WWE, AEW year-end power rankings: Who really dominated the conversation in 2025? We did the math

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Who were the most dominant professional wrestlers of 2025? Each month this year, we’ve run our regular power rankings, with a few extra ones thrown in to celebrate some of the big events along the way. So as we bid farewell to 2025, we’ve tallied all of those scores together to form the most decisive list so far as to who controlled the narrative and dominated the conversation throughout the wrestling year that was.

To reiterate: These are not rankings of where things currently stand as you read this, but rather a cold, unfeeling, mathematical accounting of 12 months of data.

So as we wave goodbye to the year, here’s how things looked for Uncrowned's wrestling power rankings in 2025.

MEN’S YEAR-END TOTALS

10. Brock Lesnar (31 points)

Brock Lesnar’s surprise return back at SummerSlam led to “The Beast Incarnate” jumping straight to the top of our power rankings, making him one of only three wrestlers to top the men's list in 2025. Since then, though, Lesnar has only wrestled twice: A much-criticized squash match against John Cena at Wrestlepalooza, followed by a more successful appearance at WarGames.

9. Jey Uso (32 points)

Having burnished his credentials as a solo star back in 2024, Jey Uso received one hell of a push at the beginning of this year. After a surprise victory in the Royal Rumble, he enjoyed a crowd-pleasing world championship win in Las Vegas at WrestleMania 41. The Uso elevation might not have been popular with everyone, but you can’t deny it was a massive moment for the former Bloodline man.

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7T. Gunther (40 points)

It was a slightly uneven year for “The Ring General,” who suffered back-to-back losses at WWE’s biggest stadium shows, including that notorious defeat to Jey Uso. Come December, though, that had all been forgotten as Gunther made his spellbinding return to dominate the “Last Time Is Now” tournament and then destroy the man himself — John Cena — in one of the most-watched matches of the year.

7T. Roman Reigns (40 points)

When it comes to sheer star power, few wrestlers can hold a candle to Roman Reigns — even if WWE has struggled to find the right role for its former marquee champion since he passed the torch to Cody Rhodes. This year saw some efforts to correct that, with WarGames giving us the biggest hint so far that "The Tribal Chief" wants his title back.

6. "Hangman" Adam Page (44 points)

Coming into the year, you might not have picked Adam Page as the most likely candidate to defeat Jon Moxley. By the end of the year, though, you could see exactly why Tony Khan had chosen his loyal soldier for the role. Page's dethroning of Moxley at All In: Texas was one of those beautiful crescendos that you only get occasionally in pro-wrestling, and more than justifies his place in our final honors list.

5. Bron Breakker (46 points)

Bron Breakker’s 2025 got off to a special start. His brutal spear on IShowSpeed at the Royal Rumble racked up more than 250 million views on social media, making it one of the most-viewed wrestling clips in history. By September, all eyes were on Breakker once again, as he was unveiled as the lead enforcer in Paul Heyman’s faction — before turning on Seth Rollins is one of the most unpredictable "Raw" endings of the year.

4. Seth Rollins (64 points)

In the perennial power struggle between the former Shield brethren, it was Seth Rollins who emerged victorious this time around — at least according to the official metrics. He was the ultimate victor from the Night 1s of both WrestleMania and SummerSlam, leaving both events with a big prize. His unfortunate injury at Crown Jewel forced WWE to call one of the biggest audibles in years — but one which could set Rollins up for a massive return in 2026.

3. CM Punk (96 points)

If last year was about CM Punk’s pugilistic feud with Drew McIntyre, 2025 was the year “The Second City Saint” got his flowers. Not only did he achieve his lifetime goal of main-eventing WrestleMania, he also bagged two separate world title wins — albeit with a major asterisk next to one of them. His feud with John Cena was also terrific fun, with a truly memorable pipe bomb throwback.

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2. John Cena (120 points)

What is there left to say about John Cena’s final year? While the heel turn itself was a truly gobsmacking moment, the project crashed and burned shortly afterward, leading to the flattest WrestleMania finale in a decade. Yet by the fall, Cena’s star was on the rise again, propelled in part by a superb redemption match with Cody Rhodes and then a star turn with AJ Styles at Crown Jewel. It sets things up perfectly for an emotional final match in Washington, D.C that made sure we ended on a high.

1. Cody Rhodes (132 points)

He entered the year as Universal Champion and exits it in the same way — that has to go some way to showing why “The American Nightmare” tops this year’s annual power rankings wrap-up. While it was always going to be impossible to live up to last year’s WrestleMania finale, Rhodes did manage to give us a few special moments along the way in 2025, including a truly brutal ladder match with Kevin Owens.

WOMEN’S YEAR-END TOTALS

10. Kris Statlander (32 points)

It was a star-making year for Kris Statlander, the stuntwoman-turned-pro-wrestler who leaves 2025 having compiled one of the single most impressive résumés in AEW. Not only did she become world champion for the first time back at All Out, she went on to cement her top-dog credentials with singles victories over two of the biggest names in the company: Toni Storm and Mercedes Moné.

9. Liv Morgan (34 points)

Liv Morgan’s year took a rough turn in the summer, when she was forced to miss months of action following a nasty injury. That said, the former champion wasted no time making a name for herself when she recovered, making perhaps the comeback of the year in front of a stadium crowd at WWE Survivor Series: WarGames. She hasn’t actually wrestled since her return — but you can bet she'll make a splash when she does.

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8. Naomi (36 points)

While John Cena’s heel turn grabbed the headlines, it was Naomi’s that delivered the goods. Her star turn began at Elimination Chamber, when she was unveiled as the mastermind behind the Jade Cargill attack. While the reveal led to Naomi getting her just desserts at WrestleMania 41, it also helped launch her more ruthless heel persona — which in turn gave us one of the greatest Money in the Bank swerves in years.

7. Jade Cargill (43 points)

For all the fanfare around her signing last year, 2025 felt like the year Jade Cargill finally arrived in WWE. Her aforementioned return at Elimination Chamber was brilliant, and she was also crowned as Queen of the Ring in Saudi Arabia. While Cargill failed to dislodge Tiffany Stratton the first time around, she emerged victorious in the rematch three months later, completing her rise to the world title scene.

6. Becky Lynch (46 points)

Her big return brought the stadium crowd to their feet at WrestleMania 41. But if you were expecting another crowd-pleasing run from “The Man,” you were quickly proven wrong. Her whiplash turn on her former tag partner, Lyra Valkyria, the very next night set Lynch up for one of the best heel runs in years. Some of her on-screen segments have been absolutely electric, particularly in the build-up to Wrestlepalooza.

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5. Iyo Sky (70 points)

We heard what Michael Cole called her at Survivor Series, and you can see why he said it. Just look at what the “Genius of the Sky” has achieved this year: Delivering perhaps the single-best WWE match of the year (her triple threat with Bianca Belair and Rhea Ripley at WrestleMania 41) that elevated at an already excellent world title run. No wonder she went on to top our rankings for three months running back in the spring.

4. Stephanie Vaquer (76 points)

Stephanie Vaquer has been surging up these rankings over the past few months — and with good reason. How many other pro-wrestlers have achieved the instant dominance “La Primera” has demonstrated since her call-up to the WWE main roster in the spring? Of all the world champions across the men’s and women’s ranks, she looks the best placed to continue ruling the roost in 2026.

3. Toni Storm (81 points)

For the second year running, Toni Storm dazzled in 2025, demonstrating once again why she has the golden touch when it comes to pro-wrestling. Whether it was the culmination of her rookie persona at the turn of the year or her sizzling promos as AEW women’s champion, the Aussie icon continued to make compelling television again and again. And what an image to end the year on: Being swung around the ring by 6-foot-5 Claudio Castagnoli.

2. Tiffany Stratton (90 points)

Wait, Tiffany Stratton in second place? Given her effective absence from WWE television over the past two months, it might come as a surprise that she's on the podium. But let's not forget everything she did this year: Including winning the WWE Women’s Championship on the first “SmackDown” of 2025 and picking up massive wins at both WrestleMania and SummerSlam.

1. Rhea Ripley (123 points)

Rhea Ripley stacked up some massive wins this year: She bested Liv Morgan for the world championship on WWE’s Netflix debut, she tore down the house at WrestleMania 41, and she consistently proved herself to be the draw of the night over on “WWE Raw.” Ripley may not have ended the year with a world title, but she has earned herself a spot on January's Netflix anniversary show, where she will almost certainly become a tag-team champion.