Uno reverse card” (from Elimination Chamber), and nail Cena with a low blow! This opened the door for “Dirty” Dom to steal his Intercontinental Championship back, and this was a great way to end John Cena’s final PLE appearance!
Sami Zayn VS Ilja Dragunov: Friday Night SmackDown (17/10)
After weeks of successful Title defences, Sami Zayn faced the toughest task of his United States Championship run to date as his Open Challenge was answered by none other than Ilja Dragunov! Ilja had been out of action since August of 2024, and his injury clearly hadn’t hurt his performance, as my 2023 Wrestler of the Year showed why he earned that award with a fantastic return performance! Sami Zayn was also great, as expected, and the hard-hitting nature made this match a must-see! Dragunov kicking out of the Blue Thunder Bomb was a genuine surprise, as was the finish, as The Mad Dragon nailed Sami with both Torpedo Moscow and an H-Bomb to get the win, stunning the world to become the brand-new United States Champion! Not only was the match awesome, but having Ilja Dragunov win Gold on his return was the perfect choice!
Ethan Page VS Mustafa Ali: NXT Showdown (07/10)
Whilst most of NXT Showdown was a bit of a letdown, the same couldn’t be said when Mustafa Ali returned to a WWE ring to challenge Ethan Page for the NXT North American Championship! Despite being one of TNA’s top Heels, Ali was the Babyface throughout this match, partly because of his likeability, but also because Ethan Page is one of the best Heels in all of Professional Wrestling, if not the best! The story heading into this match was also excellent, with Mustafa never getting his one-on-one shot at the North American Championship, and the near-fall when he rolled Page up was great! Ali then decided to take a pair of ridiculous bumps to really show his quality, before TNA’s Commander in Chief got completely screwed over, getting his foot trapped in Booker T’s headset, opening the door for All Ego to successfully retain with a Twisted Grin! Excellent by everyone involved!
Iyo Sky VS Rhea Ripley VS Bianca Belair: WrestleMania 41 Night 2 (20/04)
Night 2 of WrestleMania 41 kicked off with Iyo Sky, Rhea Ripley, and Bianca Belair putting on a classic for the Women’s World Championship! This was the best women’s match of the year for me, not really a surprise given the people that were involved, but they all genuinely delivered to an extremely high level! The fact that the crowd continued to boo Bianca throughout was also quite telling, adding another dynamic to this contest, and this really could’ve gone either way! Eventually, though, after Belair floored Ripley with another K.O.D., Iyo nailed The EST with an Over the Moonsault to get the win, starting off Night 2 of WrestleMania 41 with a bang!
WWE Tag Team Championships TLC Match: Summerslam Night 2 (03/08)
The best match of Summerslam weekend saw The Wyatt Sick6, The Street Profits, DIY, FRAXIOM, the Motor City Machine Guns, and the duo of Rey Fenix and Andrade take part in a 6-Pack TLC Match for the WWE Tag Team Championships! This is firmly what we should’ve gotten at WrestleMania, but it definitely stood out here, with a whole list of ridiculous bumps! Johnny Gargano’s DDT to put Joe Gacy through a table was nasty, Rey Fenix’s Frog Splash was incredible, but the worst bump of the entire match came from someone who wasn’t even in the match! See, Candice LeRae tried to win the Tag Titles for DIY, and this led to her taking a quite horrific bump through a ladder on the outside! Ciampa and Gargano then followed it up by taking a stupid bump of their own through 4 tables, before eventually, The Wyatt Sick6 were able to retain in what was perhaps the most insane contest of the entire year!
Axiom and Nathan Frazer VS Josh Briggs and Yoshiki Inamura: NXT Vengeance Day (15/02)
Yes, we’ve firmly made it to “FRAXIOM territory”, with Axiom and Nathan Frazer putting their NXT Tag Team Championships on the line against Josh Briggs and Yoshiki Inamura back at NXT Vengeance Day! This was such a terrific Tag Team match, with Axiom and Nathan once again showing why they’re the Best Tag Team in the World! However, at the same time, the challengers deserve their praise, as Josh Briggs always has at least one match on this list, whilst Yoshiki Inamura put on a performance that firmly made me feel like WWE should’ve permanently signed him on the spot! The Spanish Fly's and Poison Rana’s that were delivered in this match were picture perfect, and eventually, FRAXIOM managed to retain their Gold, but all four men came out of this looking even better than they already did!
Ethan Page VS Je’Von Evans: NXT Roadblock (11/03)
After a long and heated rivalry, tensions finally reached a boiling point as Ethan Page and Je’Von Evans clashed in a New York City Street Fight! This whole feud from the very beginning had felt quite personal, meaning the stipulation for this match worked a treat, and boy did these two deliver! The insanity of some of these bumps, from Ethan landing on a dented chair, to Je’Von crashing through a table, and even Evans diving from inside the ring to deliver a Cutter onto Page through another table! The ending was then vicious as The Young O.G. nailed “All Ego” Ethan Page with a Cutter (whilst Page had a steel chair wrapped around his head) to finally bring this madness to a stop! In a year where nobody’s had more matches B+ or above than Ethan Page and Je’Von Evans, it’s fitting they got to deliver a contest like this!
AJ Styles VS John Cena: Crown Jewel (12/10)
At Crown Jewel, AJ Styles and John Cena faced off for One Final Time in Perth, Australia! Everything about this match was special; John Cena only had a few more dates left before his WWE career came to an end, whilst AJ Styles had announced heading into the weekend that he will also be retiring in 2026! Styles-Cena from both Summerslam 2016 and Royal Rumble 2017 are two of the highest-rated matches in WWE history, and the nostalgia here was off the charts! Just like in his battle with Logan Paul, John paid homage to the likes of Rusev, Chris Jericho, and The Miz, whilst AJ delivered a Coquina Clutch (made famous by Samoa Joe)! We also got a special moment following a Sister Abigail, as the entire Perth crowd lit fireflies in honour of Bray Wyatt, and we can’t forget to mention the fact that Styles was in his classic TNA gear! Eventually, a Tombstone Piledriver and an AA was enough for Cena to beat Styles, and when you combine the in-ring action with the context, this was easily one of the matches of the year!
Oba Femi VS Trick Williams VS Je’Von Evans: NXT Stand and Deliver (19/04)
WrestleMania 41 Weekend really should be known as the “Triple Threat Weekend”, and that includes the Main Event of NXT Stand and Deliver, which saw Oba Femi look to retain his NXT Championship over both Trick Williams and Je’Von Evans! There was a lot of hype heading into this contest given how talented all three men are, and the crowd certainly helped make this feel like a true big-time NXT Main Event with their consistently-strong crowd reactions! Some of the main spots included Je’Von being sent through the barricade, Oba being put through a table, Trick causing a ref bump because he felt like it, and the referee responded by kicking out at Femi (which is still insane to witness)! Evans put on another standout performance, Williams showed out once again on the main stage, whilst The Ruler continued his run as one of NXT’s greatest Champions! This really could’ve gone a number of different ways, but eventually, Oba Femi had clearly run out of patience as he delivered a pair of Fall from Grace’s (including one on Trick onto Evans) to pin The Young O.G. to successfully retain his NXT Title! There are a lot of contenders for both NXT and WWE match of the year, and there are definitely valid arguments to be made that this match could (and should) win both!
Axiom and Nathan Frazer VS Hank and Tank: NXT Stand and Deliver (19/04)
However, I think the match from earlier in the night, that saw Hank and Tank challenge Axiom and Nathan Frazer for the NXT Tag Team Championships, might well have just nicked it as my NXT Match of the Year! It’s so close to call, but this was incredible! This was the end of Axiom and Nathan Frazer’s run in NXT, and my goodness me was that fitting, but also, Hank and Tank were incredible here! I’ve also liked the duo of Hank Walker and Tank Ledger; they’re a fun Tag Team, but this was something else, Hank and Tank looked like one of the best Tag Teams on the entire planet! Hank’s dive over the announce table was insane, Tank kicking out of FRAXIOM’s High-low combination was wicked, and Hank then coming back into the ring to break up the pin when it looked like Axiom and Frazer were going to get the win was perfectly timed! Amazingly, in the end, Hank and Tank were able to dethrone FRAXIOM to become the brand-new NXT Tag Team Champions, and honestly, just looking back at this match makes me smile; that’s how wonderful it was!
Roman Reigns VS CM Punk VS Seth “Freakin” Rollins: WrestleMania 41 Night 1 (19/04)
Whilst it’s an insanely tight and difficult call to make, the Main Event of Night 1 of WrestleMania 41 between Roman Reigns, CM Punk, and Seth “Freakin” Rollins is probably most deserving of being My 2025 WWE Match of the Year! Firstly, there was so much talking during this feud of whether or not this match should Main Event given it wasn’t for a Title, but straight away, this contest showed that it didn’t need any stakes to be special! Seth Rollins and CM Punk’s entrances were some of the best entrances of the entire weekend, whilst Roman Reigns having a pretty standard entrance still gave off more aura than most people dream of having! The action itself was terrific, with multiple great near-falls throughout, whilst the story very much rested around the man on the outside, Paul Heyman! Now, Paul’s favour from back in 2024 was that he would be in Punk’s corner for this match, and that sent Reigns into an irate mental state, destroying everyone in his path! Heyman then got involved again, gifting a steel chair to The Best in the World, only to low-blow Punk to the absolute ecstasy of The Tribal Chief! Roman then destroyed Punk before Heyman signalled to Reigns to get revenge on Rollins by smashing him in the back with the steel chair (a move that cost Roman the Undisputed WWE Championship a year prior)! However, the master schemer that is Paul Heyman wasn’t done there, as he delivered another low-blow, this time to Roman Reigns, aligning himself with Seth Rollins as The Visionary nailed Reigns with another Stomp to get the win! This was storytelling perfection, with Seth “Freakin” Rollins pinning Roman Reigns in the Main Event of WrestleMania 41 being a perfect (and deserving) moment for Seth, whilst Heyman’s shenanigans were expertly executed! Yeah, I think I’m just about happy with my decision!
Excellent!!