by: Aniruddh Nambudiri

“Hangman Page, All in 2025” by /u/MassiveBush on Reddit is licensed under CC BY 4.0.

This year has been weird for wrestling as a whole. We just did not get this level of excellence this year, but we did have a lot of good. A lot of major companies that had creative peaks in the past had hard years in 2025. New Japan, especially outside of the retirement run of Hiroshi Tanahashi, felt flat and directionless. Then there were all the controversies with companies like the WWE, where I quite frankly did not watch much. TNA fully leaning into its partnership with WWE led to some very noteworthy missteps, especially with people like Mike Santana. On the other hand, this was the breakout year for so many people who are going to go on to do great things. 

Ring of Honor started the year as a graveyard being ruled by Athena, but with a supporting cast that could have used a lot of work (especially Chris Jericho). Just as a reminder, the World Title match at Final Battle 2024 was Chris Jericho vs Matt Cardona. Safe to say that belt has been taken to new heights under the reign of the Most Wanted Bandido and the promotion feels hot once again. 

Stardom kicked off the year with one of the most emotional feuds in Joshi history, the culmination of which you can bet is on this list. It got mainstream terrestrial TV attention in Japan for the first time in ages under the reign of Saya Kamitani and her dominance (outside of a massive hiccup involving Bea Priestley). AEW had maybe its best year critically since its commercial peak with great runs by Hangman Adam Page, the rise of Kyle Fletcher, Kris Statlander finally ascending to the top of the women’s division and the revitalization of Jon Moxley that once again made him must-watch TV. CMLL reaching a larger western audience through their incredible work throughout the year has also helped a lot in reviving Lucha Libre across the border. Mistico had one of his best years ever, Mascara Dorada was escalating along great matches from people like Hechicero. I sadly did not watch a lot of CMLL due to restrictions but it is hard to ignore what an incredible year the company had. 

However, this was the year where we also lost a lot of smaller promotions that were the heart of the scene just under the major ones. Prestige and DPW shutting down will be a massive hit to the American Indie scene and leave some really talented wrestlers with fewer options, especially with TNA now working closer with WWE. Deathmatch wrestling also had a weird year, with MLW and GCW staying eternally in a weird bubble, and with BJW across the Pacific having to scale back due to financial issues. Yet, some of the year’s highest critical peaks came in places like FREEDOMS and ACTION when it came to ultraviolence. A weird year all around. 

This list is here just to log my favorites of the year. There, of course, is an inherent bias that you will see in my list, but I feel it is important to say again. THIS IS JUST MY OPINION! You could do this list 20 different ways. You can bet I did this list over multiple times before settling on this. Let us start with honorable mentions. 

Honorable Mentions 

Jun Kasai vs El Desperado vs Masashi Takeda – Barb Sasaki Tribute Show

Yuya Uemura vs Yota Tsuji – G1 Climax 

Will Ospreay vs Kyle Fletcher – Revolution

Will Ospreay and Swerve Strickland vs The Young Bucks – All In

Mistico vs MJF – CMLL 92 Annivesario (the only CMLL show I could watch)

Christopher Daniels vs Hangman Adam Page  – Collision

Also, anything else out of CMLL

(edit after World’s End) 

Jon Moxley vs Kyle Fletcher – AEW World’s End 

There is a world this would have made the list but this match is too fresh in my memory to put it anywhere for now

Let’s start the list!

10. Zack Sabre Jr. vs Nigel McGuinness – Forbidden Door 2025 

Old Nigel McGuinness might just be one of my favorite wrestlers to watch. The epitome of a special attraction whenever I see him. What always stands out for me is just how smooth he still is. I already wrote a whole article on this match and where it places in Nigel’s career, which you can see on WSUM, but let’s add some new context on this. Zack is always a more vicious technical wrestler. His strategy is to hurt with holds and to break people down. Nigel, in this match, is looking way more to outsmart the younger Sabre Jr. He hits him hard for sure, but the match is built on McGuinness having a whole bag of tricks that he will rely on till his last breath to outlast Zack. It is just fluid in the ways I love to watch Nigel and Zack Sabre Jr. In the end, Zack just caught Nigel in the pin, and it was over. The younger man just outsmarts him and is faster. That is what it came down to in the end. Nigel just did not have the extra step on him, except for one glorious moment. I remember seeing the turnaround lariat mid taunt from Nigel in this match live and literally jumping up and screaming in joy. A perfect moment and one of the best of the year. That lariat alone might have been enough to put it in the list, but the dream matchup aspect and seeing Nigel wrestle Zack in the UK, with Johnny Saint and Marty Jones in attendance. I might not be British, but you still feel the history of that event when you rewatch it. 

9. Brodido vs FTR – Full Gear 2025 

I am still trying to process this match, but man, the sadness I felt at the end of this match was the exact emotion they wanted you to feel. FTR are truly the Brainbusters of our time. They are a perfect throwback tag team for the modern era. It is lower on this list because I know this is going to lead to ADAM COPELAND IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD 2025….anyway. I will always pop for FTR being great heels or throwback babyfaces as hard-nosed, working-class heroes. This match, though, is all about Brodido. The tag team of the year. Easily. They never had a bad match. Nothing comes even close to that. The initial FTR match was good, but the culmination of all of this was Bandido triumphantly standing up and trying to fight on like Brody wants him to. The final symphony of Brody helping Bandido gain confidence in himself because he does not want to let Brody down. It is perfect. This whole match has some of the best near-falls of the year. Bandido is incredible and I have not heard a good reason, outside of time, for why he should not be the AEW Men’s World champ in the near future. He is so physical and emotional in how he sells and presents himself and his run in ROH remains a shining reason as to why the promotion still has a place in our zeitgeist in 2025. I feel like I am shortchanging Brody King, who is presented as a brickhouse of power here and absolutely deserves credit. This match, though, lives and dies through one of the best performances in a tag match I have seen in recent memory. FTR plays a great spoiler and Brodido proves why they were such a guarantee as a team. 

8. Hangman Adam Page vs Jon Moxley – All In 2025 

The moment of the year. When Mox taps and the whole crowd erupts, you feel everything click. It reminds you why people love wrestling. The fact that it is, for better or worse, an uninterrupted story where years can go by all to culminate at one place. Hangman understands that maybe better than anyone in the world right now. When you pair him up with someone who also has that same adoration for detail, that is what you get. I don’t have the personal connection to Hangman that a lot do, despite my love for his matches and storyline. That is the only reason why this is not in the top five, where everyone is probably placing this match. For me, the best detail is that every run-in on Hangman’s side never touches Mox. They only deal with the things that Hangman should not have to deal with. They let him deal with Mox himself because they know he can do it. When Nana handcuffs Marina to the ring post, a genuine scream-out-loud moment for me over there. Hangman has had a wonderful year and so has Mox. This entry really is an adoration for Mox over anything because this is the only placement of his on the list. He is incredible at what he does and if it were not for some truly awful main events to start the year, he would have run away with Wrestler of the Year honors. 

7. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Yota Tsuji – G1 Climax 35 Day 11

Tanahashi’s retirement run was a shining light in what was a really weird year for New Japan. Goto did some great work as a champ before getting injured and Zack took over again. That part was weird but relatively alright to me in the end. I like Zack but recently his main event style in New Japan has soured on me. Then there is that midcard, which, to put it very lightly, needs a lot of work. I could write articles on how much I do not like watching EVIL and the House of Torture shenanigan circus. El Desperado had a great run with the Jr. Heavyweight belt despite the division being quite depleted before he was done in by said House of Torture shenanigans. They never fully committed to the younger stars they have developed, like Uemura and especially Tsuji. We end up at where we are now with the push for Takeshita as a face despite him quite clearly working better as an outsider heel, but sure, this is where we are right now. (This was written before Wrestle Kingdom 20, so Tsuji Nation is up!!!!!!!!!!!!)

This match was an incredible look at the future, though. I did like their match on the homecoming show, but this match was a few minutes away from being so much higher. Where this match is right now is just a great example of what I liked about Tanahashi’s retirement run. Him playing the hits whilst lifting up so many people with him. Tsuji looks like a million bucks here and you can see it on full display. This crowd wants to see both of them win, even through the several chants of Tana’s name. Tsuji’s knee might be my favorite in current wrestling. He has a certain speed with it that reminds me of Omega in his prime. In a similar way to Sabre Jr. vs McGuinness, Tanahashi instead works on outsmarting Tsuji, but since he still thinks of himself as the ace, he takes those huge risks. They sometimes do not pay off, especially with that missed High Fly Flow with such a sickening thud to his knees on the canvas. In the end, Tanahashi has just enough in his tank to be better on that night and get his 100th G1 win. A great little match in what was maybe the worst G1 Climax in recent memory. Cannot believe someone saw this match and thought that EVIL was the choice to leave the block on top and into the finals.

6. Nigel McGuinness vs Lee Moriarty – ROH Final Battle 2025 

I am still fully processing this match, but this is why Nigel is an all-timer. To this day, even at his age, no one can wrestle like Nigel and make you feel for every heel tactic he pulls out. We cheer when he pulls the tights to get roll-ups. We root for him even when he brags. That is the Nigel we want to see. Moriarty is also an undeniable superstar. Someone who definitely deserves Nigel’s torch, which firmly gets passed here. Almost literally, with him giving Moriarty the old ROH Pure Title, a championship McGuinness fought for in any way possible. The climax of this match is one of the best in an Iron Man match ever. The story of McGuinness tapping out quickly to the Border City Stretch to avoid as much damage to him, pulling fast ones on Moriarty until that final minute, where Taylor has to cheat to send the match to OT after Nigel thinks he has won. The exact type of thing that a time limit is for. It creates urgency and pace organically. Moriarty literally wrestles like some of Nigel’s best rivals here. A technical edge like Danielson with a bit of high flying and a vibrant personality (maybe not to the same level as Jimmy Rave, but some parts for sure). In the end though? Moriarty is just a really cool person and looks like one of the best in the world here. If this was Nigel’s last match, I don’t think it could have gone down any better. 

5 – Brodido vs Okada and Takeshita – Wrestledream 2025 

I think I screamed at 20 different false finishes in this match. The peak of the tag style in 2025, which includes that incredible Bucks VS Swerve and Ospreay match. Bandido is incredible. Brody King is incredible. Takeshita is incredible. Okada is incredible. Now, have all those guys in a tag match against each other and you get sheer brilliance. This is the Bandido match. His shoulder selling gets really hard to watch at points and the payoff at the end when he hits a one-armed 21 plex and pins Okada? Perfect. I still feel he should have won the match on Dynamite. If he does not win a belt in AEW soon, I feel like a massive opportunity has been squandered. Ring of Honor has thrived with him holding their world title. He has proven he can carry a promotion while it goes through rough times to where we are now with the PPVs Ring of Honor produced being these massive high points for the year. Brodido should never break up. They do not need to. This whole story hinges on Brody believing in a man who struggles to believe in himself despite being one of the best in the world. The story between Okada and Takeshita is also great. I thought we would get more finality at World’s End than we did. For where this match is right now, it is maybe one of the best tag title defenses in AEW’s history and it proves what a shot in the arm Brodido was to AEW. 

4 – Hangman Page vs Will Ospreay – AEW Double or Nothing 2025 

A simple one to explain really. What can I say that has not been said by a lot of other voices in the space? I think this show gets a lot of credit for turning around the fortunes of AEW this year. I would not agree fully with that statement, but this show might be their most complete offering of the year, capped off with this. I remember watching this on my phone in the living room of the apartment I just moved into. I was just simply blown away by the sheer magnitude of it all. Ospreay and Hangman had one of my favorite Face vs Face matches of all time through paying off the exceptional build and segments before it. That shootout between the Hidden Blade and Buckshot is the best pure wrestling spot of the year. All the nearfalls and storytelling with both trying to prove they are the man to carry All Elite Wrestling. It was exceptional. I debated when it happened whether Hangman was the right choice. After the year he has had, he undoubtedly was. Ospreay will be coming back with a vengeance in 2026 and I cannot wait for that. For now, let us just appreciate what happened here. Sheer poetry in motion and a match with spots I still think about to this very day. Proof that two good guys can go in a ring and tell an exceptional story without having to betray their characters and still provide heavy emotional stakes. 

3 – Saya Kamitani vs Tam Nakano – Stardom All Star Grand Queendom 2025 

When Kamitani pins Nakano at the end of this match, I nearly broke down in the middle of WSUM. I watched this match in the lobby and people must have thought I was going crazy. I cannot help it though. Saya Kamitani was the MVP of 2025 in a lot of ways, but especially with her style of wrestling fully capitalizing on emotion and dragging every single part of her opponent with her. She had some great matches with AZM, Natsupoi and so many others from the roster that Stardom has rebuilt with the Phenex Queen front and center. Nothing reached the emotional peaks of this match though. The story starts from Dream Queendom, with Kamitani trying to kick her mentor out of the promotion where she was a star and succeeding. That first match itself was emotional when Tam lost and, according to the stipulation, had to leave the promotion where she was a star. That logically could have been the end of Tam, but then they put their careers on the line. The Grand Queendom match is hard-hitting, back and forth, along with a visual contrast of Tam dressed in all white and Saya in her classic all black. Saya, within ten minutes, starts trying to choke Nakano with a chain after dropping her on her head several times. Then they just start hitting each other with shots that echo throughout the Yokohama Arena. Then the final image of the two being Saya cozying and hugging Nakano after ending her career? Perfection. Saya broke the ceiling and became the first woman to win Tokyo Sports MVP in 2025 and her finest masterpiece was this match. What a career for Tam Nakano; her energy will always be missed in Stardom. A singular star who shone through all of the people around her, leaving and moving in and out of the promotion and the main event scene. We miss her always, but what a match to go out on. 

2 – The Hollywood Ending – Toni Storm vs Mariah May – AEW Revolution 2025 

Biggest criticism out of the way, this should have been the main event. Insane thing that Tony Khan chose the most underwhelming main event of the year between Jon Moxley and Cope with a cheap Christian Cage cash-in over a match that literally ends with the curtains and a massive ‘THE END’ title screen. That is not the match’s fault. 

This might be one of the best stories in the history of pro wrestling. From start to end, Mariah May was in AEW to be around Toni Storm. Starting as an obsessive fan whom Toni dismissed to becoming her on-screen lover, while Toni became the most popular face of the company. She was all over their promotional stuff. She still is. 

I guess this is where I also have to explain to the non-wrestling fans what ‘Timeless’ Toni Storm is as a character. The best description is she is an old-timey movie star in the image of Bette Davis and Gloria Swanson, who is openly queer and played by someone who is bisexual in real life. She makes crude references and is flanked by her butler, Luther, and she has been one of the best things in wrestling ever since she appeared on our screens. Along with being an incredible wrestler, she is one of the best talkers going right now. Someone who can reliably make you laugh, but when the emotional stakes need to be raised, she more than delivers. 

The storyline of Mariah’s betrayal of Toni was perfect. Toni building herself back up and winning the title back in her native Australia was also great, but this match is another level. The culmination of both the storyline and Mariah’s time in the company. It was brutal. The shots with the belt that Mariah and Toni exchanged. The champagne bottles that they drank together were crushed and used as weapons. The shoe that Mariah stole from Toni to betray her is used against her in one of the best moments of the year. A storyline built on Toni’s hesitation to get revenge on the woman she loved, finally ending with her mirroring the way Mariah betrayed her. The violent end to one of the best storylines in wrestling history. 

1 – Jun Kasai vs El Desperado – NJPW Death Pain Invitational 2025 

If there was a theme this year for my matches of the year, it would be the violent end of rivalries built out of love. Nakano loved and mentored Saya before Saya betrayed her and retired her in one of the hardest-hitting matches of the year. Toni and Mariah were in a relationship with each other before Mariah violently betrayed her, culminating in one of the most brutal death matches in mainstream American wrestling. In this match, love is the driving force throughout it all. 

Desperado and Kasai had one of my favorite matches of all time in 2022. I wrote an article about it on WSUM if you want the full context, but the basics are this. Kasai is an icon of the deathmatch, while El Desperado came in as one of the best Junior Heavyweights in the world. Desperado admired Kasai and said that he did not mind dying as long as he beat Kasai. 

Throughout that match in 2022, Kasai tries to break Desperado, but he just cannot. Desperado pushes himself to his limits and finally beats Kasai after an all-out war involving glass and razor blades (we are talking about proper insane stuff here). At the end of that match, Desperado thanked Kasai before Kasai told Desperado that dying is not worth it and he needs to live for everyone around him. Deathmatch wrestling was never for those who wanted to die; it was for those who wanted to live despite all of the hardships. That message has stayed throughout and Desperado and Kasai went from rivals to friends. They wrestled on the same team multiple times. Desperado became more involved in deathmatches. Heck, the momentum of this match got Kasai into a New Japan ring, something that would have been ridiculous even three years before that. Then, Barb Sasaki, a beloved deathmatch referee, had his tribute show, headlined by a three-way between Masashi Takeda, Jun Kasai and El Desperado. Another all-out war that made the honorable mentions, Kasai pins Desperado, whilst Desperado is the NJPW Jr. Heavyweight champion. Then, he pins him again in a tag match in Kasai’s home promotion, FREEDOMS. Then, a red envelope and a rose, inviting Desperado to a one-on-one. He could not say no. All of this was heightened by Desperado saying this might be his last death match ever, as the trials and tribulations of the style were affecting his commitments as an athletic Junior in New Japan. 

I could talk about this match for ages and what every part of it means in the story, but honestly, that is not necessary. From the outside, it is one of the best deathmatches by pure spots alone. Kasai jumps from a ladder through lightubes and all the roses combined with the shards of glass that litter the ring create a certain beauty to the chaos. From the story, it adds though, this might be my favorite deathmatch of all time. The show itself came with the tag line “I’m so glad I met you,” and despite all of that, no shots are pulled. People are thrown through boards and light tubes and so much more, yet there is an underlying love between the competitors. They even kiss (this is a class Jun Kasai move). The final stretch of this match is one of my favorites of all time and the final promo where they promise each other one final match 10 years later with the same red envelope that kicked all of this off is perfect. This match is not for the faint of heart. It does genuinely get hard to watch at points. However, I love that a match style filled with so much hate in its construction can be twisted into a story that conveys love. Many matches have done that, especially at the hands of Kasai, but this one especially emanates that love for the style and each other that I simply cannot deny. That is why this violent bout is my match of the year for 2025.