25 Worst Wrestling Moments Of 2025

2. WWE's Creative Decline

The Rock WWE WrestleMania 42 Announcement
WWE/Netflix

It seems counter-intuitive, but compiling a list of approximately 25 moments for a "worst" list is something doable even in a banner year for WWE and/or AEW. Companies on hot streaks aren't immune from duds, and in something as tough to make as a live weekly never-ending production, keeping the garbage confined to to double figures is itself an impressive bar to clear. But it's the context and the nature and the scale of the clangers that should and do raise concern if you're a WWE homer. 

There's making a mess of a WrestleMania main event, and in fact blowing so much of the build to your biggest show of the year that multi-person matches made up for singles slogs. There's becoming obsessed with reality show angles/worked shoot bobbins so much that it derails programmes and breaks down audience trust. There's disappearing up the backsides of sponsors, execs, comedians and anybody else who wants face time at the expense of a real fan that wants to enjoy the show, and there's continuing to price those fans out with brutal price-hikes around every corner. There's the return of every bad habit, from non-finishes to 50/50 feuds to dropped threads, followed by press conference bollockings that are way more defensive than the booking practices themselves.

Then, there's a run that should simply have been era-defining, when instead it simply - for all the wrong reasons - defined this specific era...

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