The 2025 Pro Wrestling Year-End Hussy Awards
The end of 2025 is here. With Thanksgiving and Christmas now in the past, and with New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day right around the corner, it is time for yet another edition of my longstanding tradition of looking back at the year that was in pro wrestling.
It seems like everyone does a straightforward year-end “awards” piece somewhere, but I’ve always wanted to do it a bit differently.
As always, my year-end awards are sponsored by #BlackTwitter. It has been that way for about a decade-and-a-half at this point, so why stop the partnership now? Because I know some of you are very confused about what #BlackTwitter is, allow me to explain.
In the very early days of Twitter, one of the key reasons for the app’s rise in popularity was the fact that the #BlackTwitter subset was taking off. #BlackTwitter was basically its own planet, complete with its own conversations, hashtags, and “tools” that could be used to help things “trend” on Twitter. The people posting on #BlackTwitter were always ahead of the curve in many ways, but perhaps no more so than their understanding of how to treat Twitter like a global chat room, with many conversations requiring audience participation that would help its numbers grow exponentially.
Way back in the day, I wanted to pay tribute to Twitter, so I took a handful of hashtags that were created there, and I decided to use them as names for the awards I was handing out at the end of the year. When I was involved in LoP Radio, and a member of the Lords Of Podcast Roundtable, the official podcast of this site, I even had an audio version of this column. I called on a bunch of friends to help me hand out awards, and when word spread, John Laurinaitis himself found out and made an appearance on one of the shows.
All these years later, I’m still using the gimmick, because I think it’s fun.
Over the course of this column, seven awards will be handed out, so let me use this time to introduce the categories and explain what they mean.
#TheStruggle is given out to the wrestling personality that saw the biggest decline in their position/situation from the year before.
#Swag is given out to the wrestling personality that saw the biggest improvement in their position/situation from the year before.
#TheThirst is given out to the wrestling personality who craved attention so much that it seemed like they were thirsty for it.
#NobodyCaresB is given out to the storyline or idea that was so bad, people just wanted it to go away, even if that means there would be no proper conclusion.
#Cryin is given out to the promo, segment, or moment of the year.
#Craftmaster is given out to the in-ring wrestler of the year.
#!!! is given out to the match of the year.
With the explanations out of the way, I think it’s time to stop messing around and hand out our first award, shall we?
#TheStruggle features nothing but names who are looking forward to their calendars turning from 2025 to 2026, because they’ve had a rough year after seeing varying levels of success last year. Their struggles may have been directly their fault, or it may not have been their fault at all, but one way or another, there were struggles. Here are this year’s nominees, in no particular order…
Isla Dawn: Do you remember Clash At The Castle in 2024? At the event, Isla Dawn and Alba Fyre… two Scottish women, born and raised in Scotland and coming up through the wrestling scene in that area of the world… returned to Scotland to face the seemingly unstoppable WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions, Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill, in front of their friends, family, and countrypeople. In front of an insanely hot crowd, Isla and Alba would become the brand new champions. After a relatively uneventful title reign, they dropped the titles back to Bianca and Jade, and they never reached those heights again. Five months after dropping the titles, Isla would be released from her WWE contract and has yet to really make any sort of post-WWE splash.
Private Party: From the time they debuted in AEW back in 2019, the team of Isiah Kassidy and Marq Quen were pegged as having bright futures with the company. For five years, that was basically nothing more than somewhat wasted potential, until they surprised the world by defeating The Young Bucks to become the AEW Tag Team Champions in October of last year. It wasn’t a very long reign, ending in just short of three months, but it was still a sign that they might have finally “arrived” in AEW. Then… they completely disappeared from the face of the planet. The match in which they lost the Tag Team Titles was their last match in AEW, and that took place over ten months ago. Reports say that neither one of them is injured. They just stopped being used. Now the reports are that their contracts are set to expire at some point soon, while WWE has supposedly been keeping tabs on them as potential free agents. It’s quite the fall from where they were at this point last year, no matter what happens.
Damian Priest: WrestleMania 40 saw Priest become just the second (after Seth Rollins in 2015) Money In The Bank briefcase holder to cash in at WWE’s biggest event. Like Rollins did nine years prior, Priest was successful with his cash-in, and the Artist-Formerly-Known-As Punishment Martinez won the World Heavyweight Title. It wasn’t a particularly memorable reign, and it only lasted a shade under four months, but he was still a main event player. His 2025 has seen him seemingly feuding with Aleister Black for months, with no end in sight, and with Priest himself saying that WWE has basically forced him to take breaks by not booking him as often, letting his 43-year-old body try to heal up a bit on its own. He’s still popular with live crowds, but he isn’t anywhere near where he was on the proverbial totem pole back in April 2024, and if the company is truly concerned about the wear and tear that his body has gone through, it’s worth wondering if he’ll ever be there again.
Bayley: When you’re a “healthy scratch” for WrestleMania, it can be seen as quite the demoralizing moment in your career. It’s even worse when you’re a future first ballot Hall Of Famer like Bayley is. After a 2024 that saw her win the Royal Rumble, then defeat Iyo Sky at WrestleMania to win the WWE Women’s Title, Bayley’s 2025 was not exactly a great follow-up. As part of a storyline that saw her almost descending into madness because of a lack of success, she went over five months between televised victories, and then, yes, there was the fact that she was left off of the entire WrestleMania card this year. Two nights, 14 matches, 36 total competitors… no room for Bayley. It’s not like she has set the world on fire post-Mania, either, as she has mostly floated around with no real rhyme or reason to anything she’s doing.
Anthony Bowens: When The Acclaimed began to grow tired as an act, tons of fans called for AEW to split the team up, and for Anthony Bowens to get a singles push. Many, myself included, felt like Bowens was being held back by Max Caster, both in the ring and on the microphone. We finally got our wish at the very start of 2025 when Bowens and Caster officially split. Bowens was being presented as a “five-tool player” and someone who could really go places now that he didn’t have the excess baggage holding him down. Not only did his career not go anywhere as a singles wrestler, but he fell behind Caster in popularity, even though Max’s new character was “delusional moron who loses all of his matches in two minutes” and not much else. Now, as we close 2025, there are rumors that The Acclaimed will be getting back together soon, pretty much admitting that this was a year-long wasted experiment.
The winner of our very first award this year is… Bayley! Winning the Royal Rumble, participating in a well done, red hot split from the Damage CTRL group, and then winning the WWE Women’s Title at WrestleMania. That helped to carry her 2024 to insane heights, even for someone with the tremendous career success that she’s had, but it all fell apart this year. Damn shame.
We started things off in the world of negativity, so let’s flip things around and find the positives. Our next award is #Swag. It’s the complete opposite of our previous award, with nominees that made the biggest jumps from 2024 to 2025. Previous winners of this award have gone from total afterthoughts to World Champions, small ponds to success on major stages, had face/heel turns improve their status tremendously, or were young talents that finally put the puzzle pieces together and advanced their careers. Here are this year’s nominees, in no particular order…
Ricky Saints: The end of Ricky’s time in AEW was marked by what many viewed as wasted potential and the company failing to capitalize on any momentum he had built up for himself. He spent ten months on the shelf for seemingly no reason at all, going from his final AEW match at the end of March 2024 to the start of February 2025, when AEW released him. He would arrive in NXT almost immediately, and would begin a rise through the ranks. Less than two months after debuting, he won the NXT North American Title. Then, in late-September, he surprised the wrestling world by defeating Oba Femi to become the new NXT Champion. While his two title reigns in NXT combined to only last a total of four months, it still placed him squarely on the map under the WWE umbrella, and people are already fantasy booking his eventual main roster run. Not bad for someone who literally couldn’t even get a match booked for himself in AEW at this point a year ago.
John Cena: Do you know what John Cena was doing in 2024? Movies, television shows, and commercial voiceover work. Do you know what John Cena wasn’t doing in 2024? Outside of one six-man tag match where he had about one minute of action, it wasn’t wrestling. Do you know what John Cena was doing in 2025? Setting the wrestling world on fire with one of the most shocking heel turns of all-time (we’ll just forget the backstage nonsense that took that heel turn places it had no business going), then breaking pro wrestling’s all-time record for officially recognized World Title reigns when he won his 17th at WrestleMania, before closing the year out on one of the most talked-about “retirement tours” that the sport has ever seen. Sounds like a pretty big year-to-year improvement to me.
Mike Santana: He was all over the place in 2024, working for just about any promotion that would have him, and he further distanced himself from the label of being a “tag team guy” that he had while working with Ortiz in AEW and elsewhere. 2025 was when things were taken to an entirely new level, though. He still wrestled everywhere… TNA, HOG, Prestige, TTW, RCW, GCW, 4th Rope, NXT, Beyond, and much more… but his rise to the top of TNA was a beautiful thing to witness, capped off by him winning the TNA World Title at Bound For Glory. It’s not his fault that TNA is addicted to shooting themselves in the foot, having him drop the title after a one-month reign. He has become a highly sought after singles star now, and that can’t be taken away from him.
Stephanie Vaquer: Halfway through 2024, Stephanie Vaquer was a mostly unknown name, brought in by AEW to compete at Forbidden Door because she was the NJPW Strong Women’s Champion at the time. After a show-stealing performance against Mercedes Moné on that night, she became a hot commodity, and everyone assumed AEW would sign her to a deal. At the last second, WWE swooped in and signed her. After a brief stint in NXT, where she won the Women’s North American Title and the NXT Women’s Title, she was brought up to the main roster. She hasn’t done much on the main roster, though. All she did was win the Battle Royal at Evolution, win the Women’s Crown Jewel Championship, and win the Women’s World Title. She has been the Women’s World Champion for three months and counting, and she moves to 2026 with a ton of momentum and buzz of a potential WrestleMania main event match coming up.
Jey Uso: While Jey definitely had some singles success in 2024, including a one-month reign as the Intercontinental Champion, he was still viewed as one-half of The Usos. Even through all that he went through with The Bloodline, people were simply waiting for Jey to reunite with his brother and go off on another Tag Team Title reign or two or nine. His “yeet” catchphrase had exploded in popularity, but again, he was viewed as someone who probably had a “glass ceiling” that he would never crash through… until he won the Royal Rumble this year. Consider that glass ceiling crashed through. Even as the Royal Rumble winner… SURELY he wouldn’t go on to become a World Champion at WrestleMania, right? Right?!? This son of a gun went out and did exactly that, beating Gunther to win the World Heavyweight Title. That’s both out-of-nowhere and something we all should’ve seen coming, all at the same time, weirdly enough.
Oba Femi: On January 9th of last year, in just his fifth ever match on television, Oba would squash Dragon Lee to win the NXT North American Title. After dropping the title to Tony D’Angelo nine months later, Oba won the Iron Survivor Challenge at Deadline to earn a shot at the NXT Title, which he would go on to win on January 7th of this year. During 2025, he has elevated his profile to the point that he was able to compete against Cody Rhodes on Saturday Night’s Main Event. Actually, he didn’t just compete against Cody, he damn near dominated him until Drew McIntyre interfered and had the match thrown out. Fans are now calling for WWE to pull the trigger on a previously unheard of move… having the NXT Champion show up in the Royal Rumble and win the entire thing. Oba is about as close to a “sure thing” as there is for success in 2026.
Tiffany Stratton: The very start of 2024 saw Tiffany finish up her time in NXT before getting called up to Smackdown. Her time on Smackdown was such a tease, because she technically didn’t do much, but there were a lot of glimpses at the potential she held for the future. Even as a heel, she saw her popularity grow constantly. She won the women’s Money In The Bank match, and on the first episode of Smackdown in 2025, she would successfully cash in, winning the WWE Women’s Title. That would begin an undefeated streak that lasted all the way until she lost to Stephanie Vaquer at Crown Jewel in October, and that loss would soon be followed up by her dropping her title to Jade Cargill in November. 2024 saw the potential she had, and 2025 was when that potential was realized, making her one of the top women in the entire business.
Hirooki Goto: The list of accomplishments in Goto-san’s 20-plus year career with New Japan Pro Wrestling is impressive. Two IWGP Intercontinental Title reigns. One IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Title reign with Minoru. Five IWGP Tag Team Title reigns, four of which came with Yoshi-Hashi and one with Katsuyori Shibata. Five NEVER Openweight Title reigns. Two NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Title reigns, one with Yoshi-Hashi and Yoh, and one with Yoshi-Hashi and Tomohiro Ishii. One Strong Openweight Tag Team Title reign with Yoshi-Hashi. A G1 Climax tournament victory in 2008. Three New Japan Cup tournament victories (2009, 2010, 2012). Five World Tag League tournament victories (2012 with Karl Anderson, 2014 with Katsuyori Shibata, 2021-2023 with Yoshi-Hashi). One Young Lion Cup tournament victory (2005). There’s a lot there, but what was missing was a reign at the top of the New Japan mountain. He had multiple opportunities through the years, but always fell just short. Following the passing of his father in 2024, he would rededicate himself and his career to get one more shot at the top. After winning the New Japan Ranbo Battle Royal at Wrestle Kingdom, he earned a shot at Zack Sabre Jr. and the IWGP World Heavyweight Title. In one of the most emotional matches anywhere in 2025, Goto won and ended up having a nice four-and-a-half month title reign. His rise to the top was out-of-nowhere, but in the best possible way.
Je’Von Evans: If you watched any of his pre-NXT work as Jay Malachi, you probably already saw something special in this kid who could seemingly defy gravity and make it look easy in the ring. When he arrived in NXT, though, and looked to ply his craft in front of a bigger audience, things really began to take off for him. His 2025 has been filled with clear moves to higher profile places on the card, with nine televised title matches during the calendar year, but of those nine matches, he won a grand total of zero. He is knocking on the door to superstardom, especially with the recent moment on Raw where it was revealed he will be a “free agent” soon, and with Raw General Manager Adam Pearce saying that he wants to speak with him about his future. It sure seems like he could be a strong nominee for this award again in 2026.
Kyle Fletcher: For as long as I’ve been following Kyle Fletcher’s career, I’ve seen people talk about how good he was in the ring and how bright his future was. His work with Mark Davis as Aussie Open was a lot of fun, and their time with Will Ospreay’s United Empire stable really put them on the map for a lot of people. It wasn’t until Mark Davis broke his wrist in late-2023, though, that Fletcher really opened the eyes of people across the world. Getting to wrestle as a singles performer changed everything for him, and all he did in 2025 was raise his stock on a weekly basis. As we reach the end of 2025, he has become the “next big thing” in AEW, where it’s not a matter of IF he will win the AEW World Title, but WHEN it will happen.
…and the winner is… John Cena! Look, you can go from “midcard” to “main event,” or from NXT to the main roster, and so on, but nobody else on this list broke the officially recognized record for most World Title reigns in pro wrestling history, had one of the greatest heel turns ever, was in the main event of WrestleMania and SummerSlam, and so on and so forth. What an incredible final year as an in-ring competitor.
Let’s keep it moving along here. Our next award is #TheThirst. To be nominated for this award, your mouth and/or your keyboard fingers have to get yourself in constant controversy or even trouble, and it seems like all you want is nothing but more and more attention, whether you deserve it or not. In no particular order, here are this year’s nominees…
Rikishi: Wrestling fans have opinions. That’s a guarantee. Fathers have opinions. That’s a guarantee. Man, oh, man, does Rikishi have a ton of opinions, though. Surprise, surprise, though… all of his opinions have to do with his family. If either of the Usos so much as breathe, Rikishi is going to go on a 28-minute rant on a podcast about it. When Solo Sikoa decides to eat the chicken instead of the pork at catering before an episode of Smackdown, best believe that Big ‘Kish is going to tell us about how much Triple H is screwing things up by not making Solo a 28-time World Champion. It gets old, and it gets old quickly.
Ronda Rousey: The pro wrestling career of Ronda Rousey is split evenly between two phases. Phase One began at the 2018 Royal Rumble and ended at WrestleMania 35, while Phase Two began at the 2022 Royal Rumble and ended at SummerSlam 2023. That first phase saw her come across as a huge fan of wrestling, and as someone who was happy to be there, continuing to grow as an in-ring performer. She showed continued promise that she could eventually become one of the all-time greats before it was all said and done. That second phase, though… it was as if she went away to become a mother, then became a mother, and then lost all of her zest for life. She seemed miserable. There was no light behind her eyes. Her motivation was gone. You’d swear she was only there to collect paychecks. Once that second phase came to an end, Ronda hit the media circuit, and she hit it hard. Every chance she got, she was taking shots at WWE, WWE management, WWE wrestlers, WWE fans, and everything even remotely resembling a relationship with WWE. Two-plus years later, she was STILL ranting and raving about how absolutely awful everything about WWE was, while taking no responsibility for anything whatsoever. I used this word earlier, but she really seems like a miserable person, and it amazes me that she just continues to speak so poorly about pro wrestling like she was forced to do anything.
David Otunga: I’m not here to say whether or not David Otunga’s stories about how he was treated backstage by John Cena are true or not. If he were making even a little bit of his stories up, there would’ve been a bunch of people coming out of the woodwork to shoot his claims down. The issue that I, like most people, have with his stories is the timing. The things that he refers to took place around 15 years ago, and he has spent most of those 15 years being quiet, but when Cena went on his retirement tour, that’s when he was telling stories on his own podcast, as well as making appearances on other shows to tell stories. He has been receiving “clout chaser” accusations pretty much all year, and he continues to talk, basically telling the same stories again and again in what seems like a pretty clear attempt to gain views. Maybe he’ll have some wild AJ Styles stories for 2026.
Mark Henry: Do you like horrible wrestling takes? As an added bonus, do you like people that throw race into every topic, even when it has no business being there? If you said “yes” to both of those questions, Mark Henry is probably your favorite wrestling personality. However, if you didn’t say “yes” to both of those questions, you probably roll your eyes when you see Mark Henry’s name in the news. If a news story involves a black person in any way, Mark is going to take their side, no matter what they did, like Rikishi does with Samoans. It’s a weird way to go through life.
Tribalist Fans: I really don’t know how many times I need to say this… just like what you like and let everyone else like what they like. If WWE isn’t for you, for whatever reason, that’s fine. Support AEW, or whatever promotion does deliver the things that you’re looking for. If AEW isn’t for you, for whatever reason, that’s fine. Support WWE, or whatever promotion does deliver the things that you’re looking for. To spend all your time online, trolling people on social media, all while the actual wrestlers of WWE and AEW are laughing at your stupid asses… that’s diabolical work. Hiding behind fake profile pictures, putting things like “WWE” or “AEW” or “Elite” in your social media names, and so on, to cape for these companies is silly on every possible level.
Ric Flair: Is Ric Flair alive? If so, then you can be sure he’s saying and doing things that are pissing people off, and you can be damn sure that most of it is because he’s a lousy drunk and one of the biggest whores around, willing to do absolutely anything for a few cents. He has piss poor takes about everything, but especially about his daughter and what she should, and shouldn’t, be doing with her career. If you’re insane enough to give him two months worth of car payments for a Cameo, he’s going to give you a shitfaced response that completely goes against what you asked him for in the first place. He has had approximately 52 “final” matches, but he continues to talk about wanting to get in the ring again, because he will not stop until he dies a very public death that is witnessed by everyone with eyeballs and an active internet connection.
MVP: For the longest time, MVP would make mention of personal issues he had with an unnamed WWE executive, hinting at various things that said executive may have said or done in the past to sour their relationship. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, this unnamed WWE executive was revealed, and it was none other than Paul “Triple H” Levesque. In every interview MVP did, the subject of Triple H would come up, sometimes provoked and sometimes unprovoked. The biggest issue with his comments about Triple H aren’t that he’s making them in the first place. He certainly wouldn’t be the first person who has a negative opinion of Paul Levesque as a person, and chances are, he won’t be the last, either. Instead, the biggest issue has been how vague he is about exactly what happened to draw his ire in the first place. He continues to tiptoe around the subject, even when he is the one who brings it up in the first place. If you didn’t bring enough to share with the entire class, why bother with it to begin with? He has said that he will go into detail one day, but again, this is something that has been going on for a long time now. Unless there’s a legal issue in play, what exactly is holding him back from talking about their issues? MVP clearly doesn’t have an issue taking little shots at Triple H whenever he gets the chance, so there should be no issues in getting everything out in the open.
The winner of this year’s edition is… Ronda Rousey! Not everyone has perfect experiences at their place of employment, no matter what it is. It’s just unfortunate that Ronda’s experience with WWE, specifically in her second run, seems like it affected her life on every level. There is almost no aspect of her time with the company that she has anything positive about. She seems like someone that is mentally fragile, and that has been showcased on numerous occasions when her on-screen character doesn’t get the crowd reaction that she expected. It throws her completely off of her game, and she doesn’t respond well. She never takes responsibility for anything going wrong, and it’s always the fault of everyone else. That probably also explains why her co-workers haven’t exactly gone out of their way to heap tons of praise on her, either as a character or as a person. Ma’am, you’re married with two children. Why spend so much of your time and energy focused on a pro wrestling career that didn’t work out the way you wanted? Focus on your family and fade away.
It’s time to give out another award. #NobodyCaresB takes us to the worst of the worst. These are the storylines and wrestlers that were so bad, people just wanted them to go away. Sometimes, it’s a thing that was terrible from the beginning, but sometimes, it’s something that had a promising start, only to completely fall apart. The nominees, in no particular order, are…
Travis Scott: To be fair, his inclusion here isn’t 100% his fault. A lot of it is, but I also think there’s a good chunk of it that had to do with what I feel (and have dedicated an entire column to in the past) is a power struggle behind the scenes between Dwayne Johnson and Paul Levesque. That’s the reason I think everything involving The Rock on WWE programming was seemingly wiped away, with zero mention being made of him, despite the fact that he was responsible for the biggest storyline in the entire company as an on-screen performer. When Travis Scott was around, though, did he do anything for any of you? I don’t listen to a ton of his music, but there are definitely some of his songs that I enjoy. That wasn’t enough for me to say “oh, cool, Travis Scott is going to whoop some ass” or anything. He doesn’t look like he’s going to believably beat a wrestler up, and he isn’t someone that is going to get on the mic and cut the type of meaningful promo that has live crowds eating out of the palm of his hand. Seeing him at WrestleMania… taking an hour-and-a-half to wander down to the ring, just to do fuck all except for taking a Cross Rhodes from Cody Rhodes… made what was an already underdelivering match even more head-scratching. In the months since, we’ve seen and heard that his working relationship with WWE was supposed to continue, eventually leading to him participating in a big six-man tag match at Money In The Bank, but Scott no-showed training sessions and media opportunities, so the plans were scrapped altogether. Perhaps that ended up being for the best.
WrestleMania Heading To Saudi Arabia: In 2013, it was announced that WWE had entered a working relationship with Saudi Arabia to have a bunch of live events in the country. It wasn’t a huge, earth-shattering announcement, but it was polarizing nonetheless. People wondered why WWE would enter business with a country like Saudi Arabia. Didn’t they know the country’s history? Weren’t they aware of the issues there? The controversy over the move never really took off at the time, because it was just non-televised house show events that the company was doing over there. Out of sight, out of mind for the rest of the world. Then, 2018 came, and it was announced that WWE would be having a pay-per-view in Saudi Arabia. That meant more complaints were on the way, even though Greatest Royal Rumble ended up being nothing more than a televised house show of sorts. In 2019, the relationship expanded even further, and more Saudi events were promised. It seemed like the relationship grew more and more with each passing year. At the start of 2025, it was announced that WWE would be taking the Royal Rumble to Saudi Arabia in 2026. The real Royal Rumble, too, and not just a one-off bearing the name like we saw before. That had people really mad, but it would only get worse. September 2025 saw the reveal that WrestleMania 43 would take place in Saudi Arabia, and people lost their minds. The only positive takes you saw after the announcement were made by people who are on WWE’s payroll in one way or another or who live in and around Saudi Arabia. It’s rare to see such a universally panned decision in wrestling
Michelle McCool: From the moment it was made public that Michelle McCool was dating Mark Calaway aka The Undertaker, there was a bit of negativity aimed in her direction by a portion of wrestling fans. Accusations of her using the relationship to advance her career began to spread. Even after she left the company and moved on to retirement, people would still throw hate in her direction. It made less sense then, as she wasn’t in the business anymore, and therefore, had nothing to gain from being in a relationship with The Undertaker, but the hate still happened. Things died down for a few years, but 2025 saw things take off again like never before. It started with the reveal that Michelle would be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame this year. Then the announcement that Michelle would be replacing Mickie James as one of the coaches on the WWE LFG reality competition, which just so happens to feature Taker as a coach. Finally, Taker’s podcast would return to the air after a three-month hiatus, but instead of Taker’s friend Matt Lyda as the co-host, Michelle McCool herself was in the co-host role. The podcast change was the main complaint people had, saying that her presence ruined the vibe of the show, and that she sucked the life out of the room in every episode. Just like that, fans were far more sick of her than they were at any point during her actual in-ring career.
The winner is… Michelle McCool! While WrestleMania going to Saudi Arabia has people upset, there are still plenty of positive takes on the move and what it could do for the country, especially its younger fans. Michelle McCool, on the other hand, has seen such a drastic downturn in how she is viewed by wrestling fans all over the world. Go to any video of Taker’s podcast on YouTube and take a look at the comments… they’re almost exclusively negative, and for good reason. If you take time to watch the podcast, you’ll see Michelle doing more of the talking, more of the question asking, and more of the reacting to what the guests are saying, while Taker pretty much just sits in the corner and responds with a word or two here and there. Even the people who call themselves fans of Michelle McCool and her work say that the show is awkward now, and that Taker doesn’t seem like he can be himself with his wife in the room. It’s unnecessary, and she absolutely deserves to be mentioned in situations like this. People don’t care, and the dwindling numbers on the podcast… despite the show moving to WWE’s channel with infinitely more resources and subscribers… prove that point.
Our next award is #Cryin, which highlights the best promo, segment, or overall moment of the year. In no particular order, the nominees are…
Bron Breakker’s Spear On IShowSpeed During The Royal Rumble: If you were to make a list of the most violent looking Spears in recent wrestling history, Bron Breakker is going to dominate that list. The former football player hits the move with all the speed, power, and force of a collision in the NFL. Speaking of speed… YouTube personality IShowSpeed weighs approximately 129 pounds if he had his pockets full of bricks. Putting Speed in the Royal Rumble after Akira Tozawa was taken out made for a fun move that got a bunch of clicks on social media buzz, but was it worth it for Speed? I certainly don’t know what he was paid for his appearance, but being taken out by one of the hardest hitting Spears in pro wrestling history couldn’t have been worth whatever his pay was. The collision itself was nasty, but him slamming the back of his head on the mat could’ve been a disaster. It’s a spot that is going to be played on highlight reels, both for the Royal Rumble and for Bron Breakker, for years and years.
Hirooki Goto Winning The IWGP World Heavyweight Title: The story being told was a great one to begin with. Hirooki Goto… always the bridesmaid, never the bride. He has a legendary career with New Japan, but he had always fallen short of winning the company’s top title. After his father passed away, he would rededicate himself to reaching the top of the New Japan mountain, and fans were behind him every step of the way. To see him actually achieve his goal, defeating Zack Sabre Jr. back in February, was a very emotional moment. Not just for him, but for everyone who has watched his journey, experienced loss, or faced what seemed like an insurmountable hurdle.
John Cena’s Heel Turn: A popular phrase that you’ll hear about the world of pro wrestling in this recent “era” is “never say never.” There have been so many wild moments, in and out of the ring, that have blown people away. Things that many fans didn’t think they would ever be around to witness for one reason or another. Perhaps higher than anything else on that list is a John Cena heel turn. For years and years, a heel turn was famously shot down by Vince McMahon, based on multiple factors… the merchandise sales for Cena, a perceived lack of anyone that could step up to take his spot as WWE’s top face, John’s charity work, and so on. With John’s retirement tour underway, there was zero reason for anyone to think a heel turn was going to happen. You could hope for it, sure, but it wasn’t going to happen… and then it did. In one of the most shocking moments in the history of the sport, the look on John’s face changed as he embraced Cody Rhodes at Elimination Chamber, and with a signal from The Rock, John delivered a low blow to Cody and we were off to the races. At least we thought we were. Things outside of John’s control forced the heel run to take a few more twists than perhaps he originally had planned, and eventually, the turn was dropped out of nowhere, making him a face again. For that one night, though, it was magical, and we all got to witness history. Never say never.
Chris Bey Walking To The Ring At FSW’s “Beynefit” Show: In October 2024, Chris Bey was injured during a television taping for Impact Wrestling. He would suffer a broken neck and was temporarily paralyzed, spending a bunch of time in the hospital. Fast forward to March 2025, when Future Stars Of Wrestling would hold a “Beynefit” show for him, and he would make an appearance at the end of the show, carefully walking to the ring. It was a beautiful, real life moment, featuring someone who was defying the odds and, as they called it, was starting chapter one of the greatest story ever told.
AJ Lee’s Return: From the moment CM Punk shocked the world by returning to WWE at the 2023 Survivor Series, many fans began to wonder if his wife, AJ Lee, could also make a return. Punk had been away from the company since 2014, and AJ had been away since 2015. People wondered and wondered, and the buzz grew and grew. Punk, to his credit, never really leaned too far in either direction, never saying it was impossible, but also never saying that it was inevitable. Once Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch were paired together on-screen, and Punk needed a bit of assistance in his feud against them, it started to sink in. We were really going to get the return of AJ, and when it happened, it was every bit as magical as her fans hoped it would be. It certainly helped that the return took place in Chicago, where she has lived for years.
Toni Storm Switching Back To Her “Timeless” Persona Mid-Promo: I’m of the opinion that Toni Storm has been the MVP of AEW over the last two years thanks to the “Timeless” character she has played. It’s so over-the-top and campy, but her dedication to the bit is insanely impressive. I’m also of the opinion that Toni Storm’s feud with Mariah May might be the greatest rivalry in AEW history, and it is certainly the greatest rivalry in women’s wrestling history. They had incredible in-ring chemistry from the start, whether they were partners or rivals, and it led to some very entertaining work, both in the ring and on the microphone. This particular promo was so simple, and yet, so effective. Toni had gone back to her original “Rockstar” character, acting as if she was a young, up-and-coming talent that had just debuted in AEW with seemingly no memory of anything that was done in the “Timeless” persona. After Mariah attacks her, Toni simply morphs back into the “Timeless” character with a simple accent change and cuts a brief, yet passionate, promo to hype up their upcoming match at Grand Slam Australia. It was silly, but it worked, all thanks to Toni Storm willing to put in the work to make that character succeed. Nobody else could’ve made the “Timeless” persona a success. Not a single woman in all of wrestling could’ve done what she did with it. I truly believe that.
Seth Rollins’ “Ruse Of The Century”: Every wrestling fan responds differently to major news stories like injuries and backstage drama. Is it a work? Is it a shoot? Some are immediately on the defensive, thinking that everything is a work. Others go with the flow, and if it’s being reported (especially by the bigger sites), then it must be a shoot. When it was first announced that Seth Rollins appeared to suffer a potentially serious knee injury, there was a lot of skepticism. However, it was his dedication to the bit that had a lot of those skeptics coming around. It wasn’t the first time Seth had a major knee injury, which helped, but seeing him out of the ring, in “real life,” with knee braces and crutches. He made a previously scheduled appearance on The Rich Eisen Show, and went into great detail about the injury and the trips to the doctor to find out how long he would be out of action. Then… SummerSlam happened. Rollins shows up with his Money In The Bank briefcase, but is still clearly hobbling around on crutches. He’s there to tell brand new World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk that he still has Punk in his sights. Just when he was about to leave, he stops, throws his crutches down, removes his knee brace, and jogs to the ring. Moments later, Seth was the new World Heavyweight Champion, and we all realized that we had been fooled from the beginning. Every now and then, this sport and the people involved in it find a way to make the magic seem real again.
The winner is… John Cena’s Heel Turn! Every year, there are tons of great moments, great promos, and great segments. It’s only natural. What we don’t get on a yearly basis is a moment that will go down in history. Generations from now, people will still be discussing John Cena turning heel on Cody Rhodes as one of the greatest turns in wrestling history. Yes, they will also be discussing a lot of the things that came after the turn, but my point remains. When you’re given all-time great moments, you take the time to give them their flowers.
It’s time to give out our next-to-last award. #Craftmaster is given out to… well… the master of their craft. This is for the best wrestler in the world over the last calendar year. As always, this award (as well as the final one) features way more nominees than the other awards, but that is done by design. I want to make sure the nominees are getting the flowers they deserve, whether they win or not. Here are this year’s nominees, in no particular order…
“Hangman” Adam Page: His accomplishments on the year include being the winner of the Owen Hart Cup and holding the AEW World Title for 134 days. All the while, he continued to be the true heart and soul of AEW, and was someone who could always be counted on to have entertaining matches with anyone.
Iyo Sky: With a 131-day reign as the Women’s World Champion in WWE, her list of accomplishments isn’t quite as long as some of the other nominees. What Iyo has that most other wrestlers don’t, though, is a track record of consistency. When an Iyo Sky match takes place, you know you’re going to get a high quality bout, no matter what. Title on the line or no title on the line. First match of the night or main event. Singles or tag. She is one of the most effortlessly skilled in-ring performers in the business today.
Bandido: He has one reign as the RoH World Champion this year (as of the day this column is posted, his reign is at the 267-day mark), as well as one 90-day reign as one-half (with Brody King) of the AEW Tag Team Champions. If we’re basing things strictly and solely on match quality, Bandido might win this award easily this year. I couldn’t even tell you the last time I wasn’t thoroughly impressed with a Bandido match, and that’s going back multiple years now, not just in 2025.
Saya Kamitani: She won Stardom’s World Of Stardom Title (the promotion’s top championship) on this day last year, and continues to hold it today. As of today, she has been the New Japan Strong Women’s Champion for the last 93 days and counting. She was also the Pro Wrestling Wave Single Champion entering the year, holding the title for the first seven-plus months before dropping it. Tokyo Sports magazine named her as the 2025 MVP as part of the Tokyo Sports Puroresu Awards, making her the first woman to ever win the award. It has been a historic year, not just for her, but for women’s wrestling in general. Her 2025 might be the single best calendar year that anyone has ever had in the history of joshi wrestling, with great match after great match, and the title reigns for multiple promotions.
John Cena: One 105-day reign as the WWE Champion, which was his record-breaking 17th officially recognized World Title reign. He also had a 19-day reign as the WWE Intercontinental Champion. The clock was turned back when it comes to his 2025, with his final year as a pro wrestler being one of the best years he’s had in a long, long time. Most (all?) of the negatives surrounding his heel run were for things that were out of his hands, allowing him to focus on having great matches with the likes of Cody Rhodes, AJ Styles, CM Punk, Sami Zayn, Gunther, and more, and that’s just what he did.
Konosuke Takeshita: He entered the year as the AEW International Champion, dropping the title on March 9th to cap a 148-day reign. New Japan’s NEVER Openweight Title was his for 162 days. He is also the reigning and defending IWGP World Heavyweight Champion, with his reign reaching the 77-day mark on the day this column is posted, and he won the grueling G1 Climax tournament to earn the shot that won him the title in the first place. All he’s done this year is win, and he has done it everywhere he went. His matches are all treated like big deals, and he is presented like a “top guy,” no matter what he’s doing.
Kyle Fletcher: A 114-day reign as the AEW TNT Champion is all he has on a list of accomplishments for the year, but there might not be anyone in the sport that used in-ring work to raise their stock more in 2025 than he did. He became a true workhorse for AEW, and went from being viewed as a “tag team guy” to being someone viewed as a guaranteed AEW World Champion in the not-too-distant future. His 2025 is the kind of year that will be looked at fondly decades from now, when we’re talking about where his career truly took off.
Oba Femi: He won the NXT Championship on January 7th, holding it for 263 days before dropping it to Ricky Saints, but he won it back a little over two months later. His current reign as the NXT Champion has reached 23 days as of the day this column gets posted. He has made a meteoric rise to the top of NXT, and it has taken him to a heavily hyped appearance on the main roster in a match against Cody Rhodes, of all people. Incredibly entertaining matches all along the way have helped to propel him to this stage.
The winner is… Saya Kamitani! Honestly, this one surprised me a bit. I was sure that Bandido would be my pick here, based on his unbelievable run of great matches, spread out over multiple different promotions. In doing a ton of research for this column, though, and watching a bunch of wrestling, I kept coming back to Saya Kamitani. She has done tremendous work in Japan, having some of the best matches on the planet and doing some really entertaining character work as a heel after a long face run. On top of that, though, she has carried the Stardom promotion to new levels of popularity, and they’re doing really well with ticket sales and overall interest levels.
We have finally reached the “main event,” so to speak. The final award being given out is #!!!, handed out to the best match of the year. A match that was so good that words couldn’t properly express your true feelings, so mere exclamations will have to do. One more time, here are the nominees, again in no particular order, with very brief descriptions so I can try to keep the length of this column from getting too out of control…
John Cena vs AJ Styles (WWE Crown Jewel): A wonderful love letter to the legendary careers of both men, in front of a red hot, appreciative crowd.
Iyo Sky vs Stephanie Vaquer (WWE WrestlePalooza): The combination of technical wizardry, hard-hitting striking, and the joshi background that both women have made for a great contest that pulled the crowd in more and more as the match went on.
Kazuchika Okada vs Mascara Dorada vs Konosuke Takeshita (AEW All Out): With Okada and Takeshita seeing their feud building, the match was laid out so that Dorada could shine, and his in-ring style really stood out against the puroresu styles of his opponents.
Anarchy In The Arena (AEW Double Or Nothing): It was every bit of the violent, bloody, chaotic piece of… well… anarchy that you could ever want from a match like this.
Iyo Sky vs Mayu Iwatani (Marigold Grand Destiny): Two of the best women to ever step foot inside of a wrestling ring, going to war, with Iyo being able to work the type of match that she doesn’t get to work very often in her time with WWE.
Cody Rhodes vs Seth Rollins (WWE Crown Jewel): With “nothing” on the line, I don’t know what people were really expecting from this one, but Cody and Seth worked this like a World Title match in the main event of WrestleMania, seemingly looking to top the Cena vs AJ match from earlier in the night.
Jon Moxley vs “Hangman” Adam Page (AEW All In): A Texas Death Match that was as bloody and gory as you would expect, but also with the added drama of Hangman trying to win the AEW World Title and “bring it back” to the company.
Men’s Elimination Chamber (WWE Elimination Chamber): A stacked lineup, a blood feud between CM Punk and Seth Rollins, a red hot crowd, the drama surrounding John Cena’s desire to reach the main event of WrestleMania… and it all adds up to one of the most entertaining Elimination Chamber matches ever, but especially of the more recent era.
El Hijo del Vikingo vs Chad Gable (WWE x AAA Worlds Collide): One of the greatest aerial artists in the business facing off against one of the greatest technical wizards in the business, and the clash of styles made for something special.
Brodido vs Kazuchika Okada & Konosuke Takeshita (AEW WrestleDream): Two of the best tag teams in the world, and that showed with how much back-and-forth action this one had, with both teams shining and looking like a million dollars.
“Hangman” Adam Page vs Kyle Fletcher (AEW All Out): An incredibly hard-hitting match, and the match that firmly placed Kyle Fletcher in the category of someone who “belongs” in the main event scene for years to come.
Bandido vs Hechicero (RoH Death Before Dishonor): One match, broken down into two halves, with the first half being wrestled with a more deliberate pace, while the second half was about as balls-to-the-wall as you’re going to see.
Men’s Royal Rumble (WWE Royal Rumble): An incredibly well put together match, featuring drama from beginning to end, a surprise winner, and the advancement and/or development of several future matches, including some at WrestleMania.
Mistico vs MJF (CMLL 92nd Anniversary Show): One of the hottest crowds you’re ever going to see, with the babyface Mistico putting his mask on the line (and all that brings in the world of Lucha Libre) in an attempt to defend Lucha against the dastardly heel champion.
Kenny Omega vs Gabe Kidd (NJPW x AEW x RoH x Stardom x CMLL Wrestle Dynasty): Omega was not only returning to Japan for the first time in years, but returning to wrestling, period, after being away for over a year with various injuries. The atmosphere was incredible, and the match was part tribute to New Japan Pro Wrestling history, part war, and part coming out party for Gabe Kidd, who rose to the occasion in the biggest match of his career.
John Cena vs Logan Paul (WWE Clash In Paris): One of the hottest crowds anywhere all year long helped to take this to another level. It was yet another Cena match in 2025 where he was able to turn the clock back and put in some of the best work he’s had in years, but Logan Paul, to his credit, had an amazing performance, as well.
Bandido vs Konosuke Takeshita (RoH Supercard Of Honor): A superb wrestling match, with both men going toe-to-toe and move-for-move with some of the best counters and reversals that the sport saw all year.
Swerve Strickland vs Will Ospreay (AEW Dynamite – June 11th): 30 minutes of insane work from two of the best in the world, in a rare Match Of The Year candidate on television.
Konosuke Takeshita vs Kenny Omega (AEW Revolution): A real “big fight feel” for this one, and both men wrestled like it, pulling out all the stops to topple their opponent time and time again.
John Cena vs Cody Rhodes (WWE SummerSlam): After their match at WrestleMania left many fans disappointed, all eyes were on this one, and both men did not disappoint. Great storytelling, tons of drama, and a satisfying way to get Cena to the next phase of his retirement tour.
Kenny Omega vs Ricochet vs “Speedball” Mike Bailey (AEW Dynasty): An exhausting match in the best possible way. Non-stop action mixed with a surprising amount of comedy spots, and all three men wrestling like they had something to prove.
Saya Kamitani vs Tam Nakano (STARDOM All-Star Grand Queendom): So much emotion. With the company’s biggest title on the line, that would’ve been enough, but both of their careers were also on the line. The love and respect that both women have for each other was evident here, as they were going all out to win, but also seemed hesitant to pull the trigger and finish their opponent’s career on multiple occasions.
Bandido vs Mascara Dorada (CMLL x AEW x RoH Martes Populares): Moves, moves, moves, and more moves. Two of the most exciting in-ring performers in the business were on a clear mission to one-up each other.
Zack Sabre Jr. vs Konosuke Takeshita (NJPW King Of Pro Wrestling): A roller coaster of a match, with pacing that sped up and slowed down, and both men trying to exert their own style and see which was best.
Iyo Sky vs Rhea Ripley vs Naomi (WWE Evolution): Iyo and Rhea had an absolute banger of a match, making it one of the best straight up singles matches in North American women’s wrestling history, and then the surprise Money In The Bank cash-in by Naomi took an already red hot crowd to another level entirely.
The Street Profits vs Motor City Machine Guns vs DIY (WWE Smackdown – April 25th): The tag team division on Smackdown has been insanely deep all year long, and this TLC Match was a fun showcase for three of the best teams there. Pure chaos from beginning to end.
CM Punk vs Seth Rollins vs Roman Reigns (WWE WrestleMania 41): Star power to a ridiculous level, and the motivation of working a WrestleMania main event. That isn’t even counting the great drama involving Paul Heyman and who he would truly side with.
Zack Sabre Jr. vs Hirooki Goto (NJPW The New Beginning In Osaka): Epic storytelling here, with Goto trying to finally reach the top of the New Japan mountain, dedicating his entire final run to his father who recently passed away. The notoriously quiet Japanese fans were loud and animated here, rooting for Goto every step of the way.
Sareee vs Syuri (Sareee-ISM Chapter VII): As hard-hitting and physical a match as you would see anywhere in 2025. These two went all out for 30 minutes, looking like they were trying to kill each other, and they still found time to throw in some great technical wrestling on top of it.
The winner of the final award is… Kenny Omega vs Gabe Kidd! It was one of the first matches of 2025, but it was strong enough to stand the test of time, overcoming all the rest of the greatness that the year delivered. The atmosphere in the Tokyo Dome, with Omega returning to the ring for the first time in over a year, and returning to Japan for the first time in multiple years, was amazing. Omega looked like he hadn’t missed a beat, and Gabe Kidd will forever have my respect for rising to the occasion in the biggest match of his career. From bell-to-bell, this one had me hooked and sitting on the edge of my seat. I had high expectations going in, and it blew those expectations out of the water.
It was a long journey, but we’ve reached the end of this year’s Hussy Awards column. Now is when I turn things over to you. Using the categories I have here, who would be the award winners if you were in charge? You don’t have to use all seven categories, but I would like to know what you think was some of the best (and worst) of the year in wrestling. As always, feel free to hit me up in the comments section below, on Twitter (@HustleTheSavage), or on Bluesky (@aaronhyden.bsky.social), and let me know what’s on your mind.
Now, let’s switch things over to my Weekly Power Rankings (with no summaries this week to keep this from being any longer than it needs to be), before closing things out with the list of songs I was listening to as I put this column together.
Weekly Power Rankings
Jon Moxley vs Kyle Fletcher
Ilja Dragunov vs Carmelo Hayes
Kazuchika Okada vs Konosuke Takeshita
Kazuchika Okada vs Jon Moxley
“Speedball” Mike Bailey vs Kazuchika Okada
Orange Cassidy vs Konosuke Takeshita
Samoa Joe vs “Hangman” Adam Page vs Swerve Strickland vs MJF
Rhea Ripley vs Asuka
Bandido vs Ricochet
Mark Briscoe, Roderick Strong, Orange Cassidy & “Timeless” Toni Storm vs Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta, Daniel Garcia & Marina Shafir
Kevin Knight vs Pac
CM Punk & Rey Mysterio vs Bronson Reed & Austin Theory
Darby Allin vs Gabe Kidd
Jack Perry vs Kyle Fletcher
This Week’s Playlist: “Leviticus” by $uicideboy$… “2009 Reggie Bush” by $uicideboy$… “Angel Grove” by $uicideboy$… “Candy Rain (Heavy D & TrakMasterz Mix)” by Soul For Real & Heavy D… “Nice & Slow (B-Rock’s Basement Mix)” by Usher, Twista & B-Rock… “Ain’t No Thang” by Outkast… “Player’s Ball” by Outkast… “Poppin’ My Collar” by Three 6 Mafia… “Stomp” by Three 6 Mafia… “Where’s Da Bud” by Three 6 Mafia… “Will Blast” by Three 6 Mafia… “Are U Ready 4 Us” by Three 6 Mafia & The Dayton Family… “Motivated” by Three 6 Mafia… “Who Got Dem 9’s” by Three 6 Mafia & Project Pat… “Tear Da Club Up ’97” by Three 6 Mafia… “Late Nite Tip” by Three 6 Mafia… “Bodyparts 2” by Three 6 Mafia & Prophet Posse… “Anyone Out There” by Three 6 Mafia… “Who Run It” by Three 6 Mafia… “Don’t Turn Around” by Project Pat… “Unforgettable” by Nat King Cole & Natalie Cole… “How High The Moon” by Ella Fitzgerald… “Centerfield” by John Fogerty… “I’m On Fire” by Bruce Springsteen… “Money For Nothing” by Dire Straits… “Loves Me Like A Rock” by Paul Simon… “Start Me Up” by The Rolling Stones… “Still Loving You” by Scorpions… “Hold The Line” by Toto… “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC… “Back In Black” by AC/DC… “La Bamba” by Los Lobos… “Alive” by Pearl Jam… “Zombie” by The Cranberries… “Pull Me Under” by Dream Theater
