10. Dominic Garrini & Kevin Ku vs. James Drake & Zack Gibson
4/18/25
DPW
If my #10 is going to be a “vanity pick,” I’m going to give it to a match that was in my 9–13 range, and those could all flip at any given point in time. Deadlock is no longer with us. As a Carolinian and a person who loves (or at least loved) independent wrestling, that’s a real gut punch.
This match was everything that made me fall in love with independent wrestling: the energy of Mania weekend, a crowd rabid for their heroes and vociferous in their hatred for the heels, wild action, someone gushing blood, and a display of violent tag team wrestling that feels grimy in parts, which only makes it feel more dangerous.
Violence Is Forever has been the best tag team on the indies for a number of years, and while the Grizzled Young Vets have been hit and miss, they played their roles perfectly here. The crowd despised these interlopers and made sure they knew they were unwelcome.
They fought all over the building, giving every live fan a chance to see something cool close up — and miss a bunch too. While some of the spots may be considered tropey in today’s wrestling world, it worked so well because GYV were so hated. They came into Vegas and turned Kevin Ku into a candidate for the Nick Gage Invitational. This made the crowd even more desperate to see ViF come out victorious.
It sucks that DPW is gone, along with Prestige. I hope and pray that the remaining high-profile indies (especially this burgeoning partnership among many of them) are able to bring forth more of the independent wrestling I fell in love with.
9. Blue Panther, Mascara Dorada & Neon vs. Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr. & Ultimo Guerrero
4/18/25
CMLL
CMLL has been in the midst of a run so hot that “renaissance” seems a disingenuous term to apply. This is the hottest I’ve seen this company, and I’m far more excited for shows now than during the mid-2000s Mistico peak.
One of the beautiful things about CMLL is that while they continue to innovate and give us all kinds of new high-flying action, they also give us classic lucha. This was a 2/3 falls six-man, with Blue Panther and Ultimo Guerrero giving us everything that makes lucha special and unique. While there may have been some things that didn’t look super smooth, the crowd going absolutely crazy more than made up for it. The emotion of seeing 64-year-old Blue Panther still out there, a couple steps slower but brilliant as ever, is palpable.
Los Guerreros do an excellent job making the crowd hate them as well, doing their best to ground Sky Team and keep the crowd from seeing the most spectacular acrobats do their thing. One of the underrated good things about a “tourist crowd” is that it forces a simplicity that can often be lacking in wrestling around the world. This was simple by design but superb in execution. Meat and potatoes remains popular because it’s a delicious and filling meal; the folks at Arena Mexico were eating well that night.
8. Kento Miyahara vs. Yuma Anzai
12/31/25
AJPW
THIS is why you give it a while before locking in your ballot. I hated when the Observer would cut off December for Match of the Year voting. It was a necessary evil at the time, but in the day and age of streaming and uploads, we’re lucky to be able to see so much live or near to it. Matches like this no longer suffer the fate of being forgotten.
All Japan has been doing less and less for me lately, and Miyahara in particular has felt stale for years. I give All Japan credit for running with Anzai as a new top guy. I’ve been relatively agnostic on him, but I’m definitely warming up on him. It could just be that I haven’t been watching as much of him, but Miyahara felt compelling as the old champ trying desperately to turn away the young gun who we all know is going to be the top guy for a long time to come. While not on the same level as the classics, as a match it reminded me of Misawa overcoming Tsuruta in the early 90s.
In a world where matches often feel long for no reason, I was glued to the screen and it flew by to me. By the time the finishing stretch started, I was popping for every big move and near fall. Thirty minutes felt like twenty, when my big complaint with Miyahara has been that too often they feel like forty.
Kento brought a level of violence and authority here that I think can only come with age and the challenge of someone younger. Anzai showed so much fire, but he also showed us how much he has left to learn. This Anzai thought he had it figured out — he had gotten the Miyahara monkey off his back last year, and that ended up being hubris on his part. Never count out a legend staring down the twilight.
7. Mascara Dorada vs. Neon
7/25/25
CMLL
Occasionally, two people will go out and do things that seem as if they shouldn’t be possible. We see tons of incredible, fast-paced, flying action all over the world, but this proved that the cutting edge is in Arena Mexico.
While that kind of go-go-go action can make my eyes glaze over at times, this was one exciting stunt after another. Dorada is poised to be the next breakout star in the U.S., and Neon has gotten to be so much fun to watch in 2025.
Wrestling can be a lot of different things, and sometimes it can result in a trip to the fireworks factory. This is the exception more than the rule for my taste, but I have to vote for a match that left my mouth agape for half of it.
6. Sareee vs. Syuri
3/10/25
Sareeeism
This is extremely my kind of wrestling. Sareee has been on an absolute tear since returning to Japan. Syuri likewise has been one of the elite joshi of the 2020s. This was the first of two outstanding meetings this year, but this initial encounter was an all-out war — thirty minutes of two of the best in the world.
These two put on a fight with such passion and vigor that I began to question whether something had gone amiss. Syuri uses her technical abilities to try and put Sareee in her place. She uses her strikes, especially her deadly-sounding kicks, to try and wear her opponent down, but Sareee will never stop fighting. She fights back and takes great care to focus on Syuri’s legs to cut her opponent down.
This being Sareee’s produced promotion helps the atmosphere greatly, with the crowd solidly behind her and willing her to continue. We even get a few incredibly nasty-sounding headbutts that had me jumping off the couch in fear and excitement.
After thirty grueling minutes, there are no winners or losers, only survivors. Sareee can claim a moral victory, but moral victories aren’t given the winner’s bonus. These two would meet again in a few months and have another match that many preferred to this one, and which narrowly missed my own top 10. This had a special charm to it, though. The crowd, the sheer brutality, and the incredibly smart choices both women made turned this into something that felt really special, and made me excited by the prospect of many more matches to come.
5. Hirooki Goto vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
2/11/25
NJPW
The G in IWGP finally stands for Goto. It’s a testament to just how incredibly special and deep the 2010s New Japan roster was that it took so many departures for people as talented as Zack Sabre Jr. and Hirooki Goto to have their chance at the top of the card. Talent like this in any other company would have demanded a consistent main event spot, but few people even questioned their positioning; for most of the “peak” era, the #7–12 guy on the roster seemed appropriate for them in a sea of all-time greats.
The changes in New Japan necessitated changes at the top of the card, and when Zack won the title I was happy for him and hoped it would lead to an uptick in the quality of the shows and perhaps pique my interest a bit more. It had its ups and downs, but the Goto match was one I made sure to stay spoiler-free for, and watched immediately upon waking up that morning.
Goto had become a meme for his inability to win the big one, a seeming rejoinder to the fact that he was not a champion, but an upper mid-carder who could challenge for, but never win, the IWGP heavyweight championship. This time, however, things did seem different. With so many of the old guard now gone, all of a sudden Goto didn’t seem like such a crazy choice.
I like wrestling when it feels like a sport. I like the prestige that a big world heavyweight title match carries. It’s not an unfamiliar feeling, as a sports fan, to be frustrated with your team but still root for them regardless. It’s a special kind of torture when your team is consistently good, makes the playoffs on a regular basis, but still has no championships to show for it. Goto felt like a perennial contender — the Buffalo Bills, Minnesota Vikings, or Atlanta Hawks of New Japan.
Finally, though, it all came together, and Goto was able to capture the prize that had so long eluded him. If Goto can do it, then maybe your team can too. Maybe you can do it if you just keep trying. Hirooki Goto’s career is a lesson in always trying your hardest, and eventually the rewards you deserve will come. He’s an inspiration to all of us who are getting up in age but still want to give our dreams a shot.
4. Saya Kamitani vs. Tam Nakano
4/27/25
Stardom
It had to be Saya. The 2025 Tokyo Sports MVP had a year for the record books, and her magnum opus was her retiring her career rival, best opponent, and all-time performer, Tam Nakano. Saya had a historically great year, but her true talent here was in letting Tam shine in her exit from professional wrestling. After many years and battles between them, Saya had proven her dominance, but this had to finally end one way or another.
Tam has been one of the top names in Stardom. Her legendary battles with Saya and Giulia will be remembered by this generation of joshi fans for years to come. This felt like one of the biggest matches all year, and a chance to right the wrongs of their great but flawed loser leaves town match in March. That finish tipped us off to what would likely happen here, but it was less about the result and more about a chance for two wrestling soulmates to have one more opportunity to do the thing they were put on this earth to do.
The match itself was super well-worked, with both women giving it everything they had to put down their rival. The emotion is off the charts, as both are openly weeping — not at the punishment they’re taking, but at what they’re being forced to give. After so many years and so many battles, this is the end of the road, and how do you say goodbye to the person who has made your own success so possible?
A great pro wrestler can make it work with anyone, but on occasion two people click, and it seems like they were meant to create beautiful magic together. This was a love letter to Tam Nakano, to their rivalry, to Stardom, and to joshi.
3. Hollywood Ending Match: Toni Storm vs. Mariah May
3/9/25
AEW
“Timeless” Toni Storm can sometimes be a bit cute for my tastes. I generally like her and think she’s excellent in the ring, but especially early on, the character didn’t do much for me. A shame, too, because I love classic Hollywood and thought something cool could be done with her.
Enter Mariah May (and RJ City) to make something completely different and original. All About Eve is a personal favorite, and I was immediately intrigued at the idea of how to do the story in a pro wrestling context. They all pulled it off perfectly; they made a movie out of an angle about a movie (about Eve).
In the film, the madness continues when the titular Eve is confronted by her own obsessed fan. This couldn’t be the case in AEW, however, as Mariah May had made the decision to leave the company. Logic and pro wrestling tradition would dictate that she go out while putting over Toni strongly. “Hollywood Ending” was a perfect title, because this had all the bombast of a big-budget blockbuster. They made sure not to leave anything on the table in their last chance together.
AEW women’s hardcore matches have a ridiculously high hit rate, but this not only ranked with them — it blew them all away. Both women were so giving, and did so many dangerous and breathtaking things with each other. AEW has done more to promote deathmatch wrestling in the mainstream than any other promotion in American history, and that goes double for women doing deathmatches. While some may decry that influence, I’m overjoyed that this is a style of wrestling given as much respect and appreciation as Hechicero’s technical wizardry or Hologram’s flips.
This doesn’t work if the participants don’t hold up their end of the bargain, and this was a shining example of what makes AEW different from other mainstream American wrestling companies. While much will be made of the “mediocrity” promo as Blake Monroe flounders, we should never forget that she did once produce something special.
2. El Desperado vs. Jun Kasai
6/24/25
NJPW
There’s an incredible beauty when someone does something because they want to, not because they have to. Deathmatch wrestling is littered with people who never rose above their station in the business because they simply weren’t talented enough. It makes those we regard as masters of their craft stand out even more, and nobody has stood out more in the last twenty years than Jun Kasai.
Kasai’s friendship/rivalry/romance with El Desperado has been perhaps the crowning creative achievement of his storied career. Desperado occupies a spot in New Japan where he could happily collect a paycheck and trade the junior belt with Hiromu, Sho, or Wato for the rest of his career and be just fine. He has the sickness in him, though — the same sickness we see in people like Jon Moxley, who probably serves as the closest American equivalent of a guy who doesn’t have to do things like deathmatches, but feels compelled to do so out of a love of the game.
This match is impossible to take in without comparing it to their 2022 classic. Desperado’s willingness to die in order to prove his commitment to this style of wrestling has long since sunk in, but this being the final match between them brings out the idiot in him in the most endearing way. Kasai knows he is on the downside of his career, one that has already lasted far longer than most people who ply their trade in fluorescent light tubes, skewers, and panes of glass. He knows Desperado is younger, an established star in the top promotion, and has already beaten him once.
Kasai chooses to work this like a final goodbye; the lessons learned, this chapter was about the two doing the thing they both love most, and the thing that brought them together. It doesn’t reach the highs of the previous match, in my opinion, but it gives us an entirely new and beautiful finale.
Roses were a theme throughout the match, a symbol of the violence and romance these two have shared. There is something so extreme and over-the-top about deathmatch spectacle that it bonds those who perform it in a way that doesn’t translate to other niches of wrestling. They act more like shell-shocked war buddies or protective lovers than co-workers. Kasai was able to nurture Desperado’s curiosities and, when the time came, exit gracefully, with barbed wire and roses serving as a fitting parting gift for a pair who found life in one another while working in the medium of death.
1. Adam Page vs. Will Ospreay
5/25/25
AEW
May was a reminder that these things come in threes. On the 11th, we lost Sabu, one of the most important wrestlers to me — a guy I was obsessed with as a young kid first discovering non-WCW or WWF wrestling. On the 18th, an uncle by marriage passed away; the man was a minister and had performed the ceremony when I married my wife. On the 25th, I woke up to the news that a dear friend of mine for over twenty years, a legend in our local music scene, had also passed. It felt like death was all around me.
I turned on Double or Nothing that evening looking for escape more than anything else. A good show to lift my spirits would have been more than enough, but instead I got a memory I hope I carry for the rest of my life.
Will Ospreay seemed like the obvious choice to me. From the moment he debuted in AEW, the crowds have been wild for him, his matches have been excellent, and he’s the exact kind of high-energy babyface AEW feels primed to push as the face of the company. I’ve been a Hangman guy forever, and while I wanted him to win, I was realistic and assumed he would eventually reconcile and team with Swerve — something main event–level, but not for the belt. Us Hangman fans got our moment in 2021, and it was great, but it was done. Ospreay was the new hot hand.
The early portion works so well, with Hangman establishing himself and Ospreay choosing to play heel. This tips off those of us watching closely that maybe I was counting my guy out prematurely. They paid homage to those who got them here: Ospreay using the Styles Clash and V-Trigger, and Hangman hitting an Angel’s Wings. This escalated when Hangman countered the One Winged Angel and hit Big Pressure. This is the “storytelling” so many people claim doesn’t exist in AEW. Everything these two did was done with intention and thought behind it, and that is the highest compliment I can pay a match in today’s world.
These two put on a match that kept my eyes glued to the screen for forty minutes, past midnight, after six hours of wrestling already. Every twist and turn had me living and dying, and by halfway through I had started to convince myself that maybe Hangman had a chance. By the time they stood across from each other for the shootout, I was on my feet, yelling and screaming for Hanger to finish him off. When the last Buckshot landed, and it was finally over, I felt a visceral relief and immediately burst into tears.
It wasn’t just the match; it wasn’t just the outcome. In a world that is increasingly hard to find heroes in, it felt like a true victory for the nature of good. Wrestling is at its best when you can believe in something, and it felt like I had finally gotten a win in a month where I desperately needed one.
Raised By the Ring 