WWE and AEW's Most Pleasant Surprises and Biggest Disappointments of 2025

Halfway through 2025, and it's almost impossible to claim the year has been a boring one across professional wrestling.

From unexpected heel turns to championship switches, shocking returns to restoring the feeling, WWE and All Elite Wrestling have delivered unforgettable moments, matches, star pushes, head-scratching angles and everything in between through the first six months of the year.

Some have been pleasant surprises, while others have been major disappointments.

In celebration of the half-year that has been, these are the promotions' most surprising hits and monumental misses.

Surprise: Chad Gable Shines

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Arguably the most underrated overall performer in WWE finally shined in 2025, both as himself and as his alter-ego, luchador El Grande Americano.

An extraordinary in-ring performer capable of stealing any show, he delivered against everyone from CM Punk to AJ Styles and Penta to Rey Fenix.

The introduction of Americano allowed him to further flex character muscles we knew he had but this time with the complete backing of WWE Creative.

His screen time increased, he became a staple of Netflix commercial breaks, and he turned in arguably the best performance of his WWE career with El Hijo del Vikingo at Worlds Collide before a standout performance in the men's Money in the Bank ladder match just hours later.

While injury brought Gable's summer to a premature end, there is no denying he belongs in the conversation for Superstar of the Year.

Not bad for a guy who, a year ago, looked to be lost in the shuffle after signing a new contract.

Disappointment: John Cena's Heel Run

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John Cena's heel turn at Elimination Chamber is the most memorable moment in professional wrestling in the first half of 2025 and is unlikely to be supplanted at the top of the list.

It was also the peak of Cena's heel turn, the start of a run some fans waited two decades to see play out.

However, directionless creative that often felt as though it was being made up with every passing week and a wrestler who has been the first to admit he had lost a step between bells have made for a lackluster final year for an industry icon who has earned better.

That it started with him selling his soul to The Rock, only for The Final Boss to not be involved in any of the fallout (to date), did not help matters.

Instead of one last epic run, Cena and his fans have been tasked with figuring this villain thing out on the fly, working it out in real time rather than enjoying what should be an otherworldly conclusion to a Hall of Fame career.

Surprise: The Resurgence of Finn Bálor

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Finn Bálor spent most of 2024 as the forgotten member of The Judgment Day amid star pushes for Rhea Ripley and Damian Priest, plus the emergence of Dominik Mysterio and Liv Morgan as the next big things to come out of the faction.

While the Irishman was still all over television, his role became diminished and he was a punching bag for higher-profile babyfaces.

Through six months of 2025, though, he is the centerpiece of the faction and the master manipulator behind all of its story beats.

Bálor fended off the implosion of the group amid a power struggle with Morgan by manipulating Mysterio. He recruited Roxanne Perez to help offset Morgan's effect on Dirty Dom. And when Liv suffered a shoulder injury that will sideline her through the rest of the summer, he staged a vote to induct The Prodigy into the group.

He has been the emphasis for so many of the story threads emerging from the group throughout 2025 and figures to factor in heavily in the second half of the year, especially with Mysterio eventually being forced to choose sides, his ever-intensifying power struggle with Morgan, his efforts to convince Raquel Rodriguez to buy into his vision, and the inevitable return to singles competition hovering overhead...much like the image of The Demon in many of the group's backstage vignettes.

Jey Uso's World Heavyweight Championship Run

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Jey Uso's victory in the men's Royal Rumble match and for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 41 was the culmination of a five-year journey from tag team specialist to breakout main eventer.

Fans followed him on that journey, Yeet-ing in arenas around the world and demanding the opportunities he received along the way through their deafening cheers.

That's one reason why his short and lackluster run with Raw's top prize was so disappointing.

Never truly allowed to throw himself into the role of champion or win matches against top stars convincingly, his one, clean title defense came at Saturday Night's Main Event against Logan Paul, and even that required run-ins from John Cena and Cody Rhodes.

Then, less than three months after striking gold by defeating Gunther on wrestling's grandest stage, he dropped it back to The Ring General on a random episode of Raw.

Uso will remain popular and prominent. He might even headline a premium live event or three along the way, but it's difficult to forecast a scenario in which he ascends back to that level, especially with the crowded main event scene on Raw.

Surprise: AEW's Renaissance Ahead of All In

All Elite Wrestling

To suggest AEW had zero momentum entering 2025 would be a massive understatement as The Death Riders failed to ignite interest in the main event scene, the authority-figure incarnation of The Elite was met with rolled eyes, and Adam Copeland's main event push was met with something less than enthusiasm.

Faced with its first real backlash, the company put its head down and rediscovered its focus, and the result was its best television in over a year.

From the end of the Dynasty pay-per-view event to the final episodes of Dynamite and Collision ahead of All In on July 12, AEW has rediscovered what endeared it to fans in the first place: Intensely personal stories that paid attention to detail and a semblance of forethought that gave programs badly needed direction.

Couple those with the in-ring performances that never left, and you have a company firing on all cylinders entering its biggest show of the year.

Whether it can sustain that after the PPV, and if Hangman Page defeats Jon Moxley for the AEW World Championship and puts an end to the dark days of the Death Riders, will determine what fans can expect from AEW when it's not building to its biggest show of the year.

For now, though, the true alternative in pro wrestling is enjoying a renaissance.

Disappointment: Missed Opportunities in the Women's Division

As vastly improved as AEW has been in recent months, the puzzling utilization of its women's division continues to be an issue.

The company has fumbled the returns of Jamie Hayter, Julia Hart and Skye Blue, not only doing a disservice to those competitors but also to the fans eagerly anticipating their returns from injury.

Hayter, who wrestled a brilliant match at Double or Nothing in the finals of the women's Owen Hart Classic, has not appeared since falling short of a guaranteed title opportunity.

That the promotion continues to struggle with the idea of promoting more than one or two women's storylines on any given show remains problematic. While we are getting a monumental matchup between "Timeless" Toni Storm and Mercedes Moné at All In, there remains a wealth of talent that is not being featured.

If AEW really is where the best wrestle, the creative team should put its impressive women's roster in a position to prove as much, something the aforementioned group of competitors is more than a capable of achieving.

Ditto Willow Nightingale, Kris Statlander and Megan Bayne, all of whom have been on television of late but would benefit from greater exposure and more consistent booking.