The John Report: 2025 WWE Johnny Awards
Welcome to the 2025 WWE Johnny Awards. They are the awards where I honor the hard-working men and women of World Wrestling Entertainment based on their work over the last year.
These are the very “prestigious” awards that I call the 17TH ANNUAL WWE Johnny Awards!
This year’s awards are dedicated to my good friend Ed Eastin Jr., aka Edswoggle, who passed away earlier this month. He loved wrestling, he supported me and TJRWrestling a lot, and I miss him a lot. Rest easy, my friend. Ed’s family and friends set up a GoFundMe for Ed’s loved ones, including his teenage son James, so if you like me and my columns, then please donate to the family if you’re able to do so. Thank you.
There are a few notes that I post every year before the Johnny Awards begin:
– This is World Wrestling Entertainment stuff ONLY. It says it in the title, but I want you to remember that when you ask why there’s no All Elite Wrestling, New Japan, TNA, Ring of Honor, or anything else in here. It’s WWE only! Why? Because I started doing these awards in 2009, and I don’t want to change.
– These awards are based on my personal choice. There were no polls or write-in votes. My name is on the awards, so I get to pick the winners. I don’t expect everybody reading this to agree with everything I write below, but I will do my best to explain all my choices. The awards are based on performance. It doesn’t necessarily matter if a person wins all their matches on television and titles aren’t that important. It’s about performance more than anything.
– Regarding NXT, WWE’s third brand is included in every award as well. The NXT brand is an important part of the company and I’m not going to ignore it. Anything that is WWE is considered for these awards. There have been NXT matches, wrestlers, feuds, etc. that have won awards in the past.
– Another thing to remember is that I try to have fun when I write about wrestling. I don’t take it too seriously and I don’t take myself too seriously. If you disagree with something, that’s cool. Please be respectful if you give me any feedback just like you would expect from me and don’t be shy about offering your take.
If you want to check out the previous year’s editions of these awards, just search “WWE Johnny Awards” with the year and you should find it easily.
I’ve used a similar intro for several years. I do that because it covers everything I need to say. I’ll write more words for the bigger awards and be more concise for some of the others.
Every year I write this and I say I want to write less, but it still ends up being around 10,000 words. This year it might actually be less. We’ll see. Let’s get to it.
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THE 2025 WWE JOHNNY AWARDS
Each award will have a description of what the award is, the previous winners of the award (if the award existed in the past), the winner of the award, the runners-up for the award, and then my extended thoughts on the award.
BEST MALE WRESTLER
To be given to the person that best combines workrate, character, promos and everything else into one. This is like WWE’s Superstar of the Year award when they did the Slammy Awards. Past winners – 2024: Drew McIntyre, 2023: Cody Rhodes, 2022: Roman Reigns, 2021: Roman Reigns 2020: Drew McIntyre, 2019: Daniel Bryan, 2018: Johnny Gargano, 2017: AJ Styles, 2016: AJ Styles, 2015: Seth Rollins, 2014: Seth Rollins, 2013: Daniel Bryan, 2012: CM Punk, 2011: CM Punk, 2010: Randy Orton, 2009: Chris Jericho
Winner: John Cena (Runners-Up: Cody Rhodes, Gunther, CM Punk, Drew McIntyre, Dominik Mysterio)
It is weird looking back at the 17 years of these awards and seeing Cena didn’t win them once. I think if I were doing this in years like 2005-2007 he would have won those years, but it just didn’t happen after that. When I think about WWE in 2025, it was all about John Cena’s retirement tour. I appreciated a lot of his performances. I thought he killed it in a lot of ways, and I wish there was more of it. Cena himself said he wanted to work more dates, but the company was like, nope, 36 dates are enough. I think Cena is the right choice for this award because of his promos, the way the crowd reacted to everything and I love how he put over heels like Dominik Mysterio and Gunther on the way out. On top of all that, his matches with AJ Styles (at Crown Jewel) and Cody Rhodes (at SummerSlam) are among the best of the year, so that’s a testament to how great Cena was, even in his final year.
I’m really proud of this John Cena tribute column I wrote prior to his retirement, so please check that out in case you haven’t done so already.
I think if it were 2024 WWE, then it might have been hard to give it to Cena because guys like Drew McIntyre (my 2024 winner), CM Punk, and Cody Rhodes had amazing years. This year was good for those three guys, but I don’t think I’d call it great. Storyline-wise, it just wasn’t as interesting. It’s not their fault from a performance standpoint. I think WWE’s creative team wasn’t as creative as it could have been for all of them.
I’ll also shoutout Gunther and Dominik Mysterio for their work as heels. They are great at getting booed. More on them below.
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BEST FEMALE WRESTLER
To be given to the best female performer.Past winners – 2024: Liv Morgan, 2023: Rhea Ripley, 2022: Bianca Belair, 2021: Bianca Belair, 2020: Sasha Banks, 2019: Becky Lynch, 2018: Becky Lynch, 2017: Asuka, 2016: Charlotte, 2015: Sasha Banks, 2014: Paige, 2013: AJ Lee, 2012: Eve, 2011: Beth Phoenix, 2010: Natalya, 2009: Mickie James
Winner: Iyo Sky (Runners-Up: Becky Lynch, Naomi, Stephanie Vaquer, Tiffany Stratton, Rhea Ripley)
If you look at the history of this award, there haven’t been many women who have won more than once, other than Bianca Belair, Becky Lynch, and Sasha Banks. This year, I think Iyo Sky elevated her game as an in-ring performer because she was a heel in the past, and that wasn’t a natural role for her. As a babyface, Sky can show off her aerial skills more and she can really get the crowd behind her when she moves through the air effortlessly. In terms of match quality, I think Sky is the best women’s wrestler in WWE, and this year she became more popular, so that puts her over the top.
Becky Lynch is incredible and the best heel woman in WWE by far. She elevated Maxxine Dupri a lot. Yes, Dupri deserves credit too, but if it was anybody else she was against, the crowd would barely react. Lynch is just so good overall. I laugh at her Trump-ish approach to social media because she knows the WRITING IN ALL CAPS thing is going to piss people off and she does it so well.
Naomi deserves a mention because she was terrific as a heel. I loved her Money in the Bank win and Women’s World Title cash in. She gave up the Women’s World Title in the summer due to being pregnant, but if that hadn’t happened, I think she would have probably won this award. With that said, I wish her and her husband, Jimmy Uso, all the best with their baby next year.
Rounding out the ladies worth mentioning, I think Stephanie Vaquer has had a lot of success on the main roster already and is consistently good in the ring. Tiffany Stratton upped her game. I don’t think her rivalries were that great, though. Rhea Ripley is consistently awesome, arguably the most popular woman in WWE and will probably get some singles gold again next year.
You know who I missed a lot since her broken finger injury in April? Bianca Belair. I think she’ll bounce back and have a huge 2026.
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BEST FEUD
To be given to the best rivalry between two or more performers. Past winners – 2024: CM Punk vs. Drew McIntyre, 2023: The Bloodline Led By Roman Reigns vs. Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens & Jey Uso, 2022: Cody Rhodes vs. Seth Rollins, 2021: Edge vs. Seth Rollins, 2020: Sasha Banks vs. Bayley, 2019: Adam Cole vs. Johnny Gargano, 2018: Tommaso Ciampa vs. Johnny Gargano,2017: Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman, 2016: AJ Styles vs. John Cena, 2015: Bayley vs. Sasha Banks, 2014: Daniel Bryan vs. The Authority, 2013: CM Punk vs. Paul Heyman/Brock Lesnar, 2012: CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan, 2011: Randy Orton vs. Christian, 2010: The Miz vs. Daniel Bryan, 2009: CM Punk vs. Jeff Hardy
Winner:CM Punk vs. Seth Rollins (Runners-Up: Rhea Ripley vs. Iyo Sky)
I don’t think any WWE rivalry this year can come close to the best of the last two years, but there is an obvious winner to me: Punk vs. Rollins. The first Raw of 2025 was headlined by CM Punk beating Seth Rollins. During the Royal Rumble, they interacted with Roman Reigns to set up their WrestleMania 41 match. At WrestleMania 41, Paul Heyman turned on Punk and Reigns to align with Rollins. After Punk finally won the World Title at SummerSlam, Rollins revealed he was faking a knee injury and cashed in Money in the Bank on Punk to win the World Title, so Punk only had the title for about 5 minutes. When Punk’s wife, AJ Lee, returned to WWE for Wrestlepalooza, it was for a tag team match with Punk against Rollins and Lynch. That’s about 9 months of feuding between them. If Rollins didn’t hurt his shoulder in October, I think they would still be feuding and probably having a WrestleMania singles match with Punk, finally getting the World Title there.
The Iyo Sky-Rhea Ripley was between two faces, but the matches they produced were so good that they deserve to be mentioned. Sky was the champion, Ripley wanted to try to beat her, they had several great matches together, and became friends because of it.
I wish I could mention others, but there was a serious lack of great feuds this year.
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BEST MATCH
To be given to the best match. Past winners – 2024: CM Punk vs. Drew McIntyre in a Hell in a Cell Match @ Bad Blood,2023:Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens vs. The Usos @ WrestleMania 39, 2022: Cody Rhodes vs. Seth Rollins in a Hell in a Cell match @ Hell in a Cell, 2021: Ilya Dragunov vs. WALTER @ NXT Takeover 36, 2020: WALTER vs. Ilya Dragunov @ NXT UK October 29, 2019: Johnny Gargano vs. Adam Cole @ NXT Takeover New York, 2018:Unsanctioned Match: Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa @ NXT Takeover New Orleans, 2017: John Cena vs. AJ Styles @ Royal Rumble, 2016: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Sami Zayn @ NXT Takeover Dallas, 2015: Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins vs. John Cena @ Royal Rumble, 2014: The Wyatt Family vs. The Shield @ Elimination Chamber, 2013: Brock Lesnar vs. CM Punk @ SummerSlam, 2012: The Undertaker vs. Triple H (Shawn Michaels as ref) @ WrestleMania 28, 2011: CM Punk vs. John Cena @ Money in the Bank, 2010: The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels @ WrestleMania 26, 2009: The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels @ WrestleMania 25
There were so many great matches this year, so for this one, I’ll include the links to my review of the match, the rating I gave it (out of 5*) and then list the winner after. Three of them got five stars and then several others got 4.5* ratings.
Cody Rhodes vs. John Cena – Street Fight (SummerSlam) – *****
The Street Profits – Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins vs. Motor City Machine Guns – Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley vs. #DIY – Tommaso Ciampa & Johnny Gargano – TLC (SmackDown, April 25) – *****
John Cena vs. AJ Styles (Crown Jewel) – *****
Iyo Sky vs. Rhea Ripley vs. Bianca Belair (WrestleMania 41) – ****1/2
Seth Rollins vs. CM Punk vs. Roman Reigns (WrestleMania 41) – ****1/2
Rhea Ripley vs. Iyo Sky (also vs. Naomi) (Evolution) – ****1/2
El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Chad Gable (Worlds Collide) – ****1/2
Trick Williams vs. Je’Von Evans vs. Oba Femi (NXT Stand & Deliver) – ****1/2
Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn (Elimination Chamber) – ****1/2
Winner: Cody Rhodes vs. John Cena in a Street Fight @ SummerSlam (Runners-Up: The Street Profits – Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins vs. Motor City Machine Guns – Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley vs. #DIY – Tommaso Ciampa & Johnny Gargano – TLC @ SmackDown April 25, John Cena vs. AJ Styles @ Crown Jewel)
It was tough to pick between the three five-star matches, but I’m going with Cody Rhodes-John Cena as the winner. Cena absolutely crushed it in his return to babyface mode and Rhodes was right there with him. The crowd was super hot for the match.
I loved the TLC match a lot and I wish the tag team division on SmackDown stayed as hot later in the year, but it has fizzled out. Credit the Profits, MCMG and #DIY for putting on an epic TLC match on the first SD after WM41. The Cena-Styles match was also outstanding and a nice reminder of the incredible chemistry those two legends had.
Out of the matches that I didn’t rate five stars, I think the Sky-Ripley-Belair match was outstanding, but perhaps a bit too short at around 14 minutes. I rewatched it recently and I felt like it needed a bit more time to get to that five-star level.
The only match on here that I saw in person was the Owens-Zayn brawl. That was a lot of fun and they certainly didn’t go light on eachother.
If I had to guess, I probably rated 30+ WWE matches at 4* and above this year. There are so many good matches all the time. I think we are spoiled as fans in this era.
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BEST PREMIUM LIVE EVENT (PAY-PER-VIEW)
To be given to the best WWE Premium Live Event aka pay-per-view.Past winners – 2024: WrestleMania 40, 2023: WrestleMania 39, 2022: Clash at the Castle, 2021: Money in the Bank, 2020: Royal Rumble, 2019: WrestleMania 35, 2018: Evolution, 2017: Royal Rumble, 2016: Money in the Bank, 2015: WrestleMania 31, 2014: WrestleMania 30, 2013: SummerSlam 2012: Extreme Rules, 2011: Money in the Bank, 2010: WrestleMania 26, 2009: SummerSlam
Winner: Elimination Chamber (Runner-Up: Evolution, Royal Rumble)
Here’s how I ranked the five shows with a rating of 8 out of 10 or above, and you can click on the links to read the reviews.
Elimination Chamber (March 1) – 9 (out of 10)
Evolution (July 13) – 8.5
Royal Rumble (February 1) – 8.5
Crown Jewel (October 11) – 8.25
SummerSlam (August 2 & 3) – 8
The other PLE’s were all between 7.75 and 7.25 out of 10, which is similar to the year before. I would like more than five matches on some of these PLEs, but generally speaking, I enjoy most WWE PLE shows.
I was at Elimination Chamber in Toronto and it was one of the best shows I’ve ever attended in my life of going to wrestling shows for over 35 years. The Kevin Owens/Sami Zayn match was amazing, both Elimination Chamber matches were great and then the moment with John Cena turning heel on Cody Rhodes was huge. I know that some people frowned on Cena’s heel turn after it happened, but the moment itself is one of the loudest things I’ve ever seen in person. I’ll never forget it.
Evolution was the all-women’s show, and it was outstanding. They need to do it every year. Royal Rumble was also very good.
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BEST NXT PREMIUM LIVE EVENT
To be given to the best NXT PLE (fka Takeover) special. Past winners – 2024: Heatwave, 2023: No Mercy, 2022: Stand & Deliver, 2021: NXT Takeover Stand & Deliver, 2020: NXT Takeover Portland, 2019: NXT Takeover New York, 2018: NXT Takeover New Orleans, 2017: NXT Takeover Chicago, 2016: NXT Takeover Dallas, 2015: NXT Takeover Brooklyn
Winner: Stand & Deliver (Runner-Up: Deadline)
There were 8 NXT PLE’s this year. Here is how the top 4 were ranked this year with links to those reviews.
Stand & Deliver (April 19) – 8.5 (out of 10)
Deadline (December 6) – 8
Halloween Havoc (October 25) – 7.75
Vengeance Day (February 15) – 7.75
The WrestleMania weekend PLE – Stand & Deliver – stood out among the rest on NXT this year. They loaded up the card with big matches, and the wrestlers delivered this year. I rated the NXT Title Match Femi/Evans/Trick at 4.5* and tag team title match with Hank & Tank beating Fraxiom at 4.25*, so that shows how special they were. All good matches on that show.
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BEST TALKER/PROMOS
To be given to the best person at delivering promos.Past winners – 2024: Drew McIntyre, 2023: LA Knight, 2022: Kevin Owens, 2021: Sami Zayn, 2020: Kevin Owens, 2019: Daniel Bryan, 2018: The Miz, 2017: The Miz, 2016: Chris Jericho, 2015: Paul Heyman, 2014: Paul Heyman, 2013: Paul Heyman, 2012: CM Punk, 2011: CM Punk, 2010: CM Punk, 2009: Chris Jericho
Winner: CM Punk (Runners-up: Drew McIntyre, LA Knight, John Cena, Cody Rhodes, Paul Heyman, Becky Lynch)
I think CM Punk stood out the most this year. I like heel CM Punk promos more than his babyface work, but he’s still a great babyface talker. I enjoyed Punk’s promos during his feud with John Cena, including the rap that he did. Punk’s promo revealing his wife, AJ Lee, as his partner at Wrestlepalooza was likely his favorite of the year.
Everybody else mentioned there can obviously talk very well. Drew McIntyre is a terrific whiny heel, LA Knight has a lot of charisma, John Cena is one of the best talkers ever, Cody Rhodes does a good job on the microphone, Paul Heyman is a legendary talker, and Becky Lynch deserves a lot of praise for her promos, too.
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BEST TAG TEAM
To be given to the two men that function best as a tag team. Past winners – 2024: Nathan Frazer & Axiom, 2023: Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens, 2022: The Usos – Jimmy & Jey Uso, 2021: The Usos (Jimmy & Jey Uso), 2020: The Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins), 2019: The Undisputed Era (Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish), 2018: The Bar (Sheamus & Cesaro), 2017: The Usos, 2016:The New Day, 2015: The New Day, 2014: The Usos, 2013: Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns, 2012:Team Hell No (Kane & Daniel Bryan), 2011:Air Boom (Evan Bourne & Kofi Kingston), 2010: The Hart Dynasty, 2009: Chris Jericho and The Big Show
Winners: Alexa Bliss & Charlotte Flair (Runners-Up: The Street Profits, The New Day)
This is one of the hardest awards to pick because the booking of WWE tag teams has been so inconsistent in 2025. The reason I’m going with Bliss and Flair is because Flair was struggling badly as a heel after missing a year with a torn knee, and then they did this angle with her and Bliss. The story was that Flair is selfish, but Bliss knows that Flair could be a good friend, so they became a team that was the centerpiece for most of the year in the women’s tag team division. Flair has become a likable babyface due to her association with Bliss, and that’s cool to see. In terms of matches, I liked Bliss and Flair a lot too.
There really weren’t any standout men’s tag teams this year. Teams like The Street Profits and The New Day are awesome at what they do, but for whatever, the creative team does a poor job of keeping teams active all the time. They go months without wrestling, even when a wrestler isn’t injured. If it were up to me, I would feature The Street Profits way more than WWE does.
I know that AJ Styles & Dragon Lee and the Wyatt Sicks are current champions, along with the Kabuki Warriors for the women, but in my opinion, none of them have had a long enough run to be considered.
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BEST BABYFACE
To be given to the performer that is the best at receiving the adulation of the audience.Past winners – 2024: Cody Rhodes, 2023: Cody Rhodes, 2022: Bianca Belair, 2021: Big E, 2020: Drew McIntyre, 2019: Kofi Kingston, 2018: Becky Lynch, 2017: AJ Styles, 2016: Dean Ambrose, 2015: John Cena, 2014: Dolph Ziggler, 2013: Daniel Bryan, 2012: John Cena, 2011:Randy Orton. The award began in 2011.
Winner: CM Punk (Runners-Up: Cody Rhodes, John Cena, Iyo Sky, Rhea Ripley, Roman Reigns, Sami Zayn, Jey Uso)
This one came down to the World Champion CM Punk and the WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. I think if John Cena didn’t have the five-month run as a heel then maybe he would have won this, but Punk is my choice. Punk started the year feuding with Seth Rollins, that rivalry lasted through the summer and then he feuded with The Vision some more with Punk in the role as the most beloved wrestler on Raw, which is the best show.
Cody Rhodes is the ultimate WWE babyface, but when it comes down to it, Raw is definitely better than SmackDown. Part of it is that the Raw roster is better. I just think Cody lacked the great rivalries that he should be having. I liked the second match he had with Cena and feuding with Drew McIntyre for months has been solid, but I wouldn’t call it amazing or anything like that. I hope Cody finds a rivalry that elevates both guys.
Iyo Sky and Rhea Ripley are the top babyface women, no question. Roman Reigns is still great, but when you wrestle only 7 matches in a year, it’s hard to win an award over the people who are around regularly.
Sami Zayn is a natural babyface who is easy to like. I would like to see him in the main event picture even more, but I’m not sure if it’s going to happen. Jey Uso was so popular in the first half of the year. He lost a lot of momentum after dropping the World Title back to Gunther. However, his entrance – like it or not – is still super popular.
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BEST HEEL
To be given to the performer that is the best at drawing the ire of the audience and being a bad guy/girl. Past winners 2024: Drew McIntyre, 2023: Roman Reigns and The Bloodline, 2022: Roman Reigns and The Bloodline, 2021: Roman Reigns, 2020: Randy Orton, 2019: Daniel Bryan, 2018: Tommaso Ciampa, 2017: The Miz, 2016: AJ Styles, 2015: Seth Rollins, 2014: Seth Rollins, 2013: Paul Heyman, 2012: Daniel Bryan, 2011:Christian. The award began in 2011.
Winner: Dominik Mysterio (Runners-Up: Gunther, Becky Lynch, Seth Rollins, Drew McIntyre)
I think there are plenty of great heels in WWE right now. Dominik Mysterio stands out the most as the 2-time Intercontinental Champion and the AAA Mega Champion. It’s been three years since Dirty Dom turned on his father, Rey Mysterio, and he is more hated than ever. Not only does Dom cheat to win nearly every match, but he’s also helped by attractive women, which also makes the fans hate him even more. I’m glad that Dom was John Cena’s second-to-last match and that Dom won their last match together at Survivor Series, even though that win was as cheap as it gets.
Gunther had two separate reigns as World Champion in 2025. I think his rivalry with Jey Uso was pretty good for the most part. There was only one Gunther-Punk match and I enjoyed it, but more of a rivalry would have been nice. Gunther ended the year with more heel heat than ever since he retired John Cena, and he’ll use that heat moving forward.
The trio of Becky Lynch, Seth Rollins and Drew McIntyre are all talented veterans who know how to go get heat. I like them all in those roles.
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- THE NEXT BIG THING AWARD
To be given to the wrestler who is most likely to be the “next big thing” in the new year.Past winners – 2024: Je’Von Evans & Giulia, 2023: Grayson Waller, 2022: Logan Paul, 2021: Bron Breakker, 2020: Bianca Belair, 2019: Keith Lee, 2018: Velveteen Dream, 2017: Rusev, 2016: Shinsuke Nakamura, 2015: Sami Zayn, 2014: Bray Wyatt, 2013: Roman Reigns, 2012: Dolph Ziggler, 2011: Cody Rhodes, 2010: Alberto Del Rio, 2009: John Morrison
The new rule that began in 2019 is that it must be somebody who hasn’t won a title in WWE yet, whether on NXT, Raw, or SmackDown.
Winners: Male – Myles Borne, Female – Kendal Grey
Myles Borne has been pushed a bit as a singles guy in NXT, but I think 2026 will be bigger for him as the guy who takes the NXT North American Title from Ethan Page. Borne is partially deaf, so that can be used for him as a character, and I think he needs to get better in terms of promos/acting, but in-ring he has come a long way.
On the women’s side, Kendal Grey is the Women’s Evolve Champion, but technically, that’s not NXT, so she qualifies for this award. Grey is so natural in the ring as a former collegiate wrestler. She has picked up pro wrestling quickly and has a very bright future ahead.
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BEST STABLE
This award replaces Worst Feud. There are always stables in WWE in this era, so I think it’s important to give them an award. Past winners – 2024: The Bloodline.
Winner: The Vision (Runners-Up: The Judgment Day)
There are a lot of stables in WWE, but I don’t think that’s necessarily a good thing. In terms of being pushed the most on television, The Vision is clearly at the top and likely will be featured strongly in the year ahead. I doubt Seth Rollins would have been turned on in October had he not hurt his shoulder, but it made sense as a move at the time. Paul Heyman can lead the group as a mouthpiece with Bron Breakker, Bronson Reed, Logan Paul, and Austin Theory. Three of those guys are in their late 20s, while Reed is 37, but still only been on the main roster for a few years, so he fits in with the group.
The Judgment Day has been a heel group for four years, and it feels like they lose a lot of matches. I still like the dynamic of the group, but I think they are overshadowed by The Vision, which is pushed a lot more.
When I think about the stables on SmackDown like The Wyatt Sicks and Solo Sikoa’s MFTs, they really don’t stand out that much. They exist, they get TV time, and then I don’t really think of them as being great or impactful stables. I think it’s a booking problem, but also some of the talent just doesn’t blow me away in terms of their performances.
I think stables exist in WWE because Triple H likes booking them, but I don’t think any of them are great right now. We were spoiled by how awesome The Bloodline was from summer 2020 to WrestleMania 40 in 2024, and after that, nothing has really come close.
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MOST IMPRESSIVE NEWCOMER
This used to be “Worst Premium Live Event,” but I removed that category since the shows have been consistently good for a few years. For this award, I’m going with people who made their WWE debut during the year. Past winners – 2024: Jacob Fatu.
Winner: Blake Monroe (Runners-Up: Kendal Grey, Ricky Saints)
When Blake Monroe debuted in NXT earlier this year, I was excited to see her. Yes, she’s easy on the eyes and that always helps, but I think she’s the total package as a performer. Monroe in very good in the ring, she speaks well, she has a lot of charisma and she knows how to perform as an evil heel. Blake might be in NXT for most of 2026, but I think when she goes to the main roster, she will thrive. Great singing.
Kendal Grey came from collegiate wrestling and grew a lot this year. She won the Women’s Iron Survivor Challenge match and may win the NXT Women’s Title at New Year’s Evil. She may have been on TV in 2024, but this is the first year where she’s a regular. It’s going to be fun watching her grow.
Ricky Saints is a guy in his mid-30s who finally got to WWE. He’s already been NXT Champion, he started as a face, and he’s turned heel too. I don’t see him staying in NXT all of 2026 because I think he’ll be on the main roster before that.
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BEST RETURN
This spot used to be for the best WWE Network show, but in 2022, I decided to replace it with the best return. This is for the best return, whether it’s somebody coming back from injury, a long absence, or another reason. 2024: The Rock, 2023: CM Punk, 2022: Cody Rhodes.
Winner: AJ Lee (Runner-Up: Ilja Dragunov, Liv Morgan)
When CM Punk returned to WWE in November 2023, it opened the door for his wife, AJ Lee, to come back. Less than two years later, Lee was back. She only wrestled two matches, but she won both, and I thought she looked good in those matches. Lee was also strong on the microphone. It will be interesting to see if she is utilized more in 2026 and moving forward.
Ilja Dragunov missed over a year with a torn ACL in his knee, returned to the ring on the October 17th edition of WWE SmackDown and beat Sami Zayn for the US Title in an amazing match. Since then, Dragunov had several outstanding matches for the US Title. It’s good to see him back in the ring.
Liv Morgan missed about five months due to shoulder surgery, and was a huge factor in Dominik Mysterio winning the Intercontinental Title back from John Cena at Survivor Series. I missed Liv, so it was good to see her back in the mix.
Brock Lesnar returned to WWE after two years away. Lesnar won at Wrestlepalooza and Survivor Series WarGames, but was the return that interesting? I don’t think so.
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BEST TURN
To be given to the best babyface or heel turn that benefited the performer the most.Past winners – 2024: Kevin Owens, 2023: Sami Zayn & Jey Uso, 2022: The Judgment Day 2021: Kevin Owens, 2020: Roman Reigns, 2019: Finn Balor, 2018: Daniel Bryan, 2017: Sami Zayn, 2016: AJ Styles, 2015: The New Day, 2014: Seth Rollins, 2013: Randy Orton, 2012: Big Show, 2011: Mark Henry, 2010: Kane, 2009: CM Punk
Winner: Naomi (Runners-Up: Bron Breakker, John Cena turning babyface before SummerSlam)
It was revealed at Elimination Chamber that Naomi was the one who was Jade Cargill’s mystery attacker from several months earlier. Naomi ended up losing to Cargill at WrestleMania, but Naomi’s “Proceed With Caution” heel character was awesome. I loved the crazy laughter, the Money in the Bank in, the MITB cash in that followed, and even her promo announcing her pregnancy was a lot of fun.
Bron Breakker went from being a singles babyface wrestler in the IC Title hunt to a main event heel who is part of The Vision. I think the turn helped him a lot.
John Cena going back to his babyface roots before SummerSlam was the right move. The heel turn was memorable, obviously.
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MOST IMPROVED PERFORMER(S)
To be given to the performer who has shown the most improvement in the last year.Past winners – 2024: Oba Femi, 2023: LA Knight, 2022: The Creed Brothers, 2021: Liv Morgan, 2020: Sonya Deville, 2019: Rhea Ripley, 2018: Velveteen Dream,2017: Braun Strowman, 2016: The Miz, 2015: Bayley, 2014: Damien Mizdow, 2013: Roman Reigns, 2012: Ryback, 2011: Zack Ryder, 2010: Cody Rhodes, 2009: Kofi Kingston
Winner: Je’Von Evans (Runners-Up: Sol Ruca, Maxxine Dupri)
This is usually going to be somebody from NXT rather than a wrestler on the main roster because the main roster talent are going to be further along in their careers. I liked Je’Von Evans a lot in 2024, but he had to show me more this year, and he certainly did that by becoming a well-rounded performer with amazing matches, incredible athleticism in the ring, and he’s improved a lot in promos. I think Evans, at 21, is going to have a big 2026. Just be smart about some of the big bumps and moves so you don’t get hurt.
Sol Ruca is like the women’s version of Je’Von Evans in that she’s so good athletically, and she improved a lot at other aspects of her game. Maxxine Dupri deserves a lot of love for getting better too. She wasn’t in NXT that long, got called up to the main roster far too early, and now she is the Women’s IC Champion, showing what she can do. Hard work pays off. I’m sure your “brother” Max is proud.
You could make a case for Naomi as most improved as well, but I felt like giving it to somebody who debuted in WWE about 15 years ago would be weird.
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BEST WEEKLY WWE TV SHOW
To be given to the best weekly WWE television (or internet) show. Past winners – 2024: Raw, 2023: Raw, 2022: Smackdown, 2021: Smackdown, 2020: Smackdown, 2019: NXT, 2018: NXT, 2017: Smackdown, 2016: Smackdown, 2015: NXT, 2014: NXT, 2013: NXT.
Winner: Monday Night Raw
I rate every show I review – Raw, SmackDown & NXT – with a number out of 10. I keep track of the average all year. Raw is at 7.54, SmackDown is next at 7.32 and NXT is right behind it at 7.31. There might be people reading this who think that SmackDown shouldn’t be that close, but when you’re talking about 50+ weeks in a row, it’s tough for Raw to be that much better than SmackDown. Maybe I’m too nice to SmackDown? I don’t know.
In looking at my spreadsheet, Raw was around that 7.5 average all year, while SmackDown and NXT were at 7.35 in late June, so they went down a bit in the second half of the year.
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BEST ANNOUNCER
To be given to the best announcer in WWE. It could be a play-by-play or analyst. Past winners – 2024: Vic Joseph, 2023: Michael Cole, 2022: Wade Barrett, 2021: Pat McAfee, 2020: Corey Graves, 2019: Nigel McGuinness, 2018: Mauro Ranallo, 2017: Corey Graves, 2016: Corey Graves, 2015: Corey Graves, 2014: John Bradshaw Layfield, 2013: John Bradshaw Layfield, 2012: John Bradshaw Layfield, 2011: Booker T, 2010: Matt Striker, 2009: Jim Ross.
Winner: Wade Barrett (Runners-Up: Joe Tessitore, Vic Joseph, Michael Cole, Corey Graves)
I really like the five names I mentioned above, but if I have to pick one as the best, I think Wade Barrett does the best job of reacting to what happens in the ring and pushing heel storylines. I’d like to see Graves be more heelish with Cole.
Joe Tessitore has fit in so well with WWE after years of being a football and boxing guy. Joe does an awesome job. Vic Joseph is awesome in NXT and one of the best guys at play-by-play in all of pro wrestling.
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BIGGEST NEWS STORY
The stories of the year that we’ll always remember when looking back at the year that was. Past winners – 2024: Vince McMahon officially departs WWE after scandalous lawsuit,2023: Endeavor purchases WWE and forms a company with UFC called TKO Group, 2022: Vince McMahon retires due to hush-money payments scandal, 2021: WWE releases 80 wrestlers,2020: COVID-19 leads to massive changes to the wrestling business, 2019: Roman Reigns returns from leukemia battle in February, 2018: Roman Reigns announcing he has leukemia,2017: Kurt Angle returning to WWE after 11 years away, 2016: WWE signs four top New Japan stars,2015: Injuries decimate the roster, 2014: CM Punk leaving WWE, 2013: The WWE Network Still Isn’t Here, 2012: Jerry Lawler’s heart attack, 2011: The death of Randy Savage, 2010: The departure of several big names (Shawn Michaels), 2009: Shane McMahon leaves WWE
Winner: Hulk Hogan dies (Runner-Up: John Cena retires as a WWE superstar, AJ Lee returns to WWE after 10 years, ESPN airs WWE PLEs, WWE buys majority of AAA)
The 2-time WWE Hall of Famer and iconic wrestling legend Hulk Hogan – real name Terry Bollea – passed away in July at the age of 71. It was shocking in the sense that while there were reports of The Hulkster having surgeries and perhaps not being in great health, but a lot of us didn’t know how close he was to the end. Hogan’s death led to a lot of mixed opinions on his pro wrestling because the phrase “complicated legacy” was used a lot. There’s no question Hogan is one of the biggest and most important wrestlers ever, but his issues away from the ring were well documented because of the racist things he said in his life, and he was known as one of the biggest bullshitters in wrestling history. With that said, I was sad about the man’s death because I’ve certainly lost plenty of loved ones, and this seemed so sudden. I feel bad for his family and the people who loved him.
John Cena ending his WWE in-ring career after 23 years on the main roster would be the number one story most years, but I think even he would acknowledge that Hulk Hogan’s death was a bigger story. I probably could have included John Cena turning heel as another runner-up on here, too.
AJ Lee returning to WWE to team up with CM Punk to defeat Seth Rollins & Becky Lynch at Wrestlepalooza was something that most people wouldn’t have predicted at the start of the year. Lee was gone for a decade, but she looked sharp in her return.
WWE signing a deal with ESPN to air PLEs in the US was a huge thing for the company. WWE is still on Peacock in the US for Saturday Night’s Main Event and NXT PLEs, but being with ESPN is a big deal for sure.
During WrestleMania 41 weekend, WWE announced it had bought 51% of AAA and spent the rest of the year running AAA shows. I didn’t expect that purchase, but it was a big one, and it gives WWE fans even more wrestling to watch, if they want to watch it.
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MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT
To be given to the most memorable moment of the year.Past winners – 2024: Cody Rhodes wins WWE Championship at WrestleMania 40, 2023: CM Punk returns to WWE at Survivor Series,2022: Cody Rhodes returns to WWE at WrestleMania 38, 2021: John Cena returns at Money in the Bank to confront Roman Reigns,2020: Edge returns at 2020 Royal Rumble, 2019: Kofi Kingston wins WWE Title at WrestleMania 35, 2018: Daniel Bryan announces his return to the ring after three years away, 2017: Hardy Boyz return to WWE at WrestleMania, 2016: AJ Styles debuts at Royal Rumble, 2015: Seth Rollins becomes WWE Champion at WrestleMania 31, 2014: The Undertaker’s undefeated streak ends at WrestleMania 30 when he loses to Brock Lesnar, 2013: Daniel Bryan wins WWE Title leading to heel Triple H/Orton, 2012: Brock Lesnar’s Return April 2 on Raw, 2011: CM Punk’s Promo June 27 on Raw, 2010: Bret & Shawn embrace in the ring, 2009: The Undertaker/Michaels match
Winner: John Cena taps out to Gunther in final WWE match
I feel like the ending of John Cena’s final match was the most memorable moment of the year. I expected Gunther to win, and I thought a tapout was possible since Gunther literally said it would happen that way in his promos. Cena wanted to go out by putting somebody over, so he did. Cena smiling as he tapped out upset some people, but I didn’t mind it.
I know I could write a lot more here about other moments, but these awards are very long, and I think it’s time to wrap it up.
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THE 2025 QUICKIE WWE JOHNNY AWARDS
Here are ten quick awards to wrap it up.
MOST DISAPPOINTING RIVALRY – The Rock, Travis Scott & John Cena vs. Cody Rhodes
The Rock and Travis Scott influenced John Cena to turn heel at Elimination Chamber. After that, we never saw Rock on WWE TV again and he barely mentions it on social media. Scott basically quit WWE after training for a match. The lack of follow-up to that story was lame. As Cena revealed in interviews, there was no long-term plan, and WWE just turned heel to shock the audience. To Cena and Rhodes’ credit, their SummerSlam match was incredible and made us forget about the early start of the feud.
I also think the Jade Cargill-Tiffany Stratton rivalry wasn’t that great, even though it elevated Jade by giving her the WWE Women’s Title.
BEST THEME SONG – John Cena
Old school. I had to do it for this year. NXT’s Ethan Page won this award last year, and I still think it’s one of the best songs. Blake Monroe’s song is really fitting for her character as a pop song.
BEST FINISHING MOVE – Swanton 450 Splash by Leon Slater
Leon Slater is TNA’s X-Division Champion so he’s not a WWE superstar technically, but he’s been part of WWE for several matches. I LOVE that Swanton 450 Splash. So cool.
WRESTLER POISED FOR A MASSIVE YEAR IN 2026 – Oba Femi
I think Oba Femi is going to get a massive push on the main roster. I would have him in the final three of the Royal Rumble, eliminate Brock Lesnar in that match and then beat Lesnar in 5 minutes or less at WrestleMania. Put Money in the Bank on Femi too.
BEST TITLE CHANGE – Naomi at Evolution
The incredible Iyo Sky-Rhea Ripley match headlined the women-only Evolution PLE and then it was time to “Proceed with Caution” as Naomi cashed in Women’s Money in the Bank. Noami hit a moonsault on Sky to leave with the gold. I loved it. Seth Rollins cashing his Money in the Bank on CM Punk after faking a knee injury was also great.
MOST DEVASTATING INJURY – Bianca Belair, Kevin Owens, and Seth Rollins
I cheated and mentioned three because I like all of them a lot. Bianca Belair didn’t wrestle after WrestleMania 41 due to broken fingers. I have missed watching her.
Kevin Owens announced before WrestleMania 41 that he had a serious neck injury that needed surgery, so his WM41 match with Randy Orton was off. Owens had the surgery in the summer and will probably miss more than a year of action. Owens has worked a very physical style for 20+ years. I feel bad for him, and I miss him, but I hope he can return to performing at a high level.
I’m not sure why Seth Rollins tried a Coast to Coast headbutt instead of a dropkick at Crown Jewel. The reason wrestlers do a dropkick is that they can land on their butts after. In Seth’s case, he hit the headbutt and then hit the mat with his left shoulder, which led to major shoulder injury and an extended absence. I understand wanting to be different, but Seth should have thought of some other, safer spot to do. I assume Rollins will be a babyface when he returns around WrestleMania time.
BEST CROWD – Clash in Paris and Elimination Chamber
I cheated and picked two. The French fans are incredible every time they show up. WWE was smart to run a PLE in Paris. Clash in Paris was a lot of fun.
Elimination Chamber was a show I was at, and I’ll never forget how loud it was for some of the moments from that night.
NXT STARS I WANT ON MAIN ROSTER NEXT YEAR – Ethan Page
I am not including Oba Femi, Je’Von Evans, Trick Williams, and Sol Ruca in this because all of them will be on the main roster full-time soon. I think Ethan Page is somebody who is so polished as a performer, and will do well no matter what roster he is on.
FUNNIEST PERFORMER – Chelsea Green
This usually goes to R-Truth, and he’s still very funny, but Chelsea Green consistently makes me laugh with her promos and the physical comedy she does. She’s so entertaining.
BEST PERFORMANCE BY A CELEBRITY – Jelly Roll at SummerSlam
I think Jelly Roll deserves a lot of credit for teaming with Randy Orton against Drew McIntyre and Logan Paul at SummerSlam. Jelly had a good showing. Not only that, but he changed the booking by saying he wanted to lose, so he did. Instead of a celebrity beating a wrestler, the celebrity took the pin, and I liked that a lot.
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FINAL THOUGHTS ON WWE IN 2025
Since I always like to rate the shows out of 10, how about a rating for the year? Here’s how I rated the years since 2009.
2009: 5.5, 2010: 5, 2011: 7, 2012: 7, 2013: 6.5, 2014: 5.5, 2015: 5.5, 2016: 6.5, 2017: 6, 2018: 6, 2019: 6.25, 2020: 5.75, 2021: 6.75, 2022: 7.5, 2023: 8, 2024: 8
2025: 7
It’s a 7 out of 10 after two years of being 8 out of 10.
This was the third full year with Paul “Triple H” Levesque as WWE’s Chief Content Officer, meaning he’s in charge of the creative team on the main roster. Triple H took over from Vince McMahon in July 2022, but Vince came back in January 2023 and was around for about a year until TKO’s management forced him out in January 2024 after a scandalous lawsuit against Vince.
There’s no question in my mind that 2024 and 2023 were both better years than 2025 for WWE, especially from a storyline standpoint. I think there are some fans of wrestling today who act like everything is bad just to be outrageous and get more attention for having a “hot take.” Is it really that bad? I don’t think so. Look at some of those years I reviewed in the past where I gave a grade of 5 or 5.5 out of 10 years. Those years were not as good. The match quality today is so strong, not just on PLEs, but also on TV shows.
I’ll think of John Cena the most when I think of 2025. I think without his retirement tour taking place, this year could have been a 6/10 or 6.5/10 type of year because there just weren’t that many great storylines taking place. Look at how many great Cena things I mentioned in this review, and being at Elimination Chamber for his heel turn is something I’ll never forget, but the reality is the heel turn upset a lot of people, too. Should it have happened? Probably not. We also can’t ignore that it did happen.
The reality is that a lot of us have been watching this product for decades of our lives, so what can they really do to surprise us? It’s just different people in different roles trying to entertain us and do the best they can. For as much as people complain, WWE is still selling out buildings all over the world, and it’s not just arenas, it’s plenty of stadiums. I don’t even think Survivor Series WarGames was that good, but if you’re WWE, look at the 40,000+ tickets sold in an outdoor baseball stadium in San Diego. That’s a huge success for them. Having billions worth of deals with major companies like Netflix, ESPN, Comcast/NBC, and so on is huge for WWE, too.
I’m not sure what the next big angle for WWE should be, but I hope they have some creative ideas for the future because I want the product to be better creatively. Right now, the talent in the ring is delivering at a consistently high level. However, the creative direction is average or maybe even below average, and I want it to improve. With that said, it’s also not as bad as the average or bad years of WWE. That’s just my perspective as somebody who is a fan and has also written about WWE for decades.
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Thank You For Reading!
That’s a wrap after 8,000 plus words in this column (down from 11,000 words last year). I want to thank you for reading. I want to thank the TJRWrestling team, both on the site and behind the scenes, for all they do to continue to put out a ridiculous amount of content on a daily basis. I haven’t owned TJRWrestling since July 2021 and I’m not the guy in charge, but it has been my life for nearly two decades.
I don’t know how well-known this is, but TJRWrestling was sold to Absolute Sports in May 2025. The previous owners didn’t tell me about it beforehand because I already sold the site to them, so it wasn’t up to me. Absolute Sports is the company that runs Sportskeeda, among other things. I’m not the person running TJRWrestling, but everybody I have interacted with since May has been good to me and I feel valued as an important member of the team. That also means I have no control over my future, which is kinda scary. I don’t want to write anywhere else or do something else. I named TJR, I’m the “J” in TJR and I want to be the heart and soul of the company. I don’t agree with some of the news posts that go up that are hot takes featuring a “bro” and disgruntled former employees who want to constantly talk about why Triple H should be fired. I don’t agree with a lot of that content, but when you have a site that is posting 50+ posts a day, it’s not a terrible thing to have different opinions, is it? I follow the NFL, MLB, NBA, and so on, and I don’t agree with many “hot takes” out there about those sports either. We also can’t act like everybody reading TJRWrestling has been watching pro wrestling for 20+ years. Sometimes you need to cater to others, too. The way I look at it, I’m just a guy who is a big part of the team now. I do plenty of news posts, but I love writing the reviews and this column more than anything. I don’t plan on slowing down any time soon (I took one week of “vacation” in 2025), and we’ll keep putting out content as we usually do.
I keep this part in every year: This is my favorite column to write every year. If you’re one of those people who reads a lot of my work without writing, this is one of those times where I’m asking for your thoughts because I want to know what you thought. Don’t be shy. I reply to nearly every email. You can also contact me on Twitter or Facebook.
Thank you to my good friend Steve Melo for the banner at the top of this post. He also does the banners for every one of my columns, including the always fun “preferred” Raw Deal banners, Smackdown banners, NXT banners, PLE/PPV banners, and more.
I wish you all a safe and happy New Year in 2026. I’ll keep writing and I hope you’ll keep reading.
As I said, please don’t hesitate to contact me. My contact info is below. Thanks so much for reading!
John Canton – [email protected]
Twitter/X @johnreport