Report Card Grades For WWE's Biggest Men's Stars in 2025

The year 2025 saw the conclusion of John Cena's iconic in-ring career in WWE and a retirement tour that captivated some fans and left others scratching their heads at the disjointed booking behind it.

However, The GOAT reverted from a heel turn earlier in the year to become the hero fans had adored for two decades and ended his run on a high note.

Despite the controversies surrounding certain booking decisions, Cena earned an A grade for a year in which he proved he had one last, crowd-pleasing run in him.

How did the rest of WWE's biggest men's stars grade out? Find out with this look at their report card grades for 2025.

Cody Rhodes (B+)

Georgiana Dallas/WWE via Getty Images

Cody Rhodes spent 2025 as QB1 in WWE, the face of this era of professional wrestling.

He entered the year with the Undisputed WWE Championship, successfully defended it against Kevin Owens in a tremendous ladder match, before losing it to John Cena at WrestleMania 41 in a convoluted finish that saw rapper Travis Scott take approximately 12 days to get to the ring.

Rhodes spent the rest of the spring and early summer fighting his way back to the gold. He won the King of the Ring tournament, besting friend and mentor Randy Orton, and then regained the gold from Cena at SummerSlam in a Match of the Year candidate.

All of that came while he was appearing in commercials, hosting a podcast, appearing in every house show and generally being a hero to a new generation of fans.

The accomplishments and marquee bouts on premium live events were plentiful, but if there was one area of Rhodes' 2025 that suffered, it was the lack of red-hot feuds.

Raw was significantly hotter all year, leaving Rhodes to captain a blue brand that had solid in-ring action but did not always benefit from the most engaging rivalries.

That has changed as the year enters its final stretch, thanks to an increasingly intense rivalry with Drew McIntyre. The culmination of which may determine how well 2026 starts for Rhodes as he starts his road to WrestleMania 42.

Roman Reigns (C+)

Michael Marques/WWE via Getty Images

It would be easy to look at Roman Reigns' modest grade and point to his inconsistent schedule.

That would be the easy road. The slightly above-average grade in this case can be attributed to the quality of what he was involved in when he did appear.

In the first quarter of the year, there was the intrigue of WrestleMania, what he would be doing at the show, whether he would win the men's Royal Rumble, and the three-way rivalry with Seth Rollins and CM Punk.

Had things ended there, it would probably be a higher grade.

While we know Triple H, Paul Heyman and the WWE creative team love a good slow-burning storyline, the fact that it has been nine months since 'Mania and the only real revenge Reigns has had on his former Wise Man is a Superman Punch is absurd.

His role in the development of Jey Uso's edgy side was a welcome change, but it appears to have been sidelined for the time being as the former world champion returns to the tag team division.

There are so many loose ends, and no time to tie them up appropriately, that any grade higher than C+ for what he accomplished and was involved in this year would be unearned, even if his star power is undeniable.

Gunther (A)

Mike Marques/WWE via Getty Images

The Ring General was staring down a "B" grade or lower before his comeback and subsequent retiring of John Cena on December 13.

That can be attributed to so-so creative, a WrestleMania 41 match with Jey Uso that did not hit the way it should have, a brief second reign with the World Heavyweight Championship and a hiatus to repair his nose.

His SummerSlam match with Punk was excellent, but it still felt like somewhat of a letdown for the Austria-born competitor based on his excellence in 2023 and 2024.

Then came his return, where he delivered show-stealing performances against Je'Von Evans, Solo Sikoa and LA Knight before breaking the hearts of fans around the world when he retired Cena by tapping him out on Saturday Night's Main Event.

His encore? Basking in the jeers of the audience and gleefully taunting them. A confrontation with world champion CM Punk on Monday's Raw suggests he is headed back to title contention, putting an exclamation point on a year that was iffy at points but wrapped up in a highly significant way.

Seth Rollins (A)

Craig Ambrosio/WWE via Getty Images

Seth Rollins is the toughest to grade this year because of the shoulder injury that cut short one of his greatest runs in years.

A gradual transition to the dark side, the official heel turn at WrestleMania 41 following his alliance with Paul Heyman, and his leadership of The Vision all made up a monster run for The Architect.

Rollins defeated Reigns and Punk at The Show of Shows, feigned a knee injury over the summer and cashed in Money in the Bank to beat The Best in the World at SummerSlam.

After hand-picking Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed, Rollins was the clear lead villain on Raw around whom entire episodes would be built. Then, he was gone, beaten down in an angle designed to put him out of action while building heat for his proteges and signifying the reshaping of The Vision.

However, despite the disappointing and early conclusion to his 2025, there is no denying Rollins was on his way to a career year, and his impact on Raw is still felt despite his absence.

CM Punk (A)

Craig Melvin/WWE via Getty Images

After remaining injury-free throughout 2025, this was the year when CM Punk ascended back to the top of WWE, routinely featured in top storylines and marquee matchups.

He was among the most popular stars on the roster, won the World Heavyweight Championship twice, had several bangers with the likes of Rollins, Reigns, Cena and a Match of the Year candidate against Gunther.

He was consistently strong on the mic, though his best stuff came in those trademark pissed-off promos that he once was synonymous with, and his work typically elevated anything he was involved in.

Punk got his longed-for WrestleMania main event in a loss to Seth Rollins in a Triple Threat match that also involved Roman Reigns, and he was featured in and around Netflix reality series WWE Unreal.

While injuries prevented him from building momentum early last year, he was in the mix at or near the top of the card throughout 2025 and has firmly entrenched himself as one of the top guys in WWE entering 2026.

That Punk's image is all over WrestleMania 42 promotional materials with Reigns, Rhodes and Brock Lesnar is proof positive of such.