Ranking WWE's 10 Biggest Winners and Losers Since WrestleMania 41
WrestleMania is the biggest show of the year in WWE and for some Superstars, it can be the jumping-off point for momentous years in which championships are won, television exposure is great, and popularity skyrockets.
For others, it can be the beginning of a sudden and unforgiving fall-off. It could mark the end of a journey of relevance.
Both have been the case in 2025, with some building on the momentum that The Showcase of the Immortals afforded them, while others have struggled to regain their footing in a highly competitive WWE Universe.
Who falls into what category? Find out with this look at who has risen and who has fallen since WWE's annual extravaganza in Las Vegas last April.
Losers (Nos. 10-6)
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10. American Made
Brutus and Julius Creed, alongside Ivy Nile, have been conspicuous by their absence from WWE since the injury that sidelined Chad Gable this past summer. Even before that, they had lost considerable momentum and considering how weak the Raw tag team division is, it is an indictment of their usage that they have not taken on a bigger role post-WrestleMania 41.
9. Viking Raiders
Ivar and Erik entered WrestleMania 41 as world tag team champions, but a loss to The New Day and the creative team's inability to give them anything of substance beyond rematches, halted their momentum and left them as just another act on the roster without anything of note going on.
8. Michin
At one point, Michin was embroiled in a rivalry with Chelsea Green over the Women's United States Championship and the story suggested the hard-working competitor would eventually strike gold and unseat the loud-mouthed villain. That never happened, and the teased partnership with B-Fab has also failed to catapult her into tag team title contention.
7. Giulia
The potential for greater things is the only reason Giulia slots in at No. 7 on this list as she has been one of the bigger main roster disappointments this year, through little fault of her own. A lack of a plan, an underwhelming Women's United States Championship reign, and limited SmackDown rosters doomed her early run. Her recent loss to Green, in 30 seconds on Friday's show, appears to have freed her up to elevate her to a much more deserving spot in the women's division hierarchy.
6. Sheamus
There are few wrestlers on the roster who continuously bring everything they have to deliver the best possible match for the fans than Sheamus. The Irishman rightly touts his delivery of "banger after banger," but WWE Creative never seems to come up with much besides a few rematches, even if the pursuit of the Intercontinental Championship that has evaded him throughout his career is right there.
Winners (10-6)
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10. Roxanne Perez and Raquel Rodriguez
No wrestler has worked more televised matches in 2025 than Roxanne Perez. Perhaps no Superstar regularly featured on WWE television each week has improved to the extent Raquel Rodriguez has.
Together, the Judgment Day's duo have become workhorses on Raw, delivering between the ropes while simultaneously setting the stage for Liv Morgan's return.
Brimming with chemistry, they have been consistently strong in their tag team outings and equally as impressive in singles competition.
9. Charlotte Flair
The Queen lost at WrestleMania 41 in a so-so match with Tiffany Stratton that saw her booed by fans in Las Vegas.
Then came a tag team partnership with Alexa Bliss, a mismatched tandem that featured polar opposites setting aside their differences in the name of winning tag team gold.
In the process, Flair won over the audience, has allowed her personality to shine, and silenced doubts she could be anything but the championship-winning daughter of Ric Flair.
That she looks like she is having fun again doesn't hurt.
8. Lyra Valkyria
Since WrestleMania 41, all Valkyria has done is feud with Becky Lynch, prove she has her own voice, become a central figure in the Bayley storyline, and repeatedly delivered some of the best in-ring action in the women's division. Not bad for someone around whom there were real questions about her ability to star for WWE.
7. Stephanie Vaquer
La Primera exploded into the atmosphere in 2025 and has been on a tear in WWE since WM41. She introduced herself to the main roster the night after The Show of Shows, delivering a fantastic match with Iyo Sky.
Since then, she has defeated The Genius of the Sky at Wrestlepalooza to win the Women's World Championship and won the Women's Crown Jewel Championship by defeating then-WWE women's titleholder Tiffany Stratton.
6. Bronson Reed
It was always apparent that Bron Breakker was going to be a main event star in WWE, and partnering with Seth Rollins and Paul Heyman was the next step to get him there.
The pleasant surprise this year has been the ascension of Bronson Reed, who has been in the spotlight many times, often flattening fans favorites such as CM Punk, Roman Reigns, Jey Uso, and LA Knight.
The recent betrayal of Rollins brought an end to the original form of The Vision but a premium live event victory over Reigns back at Crown Jewel has the future suddenly looking bright for Reed.
Loser No. 5 LA Knight
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Some may question how a guy who has routinely been featured in television main events and competing for world title opportunities can possibly be considered a loser this far up the list.
The answer is simple: LA Knight stays over with audiences because of his undeniable charisma, but WWE Creative has failed him significantly since the biggest show of the year.
At WrestleMania, The Megastar dropped the United States Championship to Jacob Fatu.
Since then, he has been at or near the top of the card after making the jump to Raw, has feuded with Seth Rollins and The Vision, mixed it up with CM Punk and Jey Uso, and continues to generate one of the loudest reactions of the night.
Yet, he loses more than he wins and remains over with audiences because of his ability to connect through a few simple catchphrases.
Unfortunately, that booking style has a shelf life and fans will lose hope and interest in seeing Knight finally win the title after being disenfranchised by WWE's decision to push him only half-heartedly and never ahead of the real main eventers.
Winner No. 5: Becky Lynch
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Becky Lynch is at her best as a villain and since WrestleMania 41, she has produced more than a few memorable promos, matches, and moments.
From verbally beating down Nikki Bella by taking a shot at her past relationship with John Cena to a rivalry with Lyra Valkyria that produced excellent in-ring content to aligning herself with her husband, Seth Rollins, the women's intercontinental champion has been one of the MVPs of a stellar women's division in 2025.
While her run with Rollins was cut short by the injury he suffered at Crown Jewel, a fiery promo directed at her haters and pesky challenger Maxxine Dupri on the November 3 episode of Raw suggests Lynch will be just fine fending for herself until he gets back.
A future Hall of Famer and the greatest women's wrestler in WWE history, she has spent the last seven months reminding us all of why she is one of the most important Superstars of the last decade.
Loser No. 4: Damian Priest
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Damian Priest has been beat up throughout 2025. Even with that taken into consideration, it is difficult to argue that the second half of the year has been an underwhelming one for the former world heavyweight champion.
Once one of the focal points of Raw, he switched to SmackDown as part of the last WWE draft and was expected to join Cody Rhodes as one of the top two or three babyfaces on the blue brand.
Instead, he faded into the background. His creative direction failed him miserably.
The Archer of Infamy has headlined a few episodes of SmackDown and floated in and out of Undisputed WWE Championship contention, but he has been treated like just another guy when he has proved to be anything but.
A big, punishing competitor with an undeniable presence, he should be a fixture at the top of the card on a vanilla SmackDown brand. Instead, he has not been utilized anywhere near to the extent he should and has seen his star dimmed as a result.
No. 4 Winner: Dominik Mysterio
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Dominik Mysterio defeated Bron Breakker, Penta, and Finn Bálor to win the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 41, and his victory was greeted with a deafening ovation by fans who appreciated the journey he took to get there.
One of the most hated Superstars on television, his embrace of the fans' disdain and willingness to play the fool when the moment called for it, endeared him to the audience. They appreciated that he entertained them and did not balk at anything, even when it would have been incredibly easy to do so as a legacy competitor.
Since then, Dirty Dom has become one of the most popular stars on WWE TV, appearing on Raw and competing in matches while fans chant his name. Embracing the comparisons to the late Eddie Guerrero, he has found ways to lie, cheat, and steal his way to victory, all to the delight of the audience.
His on-screen partnership with his Judgment Day teammates may be the weakest it has been, with a split almost certain to take place between now and WrestleMania 42, but Mysterio is one of the most intriguing names in WWE.
Loser No. 3: SmackDown Tag Team Division
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On the first episode of SmackDown after WrestleMania, the blue brand's tag team division showed out in a Match of the Year contender as The Street Profits defeated DIY and The Motor City Machine Guns in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match for the WWE Tag Team Championship.
It was brilliant contest that highlighted the talents of all involved and paid off months of interaction between the teams.
Then, the whole thing just faded.
Instead of doing anything interesting with the teams, they just wrestled the same matches, with one team swapped out in favor of the other. There was no story development or any real reason to care.
When The Wyatt Sicks were added to the mix, there was hope that something may come of it but everything remained one-dimensional, counted on to bring the work rate but not cared about enough to give them any kind of creative attention.
While some will suggest No. 3 is too high for a division that no one cares about, the fact that it has produced some great action and still been cast aside is why it lands where it does.
Winner No. 3: John Cena
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Cena's heel turn at Elimination Chamber was an unforgettable moment, but the forced nature of his villainous persona threatened to land him on the loser's side of this countdown. There is still an argument to be made that he belongs there.
His return to the babyface side at SummerSlam, and the extraordinary in-ring work he has produced since, has been enough to catapult him up our list of winners, with hopes that he finishes out his career strongly.
Since turning babyface again, Cena has produced Match of the Year candidates against Cody Rhodes and AJ Styles, had another strong contest with Sami Zayn, and has given the audience what it wants out of his retirement tour: The same Cena they have loved and admired for the last two decades.
Ahead of his final bow in December, Cena has reemerged as a hero to an entire generation of fans and been given the opportunity to bask in the appreciation of those who helped make him a star.
Loser No. 2 Randy Orton
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Yes, Randy Orton followed up WrestleMania 41 by challenging Cena for the Undisputed WWE Championship at Backlash but since then, The Viper has half-teased turning heel and battling Cody Rhodes, only to disappear from television this past September.
Even before his absence, he was a peripheral player; and while Orton has a well-documented history of back injuries, there has been no explanation of why he has not appeared and what happened to all of those teases of a potential betrayal of The American Nightmare.
A megastar in an era when they are becoming rarer and rarer, Orton spent the back half of the year being booked as anything but.
His position on this list is worth being revisited if he is suffering from an injury, but his utilization by WWE Creative in 2025 has been so inconsistent that it's difficult to place him anywhere but in the top two losers since WrestleMania 41.
Winner No. 2: CM Punk
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Since WrestleMania 41, CM Punk has emerged as the top star on Monday nights.
The Best in the World became the focal point of the babyface side of things, as the moral compass for a show that featured The Vision at the top on the heel side.
Punk's rivalry with Seth Rollins raged on after Paul Heyman betrayed him and aligned himself with The Visionary at WM41.
And while that program did not get the appropriate conclusion it deserved due to Rollins' injury, it gave Punk the opportunity to win two world heavyweight titles and pay off his long journey back to the top of the company.
Intriguing side stories with fellow babyfaces LA Knight and Jey Uso did not hurt his stellar year, and the brief rekindling of his rivalry with Cena resulted in some of the best mic work either man delivered in 2025.
As the year comes to an end, it is impossible not to imagine Punk will remain one of the centerpieces of the WWE product well in to 2026, building on his incredible post-WrestleMania momentum.
Loser No. 1: Jacob Fatu
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Fatu was one of the hottest stars in professional wrestling entering WrestleMania 41 and paid off his rise from enforcer of The Bloodline to one of the most charismatic and freakishly athletic Superstars on the roster by defeating LA Knight for the United States Championship.
Then came the split with Solo Sikoa and his Bloodline-lite faction and the subsequent feud, which did nothing but cool Fatu off.
A lack of in-ring chemistry with his cousin and an inexplicable loss of the title extinguished his heat, and a lack of follow-up on the part of WWE Creative left him wandering aimlessly.
A recent dental injury kept him from potentially competing for the Undisputed WWE Championship, but the whodunnit angle that wrote him off of television should result in a grand return.
However, it will be interesting to see if WWE can heat The Samoan Werewolf back up to the point that fans are ready for him to ascend to the top of SmackDown, as they were over the spring and summer months.
Regardless, it is impossible to ignore how much WWE fumbled Fatu's push to make him the biggest loser since that night in Las Vegas when the future looked bright for the second-generation star.
Winner No. 1 Jey Uso
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When Jey Uso dropped the World Heavyweight Championship after a so-so reign, many thought it was the end of his legitimacy as a main event talent and a top star in WWE.
Instead, that moment sparked the latest chapter in his story, one in which desperation to get back to that level and determination to prove himself to his cousin, Roman Reigns, tested who "Main Event Jey" really is.
Lately, we have seen Uso shrug off the advice of those around him, instead forming his methods and ideology around those of The Tribal Chief. He has talked down to his brother, Jimmy, disrespected CM Punk and LA Knight, and shown he would do whatever it takes to regain the world title...all while remaining as popular as ever.
Will Uso actually turn heel to justify regaining the title, setting aside his own personal beliefs for those of his family, all in the name of regaining the gold? Possibly, but the fact that those questions exist about his story arc, and the interest is as high as it is, is enough to land him in our top spot.
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