25 Worst Wrestling Moments Of 2025

4. The Rock On Raw Is Netflix

WWE Raw The Rock
WWE

There's an awful lot of The Rock's presence in this year's worst-of lists, much like there should have been at WrestleMania 41.

More on him not working the 'Show Of Shows' and other surrounding events elsewhere on this list, but ahead of parking wrestling to promote (in vain, as it turned out) his Oscar-baiting performance in The Smashing Machine, Dwayne Johnson had a near-devastating impact on two separate WrestleMania money matches when he strolled to the ring to kick off WWE's brand new year on a brand new platform.

The Raw Is Netflix debut edition of the flagship on January 6th was its own kind of nightmare for reasons also explored elsewhere, but Johnson got it off to a rather fitting start by spouting a load of nonsense and burning his lingering tensions with Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns to the ground. 'The American Nightmare' (and, by then still first-time WWE Champion and company quarterback) got a hair-ruffle ahead of a shared drink backstage, confusing fans that had waited months to see how a white hot tension established in April 2024 would be followed up on. Rock pinned Rhodes at WrestleMania 40, 24 hours before Cody "finished the story" at Reigns' expense. The afters were potentially captivating, until 'The Great One' bizarrely capsized the boat by attaboy-ing 'The Tribal Chief' following his win over Solo Sikoa. 

Two money programmes that had asked for your time and your feelings, suddenly put out to pasture because it felt like a past-it icon had forgotten what he was actually there for. 

Or part of an even grander plan, apparently...

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