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Andreas Hale and Sachin Chandan
Jan 5, 2026, 11:39 AM ET
Professional wrestling fans had a lot to chew on in 2025.
Old faces appeared in new places, a legend had his final curtain call, AEW had a resurgence, and new champions provided some of the best pro wrestling we've had in a calendar year.
John Cena embarked on a retirement tour that saw him briefly turn heel before bowing out in the clutches of Gunther to close the book on a storied career. Seth Rollins joined forces with Paul Heyman, hoodwinked the world with a fake injury to win his second World Heavyweight Championship then was forced to vacate the title when he legitimately injured himself weeks later. NXT saw the emergence of stars Oba Femi, Je'Von Evans and Ricky Saints while joining forces with TNA Wrestling for intriguing cross-promotion.
At AEW, "Hangman" Adam Page fulfilled his redemption arc, becoming AEW world champion. Kyle Fletcher and Konosuke Takeshita broke out with absurd performances, and Mercedes Moné just kept winning championships.
There was so much to enjoy that every category for ESPN's annual awards was competitive and led to knockdown, drag-out brawls behind the scenes (not really), as the voting panel struggled to find clear-cut winners.
With the dust settled from the voting process, here are the winners of the 2025 pro wrestling awards with analysis from ESPN contributors Andreas Hale and Sachin Chandan.
Men's wrestler of the year: Dominik Mysterio
At WrestleMania 41 in April, Mysterio got one of the loudest crowd pops of the show during his men's Intercontinental Championship win, but something else happened that weekend that would influence the young star's future, too. WWE purchased Mexican lucha libre promotion AAA, and Mysterio would soon be counted on to lead that brand into the future. At September's Worlds Collide, Mysterio triumphed over El Hijo del Vikingo -- with plenty of interference -- in front of a raucous crowd.
That, in a nutshell, is Dominik Mysterio.
His career began with huge shoes to fill, following in the legacy of Eddie Guerrero and his father, Rey Mysterio. "Dirty Dom" has been able to successfully channel Guerrero's lying, cheating and stealing schemes into so much of what he has done in the ring, and the audience can't get enough. It's clear that he is the present and future of WWE. -- Chandan
Women's wrestler of the year: Stephanie Vaquer
Vaquer quickly ascended the WWE ladder in 2025, winning the NXT Women's North American Championship in February and the NXT Women's Championship in March to become the brand's first women's double champion.
She wasn't done collecting accolades yet. Five months after she arrived to the main roster on the first episode of "Raw" after WrestleMania 41, Vaquer beat Iyo Sky in a stellar match at WrestlePalooza for the then-vacant Women's World Championship. Oh, and then her beating then-WWE Women's Champion Tiffany Stratton for the Women's Crown Jewel Championship to add a cherry on top of a remarkable year. -- Hale
Tag team of the year: FTR
In a relatively quiet year for tag team wrestling, the AEW team of Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler continually proved they're really good at their craft. They have never needed to break up to breathe new life into their characters and spent 2025 elevating their game. They began April by turning heel on Adam Copeland, then added to the fold Stokely Hathaway, who is one of the most underrated managers in the business. By November, they were three-time AEW men's tag team champions after beating Brodido at Full Gear. They don't have bad matches, and their character work continues to elevate their place as one of the best tag teams in pro wrestling history. -- Hale
Match of the year: John Cena vs. AJ Styles at WWE Crown Jewel
There aren't many wrestlers who understand Cena the way Styles does. In the 2000s, Cena and Styles were the faces of WWE and TNA, respectively. When Styles arrived to WWE in 2016, his rivalry with Cena lived up to its dream billing, and at Crown Jewel 2025, Cena and Styles were ready to square off one last time.
These rivals had each other's attacks so well-scouted that they did something unexpected -- they borrowed from longtime opponents. Styles tapped into moves from TNA rivals Sting, Christoper Daniels, Samoa Joe and Frankie Kazarian. Cena countered with moves from his WWE rogues gallery, including The Miz, Randy Orton and Rusev.
The most poignant moment of the match was when Cena paid tribute to the late Bray Wyatt -- using the Sister Abigail -- and his eyes welled with emotion as the crowd lit up the "fireflies." Cena won after a Tombstone Piledriver and an Attitude Adjustment, but that's not what you'll remember.
You'll remember the love letter to the fans who spent the last 23 years following the journeys of Cena and Styles and the battles that built them. -- Chandan
Debut wrestler of the year: Stephanie Vaquer
Being first isn't unusual for "La Primera."
Vaquer ended the year with the most wins in WWE with 43. She was the first South American-born wrestler to win the WWE Women's World Championship, claiming the belt while captivating audiences with the same energy that made her a star in NXT and Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre before that.
From her entrance, which draws the eyes of everyone in the arena, to her unique attire and creative moves, Vaquer brings the complete package to the ring, where she's more than held her own alongside the biggest stars in the division.
Vaquer has taken to the bright lights of "Raw" better than many other call-ups from NXT, and looks to have a bigger spotlight ahead of her in 2026. -- Chandan
Breakthrough wrestler of the year: Kyle Fletcher
The former Aussie Open member struck out on his own in late 2023 and came full circle as a top-tier performer in 2025 with one memorable outing after another. His rivalry with mentor Will Ospreay culminated with a violent steel cage match at AEW Revolution, but Fletcher truly took center stage as the AEW TNT Champion with his bloody decimation of Dustin Rhodes over the summer. If there were any questions regarding his status as a top guy, his All Out match against AEW World Champion "Hangman" Adam Page in a losing effort quelled any concerns. At 26 years old, he settled in at No. 2 on ESPN's top 30 wrestlers under 30 and is almost certain to become AEW champion at some point soon. -- Hale
Best event of the year: AEW Revolution
AEW had a stellar year with some outstanding wrestling that made it difficult to choose one event to take home the award. However, a trio of instant classic matches that were all unique in their own right pushed AEW Revolution ahead of the pack. Page's exceptional throwdown with MJF and Swerve Strickland's great match with Ricochet would easily be the best matches on just about any other event.
But they weren't even the top three matches at Revolution.
Even more unbelievable is that these three classics happened back-to-back-to-back. It all started with the bloody closing chapter of Toni Storm and Mariah May's rivalry, which will go down as one of the greatest women's matches of all time. Not to be outdone was Kenny Omega, who dethroned Takeshita for the AEW International Championship. Every near fall raised the temperature in the arena until Omega snatched victory from the claws of defeat. And then there was the death-defying steel cage match between Ospreay and Fletcher, featuring some of the wildest spots of the year.
You can't go wrong with an AEW event as the winner of this category, because All In, All Out, Double or Nothing and Full Gear all delivered. But Revolution's stretch of diverse classic matches held court in 2025. -- Hale
Best storyline: Toni Storm vs. Mariah May
What began with allusions to "Golden Age" Hollywood movies "All About Eve" and "Sunset Boulevard" ended with betrayal, violence and an inescapable shadow.
May won the 2024 Owen Hart Cup with roll-ups in each match while wearing Storm-inspired attire. That led to one of the most shocking heel turns in AEW, as May left her mentor, Storm, bloodied.
Over the next eight months, May couldn't escape Storm's legacy, despite taking her championship. May made seven successful defenses but never scored the three-count with her own finisher, Mayday. Instead, she was forced to rely on Storm's finisher, the Storm Zero, to win six of them.
Storm returned with apparent amnesia, feigning being a rookie based on her "Toni Time" persona, and worked her way back into May's orbit. Storm won the rematch at AEW Grand Slam Australia -- with a roll-up she spent January perfecting. The saga ended with a rubber match, the "Hollywood Ending" in Los Angeles, which was a must-see bounty of cinematic violence.
AEW had some memorable stories in 2025 -- Hangman's redemption, the broke Young Bucks -- but this saga was, in Toni Storm's words, "the performance of a lifetime." -- Chandan
Best promo artist: Paul Heyman
Heyman's skill on the mic has put him shoulder-to-shoulder with the biggest stars in the industry, and 2025 was no different, as he was involved in two huge moments.
At WrestleMania 41, in a triple-threat match between Roman Reigns, CM Punk and Seth Rollins, Heyman betrayed his former close associates Punk and Reigns to side with Rollins and form a new faction: "The Vision."
Months later, at SummerSlam, Heyman and Rollins pulled off another twist, as the seemingly injured Rollins threw down his crutches to reveal that he wasn't actually injured and would cash in the Money in the Bank briefcase on a weakened Punk.
Heyman would later lead Bronson Reed and Bron Breakker in a betrayal of an injured Rollins, showing his ruthless side once again.
On an episode of "Raw," Heyman used his skill on the mic to establish The Vision, elevate opponents and continue to play the crowd, making him WWE's most important non-wrestler. The 2024 WWE Hall of Famer will be instrumental in the coming year as Breakker continues to see bigger opportunities. -- Chandan
