Tag: Year in Review

Dave Meltzer’s top-rated matches of 2025

Posted on by Josh Nason

Image: Ring of Honor

With the year officially wrapped up and with the posting of last week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter, we now have Dave Meltzer’s complete set of match ratings for the entirety of 2025.

Of the thousands of matches that took place over the year, Dave rated 40 of them as either five stars or above — the full list of which can be found below. From AEW to NJPW to Ring of Honor to WWE, you’ll find them all here. (Big thanks to Cagematch for making them very sortable for exercises like this.)

And, as a personal editor’s note, ratings and reviews are subjective and shouldn’t affect your ability to enjoy what you like from wherever you like. Keep that in mind the next time you log into your social media platform of choice.

And now, Dave Meltzer’s top-rated pro wrestling matches of 2025:

5 stars:

40) Jon Moxley vs. Kyle Fletcher Continental Classic finals | AEW Worlds End | December 27

39) Komander vs. World Historic Welterweight Champion Mascara Dorada | CMLL Domingo Familiar | November 23

38) TNT Champion Kyle Fletcher vs. Mark Briscoe no DQ | AEW Full Gear | November 22

37) AEW World Tag Team Champions Brodido vs. FTR | AEW Full Gear | November 22

36) Men’s Blood & Guts match | AEW Dynamite | November 12

35) AEW World Tag Team Champions Brodido vs. Kazuchika Okada & Konosuke Takeshita | AEW WrestleDream | October 18

34) Torneo Cibernetico | CMLL Grand Prix International | August 29

33) Death Riders & Young Bucks vs. Darby Allin, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kenny Omega, Will Ospreay & Kota Ibushi Lights Out cage match | AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door | August 24

32) Cody Rhodes vs. WWE Champion John Cena street fight | WWE SummerSlam | August 3

31) TNT Champion Dustin Rhodes vs. Kyle Fletcher street fight | AEW Collision | July 31

30) Mascara Dorada vs. Neon Torneo La Leyenda De Plata finals | CMLL Viernes Espectacular | July 25

29) Bandido & Hologram vs. Mascara Dorada & Mistico | CMLL Fantastica Mania | June 20

28) ROH World Champion Bandido vs. Mascara Dorada | CMLL Martes Populares | June 17

27) Anarchy in the Arena | AEW Double or Nothing | May 25

26) Motor City Machine Guns vs. WWE Tag Team Champions Street Profits vs. DIY TLC match | WWE SmackDown | April 25

25) WWE Women’s Champion IYO SKY vs. Rhea Ripley vs. Bianca Belair | WWE WrestleMania 41 | April 20

24) Will Ospreay vs. Kyle Fletcher steel cage match | AEW Revolution | March 9

23) AEW International Champion Konosuke Takeshita vs. Kenny Omega | AEW Revolution | March 9

22) AEW Women’s World Champion Toni Storm vs. Mariah May Hollywood Ending match | AEW Revolution | March 9

21) Saya Kamitani vs. Tam Nakano loser leaves town | Stardom Nighter in Korakuen | March 3

20) Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn unsanctioned match | WWE Elimination Chamber | March 1

19) Kenny Omega & Will Ospreay vs. Konosuke Takeshita & Kyle Fletcher | AEW Grand Slam Australia | February 15

18) IWGP Global Champion Yota Tsuji vs. Gabe Kidd | NJPW New Beginning in Osaka | February 11

17) AZM, Miyu Amasaki & Starlight Kid vs. Natsupoi, Saori Anou & Tam Nakano | Stardom 14th Anniversary Supreme Fight | February 2 | *****

More than 5 stars:

16) Kyle Fletcher vs. Mike Bailey | AEW Dynamite: Winter is Coming | December 10 | ***** 1/4

15) AEW World Champion Hangman Page vs. Kyle Fletcher | AEW All Out | September 20 | ***** 1/4

14) AEW Unified Champion Kazuchika Okada vs. Konosuke Takeshita vs. Mascara Dorada | AEW All Out | September 20 | ***** 1/4

13) Sareee vs. IWGP Women’s Champion Syuri | Stardom The Conversion | June 21 | ***** 1/4

12) Swerve Strickland vs. Will Ospreay | AEW Dynamite: Summer Blockbuster | June 11 | ***** 1/4

11) Kosei Fujita vs. YOH | NJPW Best of the Super Juniors finals | June 1 | ***** 1/4

10) Saya Kamitani vs. Tam Nakano career vs. career | Stardom All-Star Grand Queendom | April 27 | ***** 1/4

9) Kenny Omega vs. Gabe Kidd | NJPW Wrestle Dynasty | January 5 | ***** 1/4

8) IWGP World Champion Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Konosuke Takeshita | NJPW King of Pro Wrestling | October 13 | ***** 1/2

7) Mistico vs. MJF mask vs. title | CMLL 92nd Anniversario | September 19 | ***** 1/2

6) ROH World Champion Bandido vs. Hechicero | ROH Death Before Dishonor | August 29 | ***** 1/2

5) AEW World Champion Jon Moxley vs. Hangman Page Texas Death Match | AEW All In | July 12 | ***** 1/2

4) Young Bucks vs. Swerve Strickland & Will Ospreay | AEW All In | July 12 | ***** 1/2

3) Hangman Page vs. Will Ospreay Owen Hart tournament finals | AEW Double or Nothing | May 25 | ***** 1/2

2) Konosuke Takeshita vs. Will Ospreay Owen Hart tournament semifinals | AEW Dynamite: Spring BreakThru | April 16 | ***** 1/2

And Dave Meltzer’s top-rated match of 2025 is…

ROH World Champion Bandido vs. Konosuke Takeshita | July 11 | ROH Supercard of Honor | ***** 3/4

From that week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter:

“With all the great wrestling from this past weekend in the U.S., which had two other very legit match of the year contenders, the match of the weekend was Bandido retaining his ROH title over Konosuke Takeshita on the 7/11 Supercard of Honor show.

The show wasn’t going to have a lot of impact given all the other higher profile events, but that match was among the best bouts I’ve ever seen. Takeshita is always great and the two showed excellent chemistry in their television tag match. I do worry about Takeshita working a harder schedule than most, especially with G-1 coming, and with all the stuff he does at his size. Bandido clearly got his confidence back working as a headliner in Mexico and it’s transferred to the U.S. He lost prime years of his career with a broken wrist that required two surgeries, and then got a concussion as soon as he was cleared.

It was great from start-to-finish, built well and the last few minutes were unreal. This was basically the ultimate in the modern style with everything fans who like that style love and everything people who hate the style complain about.”

    The Wrestling Observer/Figure Four Online top ten most viewed news stories of 2025

    Posted on by Josh Nason

    Image: WWE

    With 2025 officially in the books, let’s take a look back at our most viewed news stories of last year — a list that featured a lot of WWE news and some quotable quotes.

    What’s interesting to me is that these weren’t the biggest stories of the wrestling year (Hulk Hogan’s death, John Cena’s final match, the ESPN/Peacock changes, Brock Lesnar’s surprise return, etc.). Rather, these were stories coming out of those stories, showing how powerful social media has become when breaking big news and garnering immediate reaction.

    Note that none of these are live event posts, but just straight news.

    Number 10

    John Cena’s final opponent confirmed for WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event

    This was a pretty straightforward December post: Gunther winning The Last Time is Now tournament to earn the shot at beating John Cena in his final match. Cena’s final run was newsworthy enough, but the confirmation of who he would be facing making our list.

    Number 9

    Report: Natural Disasters to be inducted into WWE Hall of Fame

    This one was a surprise to me to make our top ten: a March report about the late Earthquake and Typhoon (aka the Natural Disasters) being set for induction into the WWE Hall of Fame class. Who knew 1990s tag team were that popular, huh?

    Number 8

    Karrion Kross and Scarlett’s first post-WWE appearance announced

    A big story during the middle part of the year was the plight of Karrion Kross & Scarlett after their departure from WWE and whether the whole thing was a work. Apparently, it wasn’t and the announcement of their first post-WWE appearance got a lot of attention.

    Number 7

    WWE & Vince McMahon file appeal to prevent discovery in Janel Grant lawsuit

    The Janel Grant lawsuit against Vince McMahon and WWE continued to progress throughout 2025 with one specific story in June standing out: McMahon and WWE filing an appeal to prevent discovery, claiming Grant “has failed to meet the legal standard for pre-arbitration discovery and is also trying to seek unrelated documents relating to the question if Grant signed the NDA under duress.”

    Number 6

    Subscriber exclusive: John Cena’s final opponent revealed

    This was an October Dave Meltzer exclusive for our subscribers that Gunther would be Cena’s final opponent, determined via a yet to be announced tournament.

    Number 5

    Stephanie McMahon confirms role for John Cena’s final WWE match

    With Cena’s final match date official, Stephanie McMahon wanted the WWE fans to know she would be in attendance, revealing in a November interview with Megan Morant that she was going to be co-hosting Saturday Night’s Main Event alongside Joe Tessitore.

    Number 4

    Triple H says he’s ‘incredibly proud’ of CM Punk for apologizing to Saudi Arabia

    In case you didn’t hear, CM Punk made his first appearance in Saudi Arabia in June, competing against then-WWE Champion John Cena at Night of Champions. He also apologized to their fans for his “mean tweet” during a pre-event pep rally of sorts in the country — all of which made headlines considering how opposed Punk had publicly been in the past about WWE and the Saudi shows.

    His boss, however, was impressed with what Punk did and said as much after the event ended.

    Number 3

    WWE star announces break from social media following Hulk Hogan comments

    That star was Chelsea Green who got some heat in July after making some positive comments about Hulk Hogan during a media appearance to promote WWE Unreal when she was asked about his death. She later apologizing on X after saying she got death threats and that she was taking a break from social media.

    Number 2

    Stephanie McMahon says Vince McMahon is probably his own ‘biggest nemesis’

    The runner-up for the most viewed story was Stephanie McMahon talking about her dad on her ‘What’s Your Story?’ podcast in June while chatting with WWE president Nick Khan. In talking about Vince’s legacy and in response to a Khan statement about how “Family’s complicated. And, you know, obviously, we don’t need to get into any of that,” Stephanie somewhat did get into it without going any deeper.

    “Absolutely he is [an empire builder],” she responded. “And no one can take that away from him, no matter what, including himself, who is probably his biggest nemesis — is himself.”

    And our most viewed story of 2025 was:

    Bret Hart says Vince McMahon ‘used wrestling as a backdrop for all of his evil’

    Bret Hart made a podcast appearance back in June where he was asked about his old boss Vince McMahon possibly returning to the business.

    Among his various quotes was this one where he was asked about the allegations against Vince and John Laurinaitis as part of the Janel Grant lawsuit:

    “Shame on all of them. I mean, that’s just terrible. I’ve had ups and downs with Vince McMahon, and in a lot of ways I have a lot of respect for him, but at the same time I find what happened there inexcusable. There’s no place for that. I think Vince McMahon became a predator and used wrestling as his backdrop for all of his, sort of, evil. And it just tells me that too much money can turn you into a bad person.”

    Our top viewed AEW news story (#17) was from December where Chris Jericho addressed some of the WWE move rumors, saying he was “pretty sure” he’d be wrestling somewhere in 2026 without saying WWE. After that, it was another Jericho story (his upcoming cruise not featuring any AEW talent), the announcement of an ROH Women’s TV title unification match, Matt Jackson talking about a revival of Being The Elite, and the Young Bucks returning to aid Jon Moxley at April’s Dynasty.

    JNPO: July 2025 wrestling year in review – Hulk Hogan passes away, AEW All In

    Posted on by Josh Nason

    Image: WWE

    The Josh Nason’s Punch-Out pro wrestling year in review series continues with a stop in July — arguably the busiest month of the year when it came to news.

    That’s because Hulk Hogan passed away which brought out a lot of big feelings, memories and a lot of mainstream media attention.

    The month also featured AEW All In which saw Hangman Page end the night as World Champion in addition to a lot of newsworthy happenings.

    July also saw the retirement of Bill Goldberg on the same show in which Seth Rollins got “injured” which also saw its own torrent of speculation, news, and conjecture.

    Helping me sift through that and a few hundred headlines is returning guest Jason Powell of ProWrestling.net which includes the rest of the news in AEW, WWE, NXTNAAA, Japan, Mexico and more.

    Click here to listen for free, also available on both Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

    Past episodes:

    JNPO: June 2025 wrestling year in review – Mr. Punk heads to Saudi Arabia

    Posted on by Josh Nason

    On a new Josh Nason’s Punch-Out, the best pro wrestling year in review podcast series from here to there continues with a stop in June 2025 and returning guest Kate Elizabeth of Fightful.

    June featured another WWE trip to Saudi Arabia but this time with a new passenger: CM Punk. We talk about the controversy in his first visit, his apology when he arrived, and all the hubbub around it.

    The month also featured R-Truth’s run in WWE coming to an end…for about a week. Remember this story? We do.

    Josh and Kate also talk AEW Grand Slam Mexico, all the happenings in NXTNAAA, Japan, and the rest of the pro wrestling world.

    If it was important in June, we talk about it here.

    Click here to listen for free or stream on either Spotify or Apple Podcasts (currently processing), also for free.

    Past episodes:

    JNPO: May 2025 wrestling year in review – AEW Double or Nothing, WWE cuts, RIP Sabu

    Posted on by Josh Nason

    Image: JJ Williams

    On a new Josh Nason’s Punch-Out, the best pro wrestling year in review podcast series from here to there continues with a stop in May 2025.

    Returning for this second go-round is Mr. Warren Hayes of Voices of Wrestling and his own YouTube channel for an extended play edition of the show.

    Josh and Warren talk about AEW Double or Nothing, a show that saw two Owen Hart tournament winners, a big round of WWE cuts and events like Backlash and Saturday Night’s Main Event, all the happenings in NXTNAAA, Japan and the rest of the wrestling world.

    Of course, they talk about the passing of Sabu at just 60 years old.

    Over 300 headlines are scoured and discussed, so get out of that turkey coma and join them on the fifth entry into the year in review series.

    Click here to listen for free or stream for free on either Spotify or Apple Podcasts (search Wrestling Observer).

    Past episodes:

    JNPO: March 2025 wrestling year in review – Cena’s heel turn, that AEW Revolution main event finish

    Posted on by Josh Nason

    Image: WWE

    On a new Josh Nason’s Punch-Out, the best pro wrestling year in review podcast series from here to the Andromeda Galaxy rolls on with a stop in March 2025.

    Rejoining the show for his yearly visit is Rich Fann of Pro Wrestling Torch and Post Wrestling.

    The guys go for an hour going through 300+ topics including:

    • The John Cena heel turn at Elimination Chamber powered (briefly) by The Rock and subsequent follow-up
    • Several other key WWE returns
    • AEW’s first PPV of the calendar year with a main event finish no one was into
    • TNA continuing to make changes with the dismissal of Gail Kim
    • NXT title changes
    • The Chris Bey bey-nefit show…and so much more.

    Click here to listen for free or stream for free on either Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

    Past episodes:

    JNPO wrestling year in review series: The grand finale

    Posted on by Josh Nason

    Image: WWE

    The final installment of the fourth-ever Josh Nason’s Punch-Out pro wrestling year in review series has arrived with a stop in December.

    Joining me is Paul Fontaine, my co-host of the now-departed annual MMA year in review series.

    Among the many topics we delve into:

    • The return of WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event and prospects for the near future
    • The beginning of the promotional push of WWE to Netflix
    • AEW holds their final pay-per-view of the year with Worlds End
    • Tessa Blanchard makes her return to TNA
    • NJPW builds to a big two-show weekend
    • The rest of the big news in WWE, NXT, AEW, ROH, the indies, and more

    Click here to listen

    Here’s the rest of the series thus far:

    JNPO wrestling year in review series: Ricky Starks’ strange month, CM Punk owed a favor, AEW/GCW drama

    Posted on by Josh Nason

    Image: AEW

    The Josh Nason’s Punch-Out pro wrestling year in review series arrives in November with returning guest Rich Kraetsch of Voices of Wrestling.

    Even though we cover things that happened just last month, there was a lot to dissect and talk about including:

    • WWE Survivor Series, CM Punk being owed a favor from Paul Heyman for joining the OG Bloodline WarGames team, and all that could mean for WrestleMania 41
    • A relatively newsless AEW Full Gear which saw the in-ring debut of Big Boom AJ of The Costco Guys
    • The very strange month of Ricky Starks which included a long interview, a big GCW entrance and him subsequently getting pulled from future GCW shows due to comments by Effy
    • AEW booking the Hammerstein Ballroom for three straight nights which irked GCW a tad
    • All the other notable headlines of the month which included Crown Jewel, two new WWE women’s titles, the first slate of WWE ID prospects, plus TNA, NJPW and the best of the rest.

    Click here to listen (no sub needed)

    Here’s the rest of the series thus far:

    JNPO wrestling year in review series: AEW gets their new TV deal, WWE gets ‘Bad’ bloody

    Posted on by Josh Nason

    As the end of the year approaches, so does our pro wrestling year in review series with a stop in October and first-time guest Denise Salcedo of Instinct Culture and this very website.

    For an hour, Denise and I go through all the big happenings from my favorite month of the year including:

    • Tony Khan “securing the bag” as he put it, officially signing a multi-year AEW TV renewal with WBD with a streaming/library component
    • WWE truly going old school with a bloody and violent Hell in a Cell match between CM Punk and Drew McIntyre at Bad Blood
    • The serious injury that befell TNA star Chris Bey that still remains a bit of a mystery
    • WWE NXT debuting on The CW
    • The best of the rest from WWE, AEW, TNA, Japan, Mexico, and the indies

    Click here to listen (no sub needed)

    Here’s the rest of the series thus far:

    JNPO wrestling year in review series: Do you remember September?

    Posted on by Josh Nason

    Image: AEW

    In the latest entry in the pro wrestling year in review series on Josh Nason’s Punch-Out, we arrive in September and I guess a little earth, wind and fire if I can shoehorn that reference in.

    Davie Portman of POST Wrestling and Poisonrana rejoins us for the third straight year to look at a fun 30-day stretch as we headed into fall.

    Amongst our many topics discussed:

    • AEW All Out which saw an extremely violent cage match between Swerve Strickland and Hangman Page, and the Blackpool Combat Club turning on Bryan Danielson
    • The debut of the Mr. McMahon docuseries on Netflix and all the fallout from that including an outpouring of sympathy for Shane McMahon
    • Even more TNA/NXT crossover
    • Hundreds of other headlines and news from WWE, AEW, NJPW, TNA and the rest of the wrestling world

    Click here to listen

    Here’s the rest of the series thus far:

    Wrestling Observer Live: AEW Continental Classic’s final days, year in review thoughts

    Posted on by Josh Hamlin

    On a brand-new Wrestling Observer Live, let’s go through the latest in the AEW Continental Classic, shall we?

    On today’s show, I dissect all that happened on Saturday’s Christmas Collision which included Ricochet and Claudio Castagnoli taking firm control of the Gold league. I didn’t love how we got there with one of them, so let’s talk about it.

    Also, one Blue league match got a “this is awesome” chant while a Gold league match surprisingly didn’t. I talk about being perhaps too chained to history when it comes to certain matchups.

    AEW Worlds End is coming up this Saturday and I do a quick-hit preview of some of what’s been announced.

    I wrap things up with an extended look back at some of the big stories and under-the-radar developments that made 2024 another interesting year.

    Get all that and a little bit more on a new & free Wrestling Observer Live.

    Click here to listen

    JNPO wrestling year in review series: AEW All In, WWE SummerSlam & a very busy August

    Posted on by Josh Nason

    Image: AEW

    The latest entry into the Punch-Out 2024 wrestling year in review series has arrived with a stop in August.

    Joining me for her yearly appearance is Fightful’s Kate Elizabeth as we go 90 minutes dissecting a very busy 31 days which included:

    • AEW All In which saw Bryan Danielson stave off retirement and win the AEW World title amid growing concerns about his physical state
    • WWE SummerSlam which saw the return of Roman Reigns, setting up the beginning of the latest chapter in the years-long Bloodline storyline
    • The beginnings of rumblings the Lucha Bros were WWE-bound
    • The passing of Sid Vicious and Kevin Sullivan
    • The big news from TNA, ROH, NXT, Japan and the rest of the world

    Click here to listen

    Here’s the rest of the series thus far:

    JNPO wrestling year in review series: Arrivals, departures, ladders & airport meetings

    Posted on by Josh Nason

    The second half of the Josh Nason’s Punch-Out pro wrestling year in review series continues with July and debuting guest Jack Farmer, a wrestling media free agent formerly of Wrestling Inc.

    Jack and I go in-depth on all kinds of happenings including:

    • WWE Money in the Bank where CM Punk again shafted Drew McIntyre
    • The significance of WWE signing Stephanie Vaquer and moving away from Bobby Lashley and MVP
    • The announcement of the ’25 John Cena retirement tour
    • AEW putting all the big matches in place for August’s All In
    • MJF winning the AEW International title and subsequently renaming it
    • The Shane McMahon/Tony Khan meeting
    • Continuing crossovers in NXTNA and two big WWE stars heading to Japan for matches
    • Hundreds of other headlines and topics

    Click here to listen

    Here’s the rest of the series thus far:

    JNPO wrestling year in review series: Punk-led clashes & a newly-opened forbidden door

    Posted on by Josh Nason

    Image: WWE

    We’re at the halfway point of my annual JNPO wrestling year in review series, hitting on the month of June.

    Joining me for the first time is Garrett Kidney of the ‘You’ve Got To Be Kidding Me‘ podcast looking back at TNA history one month at a time.

    Some of the many topics we hit upon in this hour include:

    • WWE Clash at the Castle which saw CM Punk screw hometown favorite Drew McIntyre out of winning the WWE World Heavyweight title
    • The annual AEW x NJPW x CMLL Forbidden Door which saw Will Ospreay take his first AEW loss, the return of Britt Baker, and several other new champions
    • The launch of the ‘NXTNA’ era as WWE and TNA began an unexpected partnership
    • WWE further expanding their interpromotional relationships with NOAH and Marigold

    All that and lots more of the news you somewhat remember and that you also forgot awaits you with a click below:

    Click here to listen

    Here’s the rest of the series:

    JNPO wrestling year in review series: Bad cage jumps, flamethrowers & restaurant fights

    Posted on by Josh Nason

    Image: AEW

    Josh Nason’s Punch-Out nears the halfway mark in my annual 12-part pro wrestling year in review series with a stop in May featuring returning guest Andrew Thompson of Post Wrestling.

    Andrew & I go deep (two hours and 30 minutes~!) into happenings like:

    • AEW Double or Nothing which saw the use of flamethrowers, an unfortunate landing off a barbed wire cage jump by Adam Copeland, the return of MJF and the in-ring debut of Mercedes Mone
    • Two international WWE PLEs
    • Some moving and shaking with big WWE contracts
    • Lots of early AEW TV rights headlines and rumors, and WWE TV developments
    • Marigold’s debut show
    • The surprise NXT debut of Ethan Page…and lots more in WWE, AEW, NJPW, TNA and the wrestling world.

    Click here to listen

    Here’s the rest of the series: