Voices of Wrestling Match of the Year

Voices of Wrestling 2025 Match of the Year Hangman Page
Voices of Wrestling 2025 Match of the Year Hangman Page

The most comprehensive pro wrestling Match of the Year countdown is here at Voices of Wrestling.

Since 2012, we’ve run a wrestling media poll to determine the year’s best pro wrestling match while highlighting great wrestling worldwide.

2025 Match of the Year

For 2025, 204 voters from 21 countries cast ballots for 366 matches, representing over 76 promotions.

  1. Kenny Omega vs. Gabe Kidd (January 5, NJPW/CMLL/AEW)
  2. Mistico vs. MJF (September 9, CMLL)
  3. Adam Page vs. Will Ospreay (May 25, AEW)
  4. Adam Page vs. Jon Moxley (July 12, AEW)
  5. Toni Storm vs. Mariah May (March 9, AEW)
  6. Hirooki Goto vs. Zack Sabre Jr (February 11, NJPW)
  7. Saya Kamitani vs. Tam Nakano (April 27, Stardom)
  8. Bandido vs. Konosuke Takeshita (July 11, ROH)
  9. El Desperado vs. Jun Kasai (June 24, NJPW)
  10. Sareee vs. Syuri (March 10, Sareee-ism)

 

2024 Match of the Year

In 2024, 203 voters across 23 countries voted for 348 matches across 76 promotions. 45 of those matches received first-place votes—view the full list here.

  1. Bryan Danielson vs. Will Ospreay (April 21, AEW)
  2. Darby Allin & Sting vs. Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson (March 3, AEW)
  3. Bryan Danielson vs. Swerve Strickland (August 25, AEW)
  4. Konosuke Takeshita vs. Will Ospreay (March 3, AEW)
  5. Bryan Danielson vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (February 11, NJPW)
  6. Bryan Danielson vs. Kazuchika Okada (January 4, NJPW)
  7. Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay (December 28, AEW)
  8. Swerve Strickland vs. Will Ospreay (June 30, AEW)
  9. CM Punk vs. Drew McIntyre (October 5, WWE)
  10. Adam Page vs. Swerve Strickland (September 7, AEW)

2023 Match of the Year

221 voters representing 24 countries (Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Kuwait, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United States of America, and Uruguay) voted on a record-setting 380 matches across 79 different wrestling promotions worldwide with 48 of those matches receiving first-place votes—view the full list here.

  1. Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay (January 4, NJPW)
  2. Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay (June 25, AEW)
  3. Adam Page vs. Swerve Strickland (November 18, AEW)
  4. Bryan Danielson vs. MJF (March 5, AEW)
  5. Bryan Danielson vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (October 1, AEW)
  6. Adam Page vs. Jon Moxley (March 5, AEW)
  7. Tetsuya Naito vs. Will Ospreay (August 12, NJPW)
  8. Fuminori Abe vs. Takuya Nomura (October 12, We Are Fighting Detectives)
  9. Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Kento Miyahara (July 15, NOAH)
  10. Bryan Danielson vs. Ricky Starks (September 3, AEW)

2022 Match of the Year

208 voters representing 23 countries (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Guatemala, India, Ireland, Kuwait, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, and Uruguay) voted on a record-setting 372 matches across 70 different wrestling promotions worldwide—view the full list here.

  1. Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood vs. Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe (December 10, ROH)
  2. Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood vs. Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe (April 1, ROH)
  3. Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay (August 18, NJPW)
  4. Adam Page vs. Bryan Danielson (January 5, AEW)
  5. Angelo Parker, Chris Jericho, Daniel Garcia, Jake Hager & Matt Menard vs. Bryan Danielson, Eddie Kingston, Jon Moxley, Ortiz & Santana (May 29, AEW)
  6. Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay (January 5, NJPW)
  7. Giulia vs. Syuri (December 29, Stardom)
  8. El Desperado vs. Jun Kasai (September 12, JTO)
  9. CM Punk vs. MJF (March 6, AEW)
  10. Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood vs. Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe (July 23, ROH)

2021 Match of the Year

176 voters representing 27 United States and 17 countries nominated a record-breaking 310 unique matches from 63 different promotions worldwide—view the full list here.

  1. Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson vs. Penta El Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix (September 5, AEW)
  2. Bryan Danielson vs. Kenny Omega (September 22, AEW)
  3. Adam Page vs. Bryan Danielson (December 15, AEW)
  4. Shingo Takagi vs. Will Ospreay (May 4, NJPW)
  5. Syuri vs. Utami Hayashishita (June 12, Stardom)
  6. Ilja Dragunov vs. WALTER (August 22, WWE)
  7. Jay White vs. Kota Ibushi (January 5, NJPW)
  8. Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay (January 4, NJPW)
  9. Dr. Britt Baker DMD vs. Thunder Rosa (March 11, AEW)
  10. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Shingo Takagi (January 30, NJPW)

2020 Match of the Year

170 voters representing 29 United States and 18 countries. Match-wise, our balloters voted for 287 unique matches from 66 different promotions—view the full list here.

  1. Adam Page & Kenny Omega vs. Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson (February 29, AEW)
  2. Kazuchika Okada vs. Tetsuya Naito (January 5, NJPW)
  3. Kazuchika Okada vs. Kota Ibushi (January 4, NJPW)
  4. Ilja Dragunov vs. WALTER (October 29, WWE)
  5. Hiromu Takahashi vs. Will Ospreay (January 4, NJPW)
  6. Go Shiozaki vs. Takashi Sugiura (December 6, NOAH)
  7. El Desperado vs. Hiromu Takahashi (December 11, NJPW)
  8. Go Shiozaki vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima (November 22, NOAH)
  9. Dragon Kid, Genki Horiguchi, Masato Yoshino, Naruki Doi & Susumu Yokosuka vs. Eita, H.Y.O, HipHop Kikuta, Kaito Ishida & SB KENTo (December 20, Dragon Gate)
  10. Kenny Omega vs. PAC (February 26, AEW)

2019 Match of the Year

136 different voters resulted in 290 unique matches across a record-tying 68 promotions—view the full list here.

  1. Shingo Takagi vs. Will Ospreay (June 5, NJPW)
  2. David Starr vs. Jordan Devlin (January 26, OTT)
  3. Cody vs. Dustin Rhodes (May 25, AEW)
  4. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kenny Omega (January 4, NJPW)
  5. Adam Cole vs. Johnny Gargano (April 5, WWE)
  6. Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay (July 20, NJPW)
  7. Jay White vs. Kota Ibushi (August 12, NJPW)
  8. Daniel Bryan vs. Kofi Kingston (April 7, WWE)
  9. Shingo Takagi vs. Tomohiro Ishii (August 8, NJPW)
  10. Blue Demon Jr. vs. Dr. Wagner Jr. (August 3, AAA)

2018 Match of the Year

68 different promotions represented across 282 total matches. Our voter base grew to 122, representing 25 United States and 16 countries—view the full list here.

  1. 1 Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega (June 9, NJPW)
  2. Andrade Almas vs. Johnny Gargano (January 27, WWE)
  3. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kota Ibushi (August 12, NJPW)
  4. Kenny Omega vs. Tomohiro Ishii (August 4, NJPW)
  5. Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi vs. Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson (March 25, NJPW)
  6. Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa (April 7, WWE)
  7. Isami Kodaka vs. Masashi Takeda (June 20, BJW)
  8. Jordan Devlin vs. WALTER (August 18, OTT)
  9. Hiromu Takahashi vs. Taiji Ishimori (June 4, NJPW)
  10. Kota Ibushi vs. Tomohiro Ishii (July 28, NJPW)

2017 Match of the Year

54 different promotions were represented—view the full list here.

  1. Katsuyori Shibata vs. Kazuchika Okada (April 9, NJPW)
  2. Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega (January 4, NJPW)
  3. Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega (June 11, NJPW)
  4. Kenny Omega vs. Tetsuya Naito (August 13, NJPW)
  5. Pete Dunne vs. Tyler Bate (May 20, WWE)
  6. Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega (August 12, NJPW)
  7. Ilja Dragunov vs. WALTER (March 12, wXw)
  8. KUSHIDA vs. Will Ospreay (June 3, NJPW)
  9. Michael Elgin vs. Tetsuya Naito (February 11, NJPW)
  10. AJ Styles vs. John Cena (January 29, WWE)

2016 Match of the Year

117 voters checked in and accounted for the widest variety yet, with 239 matches emanating from 49 worldwide promotions—view the full list here.

  1. Kenny Omega vs. Tetsuya Naito (August 13, NJPW)
  2. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada (January 4, NJPW)
  3. #DIY vs. The Revival (November 19, WWE)
  4. Sami Zayn vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (April 1., WWE)
  5. Kazuchika Okada vs. Tomohiro Ishii (August 6, NJPW)
  6. AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (January 4, NJPW)
  7. Ricochet vs. Will Ospreay (May 27, NJPW)
  8. Canis Lupus vs. Trauma I (September 4, IWRG)
  9. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada (August 12, NJPW)
  10. Hirooki Goto vs. Kenny Omega (August 14, NJPW)

2015 Match of the Year

97 voters cast 199 ballots across 42 promotions—view the full list here.

  1. Kota Ibushi vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (January 4, NJPW)
  2. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada (January 4, NJPW)
  3. Bayley vs. Sasha Banks (August 22, WWE)
  4. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (August 16, NJPW)
  5. Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena vs. Seth Rollins (January 25, WWE)
  6. Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins (March 29, WWE)
  7. Bayley vs. Sasha Banks (October 7, WWE)
  8. Tomoaki Honma vs. Tomohiro Ishii (February 14, NJPW)
  9. KUSHIDA vs. Kyle O’Reilly (June 7, NJPW)
  10. Fenix vs. Mil Muertes (March 13, Lucha Underground)

2014 Match of the Year

67 voters selected 156 matches across 35 promotions—view the full list here.

  1. AJ Styles vs. Minoru Suzuki (August 1, NJPW)
  2. Kazuchika Okada vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (August 10, NJPW)
  3. The Shield vs. The Wyatt Family (February 23, WWE)
  4. Adrian Neville vs. Sami Zayn (December 11, WWE)
  5. Cesaro vs. Sami Zayn (February 27, WWE)
  6. Atlantis vs. Ultimo Guerrero (September 19, CMLL)
  7. Tetsuya Naito vs. Tomohiro Ishii (February 11, NJPW)
  8. Daniel Bryan vs. Triple H (April 6, WWE)
  9. Hirooki Goto vs. Tomohiro Ishii (November 8, NJPW)
  10.  Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tomoaki Honma (August 3, NJPW)

2013 Match of the Year

25 voters responded by voting for over 90 matches from 23 different promotions—view the full list here.

  1. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada (April 7, NJPW)
  2. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada (October 14, NJPW)
  3. Daniel Bryan vs. John Cena (August 18, WWE)
  4. Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tomohiro Ishii (August 4, NJPW)
  5. Kota Ibushi vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (August 4, NJPW)
  6. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tomohiro Ishii (August 2, NJPW)
  7. Brock Lesnar vs. CM Punk (August 18, WWE)
  8. CM Punk vs. The Undertaker (April 4, WWE)
  9. Antonio Cesaro vs. Sami Zayn (August 21, WWE)
  10. Dr. Wagner Jr. vs. LA Par-K (May 11, TXT)

2012 Match of the Year

Our very first match of the year poll was with a small, select group of voters. 

  1. Davey Richards vs. Michael Elgin (March 31., ROH)
  2. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Minoru Suzuki (October 8., NJPW)
  3. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada (June 16, NJPW)
  4. Akira Tozawa vs. AR Fox vs. Johnny Gargano vs. Ricochet (November 4, DGUSA)
  5. El Generico vs. Kevin Steen (March 30., ROH)
  6. CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan (May 20, WWE)
  7. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada (February 12, NJPW)
  8. The Undertaker vs. Triple H (April 1, WWE)
  9. Kenny Omega vs. Kota Ibushi (August 18, DDT)
  10. El Generico vs. Kota Ibushi (October 21., DDT)