10 Best Wrestlers Of 2025

8. Sami Zayn

Sami Zayn was having a good year during the period between his post-WrestleMania return and his Autumn procuring of the United States Championship, but his immense value went even further through the roof when he started defending the gold on a weekly basis.

SmackDown was the weaker of the two brands by orders of magnitude in 2025, but Sami Zayn as the open challenge Champion just about guaranteed one red hot match or segment every week from his first defence against John Cena to his last against a returning Ilja Dragunov.

Merely great in-ring action isn't a guarantee of noise from WWE crowds, but investment in stars counts double, and Zayn expertly manipulated his longstanding relationship with crowds to do what the best stars do - get their opponents as over as they are. Dragunov's comeback pop might have been a little less than the company would have liked, but the reaction to his victory counted double in every respect. Meanwhile, Carmelo Hayes went from floating around in the undercard to floating on air, Je'Von Evans also yet again took flight, Shinsuke Nakamura rolled back the years, and Rey Fenix temporarily looked like the wrestler WWE signed rather than the one they've promoted.

This was the Sami Zayn effect, and all while keeping himself as one of the heavy favourites for 2026 Royal Rumble and WrestleMania glory. If this latest run with gold was a tease of what he could offer on top, it's going to be better late than never.