Top Matches I Watched in March 2025

Top Matches I Watched in March 2025

By Alex Kalil

What a month of wrestling! AEW gave us one of the best PPVs of the year and continue to deliver great matches on a near weekly basis. WWE gave us a really good PPV as well and NJPW had a quiet month for me but I will check up on the New Japan Cup next month. On to the list!

Unsanctioned Match: Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn at WWE Elimination Chamber 2025: Another brutal and violent chapter in these two's legendary feud. Things kick off with both men getting in a hockey fight and here we go! Lots of brawling all over the building before they break into the weapons. Tables, chairs and even a hockey stick as these two do everything they can to punish each other. Nice storytelling all match with Sami's neck still being hurt as he sells it even while fighting back on Owens. As things go on, Sami is able to go bomb for bomb with Owens, who starts to get desperate. Owens uses the referee as a shield to block a Helluva Kick and hits a Stunner on Zayn, who kicks out when a second referee enters so Owens takes out that referee in frustration. Owens spends too much time yelling at Sami that Sami recovers and nails the Helluva Kick! Kickout! Sami grabs a barbed wire chair and attacks Owens with it! Blue Thunder Bomb onto the barbed wire chair! Sami goes for one last Helluva Kick but Owens counters with a Pop-Up Powerbomb! Owens wraps a chair around Sami's neck and runs him into the ringpost! My God! Apron Powerbomb! Agents and referees try to end this as Owens goes for another one but Sami is still fighting! A second Apron Powerbomb puts out the last of Sami's fight. Cover and Owens gets the win. Another great match from these two. Loved Sami pushing himself to match Owens even as his neck was bothering him all match. Meanwhile, Owens got more and more violent as the match went on and got the win on an all but dead Sami. ****1/4

Elimination Chamber Match for the #1 Contendership for the Undisputed WWE Championship: CM Punk vs. John Cena vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Damian Priest vs. Logan Paul vs. Seth Rollins at WWE Elimination Chamber 2025: A really good Chamber match with some good storytelling in it. Rollins and Drew start off and we get a fun visual where they fight in front of Punk, who cheers them both on. Priest enters followed by Logan and both are able to control the match for a bit with their power and athleticism respectively. Cena enters and runs wild on everyone with his trademark offense and AAs. Drew cuts off Cena with a Claymore out of nowhere. Priest with a Crucifix pin on Drew as he taunts Cena and Drew is eliminated!  Claymore to Priest by a pissed off Drew before Logan hits a Frog Splash off the pod to eliminate Priest. Punk enters and goes right after Logan and takes him out before Punk and Cena face off! But Rollins wants Punk and attacks him. Everyone gets some time to shine before Logan goes for a Buckshot and Punk counters into a GTS to eliminate him. Cena, Punk and Rollins go at it for a bit before Rollins runs Cena into a pod to take him out but doesn't go for the cover. Rollins wants Punk more! They go at it and we get some really good near-falls before Cena makes it back into the fight. Punk gets Rollins with a GTS and he falls right into Cena's arms for an AA before Punk pins Rollins to eliminate him. It's down to Punk and Cena! GTS and AA only get 2 counts so Cena tries for the STF, only for Punk to get the ropes and kick Cena off. Rollins with a Stomp to Punk on the steel floor! Punk is out! Cena pulls Punk back and locks in the STF! Punk is out and the referee calls it. Cena is going to Wrestlemania! A really good match with some nice storylines all mixed in. Drew and Priest costing each other the win, Punk getting revenge on Logan and keeping things going with Rollins while Cena comes in fired up to win, even taking the cheap win that Rollins helped him get. Very good stuff. ****

FTR vs. Kyle O'Reilly and Roderick Strong at AEW Collision 3/1/25: A really well done and heated tag match. Match starts and right away everyone is working with a little extra edge and aggression to everything, even a basic lock-up. Things break down as everyone gets involved and the match spills to the floor. Dax gets Kyle in the ring and nails a Piledriver and gets the 3! Wait! Kyle's foot is on the rope! FTR says to restart the match and we are back on. FTR goes to work on a still recovering Kyle for a nice bit of heat. Kyle is finally able to get the hot tag to Roderick, who runs wild and gets Undisputed Kingdom back in the match. Both teams start looking for the finishing blow but neither team is going down easy and keeps fighting to block any offense. Power and Glory by FTR on Kyle, but Roderick makes the save. FTR goes for Shatter Machine but again, Roderick is there to stop it and takes out Cash with a knee. High/Low on Dax and Undisputed Kingdom gets the win! I really loved seeing these two teams together. Every piece of offense felt like a struggle and a fight to hit and neither team was willing to give an inch. The early finish and restart was odd but played into the idea that FTR had the match won, only to lose by doing the "right thing". Great TV match. ****

Adam Page vs. MJF at AEW Revolution 2025: A heated and stiff match from these two. Right from the bell, these two come out swinging with Page having the clear physical edge. MJF changes tactics and starts working smarter to take over like poking Page in the eyes and looking to ground Page to slow him down. Page fires back on MJF and we get some nice back and forth action with both hitting big shots. Page blocks a Heatseeker to hit Deadeye before a Buckshot Lariat! Cover but MJF gets his foot on the ropes! MJF tries to go for Salt of the Earth but Page is too strong and sets up another Buckshot, only for MJF to roll to the floor. Page charges at MJF, who moves, and Page runs shoulder first into the ring steps. Page goes for the Buckshot again but this time MJF catches him with the Salt of the Earth on the hurt arm! Page struggles for the ropes as MJF keeps switching up the submission to keep Page trapped but Page still makes it to the ropes. Match spills to the floor and Page looks for a Tombstone, but his arm is too hurt to hit it. MJF reverses the Tombstone into one of his own on an open steel chair! Good Lord! MJF tries for the count-out win but Page makes it back in the ring at 9! MJF screams at Page "Why not me?" with tears in his eyes. Great character moment right there. MJF goes for the Heatseeker again but Page catches him and hits Deadeye followed by Angel's Wings! Buckshot Lariat by Page and he gets the win! What a match! The action was all perfect and told a great story of MJF trying to frustrate Page while picking apart the stronger opponent. Great near-falls and I loved MJF breaking down as he sees Page not giving up and the crowd loving him for it. Amazing touch! ****1/2 

#1 Contendership Match for the AEW World Championship: Swerve Strickland vs. Ricochet at AEW Revolution 2025: Another great match from these two rivals. Quick counters and exchanges early as both look for the win right off the bat. Swerve is able to take over by targeting Ricochet's back and goes to work on him. Match spills to the outside and Swerve just stomps on Ricochet to the point where Nana tries to stop him, only to get inadvertently shoved down by Swerve! Nana storms off to the back as Ricochet catches Swerve with a kick and takes over the match. Some nice heat by Ricochet, who keeps cutting off Swerve every time he starts to fight back. Ricochet looks to put Swerve through the announcer's table but Swerve counters and hits a Cop Killa onto the table! Swerve Stomp back in the ring but only 2! Ricochet cuts off Swerve with a low blow and a brainbuster. 630 by Ricochet but Swerve kicks out! Nana is back out and tries to take his robe back, only for Ricochet to take out Nana with a dive and put the robe on himself. Swerve goes for a dive but Ricochet catches him with a Death Valley Driver on the floor! Vertigo back in the ring and Swerve kicks out again! Ricochet sets up for a Spirit Gun and Nana grabs the robe to stop him! Both men go for roll-ups until Swerve nails the House Call! Second House Call only gets 2! Big Pressure by Swerve finally gets the win! Wow! Yet again, these two have amazing chemistry and pulled off some amazing counters, exchanges and near-falls. The drama with Swerve and Nana was a nice tease for a break-up but Swerve gets the win, the title shot and the robe back for his friend. ****1/2 

Hollywood Ending for the AEW Women's World Championship: Toni Storm (c) vs. Mariah May at AEW Revolution 2025: This was a war! Mariah charges Toni on the ramp and we are off! Mariah slams Toni early and pulls out a taser, luckily Luther stops her from using it, only to get low blowed and dropkicked into a tower of glasses for his efforts. Toni fires back with a chokebomb off the stage through a table! Match makes its way toward the ring and Toni misses a hip attack into the steps, which allows Mariah to hit Storm Zero on the steps! Toni is busted open and pouring blood! Mariah keeps on Toni with more weapon shots but a German Suplex by Toni gives her a breather. Both women retrieve buckets of broken glass and tape up their fists before sticking them in the glass! Jesus! Toni clocks Mariah and now Mariah is busted open! Both women are bleeding like crazy as they go back and forth slamming each other and hitting big bombs in the glass! This is violent! Toni goes to the outside and gets the shoe that Mariah turned on her with! Mariah tries to escape up the ramp as Toni follows. May Day on the ramp by Mariah but Toni kicks out! Toni gets the shoe again and brutally attacks Mariah with it! Storm Zero through a table on the stage and that's it! This was an insane feud ending match. So many crazy spots and moments before the whole thing wraps up in a mirrored version of how the feud started with Toni using the shoe on Mariah to get the win. This was a bloody, violent and cinematic ending to an incredible feud! ****1/2 

AEW International Championship Match: Konosuke Takeshita (c) vs. Kenny Omega at AEW Revolution 2025: A very different and slower paced match between these two foes. Match starts and we get the clear roles early on: Takeshita is more powerful than the more experienced and faster Omega. Takeshita is able to ground Omega early and wastes no time going after his still healing midsection, which becomes the story of the match. Everytime Omega starts to fire up and mount any sort of comeback or offense, Takeshita goes right back to the ribs to cut him off. Perfect psychology there. Match does a great job of giving Omega just enough to make you buy into each of his comebacks as little by little he starts to gain more and more ground on Takeshita, even as Takeshita ups the aggression by dropping Omega, ribs first, on an overturned table, twice! Omega is able to finally mount some real offense by laying in some V Triggers to rock Takeshita, who still fires back with his own strikes including an awesome spot where Omega covers up so Takeshita fires an elbow into his ribs. Brilliant! Omega tries for the One-Winged Angel but his ribs won't let him as Takeshita starts to hit more and more big bombs to try and put Omega away. A Powerdrive Knee gets Takeshita a 2 count and a follow up knee only gets a 1! Omega will not go down! A piledriver puts Omega back in control as does a pair of V Triggers. Omega goes for the One-Winged Angel again but Don Callis grabs Takeshita's hands to block it. Omega changes course and rolls up Takeshita in a Crucifix pin and gets the 3! Out of nowhere! Omega is champion! I loved this match! Perfect selling and storytelling all match that showed that Takeshita maybe has truly surpassed Omega in terms of in-ring ability but Omega still had too much heart to go down easy. Omega fought back time and time again before finally being able to out-wrestle Takeshita just long enough to get the pin. Omega doesn't beat Takeshita so much as get one over on him. Incredible stuff! ****3/4

Steel Cage Match: Will Ospreay vs. Kyle Fletcher at AEW Revolution 2025: An incredible, bloody and violent match from these former friends. These two go right at it as soon as the bell rings and we are off! Some great early back and forth with both having to adapt to working in a cage for the first time, which was a nice touch. Doesn't take long before Fletcher runs Ospreay into the cage to bust him open and go to work on him for a bit of heat. Fletcher tries to use an exposed turnbuckle on Ospreay, who is able to counter and hit a Cheeky Nandos Kick and run Fletcher into the cage to bust him open. We got us a double juice grudge match right here! Big spots back and forth including an awesome spot with both men laying in Kawada kicks and the blood flies everywhere. Hell Yes! Mark Davis runs out with a bunch of weapons and tries to enter the cage, only for Ospreay to kick the door into his face! Ospreay opens the bag of weapons and gets out a barbed wire bat, which he uses on Fletcher! My God! Fletcher begs off Ospreay and even shows off his old United Empire armband, which allows him to low blow Ospreay. Fletcher takes too long toying with Ospreay and misses a swing of the bat and is hit by a Hidden Blade from Ospreay! Stormbreaker and cover! A bloody Mark Davis makes the save! Aussie Open goes for Coriolis but Ospreay counters with a Reverse Rana on Fletcher! Davis with a chair and Ospreay blasts him with a Hidden Blade and locks him out of the cage! Oscutter off the cage! Kickout! Fletcher tries to escape and grabs the screwdriver to stab Ospreay! Brainbuster on a chair! Ospreay kicks out. Fletcher breaks out thumbtacks, only for Ospreay to counter another Brainbuster into a Style Clash into the tacks! Jesus! Fletcher tries to escape again but Ospeay follows and attacks with the screwdriver! Spanish Fly off the top of the fucking cage! Holy Shit! Fletcher screams he hates Ospreay before Ospreay nails a Hidden Blade. Tiger Driver by Ospreay and it is over! WOW! What a match! These two laid in every strike and piece of offense they had and looked to kill each other. Loved that they focused early on with just using the cage as a weapon before the crazier weapons and gimmicks came into play. The Davis run-in wasn't my favorite part but it still worked here. Incredible feud ending match! ****3/4

FTR vs. Kyle O'Reilly and Roderick Strong at AEW Collision 3/15/25: A really good follow-up to these two team's first match. Things kick off right away with Kyle wanting to take the fight to FTR in a nice reversal of him getting worked over in their last match. FTR is able to use their team work to isolate Roderick though and gets some heat on him, once again in a nice reversal of their first match. Kyle gets the hot tag and runs wild as he keeps working for the Ankle Lock. Match breaks down as both teams start going for the finishing blow. High/Low and Shatter Machine both get near-falls when broken up as we are down to 5 minutes. Power and Glory by FTR but Roderick gets his knees up to block and tries for a roll-up for only 2. High/Low attempted again but Dax shoves Roderick out of position and sets up perfectly for Shatter Machine, which gets the win. Another great match from these two teams. Some early sloppy action hurt it but the finish really brought everything together with callbacks to the first match and a super smooth and well done finish. ****

AEW International Championship Eliminator Tournament Final Match: Orange Cassidy vs. "Speedball" Mike Bailey vs. Mark Davis vs. Ricochet at AEW Dynamite 3/19/25: A really great and exciting match from all 4 of these men. Match starts off slowly with Bailey and Cassidy having a neat early exchange of strikes before Davis comes in and starts wrecking everyone. Match plays out nicely with everyone having a role: Davis is the big monster of the match, Ricochet the sneaky heel looks to come in for cheap shots and try to steal the win while Bailey and Cassidy are the classic fiery babyfaces. Tons of great action and near-falls for everyone all match with each guy getting time to shine. The bigger bombs and near-falls start coming as the match goes on with Davis looking like he might pull off the win due to his sheer size and power. Bailey is able to fight off Davis in the corner to rock him and gets in a Backslide. Ricochet comes in and helps with the cover with his feet on the ropes and both men get the 3! It's a draw! Both Bailey and Ricochet get the win and the title shot. Really loved this match and I felt like while Davis lost, he looked like the biggest threat all match. Finish was really well done with Bailey able to fight back and pin Davis clean while Ricochet snuck in at the last moment to try and steal the win. Great stuff! ****

AEW TBS Championship Match: Mercedes Mone (c) vs. Billie Starkz at AEW Dynamite 3/19/25: A very well done match between the veteran champion and a young up and coming wrestler. The match starts off and right away Mone goes to work on Starkz and treats her more like a nuisance than a real threat. Starkz is able to catch Mone with a DDT early to send her to the floor. Starkz follows up with a Swanton to the floor and another in the ring to take over. Starkz is here to fight! Mone cuts off Starkz by going to the eyes and goes to work on her back, which is still feeling the effects of the Swantons. From there, the match becomes the more experienced Mone working over Starkz, who keeps firing up despite everything Mone is throwing at her. Starkz is able to lift Mone up for an Alabama Slam into the turnbuckle to rock her. Starkz gets Mone up and hits an Electric Chair Driver that drops Mone right on her head! Jesus! Mone still gets her foot on the ropes to break up the pin! Starkz may have had the match won there! Mone recovers on the apron and Starkz tries to capitalize with another Swanton to the apron, only for Mone to move out of the way and Starkz to crash and burn! Mone rolls Starkz up for a near-fall but goes right into the Statement Maker and Starkz has to tap. What a match! Starkz looked amazing here and took the fight to Mone to get the crowd behind her. However, Starkz made too many rookie mistakes against the experienced veteran Mone, which allowed Mone to get the win. Brilliant booking and a great match. ****

Street Fight for the AEW World Championship: Jon Moxley (c) vs. Cope at AEW Dynamite 3/19/25: A wild and chaotic brawl of a match. Cope jumps Moxley as he enters the building and we are off as these two fight through the back to the ring. We get the standard brawl around ringside before Moxley introduces a kendo stick to attack and choke Cope with. Really like these two using anything and everything they can to hurt each other: biting, going for the eyes, chairs, trash cans, even parts of the announcer's table. Moxley firmly takes over with a Paradigm Shift on the announcer's table and starts to target the neck of Cope. Moxley wraps a chair around Cope's neck and looks for a top rope stomp, luckily Cope is able to stop Moxley with a Superplex. Cope fires up and fights back before going to the outside and retrieving his nailed 2x4, Spike! Moxley cuts Cope off with a Cutter to stop him and sets up a table in the corner. Moxley took too long though and Cope hits him with Spike in the gut and back! Good Lord! Suplex by Cope that drops Moxley back first onto Spike! AND IT'S STUCK IN MOXLEY! Jesus Christ! Wheeler Yuta rushes in to attack Cope and remove Spike from Moxley's back. Cope almost immediately takes out Yuta with a powerbomb through a table but the rest of Death Riders arrive and attack him. PAC and Claudio look for a Con-Chair-To but FTR rushes out to fight them off! Cope Spears Moxley through the table in the corner! Cover! Marina Shafir breaks it up! Willow Nightingale is here and Pounces Marina out the ring! This match is insane! Kip Sabian out now to stop Cope but Cope fights him off, only to be hit by Wayne's World by Nick Wayne. Moxley covers but Cope kicks out! Bulldog Choke by Moxley and Cope passes out! Moxley retains in an insane match! A slow brawl to start before Cope brought in Spike and the whole match took a wild turn! Spike stuck in Moxley's back, the run-ins and wild spots. This was chaos but it all worked here. A wild but fun match. ****

Los Titanes del Aire vs. Dralistico and The Beast Mortos at AEW Collision 3/23/25-Slam Dunk Sunday: A super fun spot-fest of a match. Tons of crazy action from the start with both teams just going at it. Nice storytelling with LFI being the more aggressive team while Los Titanes are the faster and more high risk team. Also appreciate that a lot of the near-falls came from partners breaking up the pins and not kicking out to put over the big spots more. Finish comes when Hologram hits the Portal Bomb on Dralistico before Komander hits Cielito Lindo to get the win. Just a ton of fun to sit down and watch this match. A real highlight reel for all 4 guys. ****

Kyle Fletcher vs. Brody King at AEW Dynamite 3/26/25: A good TV match with a clear story. Fletcher jumps Brody at the bell and goes right after him, only to get cut off by Brody's powerful chops and strikes. Brody goes to work on Fletcher and easily manhandles him with his size and power and forces Fletcher to fight from underneath to stay in the match. Some really good back and forth action with Brody showing some impressive agility with a big dive and Fletcher showing his own power by nailing Brody with a Tombstone for a nice near-fall. Fletcher tries to follow up, only to get rocked by a big Lariat. Brody looks for a Cannonball in the corner but a distraction by Don Callis allows Mark Davis to move Fletcher out of the way of Brody. Fletcher gets Brody to the top, looking for the Turnbuckle Brainbuster. Brody tries to fight out, only for Fletcher to go to the eyes and nail the Turnbuckle Brainbuster for the win. Really fun match with both men playing their roles perfectly. Finish was well done as it made it look like Brody could have gotten the win if not for the Don Callis Family's interference. ****

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship Match: El Desperado (c) vs. Francesco Akira at NJPW 53rd Anniversary Event: A really good back and forth match to put over Akira. Match starts off and we get a nice even start with Akira not backing down from the more experienced champion. Akira is able to take over using his speed and quickness until Desperado goes after the knee to slow him down and set up for Numero Dos. Match becomes a classic wrestling match with Akira trying to fight back time and time again as Desperado keeps going back to the knee to cut off his momentum and work him over. Akira finally is able to mount a real comeback and starts bombing Desperado with big shots and going for broke all in the hopes of pulling off the win. Some really great near-falls for both until Akira goes for Nova Fireball once too often and his knee gives out! And there goes Akira's last chance of winning. Pinche Loco by Desperado but Akira still kicks out! Akira will go down fighting! Numero Dos locked in and Akira finally has to tap out. Really good stuff with Akira showing excellent babyface fire and selling while Desperado did a good job of working him over and getting frustrated late into the match with how much it took to put Akira away. A little long toward the end but still really good. ****