8 Worst Wrestling Matches Of 2025 (According To The Internet)

1. Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena (WWE WrestlePalooza)

WWE Wrestlepalooza 2025 Brock Lesnar John Cena
WWE

Rating: 2.22/10

Bleak, bleak, bleak.

Mere minutes after John Cena had lost the WWE Championship back to Cody Rhodes and effectively shedded any remaining glimpse of a heel run that almost killed his retirement year, Brock Lesnar returned and made everything bleak again.

'The Beast' had been AWOL from the company since Vince McMahon resigned in disgrace for a second time, primarily due to his named involvement in the accusations of sex trafficking against McMahon and WWE. It was foreboding enough that the potential PR hailstorm was deemed a worthwhile enough risk, not least because Lesnar had never felt less valuable a performer or presence in a company that had passed him by.

This was proven conclusively true by the time he'd left the ring after his total turkey with Cena at the lousy WrestlePalooza Premium Live Event in September. 'The Champ's babyface run was a riot, but it screeched to a halt in baggy, over-familiar fashion when he faced off with his old rival. Playing the hits over a decade after anybody really wanted to hear them, Cena and Lesnar simply went through the motions of their squash formula, with 'Big Match John' pulling off one miracle comeback before getting flattened for good by the returning 'Beast'.

It was an act of wilful ignorance and/or defiance to even use Lesnar again in light of outside-the-ring business, and this contest - presumably their last ever one together - was the only thing that equaled the dispiriting feeling around his very presence. 

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