We are firmly into 2025 for better or worse. Professional wrestling has had explosive month to say the least. Monday Night Raw is now on Netflix, AEW's Dynamite is on MAX. WWE and TNA now have an official partnership. Kenny Omega has returned to in ring action following his bout with diverticulitis.
New Years Day was kicked off with AEW's Fight for the Fallen event, a charity event in Asheville, North Carolina. This specific event benefited the victims of Hurricane Helene which ravaged Asheville back in September. The first pro wrestling match I watched this year was Adam Page and Orange Cassidy. A strong back and forth contest that ended with Hangman standing tall. Following the match, Christopher Daniels attempted to stop Page's carnage, and got burned as Hangman laid him out. The collapse of The Acclaimed was imminent, during their match against The Hurt Syndicate Max Caster attempted to shine brighter than his tag partner Bowens by tagging himself in. Frustrated by another selfish choice, Bowens walked out on Caster leaving him to be squashed by Lashley and Benjamin. The show stealer for me was the in ring return of Julia Hart finally coming face-to-face with Jamie Hayter. These two have insane chemistry and have yet been able to get the time they deserve, this match only getting 10 minutes. Looks like no matter how great the women are on this roster Tony Khan refuses to give them a reasonable portion of his shows.
Both of AEW's women's champions got promo time, but ultimately feel miniscule since Jeff Jarrett on this show had a long winded promo about how he's going to win the world title in 2025
The first Smackdown of 2025 was also the first 3 hour long Smackdown. The show featured a great Tag Title match between Motor City Machine Guns and DIY. Where DIY weaseled out a victory. The show should've been headlined by Naomi challenging Nia Jax for the Women's World Title. Both Bianca Belair and Candice Lerae were ringside for some fun shenanigans. Money in the Bank holder Tiffany Stratton swerved us all when she came sprinting to the ring with a referee, which she immediately knocked out. Then cracked Naomi with the briefcase, allowing Nia Jax to retain. She then baited Lerae and Jax by celebrating with them. Bianca Belair came in and hit Nia Jax with her KOD finisher. In the chaos Tiffy saw her opportunity. She knocked out Bianca and Candice, cashed in her contract, and stole the World Title from her former friend by hitting her Prettiest Moonsault Ever. In 2025, it's tiffy time.
Marigold featured their "First Dream" show which was capped with two back to back great matches. Miku Aono defended her United Nation Championship against Mai Sakurai. Before Marigold, I was familiar with Sakurai thanks to her time in Donna Del Mondo in Stardom. It wasn't until the start of Marigold that I was blessed with Miku Aono, she instantly became a favorite of mine in joshi wrestling. However this was not Aono's night, as her 174 day reign as inaugural champion came to an end. The Main event of the show was a definitive Match of year contender. The Marigold World Title was on the line as Utami Hayashishita challenged the inaugural champion Sareee. Utami claimed the top spot after a spinning crucifix powerbomb. Hayashishita is a top name no matter where she is, and being draped on gold just feels like fate.
What felt like a million matches, NJPW's biggest show of the year was split into an enormous 2-night event. Wrestle Kingdom: their equivalent to WrestleMania, and Wrestle Dynasty: A grand join company show featuring talent from NJPW, AEW, CMLL and ROH. Mayu Iwatani and AZM put on a clinic early in the show, despite running less than 9 minutes, these two shined brighter than a lot of this card, even the main event.
Titles were unified as the International Champion Konosuke Takeshita and the NJPW NEVER Openweight Champion Shingo Takagi put their respective titles on the line. If you're familiar with these two, you can only begin to imagine the intensity of this bout. I was convinced that by the time the bell rang, teeth would be left on the canvas. This first time encounter exploded with back and forth strikes. The match almost came to an early end after Takagi spiked Takeshita on his head with his "Made in Japan" pump handle driver. Takeshita was able to regain momentum after a combination Poison-rana, knee strike and a devastating Blue Thunder Bomb, which was somehow not enough to put the NEVER Openweight Champion away. Their burning spirits kept their destroyed bodies going, after stunning Shingo with a forearm, the match came to an end with Takeshita's Raging Fire finishing maneuver. Many have seen Takeshita as the future of wrestling, a match of this caliber has proved that he is the today also.
In an equally enjoyable contest, two titans collided for the IWGP Global Heavyweight Title, Yota Tsuji stepped to the champion David Finlay. In Wrestle Kingdom fashion, Finlay came out onto stage wielding an enormous prop machine gun and fired it with Pyro exploding around him. Tsuji? he just wore a Red leather coat and matching hat, he's cool enough, no props needed. The giants hit the ground running, as Finlay got knocked to the floor and then hit by a flying Yota Tsuji who shocked me with a Fosbury Flop dive. The battle raged on ringside, as Finlay drove Tsuji through a table with a Uranage. Somehow nothing these two could do to the other could keep them down for the three count. After a Gun Stun and an Overkill, Tsuji somehow managed to kick out. After a knee strike, powerbomb and one final Gene Blaster spear, Yota Tsuji became the 4th IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion.
I did not watch Wrestle Kingdom live, So when I woke up the next morning, I saw no one talking about the great matches mentioned prior. The discussion around the show felt exclusively about the main event. One of the best wrestlers in the world and current IWGP World Champion, Zack Sabre Jr. put on the worst Wrestle Kingdom main event in history. A huge claim that I struggled to believe. When I finally watched this match, I was anxiously awaiting for it to be come the horrendous nightmare that people were saying. I don't think it ever got that bad. People exaggerate? Strange. Now that being said, ZSJ and Shota Umino ran a brutal 43 minutes. An absolutely unnecessary length for someone like Umino to be expected to perform for. This match NEEDED to be 15 minutes shorter. I partially believe that the reason the American response was so harsh, was due to the fact that this match was airing in the early hours of the morning after several hours of MUCH better performances.
The following night featured two must discuss matches. First Mercedes Moné made her Tokyo Dome return against international sensation Mina Shirakawa. The iconic clash was for the NJPW Strong Women's Title and the RevPro Undisputed British Women's Title, held on opposite ends by Mercedes and Mina respectively. Mercedes made for such a wonderful heel against Mina, elevating both of them in front of the biggest audience in Japan. The two have wonderful chemistry and I hope we get to seem them lock up again in the future. Unfortunately for Mina, even she could not stop the momentum the CEO has. Mercedes is cemented herself as a champion on 3 different continents at the same time. 2024 was a great year for Mercedes, it's possible 2025 will be even greater.
All the way back in December of 2023, Kenny Omega was diagnosed with Diverticulitis: a dangerous condition where parts of the large intestine become inflamed. In May of 2024, Kenny underwent surgery and had almost 10 inches of his affected organ removed from his body. Somehow only 7 months later, Kenny Omega returned the squared circle. It wouldn't be Kenny if he wasn't taking this seriously. His first match back was in the Tokyo Dome against one of the most dangerous men in NJPW, Gabe Kidd. Who in the build up to this match has talked trash about many names in the wrestling world including the likes of Will Ospreay, Okada, and others. All who claimed to bare the flag of New Japan, who then left for a nice contract or to work with their friends in America. A valid argument from someone like Gabe who joined NJPW in 2020 as a young lion trainee. At the press conference days before this fight, Kenny berated Gabe, claiming the only reason he is able to be in NJPW is because of the name Kenny Omega. He came in and lifted the company up, paving the way for other foreigners to be trusted like Jay White and Will Ospreay. Kenny left Gabe with a simple question. Do you think you're like them?
At Wrestle Dynasty it was Gabe's night to prove he was to be trusted to carry the flag of NJPW. With the lion mark embossed on his trunks and on his boots, Gabe Kidd felt like the soldier of NJPW he claimed to be. Kenny entrance was emboldened by fire, The One Winged Angel has returned. Final Fantasy 14 & 16 composer Masayoshi Soken created Omega's new entrance music. The match was violent, I never doubted Kenny would want to make us as anxious as possible in his first match back. A majority of the contest was these two beating the hell out of each other outside the ring. During the bout Kenny powerbombed Gabe through an announce table over the barricade. By this time Gabe had formed a crimson mask of blood, Kenny followed up with an amazing plancha from inside the ring all the past the barricade. Gabe returned the father by dropping Kenny on his head with a brain buster on a propped table. That wasn't enough as Gabe took a piece of the broken table and swung it down on Kenny, opening a brutal wound on his head that wouldn't close for the rest of the contest. 32 minutes of pure brutality, it all came to a close with Kenny hitting hit One Winged Angel finisher in the center of the ring. If you ask me, neither man lost this match, Gabe Kidd proved that he is an absolute star for NJPW that truly carries the fighting spirit, and Kenny Omega is still the best in the world.
Monday Night RAW has officially made its way to Netflix, a move that is incredibly welcomed for someone like me who DOES NOT want to watch RAW live. However I made an exception for this show. The program opened with a unique video package narrated by Triple H about the history of WWE. I wish Hulkster and the Nature Boy weren't such foundational figures in the industry because my day is worse when I am reminded of them. For someone who is just tuning in for the first time however, this video made this feel huge.
After some yapping from Triple H and The Rock in front of the audience, they announced once again that that they broke their largest arena gate record. I still find strange that people cheer for this, as all this means is they are consistently making tickets more expensive. To me, announcing information like this comes across as self aggrandizing and should be kept for share holders and press conferences.
The first match of the evening was Tribal Combat between Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa. Was this an enjoyable match? Sure, several really fun spots that got me excited, but I am so exhausted from the Roman / Solo / Cody Rhodes triangle that we have had for what feels like millennia. The following segment was the official start of the John Cena Retirement Tour. Cena surprised the audience, and announced his entry into the Royal Rumble and his intent to win his 17th world title, breaking Flair's record.
The match I was most looking forward to this evening was for the Women's World Championship. A year long rivalry finally coming to an end. A match that needed to happen without excessive interference. Rhea took clear efforts to neutralize Raquel where she could. Unfortunately 3-on-1 is too much for Rhea, after the referee is distracted by Dominick, Raquel baits Rhea with a chair, setting up for Liv to hit the ObLIVion onto a steel chair behind the ref's back. The Eradicator was not out yet. Rhea somehow kicked out again after getting dropped by 3 suplexes and hit with a frog splash. The tide quickly turned as Liv went for the ObLIVion one more time. Rhea caught her, as Liv tried to squirm away, Rhea smiled and taunted her with a kiss. The champion was dragged out from the ropes and dropped with not one but two Riptide Powerbombs. Rhea Ripley is World Champion once more! As much as I enjoyed this match I feel frustrated that this year long rivalry ends with a match that was less than 12 minutes. Also Rhea's victory was interrupted by The Undertaker? I truly don't understand why this was done. Rhea is in present day a much bigger star than Taker, This was to make him look better not her. In a show that has no set end time, that dedicated the first 20 minutes to self aggrandizing nonsense, cannot give the biggest stars of the women's division even 15 minutes. This match should've had more time and should've main evented.
Jey Uso almost smoked a Joint while being accompanied to the ring by Travis Scott. Uso and Drew McIntyre in my opinion put on a match. Not truly the fault of them, the audience was exhausted from the show up to this point and desperately needed a breather. Jey winning via crucifix pin, makes me feel that Jey can't ACTUALLY beat him. A guaranteed worst segment of the year. Hulk "my daughter cant date black people" Hogan, showed his leather tanned face in front of the LA audience. Thankfully to an endless sea of boo's. Hogan ignored this response and pathetically tried to parade his new beer for 3 minutes straight. I don't know what reason the audience had for booing him, maybe it was him supporting our now equally orange president, or maybe his years of racism and empty apologies, or maybe it was simply the fact that the audience didn't want a live advertisement for what is most likely a really shitty beer. Either way, this segment was by far the worst segment of the year, and it's only January.
The main event of the show was CM Punk and Seth Rollins 1-on-1. The audience was fired up from their disgust of Hogan, and we're ready to cheer for people they actually liked. A 50/50 split from the crowd made this match feel hot. A back and forth contest where neither challenger had the upper hand for too long. Punk narrowly escaped defeat after a Bucklebomb / Curb Stomp combination, as he broke the pin fall with a foot on the bottom rope. Punk eventually took the victory after two GTS'. such a definitive victory surprised me, as these two feel like the expected WrestleMania match.
My disappointment in WWE's treatment of it's women's divisions continued the following night. NXT Women's Champion Roxanne Perez defended her title against Giulia, in what should've been a match of the year contender. The match lasted just over 11 minutes and had Rox's (in my opinion) historic title reign come to an end. The match despite being really good for the time allotted, The ending felt rushed and thanks to the pacing of NXT, The moment didn't have a second to breathe. The NXT Men's World Title also changed hands, solidifying a new era with Giulia and Oba Femi as the respective world champions. Hopefully Triple H has actual plans for both Roxanne Perez and Trick Williams on the main roster.
AEW this week felt like a mixed bag, of great moments and match, but also segments that felt pointless. The show opened with a lightning paced match between Buddy Matthews and Will Ospreay. Which came crashing to an end following a Styles Clash and Hidden Blade. Ospreay praised Matthews after the match, stating that he and Brody have his respect. The show featured a Men's Casino Gauntlet match for a challenger for the AEW Men's World Title at Maximum Carnage. This was the least thrilling casino gauntlet the company has put on. That being said, this was still fun. We got to see Roderick Strong and Kyle O'Reily flex their tag skills by teaming up on Lance Archer and Hangman. Hobbs winning genuinely surprised me.
Kris Statlander earned the #1 spot in the Casino Gauntlet match the following week. She overcame Willow Nightingale and Toni Storm in a pretty fun triple threat match. Following the match, Toni Storm was disappointed and questioned if she is even ready for the Casino Gauntlet.
Monday Night RAW's second week on Netflix kept the momentum of the first show, with less old racists. The show began with CM Punk announcing his entrance in the Royal Rumble, which was interrupted by Seth Rollins announcing the same thing, which was interrupted by Drew McIntyre who mocked the two, calling them a mirror of each other, and then announced that he too will be in the Royal Rumble. A funny quip when Punk was first interrupted by Rollins, Punk mumbled into the microphone, "It's always someone I don't want it to be. Why can't it be a Rhea Ripley? Why can't it be a Rhea Ripley interrupting me?"
Me too Punk... me too.
Chad Gable issued an open challenge to any Luchador in the world. In what was the worst kept secret thanks to WWE shop posting about his arrival earlier in the week. PENTA arrived in WWE! PENTA headed to the ring accompanied by deafening applause. There was not a better first opponent for PENTA than Gable. These two felt like wrestling soul mates. No matter the offense Gable threw at him, PENTA overcame it. Following the Sacrifice Arm Breaker and a Penta Driver. Gable was defeated. PENTA's daughter was sobbing with joy at ringside. This was a brilliant debut that made him look like a main event star already.
History was made, as the first ever Women's Intercontinental Champion was crowned. Dakota kai and Lyra Valkyria faced off to become the inaugural champ. The contest was much more intense than expected. Lyra hit a back breaking suplex off the apron onto the floor, that sounded as brutal as it looked. I was absolutely rooting for Dakota to win this match, after she hit her GTK, it looked like that might be it for Lyra, but the recoil from the strike knocked Valkyria to the floor. Lyra eventually cemented her name in history as inaugural champion after she dropped Kai with her Nightwing finisher. Selfishly I am disappointed Dakota didn't win, but Lyra will make a great champion and hopefully she will be able to defend the title properly.
In a great main event match, Damian Priest and Finn Balor closed out their feud with a vicious street fight. The fight brought them all over the arena. The match came to a boiling point when Damian hit a spectacular Broken Arrow, from the crowd through two tables. That left Finn Balor needing medical attention. The match was put on hold as the medical team came out and placed Finn on a stretcher. After fighting off the Judgement day losers, Damian dragged Finn off the stretcher and back into the ring to finish the fight. This is what Finn was waiting for. Eventually Judgment Day got the upper hand until the War Raiders showed up to even the odds and remove JD from the equation. The fight somehow got more intense following this. Balor hit the Coup De Grace from the top rope through Damian who was prone on a table set up on the floor. Damian then rammed Balor through the time keepers area. This smash mouth match came to a close after a Razor's Edge through a table and a South of Heaven in the center of the ring. Damian Priest was victorious. In what was by far their best encounter, this was a great close to their rivalry and hopefully both stars move on to other feuds.
January 15th's episode of Dynamite was dubbed "Maximum Carnage". MJF and Jeff Jarret had a battle of who can be more of a misogynist with an exchange of words that boiled down to "Your girlfriend is a whore" - " No, your girlfriend is a whore!" This sucked up nearly 15 minutes of the show. I'm really not sure why anyone thought this was a great focus for this feud.
The Women's Casino gauntlet was absolutely the highlight of the night. Women's World Champion Mariah May was on commentary for the match. Jamie Hayter and Kris Statlander were the first two entrants. An exciting match up between 2 juggernauts in the division. Their strength only matched by Megan Bayne who finally arrived in AEW! Much to the dismay of Mariah. A nice boost to the division that should make it feel that much more fleshed out. Toni Storm came into the match like a bat out of hell. The "rookie" Toni Storm, snuck out the victory by rolling up Julia Hart. It seemed like Toni herself couldn't believe she did it.
Powerhouse Hobbs and Jon Moxley was as physical as expected. These two battled around the arena, Hobbs even bit Mox's ear until it began to bleed! Mox did a great job of making Hobb's look like a credible threat. After getting whacked with Marina Shafir's briefcase, Mox hit hobbs with a Paradigm Shift DDT, which was still not enough to keep him down. Mox immediately transitioned into a bulldog choke which quickly ended the match.
Maximum Carnage continued on Collision later that week with a Texas Death Match, Adam Page and Christopher Daniels. This was truly Texas death, as Hangman brutalized Daniels. Daniels was not helpless in this fight. He drove Hangman through a barbed wire covered table off the middle rope. He even almost made Page tap out to a Koji Clutch submission. Daniels' last hope was burying Adam in the scraps of the barbed wire tabled and hitting his signature moonsault. Ultimately Daniels could not keep up with the violence that Hangman was bringing. Adam Page drove Christopher Daniels' head into a steel chair with a Tombstone Piledriver, followed by a Deadeye Piledriver on the same chair. The violence didn't end there, Page landed a Buckshot Lariat to the back of the head. The ref called the match as Daniels was not moving following the lariat. This left the Hangman unsatisfied, as he came back to the ring and dropped Daniels with his own finishing maneuver for some salt in the wound.
Back on Dynamite on the 22nd, Private Party's tag title reign came to an end as Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin ripped them apart. The Hurt Syndicate is on fire right now and absolutely should be holding gold, It's just a shame it came at the expense of Private Party who ended up feeling like transitional champions after ending The Young Bucks reign last year. Jamie Hayter and Julia Hart had their second 1-on-1 encounter, that was better than their first, but still left me wanting more. After the bell, the victorious Jamie Hayter stated that she respect Julia and whenever she wants the rubber match, She will accept.
AEW's Collision Homecoming featured the first face-to-face between Mariah May and Toni Storm. Toni was all smiles coming out, in awe of the World Champion. Mariah immediately begins to defend herself, by stating "When I look at you, I feel nothing." As if she is covering up any accusations of her still loving Toni before we can question it. Mariah finishes her beratement by claiming she will get off by humiliating Toni in her home town. Toni's response to this was stating that she is her biggest fan. "One day I want to be just like you!" Toni embraces a disgusted Mariah, a strange reflection of the images of them from a year ago. Mariah caresses her head and smiles, as if for a brief moment nostalgia tries to grab hold of her. Which she responded by slapping the taste out of Toni's mouth. She then beats down Toni, and shoving away the referees stopping her. Mariah whips Toni with the title. She then affectionately kisses Toni's head before slamming it into the mat. Her final action of disrespect, Mariah spits on her as she leaves Toni in a heap.
"...What makes you think that I've forgotten?... What makes you think that our dance is done?... Each scar, Every drop of blood, I will feel forever... but now it's my moment in the sun!"
Toni rips off her coat and shirt to reveal her timeless visage
"...They say the hardest role you will ever play is yourself!"
Toni kicks off her pants to reveal the timeless fishnets.
"...but what you've just witnessed is the performance of a lifetime!"
The intimate crowd of Daily's Place absolutely erupted. Toni smeared her lipstick and gave Mariah warning.
".. You may be the woman from hell, but you came from MY womb, and I will shove you back up there and SPIT YOU OUT!"
The return of Timeless Toni Storm, couldn't have been any better. Daily's Place was the perfect spot for this segment. Mariah looked genuinely shocked at the reveal. Toni is a mega star and if this match doesn't main event Grand Slam Australia, I will lose my mind.
NXT on the 28th was carried by it's women's division. A star studded tag team match between Team 2001: Cora Jade & Roxanne Perez against Bayley & new Women's World Champion Giulia. The Women's North American title on the line as Shotzi challenged Fallon Henley. on top of those two great contests, The Women's Tag Titles were also defend as Jakara Jackson and Lash Legend challenged Bianca Belair and Naomi. NXT continues to be the most respected women's division on American soil with consistent segments and sometimes more matches than the men on shows.
To close out January, Mercedes Moné defended her TBS title against AEW's resident magical girl Yuka Sakazaki. Despite the lack of build to this match, the crowd was invested. This was a rare but deserved Women's main event. Seeing 4 belts Moné is a real gift. Mercedes' chemistry with virtually any joshi wrestler is really special. The technical back and forth was a spectacle. The contest never felt too one sided at any point. Yuka folded Mercedes with a German suplex through the ropes, she attempted to follow up with her Magical Girl Splash. Moné spared herself by getting her knees up and attempting a roll up victory. After a knee strike, powerbomb, and Money Maker, Mercedes decisively retained her TBS Title. A hard earned defense, that absolutely elevated Yuka.
January was a packed month as was expected. Both WWE and AEW came into the new year with streaming deals that have made American wrestling more accessible than ever. NJPW had two back to back shows that will go down in history and infamy. Women's professional wrestling is still not being given the time it deserves for it's top names and shows. Valued time would rather be given to old names for a cheap pop, or twenty minute promo segments that are littered with misogyny. For as much as I loved this month, I am left frustrated with its glaring issues as well. The royal rumble has come and went by the time this releases, but you will have to wait a bit for the discussion around that. 2025 has the potential to be a great year for wrestling. I hope it can live up to that potential.
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