10 Best Wrestlers Of 2025
The very best WWE and AEW had to offer in 2025
As usual, the list of honourable mentions is long, very possibly full of wrestlers you'll be angry just to read here rather than in their own entry, and weighed heavily by how much lighter - and thus better - schedules are for performers in this current era.
Between getting necessary time away (for injuries or otherwise) or simply being used a little more judiciously, the likes of Cody Rhodes, Liv Morgan, Gunther, CM Punk and Rhea Ripley haven't been required to bump as frequently as the 10 that made the final cut. Elsewhere in WWE, Dominik Mysterio, Roxanne Perez, Naomi, Lyra Valkyria, Seth Rollins, Penta, Tiffany Stratton, Bianca Belair and even John Cena submitted fantastic work in places, but didn't/couldn't offer as much consistently over the course of the 12 months.
Meanwhile in AEW, standards remained sky high bell-to-bell, but the product badly cooled in the second half of the year. Flashes of excellence from the likes of Kenny Omega, Jon Moxley, Konosuke Takeshita, Willow Nightingale, MJF, Thekla, Mark Briscoe, Kris Statlander, FTR, and JetSpeed contributed to merely good shows, rather than great ones.
(In line with WhatCulture.com's primary coverage, the list is WWE/AEW-only. That's not to undermine NJPW, TNA, Stardom, TJPW, ROH, GCW or any promotion/performer outside of the mainstream North American bubble, but please consider this before resorting to fume in the replies!)
10. Kyle Fletcher
A one-man match-of-the-night factory on shows designed to have about 10 over a five hour period, Kyle Fletcher has spent 2025 continuing to surpass even the wildest expectations he might have set for audiences when he burst out as a singles threat in 2024.
It's a growth that requires constant checking to see if it can really have happened that quickly. But it really did. It was an October 2024 edition of Dynamite where, during an awkward promo, Fletcher got rid of the blonde mop haircut that served as the latest (but not last) comparison to Will Ospreay ahead of a feud with the 'Aerial Assassin' that culminated in a steel cage classic at Revolution. Like Ospreay, he became undeniable, and as early as March, he was one of the select few in the challenger brand that appeared to be working for the job he wanted rather than simply content with the one he had.
This was far from the only show he stole, too. Becoming a fixture on the weekly shows and pay-per-views - itself a credit to the work and his ability to stand out from the sprawling Don Callis family - he was strong in contests against the likes of Hiromu Takahashi, Dustin Rhodes, Daniel Garcia, Sammy Guevara, Mark Briscoe (twice) and especially Hangman Adam Page in both the Owen Hart tournament semi final and an AEW World Heavyweight Vs TNT Champion Vs Champion main event designed to show just how close he was to ascending to the next level.
On endless evidence, it'd be foolish to bet against him.