10 Best WWE Matches Of 2025

2025 has been a mixed year for WWE. The company has openly bragged about how much they’re charging fans, with those same fans chanting about setting record gates for WWE events, while problematic performers have been brought back to TV, and WWE also announced they would be taking WrestleMania to Saudi Arabia in return for an astronomical amount of money. 

All of this and much more has ultimately affected how WWE are perceived by professional wrestling fans, but the company have managed to deliver some very good matches from January 1 to December 31, 2025. 

These are the 10 Best WWE Matches of 2025. 

10. Ilja Dragunov vs. Sami Zayn - October 17 Episode Of SmackDown

Ilja Dragunov had been absent from WWE TV for much of 2025, having been out of action for over a year after tearing his ACL in a match with Gunther on a non-televised live event in September of 2024. 

Fans hotly anticipated his return and it finally came together on the October 17, 2025 episode of SmackDown as Dragunov accepted Sami Zayn’s United States Title open challenge. Returning with a neck tattoo and looking more motivated than ever, Dragunov and Zayn proceeded to have a very good pro wrestling match which began to feel more and more like a scrappy fight as the in-ring action continued. 

There were plenty of big moves and kickouts and it really did feel like it was anyone’s match to win down the closing stretch. We could have done without Solo Sikoa showing up and distracting the champion, but at least it didn't lead directly to the finish, which saw Dragunov pull off the upset and win the title.

9. CM Punk vs. Gunther - SummerSlam Night 1

Ever since CM Punk made his shocking return to WWE at the 2023 Survivor Series, he made it crystal clear that his goal was to become world champion. 

In the main event of night one of SummerSlam 2025, the Straight Edge Superstar received his first (televised) shot at World Heavyweight Champion Gunther and it was easily the best match of the night as the two top stars battled back and forth for 30 bruising minutes. 

The story of the match was Punk, the grizzled old gunslinger, continually fighting back in the face of The Ring General’s onslaught. This was a good old-fashioned professional wrestling match where they threw bombs at each other and fought with heart.

It wasn’t perfect and they didn’t hit absolutely everything as crisply as they could have, but it was real and rugged and it was capped off with Punk finally getting his long-awaited win after such a lengthy chase.

He then got to enjoy it for all of about five minutes, as the not-actually-injured Seth Rollins cashed in his Money in the Bank contract to win the title.

A tremendous match and great post-match angle. 

8. Men's Elimination Chamber Match - Elimination Chamber

The Elimination Chamber match has, in recent times, felt somewhat arbitrary, the sort of thing WWE feels the need to do simply because it's what they do every year. 

In 2025, though, both Chamber matches were worthwhile uses of the gimmick and comprised half of what was the best WWE pay-per-view of the year. The men’s Chamber match was the superior bout, however, as it was stuffed with star power and had an incredible amount of heat as John Cena, CM Punk, Seth Rollins, Drew McIntyre, Damian Priest and Logan Paul battled for the chance to meet Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 41. 

This wasn’t so much about the big moves and dangerous spots – though there were a couple of those, too. This was about the incredible drama, particularly when the match came down to the final three of Cena, Punk and Rollins. 

It was edge-of-your-seat stuff, particularly due to the story of a desperate Cena knowing this was probably his last chance to earn a shot at winning his 17th world title in his final year as an in-ring performer. 

It built and built and built to an excellent finish, during which an eliminated Rollins took out his anger on CM Punk with a stomp. Then, in what may have been a signal of what was to come, John Cena dragged his unconscious opponent into the centre of the ring and forced Punk to pass out to the STF. 

Post-match, John Cena and Cody Rhodes came face to face, which led to an all-timer of a post-match angle as The Rock (and Travis Scott for some reason) headed to the ring and brought about John Cena’s heel turn, after over 20 years as a babyface, with Cena removing his smile and kicking Cody Rhodes straight in the nether regions. 

7. IYO SKY vs. Rhea Ripley - Evolution

After seven years, WWE revived the Evolution pay-per-view in July 2025 and the show was a worthy sequel to the original Evolution, headlined by IYO SKY defending the Women’s World Title against the incredibly popular Rhea Ripley. 

The two standouts had proven their chemistry on multiple occasions earlier in the year, but they took things to another level here, piecing together one of the best singles matches of 2025.

Rhea and IYO clearly knew each other quite well by this point both in real life and storyline, so there were a bunch of entertaining counters and sequences playing off their prior outings, before they started throwing the heavy artillery, including SKY hitting a huge crossbody from a stack of production boxes, as well as a sunset flip powerbomb on the floor and a top-rope Spanish Fly.

With both women down and the match finely poised, Naomi entered the fray, cashing in her Money in the Bank briefcase and taking advantage of the situation by pinning IYO to win the title. 

The cash-in didn’t take anything away from the match that preceded it, which was excellent, but ensured that the show ended with a great hook.

6. Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns vs. CM Punk - WrestleMania 41 Night 1

When CM Punk acrimoniously exited WWE in 2014, he made much of the fact that he had never been given the opportunity to main event WrestleMania, going so far as to call his career a "failure" because of it. 

Punk’s return and WrestleMania morphing into a two-night affair finally enabled the Voice of the Voiceless to headline the Showcase of the Immortals on night one as he shared the spotlight with Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins in a triple threat match that had no titles on the line, but plenty of intrigue as Paul Heyman appeared caught in the middle of Punk and Reigns. 

The match absolutely delivered and felt like a big-time WrestleMania main event as there were lots of clever sequences, close false finishes, and big moves and moments.

It all came down to Heyman and where his loyalties lay as he turned on first Punk and then Roman, aligning with Rollins and allowing The Architect to prevail on the Grandest Stage by pinning Reigns. 

A great end to a mixed show, and certainly much better than night two’s main event. 

5. John Cena vs. AJ Styles - Crown Jewel

One of the big WWE stories of 2025 was the final run of John Cena, who hung up the jorts after 23 years as a WWE star. It was a year that saw Cena finally turn heel, win his record-breaking 17th world title, and endure some of the weirdest booking imaginable. 

The Last Time is Now retirement tour wasn’t all great – far from it – but there were some definite highlights, such as his match with AJ Styles from Crown Jewel. Cena ran back a bunch of ‘last time ever’ matches with a few of his great rivals, but this was the pick of the bunch.

The Face That Runs the Place (who was thankfully back to being a babyface) and the Phenomenal One looked like they were having the time of their lives as they did the dance for the final time in front of a very enthused crowd in Perth, Australia. 

The best part about this was them choosing to pay homage to wrestlers they had wrestled (and some they hadn’t) during their long and illustrious careers by busting out their signature moves, before Cena wrapped things up with a Tombstone followed by another AA.

4. The Street Profits vs. #DIY vs. The Motor City Machine Guns - April 25 episode of WWE SmackDown

Even though WrestleMania 41 is now a two-day event, it is still the case that not every hardworking WWE star gets a spot on the card. In 2025, there was no room for The Motor City Machine Guns, #DIY or The Street Profits, who were forced to sit and watch from the sidelines. 

Evidently, the three teams took the slight personally because the six men performed like they had a point to prove when they met in the Tables, Ladders and Chairs main event of the April 25 episode of SmackDown.

How this insane spot fest didn’t make the grade for WrestleMania instead of the instantly forgettable match between New Day and War Raiders will forever remain a mystery, but Ford, Dawkins, Shelley, Sabin, Gargano and Ciampa can all be extremely proud of the effort they put into this WWE Tag Team Title spectacular. 

It was a TLC match reminiscent of the originals featuring the Hardys, the Dudleys and Edge & Christian, as they even recreated Edge and Jeff Hardy’s famous mid-air Spear spot, albeit with Tommaso Ciampa going through a table instead.

That was just one of the many highlights from one of the very best free TV WWE matches the company has ever aired. 

3. Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn - Elimination Chamber

Frenemies for life, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn have had a long and often brutal on-again, off-again rivalry that has spanned more than two decades and seen them have high-profile meetings in Ring of Honor, PWG, NXT, main roster WWE and beyond. 

At Elimination Chamber 2025, in an Unsanctioned Match in front of close to 40,000 fans in their home country, Owens and Zayn had perhaps their best and most brutal WWE match yet, which may turn out to be their last.

It felt like the final chapter in their story and there is no way to do justice to what they did out there by simply listing moves and spots. This was an ultra-intense, hate-filled war between two wrestlers who know each other better than anyone else. 

They left it all in the ring and had one of the most violent WWE matches in recent memory, brawling in and around the ring and into the crowd as they utilised all the plunder available to them. 

It might not be for everyone, but you cannot fault the effort and the sacrifices both men made to entertain.

As it stands, this may have also been Kevin Owens’ final match as he took time off shortly after to undergo neck surgery. 

2. Cody Rhodes vs. John Cena - SummerSlam Night 2

In the main event of night two of WrestleMania 41, John Cena defeated Cody Rhodes to capture his record 17th world championship. History was made but unfortunately for Cena, Cody, and WWE fans, the match itself was a disaster with one of the worst finishes in history as Travis Scott got involved and The Rock was nowhere to be seen. 

A WrestleMania main event to forget, Cena and Rhodes were at least afforded the opportunity to redeem themselves in the main event of SummerSlam night two. And redeem themselves they did. 

This Street Fight for the WWE Title was everything their WrestleMania match should have been and more as they had an utterly compelling back-and-forth contest that saw each man dig deep into his respective arsenal, tearing the ring apart in the process.

You could argue things got a little silly with the sheer amount of AAs and Cross Rhodes' by the end, but this was the epic fans had wanted from this pair, and they gave everything they had for close to 40 minutes. 

A great way for Cody to regain his title and a fitting end to Cena's misguided heel run.

1. IYO SKY vs. Bianca Belair vs. Rhea Ripley - WrestleMania 41 Night 2

If WrestleMania 41 night two ended with one of the worst 'Mania main events ever, it at the very least kicked off with one of the best openers in the event's storied history. 

Where the main event was a dull, plodding slog that felt like it went on for an eternity, this was an electric, fast-paced 15-minute match that flew by. 

Credit must go to all three women because they were firing on all cylinders and kept the action flowing without going overboard and doing too much or compromising the match’s integrity. Everyone shined and got a chance to show what they could do and it simply got better as it wore on, the crowd with them every step of the way through every big move, counter, near fall and save. 

Despite ending right at the peak, with SKY retaining after hitting a moonsault on Belair, who was in the process of pinning Ripley following a KOD, this was the rare match where, when it was over, you just wanted more. 

Regardless, it was pretty much perfect as it was and stands out as the best WWE match of 2025.