La Zona Muerta

The yearly Voices of Wrestling top ten wrestling poll has again been compiled, and again, the nebulous space I occupy in wrestling “media” has granted my opinions and I a slot. I didn’t vote for what will likely be the number one match AT ALL (readers of this space can guess what match everyone else on the planet loved, but contrarian me eschewed)… I didn’t vote for any of the flavor of the month joshi… certainly no Fed and this year, to my shock, no New Japan at all (even though I thought about Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Hirooki Goto). I often suffer from vague imposter syndrome, but I almost disqualified myself entirely for 2025 simply because I didn’t watch a great deal of wrestling that wasn’t AEW or AEW adjacent.

Me paying homage to Neal Adams from the cover of Superman (vol.1) issue 204

So here it is, in descending order because I’m lazy… my top ten matches of 2025:

Match #1: Adam Page defeats Will Ospreay (2025-05-25)

A match my review at the time likened to being as good as anything in what we call New Japan’s 2013- 2019 “Golden Era.” Amid the uncertainty of Hangman fans who are a little too precious about their cowboy and the exasperation of those of us who simply want to see high level wrestling, this match unfolded with both stakes and logic, standing out to me as the best match of this year. The match had credible stakes in the form who would be the man to displace Jon Moxley and become the new face of AEW. It had callbacks to other matches, callbacks to other WRESTLERS, and even tied into the now years-long storyline of Will Ospreay being afraid to use the ultimate move, the Tiger Driver ’91 (a story that chafed for some and excited others). Two young wrestlers, already at the top of their craft, performing and DELIVERING on a level only a handful of people in the world can achieve.

Match #2: Mistico defeats MJF (w/Jon Cruz) (c)  – TITLE CHANGE !!! (2025-09-19)

If I’m just judging the match on it’s own, this may have been the match of the year; a near perfect example of a hated heel finally getting his comeuppance at the hands of a beloved babyface. What keeps it from the top slot for me was the build to it, which may not be entirely fair, but this is MY list. In a world with ICE agents attacking our neighbors and friends, I’m not sure there is room on North American television for a “FORIEGNER BAD” type heel. Obviously, the fans in Arena Mexico didn’t exactly feel that way; I can only speak to how I feel. Not only that, the feud with Mistico really seemed to take up a variable amount of bandwidth; sometimes seeming important, sometimes seeming to be a total afterthought. As for the match itself, Friedman 100% brought his A game and did a great job when it came down to it. My problems with his work very, very rarely come down to what he presents in ring. I still think it’s a shame that this match wasn’t mascara contra cabella, which had been teased (and MORE than teased, all but promised at points). Mistico; what can you say? I remember watching CMLL in 2005 or 2006 and he was the biggest thing going then. It’s wild to me that is still the case in 2025, and that’s not a knock; it’s a wonderful thing. The king is back on his throne.

Match #3: Will Ospreay defeats Konosuke Takeshita (2025-04-16)

A match difficult to praise without simply lapsing into a list of moves and counters, but here I go, anyway. Two men who know how to build a match and balance spectacular moves with hard hitting offense in what was probably the best match on free TV this year. There was a point in this match where Ospreay hit the Hidden Blade (his wild elbow strike), Takeshita popped up before even a one count, went for the dreaded TIGER DRIVER ’91, missed, Ospreay reversed the attempt into a piledriver, Takeshita got out and then hit his own Hidden Blade for a double down… and the crowd, already rabid, CAME UNGLUED. Just an incredible celebration of what I enjoy about high level wrestling and a match I could see again and again.

Match #4: Bandido (c) defeats Konosuke Takeshita (2025-07-11)

The match wasn’t particularly well built. There was no real story going into it. And yet Konosuke Takeshita, surely one of the very best wrestlers in the world, and Bandido, a great luchadore but someone still getting back on track after a series of injuries and surgeries, simply went out and put on a match that was arguably, from an in ring standpoint, better than ANYTHING presented on All In weekend. When the worst thing you can say is maybe the match missed the peak (in grand ROH tradition; hit the peak and go another five minutes anyway) or the fact that maybe the announcers missed the significance of Takeshita and Bandido hitting the finishers of ROH champions past… those are really just nitpicks or matters of preference. This was a sleeper hit, a fantastic match that may have flown a bit under the radar.

Match #5: Kenny Omega defeats Konosuke Takeshita (c)  – TITLE CHANGE !!! (2025-03-09)

You know what’s a lost art? Leaving something on the table in order to have a bigger match later on down the line. Kenny Omega may not be what he once was, but even 70% or 80% of the Kenny Omega from 2018 is still a world class, top ten wrestler. You put him in the ring with a man who has a claim to be either 1 or 1a as far as  best wrestlers in the world in the person of Konosuke Takeshita… and you get an amazing match like this. No unearned babyface turns, no nonsense, just two of the best doing what they do at an incredibly high level. A hard hitting match that leaves more that can be done as Omega starts looking towards the twilight of his career. There is a LOT more these two wrestlers can do together if their paths cross once more. Matches like this remind me why I love professional wrestling.

Match #6: Adam Page (c) defeats Kyle Fletcher (2025-09-20)

This was a match predicated upon the question of if Kyle Fletcher is now ready to be elevated to the main event scene. Was it successful? I think so, save for the fact that the booking hasn’t really supported that conclusion; but that’s not the fault of either wrestler. Due to Adam Page’s selflessness, Fletcher can now be credibly built into a main event slot at ANY TIME. This, THIS is what veteran talent should do; elevate their opponents, even when they are winning. Kyle, for his part, is all but SCREAMING at you that he belongs in the main event scene and this match was yet another example of why he will be AEW World Champion sooner rather than later.

Match #7: Will Ospreay defeats Kyle Fletcher (2025-03-09)

This was a tremendous, violent match, a beautiful thing with one of the very best wrestlers in the world battling his protege, a protege who seemingly gets better with every high profile match… and most importantly, this was a match that leaves more on the table for a much bigger match down the line with even bigger stakes. It was marred by a couple of things: a needless amount of interference (which is silly in a cage match; the cage stipulation is there expressly to STOP interference, even if the interference made sense, story-wise) and the absolutely unnecessary Spanish Fly off of the top of the cage; a needless move that had a knock-on effect for Ospreay’s health. I’m not a huge safety police guy, but that move in particular really came off as just something to do and not something that HAD to be done, if you get the distinction. I think there was a bit of amateur theater melodrama in this match that probably hurt it for some, but made sense for me. The flaws did not detract overly much for me personally, but I bet this match will probably suffer in votes for them. 

Match #8: Adam Page defeats Jon Moxley (w/Marina Shafir) (c)  – TITLE CHANGE !!! (2025-07-12)

I’m predicated by nature to dislike almost everything about this match, the nearly cartoonish violence, the run ins, the melodrama… and yet, here it is on my list. The over the top violence of this match was executed in such a way as to be believable, even understandable. The overbooking… look, there was a Jeff Jarrett-ian amount of run ins… but I would argue that this was a rare time where the furious overbooking actually made sense.

Here’s the reality; AEW built up actual, legitimate heat leading to this match, possibly TOO MUCH heat, by sacrificing a number of PPV main events. Jon Moxley had held the belt too long, had too many (seemingly by design) mediocre matches at the top of the card, and his minions had run around unchecked for nearly ten months. The All In match was structured with the heroic AEW babyfaces being taken out systematically until Darby Allin and Bryan Danielson (!) were able to finally turn the tide, which was pleasant to see after months of the bad guys running roughshod. The final sequence seeing Swerve Strickland slipping Page a chain, leading into hanging Mox and Mox taking a GNARLY bump into a bed of nails… the scary boogeyman Mox represented was FINALLY taken down and that was really all the crowd was waiting for. The theme of this match was catharsis… and I would argue this was a rare time in modern, Western wrestling where a babyface triumph really meant something special to the crowd it was presented to. 

Match #9: Bandido (c) defeats Hechicero (2025-08-29)

It’s funny; Bandido is not who I would consider my wrestler of the year, but he sure shows up a lot on my list of top ten matches. Unlike the Bandido / Takeshita ROH Title match, this bout had a bit of build between ROH and AEW television. My biggest gripe is probably that Bandido is popular enough that he doesn’t really need the ROH title any more; he could be shifted permanently to AEW TV while Hechicero would be an excellent villain for good guys to chase. Bandido does things I don’t care for (largely some convoluted setups to his main finishers or signature moves) but his athletic charisma and his ability to play imperiled babyface are strikingly good. Hechicero makes technical wrestling fun, has a classic stocky luchadore physique and just exudes heel charisma in the tradition of wrestlers like LA Park. This match was over thirty five minutes of good, credible wrestling that left me wanting more, and was another wonderful hidden gem stuck behind the ROH paywall.

Match #10: Bandido (c) defeats Mascara Dorada (2025-06-17)

A lot has been made of the current Mascara Dorada being the heir apparent to Mistico and while I see a great future for the young man, I’m not sure he’s there yet. He isn’t quite complete. That’s not a knock; I’m just saying he has room to grow and become better. Bandido isn’t complete either; there are holes in his game when it comes to smoothness of work, transitions and the like. The music between the notes, if you will. Neither of these ideas took away from the fact that both of these men had a fantastic technico struggle at Arena Mexico in front of rabid fans, cheering them on to greater and greater highs. Dorada is so close to putting it all together; crowd connection, breathtaking moves and the ability to make them look natural and not contrived. I think his biggest issue is largely consistency, and you could probably level those same charges at Bandido… but on this night, everything clicked.