The Wrestler of the Year is always contentious and subjective. Depending on who you ask, the criteria for their best wrestler of the year will be different. Quantity of matches, quality of matches, storytelling, and “getting over” with the fans are all categories that wrestling fans will consider when determining their wrestler of the year. Even the promotion, as myopic as that might seem, is a big qualification for someone’s vote.
However, regardless of how you slice it, Bandido has a claim on anyone’s list for best wrestler of 2025.
Bandido’s Resume
Many AEW great wrestlers have that claim in 2025: Adam Page, Jon Moxley, Will Ospreay, and Konosuke Takeshita. Who says the best wrestler of 2025 has to be a man? Toni Storm, Mercedes Moné, and Saya Kamitani have all made their case to be the wrestlers of the year as well. Yet, even with all of those great resumes, Bandido was still the best wrestler of 2025.
Since returning from his wrist injury in December 2024, Bandido has been on a generational run in 2025. He was part of arguably the best tag team of the year, winning the titles with Brody King back at Forbidden Door, where Brodido went on to hold the titles for 90 days. Bandido also retained the Ring of Honor World Championship, beating Chris Jericho at AEW Dynasty in April 2025. He has now had that title for 255-plus days. He made himself one of the most decorated men’s wrestlers of the year.
The Mexican Luchador has also been in some of the most jaw-dropping and gripping matches of the year. If you stack all of his tag-team and singles matches from 2025, which made us hoop and holler, the stack might be taller than Bandido himself. Not only that, but the Ring of Honor Champion has really endeared himself to the crowd. He has done the work to put himself in a position to be the first Mexican wrestler to win the AEW World Championship.
