5 Biggest Winners & Losers From AEW In 2025

In many people's eyes, the best wrestler of the year not just in AEW and ROH, but in pro wrestling as a whole landscape, was Bandido. It's hard to argue against it, considering the caliber of performances he's put on consistently throughout 2025.

It isn't just the high quality of the matches, either, but the quantity of them, wrestling over 80 fights this year after sitting on the shelf from June 2023 until February 2025.

Making up for lost time, Bandido knocked off Chris Jericho to win the ROH World Championship in a title vs. mask match at Dynasty in April. He also won the RIOT Championship from Erik Ortiz in July, both of which he still holds.

At Forbidden Door, Bandido teamed with Brody King to win the AEW Men's World Tag Team Championship titles, too. Brodido would go on to hold those titles for 90 days up until Full Gear on November 22.

Along the way, Bandido has beaten prominent stars like Konosuke Takeshita, Kazuchika Okada, Mistico, The Young Bucks, The Hurt Syndicate, and more, rising his star power and living up to his potential to become perhaps the top breakout star of the year.