Bandido’s Quality Matches
Obviously, the first subtitle on Bandido’s resume for wrestler of the year has to be his match quality in 2025. Bandido had a year full of mind-bending matches, more than some wrestlers will have in an entire career. The Luchador out of Coahuila had some of the most memorable matches of the year, in a year that might be one of the best years for in-ring wrestling ever.
Bandido had five 5-star matches, just behind Mascara Dorada (6) and Will Ospreay (7). One of those, against Hechicero, is a 5.5-rated match. In contrast to the others, Bandido did it as a World Champion in singles and tag team matches. Bandido also had 25 (!) 4 to 4.75 star matches. All five of those matches came in during the second half of the year, starting in June. An absolute generational run.
Match ratings can be a divisive topic for internet wrestling fans. Just like the wrestler of the year, ratings are subjective. Not every match has the same parameters for what they consider a good match. However, Dave Meltzer’s match ratings are the industry standard for measuring match quality.
Bandido’s matches against Mascara Dorada brought down the house in AEW, Ring of Honor, and CMLL. His Ring of Honor title defenses against Hechicero made us realize Bandido, and Hechicero, for that matter, are generational talents. His match against Konozuke Takeshita on the October 22nd edition of Dynamite might be his best.
Bandido Made his Name as a Tag Team wrestler
Let’s not forget about his tag team matches with Brody King. Brodido had absolute bangers against the Young Bucks, FTR, Kazuchika Okada, Takeshita, and Jet Speed. All of those matches were spectacular. All of those names are some of the best and biggest tag teams or wrestlers in the world. Brodido’s fight against Takeshita/Okada at WrestleDream established King and Bandido as a legitimate tag team.
You get the point. All of Bandido’s matches don’t have to be listed here to prove how great a year he had. If you watched professional wrestling in any capacity this year, you would have heard of Bandido and one of his matches. However, the sheer number of quality matches he had in 2025 can’t be glossed over. That is one of the main reasons Bandido is the 2025 wrestler of the year.
