10 Best Wrestling Matches Of 2025
1. Kenny Omega Vs. Gabe Kidd (NJPW Wrestle Dynasty)
The same Kenny Omega who entered the best babyface performance of the year at Revolution demonstrated his awesome range by playing the evil final boss in his true home of New Japan Pro Wrestling.
Omega, as he later revealed in an interview with Wrestling Observer Radio, didn’t know ahead of time how the audience would respond to him. Would they receive him as a returning hero, or would they side with Gabe Kidd: the guy who was willing to defend an ailing promotion and fight with everything for such comparatively scant reward?
The audience chose Kidd, and Omega, a genius, read them instantly. Early in the match, Omega executed a picture perfect springboard dive to the outside. It was spectacular, but didn’t draw much of a reaction. Kidd was also cheered in the early strike exchange. Omega knew what to do, and he did it brilliantly. He didn’t just gloat to the crowd to shape the tone of the match and guide their cheers in Kidd’s direction. That would have been beneath him. Omega pretended he’d tweaked his hip on the landing. He ordered a nearby young boy to hand him an icepack, and admonished him for taking too long to do it.
Omega didn’t just execute this turn in character; he turned heel in a character that he essentially devised on the spot: an egotistical mercenary who had graced the Tokyo Dome with his mere presence.
The resulting match was incredible: a squelching, harrowing brawl that had minimal need for Omega’s advanced athletic flourishes. This, of course, made those moments soar when he needed to bust something incredible out to weaken Kidd, whose bug-eyed fighting spirit could not be exorcised at any point. In the best spot, Gabe Kidd trapped Omega in Antonio Inoki’s favoured Cobra Twist: telling the dual story of Omega’s affliction and the fight for NJPW’s soul in one move.
Kidd entered the breakthrough performance of his life. Omega operated on a psychological level that eludes almost anybody else ever. Together, they told the story New Japan fans needed to see: that wrestlers are willing to survive life-threatening diverticulitis and nervous breakdowns, respectively, to represent the promotion even during the darkest days. This was so moving that it brought Hiroshi Tanahashi to tears.