Top Matches I Watched in January 2025

Top Matches I Watched in January 2025

By Alex Kalil

Welcome to 2025! Finished up some 2024 stuff to get that year done with while also watch two nights of Tokyo

Dome action from NJPW, some good AEW and WWE stuff and even TNA. Here is to another great year of wrestling

NJPW STRONG Women's Championship Match: Mercedes Mone (c) vs. Hazuki at NJPW Strong Style Evolved 2024: An excellent back and forth match! Mone comes in cocky and sure of herself while Hazuki looks to prove that she belongs. Some great wrestling back and forth early on with Mone getting the early edge by looking for the Statement Maker and forcing Hazuki to play defense. A DDT on the apron puts Hazuki in control as does 3 big dives into Mone. We get a really great sequence as Hazuki locks in the Crossface only for Mone to counter into the Statement Maker and Hazuki counters back into the Crossface. Love it! Both women break out the bigger bombs with Mone hitting a Frog Splash and Hazuki hitting an Avalanche Brainbuster for big near-falls. Mone hits the Mone Maker but Hazuki somehow kicks out! Mone goes for another but Hazuki counters into some super close near-falls that get the crowd on the edge of their seats. Mone finally hits the Mone Maker one more time to end things. Great match! Hazuki comes in somewhat unknown to the crowd but wins them over with her heart and drive to keep fighting. Meanwhile, Mone had a great showing and looked like the star she is all match. ****1/2

Champion vs. Champion Match: NEVER Openweight Champion Shingo Takagi vs. AEW International Champion Konosuke Takeshita at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 19: An all out bomb-fest! We get some early displays of power showing that both men are very evenly matched until Takeshita unloads an elbow and drops Shingo! From there we get the story: Shingo may be the veteran but Takeshita is the more dangerous of the two. Match is nothing but big bombs and stiff strikes: elbows, punches, Lariats, suplexes and lots of near-falls. Shingo is able to hit Made in Japan for a near-fall but Takeshita fires right back with a Blue Thunder Bomb! Last of the Dragon out of nowhere by Shingo but he has taken so much punishment and he can't capitalize. Both men keep swinging away at each other and even hit dual Reverse Ranas on each other. Takeshita looks for another elbow and Shingo fights like a madman to block it to nicely put over how effective it is. Even so, Takeshita nails the elbow and Raging Fire to get the win. Just a great bell to bell fight between two hard hitting men. Some nice storytelling that really puts over Takeshita as a threat. ****1/4

IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship Match: David Finlay (c) vs. Yota Tsuji at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 19: A really well done sneaky heel vs. big man match. Tsuji is able to manhandle Finlay in the early goings with his size and impressive agility. Match spills to the floor and Finlay runs Tsuji, shoulder first, into the ring post before hitting an Irish Curse through the timekeeper's table! From there, Finlay is able to use his own impressive strength to work over Tsuji and get some heat. Tsuji does a great job fighting for hope spots before getting cut off. Tsuji is able to counter a powerbomb and hit Marlow Crash for a near-fall and get him back in the match. Gene Blaster but Finlay counters with a Gun Stun! Into Oblivion but Tsuji kicks out! Finlay looks for Into Oblivion again but Tsuji slips out and hits Gene Blaster! Finlay gets his foot on the ropes to save himself! Gene Blaster again but Finlay rolls through into Overkill! Another kickout! Finlay tries for Into Oblivion again but Tsuji gets him with a knee and a powerbomb. One final Gene Blaster and it's over! Really good match! It perfectly built up to an exciting finishing stretch with both men going back and forth with their best shots. Tsuji yet again beats Finlay and seemingly has his number going into the new year. ****

IWGP World Heavyweight Championship Match: Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Shota Umino at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 19: A really good match from the up and coming Ace and the defending champion. Some nice wrestling early on with Shota able to frustrate Sabre a little bit with his ability before Sabre is able to lock onto the left arm and go to work on it. Shota starts upping the aggression on his part to try and match up to Sabre and starts using his DDTs to work on Sabre's neck. We start getting a good back and forth as both men implement their strategies on the other. Shota starts rolling and hitting bigger and bigger offenses including a Death Rider for a nice near-fall. Sabre finally gets frustrated and goes to the hurt ankle of Shota and works over his leg. Great selling by Shota who tries to fight back on one leg even as Sabre looks to tap him out. Shota is able to fight Sabre to the top and hits a Death Rider from the top rope! Sabre looks out as Shota lays in some kicks to his head even as the referee, his father, tries to pull him off. Danielson stomps by Shota on Sabre, which only serves to piss him off and Sabre responds with a stiff slap! We get a really great finishing stretch as both men pull out all the stops including an Emerald Flowson by Shota. In the end, Shota's leg gives out from the damage done and Sabre finishes things with a Zack Driver for the win. While the match was way too long for its own good, there was a lot I liked here. Shota having Sabre's number early so Sabre had to go after the hurt leg, Shota willing to be booed and aggressive if it meant getting the win and Shota relying too much on the moves of others and not himself. Could lead to some interesting developments going forward while Sabre remains on top of the world. ****

Champion vs. Champion Match: NJPW STRONG Women's Champion Mercedes Mone vs. RevPro Undisputed British Women's Champion Mina Shirakawa at NJPW/CMLL/AEW Wrestle Dynasty 2025: A really nice back and forth match. Some early even exchanges before Mone goes for the Statement Maker and Mina quickly rolls out of the ring to escape it. Mina responds by going after Mone's knee and that becomes the story of the match. Some really nice limb work by Mina, who almost works heel, while Mone fights from underneath and on one good leg. Mone is able to start landing some shots in as we get a bit of back and forth. Mina hits a super DDT and goes right into the Figure Four for a nice near-fall. Mina goes for some bigger bombs but Mone stays in it. Mina goes to the Figure Four once too often and Mone counters with a roll-up for 2 and right into the Mone Maker to get the win. Very fun match with Mina having a good strategy to go after the superior wrestler but in the end, Mone was able to withstand the pain to fight back and get the win. **** 

Brody King vs. David Finlay at NJPW/CMLL/AEW Wrestle Dynasty 2025: A very fun monster vs. heel match. Brody rushes Finlay at the bell and starts to throw him around. Finlay has to work smarter and look for ways to chip away at the big man. Perfect visualization of the match with Brody tossing Finlay into the barricade with ease while Finlay has to throw his whole body into Brody to drive him into the barricade. That's awesome. Lots of big heavy shots back and forth by both men before Finlay is able to muscle up Brody for a big powerbomb! Overkill by Finlay and that ends it. Just a really fun match with both these guys giving it their all and having a hell of a match. **** 

AEW International Championship and NEVER Openweight Championship Match: Konosuke Takeshita (c) vs. Tomohiro Ishii at AEW/CMLL/AEW Wresle Dynasty 2025: A hard hitting Hoss fight! Takeshita comes confidate in his ability and doesn't take Ishii seriously in the early moments until Ishii starts firing off some chops. Ishii even lands a few chops to the throat before Takeshita hits a German Suplex and takes back control. Match plays out with Takeshita being the dominant force but Ishii finding ways to fight back in his own way: headbutts, stiff shots and just being a stubborn man who refuses to go down to the younger man. Lots of big bombs by both men with Ishii even breaking out a top rope Hurricanrana to try something different and maybe pull off the upset. In the end, Takeshita is able to nail his devastating elbow before Raging Fire gives him the win. Really loved Ishii trying some different tactics to try and counter the clearly more powerful and dangerous opponent but it was all for nothing as Takeshita was just too much to overcome. Simple but great match! ****1/2

Kenny Omega vs. Gabe Kidd at NJPW/CMLL/AEW Wrestle Dynasty 2025: An incredible, story and drama filled match! Things start off with both men working a more heated and stiff style even in the lock-up. Some nice storytelling early with Omega protecting his abdominal area due to his injury and Gabe looking to go after it. Doesn't take long for the match to spill out to the floor and Omega ups the violence by powerbombing Gabe through a table! The referee and Bullet Club check on Gabe and Omega dives on everyone! Omega seems to have hurt himself on the dive though as a busted up Gabe is able to fight back with some chair shots and suplexes Omega through a table! Gabe bashes Omega with pieces of the table and Omega is pouring blood! We got a fight going on! Both men use chairs to slam the other onto and attack with. These two want to hurt each other! The big bombs start coming with Omega hitting a Jay Driller and a V-Trigger. Omega tries to lift Gabe up for the One-Winged Angel but his midsection won't let him. Gabe counters into an Inoki Abdominal Stretch for a HUGE pop! What a fucking moment from a basic wrestling move! Gabe drops Omega on his head with multiple piledrivers but Omega won't stay down! Omega catches Gabe with a V-Trigger! Powerbomb into Kamigoye! Omega gets Gabe up for the One-Winged Angel, hits it and gets the win! What a match! Omega makes his return to wrestling and shows that he is still one of the best in the world. Meanwhile, Gabe came out defending NJPW and gave an all time performance while coming across like a star. Every blow, every piece of offense and every moment felt important to the match. This was pro wrestling done right. *****

IWGP World Heavyweight Championship Match: Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs. Ricochet at NJPW/CMLL/AEW Wrestle Dynasty 2025: A very good battle between a technical wrestler and a high flyer. Ricochet jumps Sabre on his entrance and starts things off fast with his quick offense. A 450 in the opening minutes gets Ricochet a nice near-fall before Sabre traps him in the ropes and kicks it to start softening up Ricochet's neck. The match plays out with Sabre going for submissions and working over Ricochet's neck and arms while Ricochet tries to stick and move with his fast pace offense. Really clever stop with Ricochet hitting a suplex in the ring, on the apron and on the floor all in a row for a nice near count-out. Ricochet is able to nail Vertigo and a Shooting Star Press but both only get a 2 count. A second Vertigo but Ricochet misses the 630. Zack Driver by Sabre for a near-fall but Sabre traps both of Ricochet's arms in an armbar. Ricochet has to tap and Sabre retains. Super fun match with an easy to follow story and flow to it. **** 

Will Ospreay vs. Buddy Matthews at AEW Dynamite 1/8/2025: A very fun TV match. We get some good opening exchanges showing us that Ospreay has the speed advantage but Matthews is stronger. Ospreay is able to take control in the early portions with his quick strikes and speed while Matthews nicely fights back with a more vicious style to Ospreay. Just great back and forth action all match with Ospreay clearly having the edge as the match goes on. Lots of near-falls and a nice bit of storytelling with Ospreay pushing Matthews to fight back and show Ospreay what he can do leading to a nice burst of offense by Matthews. Ospreay ends up catching Matthews and hits a Styles Clash before a Hidden Blade gets the win. Just a great bell to bell match. A little light on the storytelling besides Ospreay pushing Matthews but still a fun match. ****

Casino Gauntlet Match at AEW Dynamite 1/8/2025: A really well done match with a bunch of storylines mixed in. Jay White and Adam Page start the match and pick up where their feud left off with some nice back and forth action. Page goes for the Buckshot Lariat early but White counters and goes for Bladerunner, only for Page to fight out. Wheeler Yuta enters next and is immediately hit with a Bladerunner by White. That was perfect! Page is able to take out White and clear the ring when Swerve Strickland's music hits! But it's Ricochet. What a troll. Ricochet uses his agility to take over for a bit when Adam Cole enters next. Cole and Ricochet have a nice back and forth ending with Cole hitting Panama Sunrise for a nice near-fall. Daniel Garcia is out and runs wild for a few. Powerhouse Hobbs enters next and just starts tossing people around like crazy. Roderick Strong enters and starts working with Cole to control the ring. Only for Lance Archer to enter and start wrecking people. Archer and Hobbs have a fun spot where they toss Ricochet back and forth before going after each other. Kyle O'Reilly is next and the Undisputed Kingdom work together to control the ring. Jeff Jarrett is out but Yuta jumps him on the ramp and the two fight to the back. Hobbs clears the ring of the Undisputed Kingdom and nails a Spinebuster on Kyle. Hobbs gets the win and the title shot! A super fun match. Really liked all the storylines they were able to work in: Page's feuds with White and Swerve, Ricochet being a dick to everyone, Undisputed Kingdom working together. Hobbs getting the win was a nice surprise and a fresh challenger for the championship. ****1/4

Texas Death Match: Adam Page vs. Christopher Daniels at AEW Collision 1/18/2025: A very fun and violent match. From the start we get the clear visual that Page is the more dominant of the two. Page easily out-strikes Daniels and starts working him over before running him into the ring post to bust open Daniels. Page starts getting violent by attacking Daniels with barbed wire and choking him with it! Jesus! Some nice weapon spots by Page to work over Daniels, who keeps fighting back with some good hope spots. Page takes Daniels to the top, looking for a Superplex through a barbed wire table, but Daniels reverses and slams Page through the table! Daniels goes for broke as he hits a pair of Best Moonsault Ever, the second one with part of the table on Page's face, but Page still gets up! Page is able to reverse Daniels' offense and hits a Tombstone on a chair! Page isn't done and hits a Deadeye before a Buckshot Lariat to the back of the head and Daniels can't answer the count. Really enjoyed this. Page looked like a killer all match while Daniels bled buckets to put over Page, while trying to be the crafty veteran and get an upset. ****

AEW International Championship Match: Konosuke Takeshita (c) vs. Josh Alexander at MLP Forged in Excellence Night 2: A really great back and forth match! We get some nice mat wrestling early with Alexander having the clear advantage and going for the Ankle Lock from the jump. Takeshita is able to take over with some heel tactics like going to the eyes, hitting a DDT on the apron and running Alexander into the barricade. Takeshita gets some heat before Alexander is able to fight back and we get some amazing back and forth, counter for counter wrestling from both men. As the match goes on, Alexander keeps going for the Ankle Lock until finally Takeshita uncorks a brutal elbow to cut off his momentum! A second and third elbow and Alexander looks out but keeps trying for the ankle even while on the ground. Great spot with Alexander trying for the Ankle Lock but Takeshita just German Suplexes him out of it. Awesome! Takeshita starts laying in the bigger bombs on Alexander, even hitting him with his own C4 Spike but Alexander gets right back up in Takeshita's face! Alexander is able to counter Takeshita and hits a Spinning Tombstone. C4 Spike by Alexander but Takeshita gets his foot on the rope! Ankle Lock again but Takeshita fights to the ropes, only to be German Suplexed into the turnbuckle by Alexander. Alexander goes for a killing blow from the top but Takeshita Lariats him off the top! Powerdrive Knee by Takeshita! Kickout! Another elbow by Takeshita but Alexander rips off his headgrear, throws it at Takeshita and says "Fuck You"! Hell Fucking Yeah! Alexander with a straight right but Takeshita is there with an elbow right back to drop Alexander. Raging Fire finally gives Takeshita the win. What a war between these two! Loved Alexander wanting the Ankle Lock all match and falling back on it time and time again. Meanwhile, Takeshita just landed big shots all match but smartly saved his biggest shot, his elbow, for when it was most impactful to help him get the win. ****1/2

Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Hechicero at RevPro 12 Year Anniversary Show: Just an awesome back and forth display of mat and technical wrestling by two experts. Right from the bell, both men waste no time in going for holds and submissions to tap out the other. Hechicero is the first to start laying in some strikes when he gets frustrated at Sabre's ability to keep countering his best holds and Sabre is happy to fire right back. We get some nice strikes and even some offensive moves in here and there but both men are quick to fall right back into going to the mat and looking for a submission or quick pin. In the end, Sabre is able to counter a leaping Hechicero, tie him up and force him to tap. A little light on the storytelling outside of two masters of technical wrestling going at it but that was enough. So many amazing counters and sequences from both men where it really felt like it could go either way. ****

Wonder of Stardom Championship Match: Natsupoi (c) vs. Starlight Kid at Stardom Dream Queendom 2024: A really great battle between two rivals. In the early portions of the match both women target a limb and go after it: Natsupoi going after the arm and Starlight Kid going after the knee. The limb work and submissions play out nicely with both using it as a go to tactic to fall back on when their opponent starts to gain too much momentum. As the match goes on, both start to land bigger and bigger shots including a nasty Bret's rope German that drops Starlight Kid on her head! Amazing near-fall with Starlight Kid locking in the Black Tiger Leg Killer and Natsupoi screams in pain while crawling to the ropes. Just as Natsupoi reaches the ropes, Starlight Kid rolls back to the center to lock it back in but Natsupoi counters with a roll-up only for Starlight Kid to counter right back into one of her own. Wow! That was fantastic! Natsupoi is able to respond back with a nice armbar for a close submission that has Starlight Kid just barely getting the ropes. Both women start landing more and more big bombs but nothing seems to keep the other down.  They try for quick pins to steal a victory but still no. Starlight Kid at long last hits the Star Suplex to finally put down Natsupoi and get the win. While I think this match peaked early with the amazing submission near-fall, the bomb-fest near the finish was so good with the desperation you could feel coming off each woman trying to win. Both women went to war with each other but in the end, Starlight Kid was able to hold on long enough to get the win. ****1/4

WWE Intercontinental Championship Match: Bron Breakker (c) vs. Sheamus at WWE Saturday Night's Main Event 1/26/25: A really fun, hard hitting match. Both men lock-up and we get an even start early on. Match spills to the floor in the opening minutes and Sheamus looks to cut off Bron before he gets moving, only to get nailed with a Spear coming off the steps. My God, that looked brutal! Bron goes to work on the midsection and Sheamus nicely fights back the whole time. Both men start throwing out the big bombs with Sheamus hitting a Celtic Cross and Bron hitting a top rope Frankensteiner! Bron goes for the Spear but Sheamus cuts him off with a Brogue Kick! Cover! Bron gets his foot on the rope at 2! Sheamus goes for a second Brogue Kick but his ribs are too hurt to hit it. Bron takes the opening and hits a Spear for the win! Just an awesome match! Enough story and selling to make every big shot feel important and impactful. ****

GHC Heavyweight Championship Match: Kaito Kiyomiya (c) vs. OZAWA at Pro Wrestling NOAH The New Year 2025: A really great match to put over the new top guy in NOAH. Match starts and OZAWA immediately runs and stalls on the outside, looking to frustrate and annoy Kaito. It works as Kaito rushes to fight OZAWA, only for OZAWA to ground and work over the champion. Kaito starts fighting back but Team 2000X distracts the referee which allows OZAWA to use his crutch to take back over  on Kaito. Classic wrestling stuff here with OZAWA showing off and messing with Kaito all while Kaito gets more and more frustrated at his antics. Kaito is finally able to mount a comeback and we get a more back and forth match with both getting some nice near-falls. Kaito starts to lay in his Shining Wizards on OZAWA before looking for the Shining Lancer but OZAWA pulls the referee in the way. OZAWA goes for a low blow but Kaito blocks it! Low blow by Kaito! Shining Lancer but no referee. Omos comes out and Kaito takes his eyes off OZAWA, which allows him to low blow Kaito. Shining Lancer by OZAWA for a near-fall. OZAWA finally hits the Phoenix Splash and we have a new champion! I really loved this match. OZAWA immediately got over as a top guy by going toe to toe with the Ace of the company and masterfully played mind games to frustrate the honorable Kaito, who showed some nice aggression against his new rival. ****1/4

Will Ospreay vs. Brian Cage at AEW Dynamite 1/29/25: A very fun big man vs. little man match. Ospreay looks to move fast and keep the pace up early while Cage looks to just muscle Ospreay around and toss him around the ring. Great spot early with Ospreay leaping off the barricade but Cage easily catches him in a suplex and walks him around ringside before dropping him on the floor. Match plays out how you would expect with Cage just hitting power moves and getting heat on Ospreay, while Ospreay does a nice job using his speed to get in some shots and looks to build some momentum. We get some nice near-falls and big moves including Cage hitting a Bret's rope F5! Cover! Ospreay gets his foot on the rope but Lance Archer pushes it off and the referee sees it. Referee and Archer get into it until Ospreay is able to send Cage into Archer. Cage tries for a Lariat but Ospreay counters and hits a Styles Clash out of nowhere for the win. Good match with both men playing their roles in the match perfectly. Ospreay is able to outsmart Cage and the number's game to get a quick win. ****

Jordynne Grace vs. Tessa Blanchard at TNA Genesis 2025: A really great heated match. Things start off hot with Grace charging Tessa and we are off. Nice simple storytelling with Grace being the more powerful of the two and easily able to throw Tessa around while Tessa is the better wrestler and has to out-wrestle Grace to counter her. Both women do a great job at making everything look physical and stiff, even taking little shots at each other as they set up the next big piece of offense. Really good stuff. Very back and forth match with both getting in some good offense and near-falls. Tessa gets frustrated at Grace staying in the match and starts looking for a quick pin and even tries to remove the turnbuckle pad but Grace stays on top of her.  Grace goes for the Muscle Buster but Tessa slips out and hits the Buzzsaw into the buckle! Grace grabs the ropes at 2 to save herself. Tessa exposes the turnbuckle and bulldogs Grace into it before hitting Magnum to get the win. Really great match. Both women worked a hard hitting and stiff style of match so that you really bought into their feud here. Finish was nice with Tessa having to cheat/bend the rules to beat the more powerful Grace. Wish the finish was executed a little neater but it still worked. ****1/4