10 Best Wrestlers Of 2025

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.

Becky Lynch is a perfect case study for how to be a star and use your star aura for others (and, simultaneously, a signifier of who not to engage with if they use the "Hogan" suffix on her name). The last half-decade in WWE has belonged to her, and mostly through working to ensure the next one can belong to plenty of others.

After returning as a surprise tag team partner for Lyra Valkyria at WrestleMania 41 (amidst rumours she'd be due back earlier in the year), she once again risked a comfortable babyface run by turning heel, all in service of helping inaugural Intercontinental Champion Valkyria to the next level. With the exception of their baggy SummerSlam finale, the plan worked to perfection, with two top-rate PLE wars earning rave reviews and the climax spinning Lyra off into her next programme with fellow Horsewoman Bayley. 

Both AJ Lee and Maxxine Dupri have been the most recent beneficiaries, with the former getting the perfect (and money-drawing) comeback storyline thanks to Lynch's promo battles with CM Punk and her willingness to show abject fear at the mere sight of the former Divas Champion, and the latter earning a television mini-feud that became one of the lowkey highlights of WWE's autumn offering. Within the walled gardens of the market leader, there's nothing she can't do and offers just about everything in return - it's a substantially weaker roster without her.

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. 

Swerve Strickland's 2025 started with him as an unstoppable force as a top star in All Elite Wrestling, but was defined more by just how much of a miss he was on Dynamite, Collision and pay-per-views when he took time off to recover from injuries after Forbidden Door in September.

He had 22 matches in the 34 weeks he was around for, but packed the bangers in nonetheless, lending himself to a series of a tag and multi-man matches that helped him flesh out the babyface persona he'd honed in 2024 before losing both the World Heavyweight Championship to Bryan Danielson and his landmark programme to Hangman Page.

Speaking of which - as the cornerstones of AEW's creative recovery, the pair were able to toast their coming together in glorious fashion at All In: Texas in the summer. Swerve was the definitive difference-maker for Page on the night, with the two parking their hatred for the greatest possible good. That same show had already almost been stolen by Strickland's tag team match with Will Ospreay against The Young Bucks too, in yet another example of Swerve being one of the only wrestlers capable of selling the supposed importance of a company's soul.

AEW's dip in form creatively in the second half of the year was almost certainly related to the lack of access to one of the decade's true success stories. His return was welcome ahead of whatever 2026 brings. 

After Night One's card flattered to deceive, WrestleMania 41 was desperately in need of at least one contest on Night Two that, bell-to-bell, belonged on the 'Grandest Stage' and Iyo Sky was the glue of an electrifying triple threat that also featured Bianca Belair and Rhea Ripley.

Stealing the show (and WWE's match-of-the-year honours) with a battle exponentially better than the programme that built it, the contest initially featured defending Champion Sky being bullied out of her own title match by megastar challengers Belair and Ripley. As the action wore on though, it became a can-you-top-this display of three-way sequences and opportunistic assaults borne out of desperation from the situation. Beautifully executed without sacrificing violence, it was symbolic of a division thriving entirely on the quality of its workers, with Iyo at the top of the pile.

Star-making on a new level for Sky, she enhanced her case further as the year rolled on. A singles bout with Ripley at Evolution in was yet another that went straight into people's end-of-year lists, a trilogy with Stephanie Vacquer was strong despite only one match having a finish, and an Autumn series alongside 'The Nightmare' against Asuka and Kairi Sane yielded a host of big-time matches and segments.

Beloved, over and consistent, she's a booker's dream and remains breathing the rarified air of a massive globally-recognised star that might still have glass ceilings to smash. 

There aren't too many performers in either major that look as if they're having as much fun simply being a pro wrestling as Mercedes Moné, and it's totally infectious.

Crafting the "Ultimo" belt collector character in 2025, Moné found her stride between the ropes at the back end of 2024 and rode the wave of momentum through a joyous 12 months that have seen her dominate almost as many promotions. Or at very least, win their titles.

Smart enough to know that the physical belts are great for photo opportunities and entrances while the story is good for indie bookings, Mercedes appears for all the world like she's living about 50 different wrestling dreams every time she hits a ring, and does so with all the in-built confidence she's espoused for well over a decade.

The bell-to-bell highs came with the likes of Toni Storm, Athena, Kris Statlander and Jamie Hayter, but even the lesser matches were in service of a bigger picture that put a lot of both company's booking to shame. To watch the former Sasha Banks take the entire business by storm and completely on her own terms has been as captivating an experience as anything she could have done sticking around with the market leader all those years ago. The more legend she builds around herself, the more distant those memories will feel. 

A perfect example of when performer and promotion are completely in lockstep, Stephanie Vaquer's 2025 has been endlessly rewarding while still leaving all sorts of matches and moments to get excited about in 2026.

The lower-key of the two belt collectors in mainstream women's wrestling this year, 'La Primera' scooped the North American and NXT Championships in quick succession while on the developmental brand, before taking the main roster by storm with a similarly rapid-fire ascension to the very top. Naomi's surrender of the Women's Championship due to taking maternity leave might have expedited Vaquer's trip to the top of Raw, but she was comfortably ready for the role thanks to her virtually incomparable run of good matches, an immediate connection with the wider audience, and the growing hype around her 'Devil's Kiss' move.

A Crown Jewel victory over WWE Women's Champion Tiffany Stratton saw her gain literally the biggest prize she's achieved thus far, but it was yet another enormous stamp of approval she had absolutely no problem living up to. Captivating bell-to-bell, a recipient of one of the few decent Def Rebel themes ever and only just entering her prime at 32, Vaquer already feels like the star new signing from the latter days of WWE's creative boom.  

If 2024 was the year Will Ospreay - much to the chagrin of Triple H - committed to the "grind" of North American television wrestling for the very first time, 2025 was the year he mastered it so completely that he made himself completely undeniable as the company's present and future Ace.

Braving a gruelling personal schedule by continuing to live in England while working just about every Wednesday and Saturday, Ospreay's 26 matches were individual advertisements of his in-ring excellence, before he had absolutely no choice but to take time off for surgery, In singles, tags and promo segments alike, he was the top babyface of the entire company and the only wrestler able to pull off the most difficult of challenges Tony Khan continued to set for his roster - fighting for the supposed soul of the brand. 

Joining forces with Swerve Strickland to simultaneously help Hangman Page see off The Deathriders and stop The Young Bucks' own reign of (a bit of) terror, Ospreay went yet another year without winning the AEW World Heavyweight Championship despite walking, talking and acting like the man already wearing the crown. 

If injury recovery allows, he will surely be the man of the moment when the company returns to Wembley Stadium in the summer of 2026. AEW will look towards the 'Aerial Assassin' to draw the house, and based on prior evidence, he'll be the man for the job.

Continuing her brilliance for a second consecutive year in the gimmick, Timeless Toni Storm ruled as the cornerstone of an AEW Women's division that also had a banner year.

With the Hollywood Ending at Revolution, Storm paid off one of AEW's best ever feuds with one of its best ever matches. Providing the Mariah May character with a perfect singular run in the company, May was defined entirely by her relationship with the 'Timeless' Champion before she left for WWE. Storm's 217-stint with the gold resulted in her working even more matches than she did in 2024, going overtime to help the progress of the likes of Megan Bayne, Penelope Ford, Skye Blue Queen Aminata, Mina Shirakawa along the way. 

Victories over Mercedes Moné and Athena in particular weren't just big wins in great matches but a statement of intent from AEW that Storm was still the talismanic figure and the woman to beat. 

This was crucially established ahead of two consecutive pay-per-view title match losses to Kris Statlander in September and October, where Storm proved her mettle as somebody just as equipped to set somebody up for the top role as occupy the space herself. A true game-changer and there for others as much as herself, there may never be a star that shines as brightly. But for a pleasant change, this is all thanks to her magnificence rather than the company's promotional malpractice. 

Hangman Page's rise back to the top of All Elite Wrestling ultimately made for the best moment - and potentially match - of 2025. The "main character" narrative peddled for years might once again be undone by an uneven time at the top, but there aren't many better at taking the journey than the AEW original.

As always, his work supports his case no matter the quality of his booking. Few are as consistently great between the ropes as Page, right down to tiny mannerisms he tweaks pending the nature of the storyline he's involved in or his ever-changing character.

Kicking off 2025 as a heel that was at long last on the road to redemption following his decisive victory over Swerve Strickland at All Out the prior September, Page's Texas Deathmatch win over longstanding ally Christopher Daniels seemed to awaken the babyface within. A unique run of TV squashes led him to a cathartic win over MJF at Revolution and a celebrated trio of victories over Josh Alexander, Kyle Fletcher and Will Ospreay in the tour-de-force that was the Owen Hart Foundation men's tournament. 

The aforementioned triumph over Jon Moxley was the right payoff (sort of) to the Deathriders' reign of terror in the company, and robust consistency as Champion was key to Hangman's second run. The BlueSky gardener doesn't pull up trees at the box office, but that's never been the whole story, and nor should it be. To AEW's increasingly vital core base, he is the North Star, and like - ironically - Bret Hart and CM Punk - before him, his runs are likely to be far more appreciated in the future than their own time.