Uncrowned's staff makes their picks for the best wrestling match of 2025.
What makes a truly great wrestling match? Is it violence? A stunning result? More false-finishes than you can count on two hands? Does a championship need to change hands — or even be at stake at all? Does it matter what event or where on the card it takes place?
These are all of the things Uncrowned’s staff weighed when casting their ballots for 2025’s Match of the Year. When looking at the final tally, 14 matches across three promotions involving more than two dozen individual wrestlers received at least one vote. Unlike last year, where Bryan Danielson vs. Will Ospreay was a clear-cut pick, none of the seven ballots had all of the final top five matches listed on it. Even the eventual winner — no spoilers yet — only managed to earn a single first-place vote, even though it appeared on all seven ballots. That's how tight and varied this race was.
So, let’s jump in, shall we?
5. Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins vs. CM Punk — WWE WrestleMania 41 Night 1
You knew this was going to be an absolute banger of a match once CM Punk came out to “This Fire Burns” at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas this past April. A wonderfully intertwined story that began in earnest at the Royal Rumble managed to link all three men’s individual feuds with one another to produce not just the best match of WrestleMania Night 1, but as evidenced by our voting, one of the most memorable contests of the year.
The ending of the match — which saw Paul Heyman turn on both Punk and Reigns — set the stage for "Monday Night Raw" for essentially the rest of 2025, as Heyman aligned with Rollins and created The Vision. Without a title on the line, there wasn’t your typical WrestleMania main-event stakes attached here, which makes it all the more impressive that it managed to overshadow every other men’s match on WWE’s biggest card of the year.
4. "Timeless" Toni Storm vs. Mariah May in "The Hollywood Ending" — AEW Women’s Championship Match, AEW Revolution
This one feels like it was ages ago, but in reality it took place at AEW Revolution in March. Dubbed “The Hollywood Ending,” this AEW Women’s Championship match was a "Falls Count Anywhere" rubber contest, meaning it served as the ultimate payoff in a long-running story between the friends-turned-rivals. It was equal parts passion and violence, and somehow marked the peak of Storm’s generational run in an AEW women’s division that might be the best in all of professional wrestling.
Even more poetic, the match was May’s finale in AEW before she shifted over to WWE and rechristened herself as Blake Monroe later in the year. Without this feud — or this match — it’s unlikely either woman reaches the heights they have over the past year.
3. John Cena vs. Cody Rhodes — WWE Undisputed Championship match, SummerSlam Night 2
Much like Reigns vs. Rollins vs. Punk, this match was as much about a specific entrance as it was the in-ring action itself. Two nights earlier, Cena signaled the merciful end to his heel run, which despite being named Uncrowned’s Moment of the Year, never really amounted to much more than being a shocking turn. So, when New Jersey's MetLife Stadium saw Cena’s titantron turn from black and white to the technicolor flourish we’d long grown accustomed to, the proverbial roof blew off the place.
As far as the action itself goes, it was thrilling despite the outcome being relatively predictable. Cena was fully in his bag for this match, showing an evolved skill set that seemingly defied the fact that it was one of his final times in a WWE ring. The two men fought throughout the stadium and, when all was said and done, ended the match cleanly in a true passing-of-the-torch moment. There will be many differing opinions about Cena’s retirement tour in the years to come, but it’s hard to argue this match wasn’t his peak from a strictly in-ring perspective.
2. Jon Moxley vs. "Hangman" Adam Page — AEW World Championship match, AEW All-In Texas
We’ve talked a lot about entrances signifying how great a match will be, but the outcomes also matter too. That sentiment may not be more true for any match over the past year than Moxley vs. Page over the summer.
The final contest at AEW All In: Texas felt like an Avengers-level spectacle in the same way WrestleMania 40 Night 2’s main event between Reigns and Rhodes did in 2024. Moxley and his Death Riders presented a seemingly insurmountable challenge for Page, who received help in the form of run-ins from Will Ospreay, Darby Allin, Bryan Danielson and even longtime rival Swerve Strickland.
It was chaotic, violent, overbooked and epic in all of the right ways, leading to a truly special moment when Page secured the win and ended Moxley’s polarizing reign as AEW World Champion. Oh, and it was the apex of Uncrowned's Storyline of the Year as well.
1. Rhea Ripley vs. Bianca Belair vs. Iyo Sky — Women’s World Championship match, WrestleMania 41 Night 2
Every spot on a WrestleMania card is special, but you’d be hard pressed to find a more pressure-packed spot — outside of the main events — than where this trio of women found themselves in this past April. Tasked with kicking off Night 2, Ripley, Belair and Sky absolutely delivered, amping up the Las Vegas crowd in a way that wasn’t matched the rest of the night, including in the main event between Cena and Rhodes.
The order of entrances helped hammer home the story WWE had been trying to tell leading up to this match. Despite being the reigning champion and a world-class performer in her own right, Sky had essentially become an afterthought in the ongoing rivalry between Ripley and Belair. Sky walking out first — somewhat rare for the defending champion — was a signal to the crowd and those watching at home that Belair and Ripley were the bigger draws. Belair, arguably the greatest women’s performer in WrestleMania history, got an elaborate entrance that included her step-daughter while Ripley drew the loudest reaction at Allegiant Stadium.
Once the bell rang, the match followed a relatively standard triple-threat start before launching into high-gear. It was clean, fast and innovative across nearly 15 minutes of action. Sky provided the high-flying moves, Ripley offered power and Belair managed to deliver a bit of both, with none of the spots feeling recycled or forced at any point during the match. We saw a unique double blockbuster from Sky — off the top rope with her feet — as well as a Tower of Doom-style German Superplex that left all three women down. Sky utilized clever counters and a perfectly timed Over the Moonsault to pin Belair and secure her first WrestleMania win.
While Reigns, Rollins and Punk authored their own classic across nearly 33 minutes the night before or Storm and May had the ultimate payoff in their passionate, violent “Hollywood Ending,” these three women put together a technical masterpiece that served as a massive payoff for Sky, who managed to win over the crowd entirely by the time her arm was raised in victory.
No blood, no theatrics, no swerves. As Jacob Fatu would say, this match was all gas, no brakes. Ripley-Belair-Sky won’t just go down as the best contest from WrestleMania 41 or Uncrowned’s Match of the Year, it’ll go down as one of the greatest matches in WrestleMania history,
It’s worth mentioning there was one downside to the match, specifically the Tower of Doom spot. Belair suffered a broken knuckle on the move, leading her to miss the majority of the year with no timetable for a return.
Uncrowned's voting breakdown for Match of 2025:
Honorable mentions:
Anarchy in the Arena – AEW Double or Nothing
Hangman Adam Page vs. Will Ospreay – AEW Double or Nothing
John Cena vs. AJ Styles – WWE Crown Jewel Perth
Swerve Strickland and Will Ospreay vs. The Young Bucks – AEW All-In Texas
Will Ospreay vs. Kyle Fletcher – AEW Revolution
Konosuke Takeshita vs. Zack Sabre Jr. – NJPW King of Pro Wrestling
Wyatt Sicks vs. MCMG vs. DIY vs. Fraxiom vs. Andrade and Rey Fenix vs. The Street Profits – WWE SummerSlam Night 2
Naomi vs. Rhea Ripley vs. Iyo Sky – WWE SummerSlam Night 2
John Cena vs. Dominik Mysterio – WWE Survivor Series: WarGames
More from Uncrowned's 2025 Wrestling awards:
Category: General Sports
