25 Worst Wrestling Moments Of 2025

5. WrestlePalooza

WWE Wrestlepalooza 2025 Brock Lesnar John Cena
WWE

A stinker of a show that stood as a monument to the wider creative problems within WWE in 2025, WrestlePalooza was a spiritual sequel to Raw Is Netflix in that it toasted a bold new relationship with a TV/streaming provider in just about the worst possible way.

Everything - even the best of what the show had to offer - had problems. The latest Triple H-narrated video package about the history of the company was exceptional but contradicted half of the Netflix one they'd produced in January. AJ Lee and CM Punk's mixed tag team match with Becky Lynch and Seth Rollins was red hot but went way, way too long. Could Stephanie Vaquer and Iyo Sky's workmanlike effort be heralded as match of the night when so much of it played out to silence? Cody Rhodes doesn't have bad matches, but his title defence against Drew McIntyre was the weakest outside of the WrestleMania 42 disaster with John Cena. Speaking of disasters, The Usos looked like they'd never met during their botch-laden mess with Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed. And more on just something else that sucked about Brock Lesnar's return elsewhere in this article.

Tellingly, there was near-universal agreement about its lack of quality. In tribal times defined by daily culture wars, most of WWE's base came together to acknowledge the show's obvious and avoidable failings. The next few years of television from the market leader will determine if it was a blip or the true moment of no return for the boom.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett