The year 2025 was an up-and-down ride for WWE. The company started on a high note with its debut on the streaming platform, Netflix, but things got a bit shaky in the middle. Especially, WrestleMania 41 turned out to be a damb squib with an underwhelming main event.
Moreover, the way Triple H's creative team managed some of the talents was also a subject of debate. The fans did voice their criticism, but the management turned a deaf ear to it. To make matters worse, John Cena's poor retirement tour added fuel to the fire. It's not that the promotion didn't have good moments this year, but certainly, there were some very bad decisions.
In this listicle, we will discuss 4 worst WWE moments of 2025.
#4 Jey Uso's WWE Royal Rumble win
One of the worst things to have happened this year was Jey Uso's Royal Rumble win. Even though Jey was highly over with the fans and selling record merchandise, booking him to win the Rumble match over John Cena wasn't a wise decision.
Jey later went on to beat Gunther at WWE WrestleMania 41, and the match's finish was a big letdown. The company booked Gunther to lose to Jey via tapout. Things only got worse from there. Jey's World Heavyweight title reign wasn't taken well, and he had to drop the gold within two months, back to Gunther.
Even though Jey's father, Rikishi, criticized Jey Uso's loss against Gunther, it was a decision that was seemingly taken for the larger interest of the company. The whole idea of putting over Jey as a World Heavyweight Champion nosedived miserably. The company shall not put Jey once again in the title picture spot, and take the risk once again. It could have been better if a superstar like CM Punk, who was also in the race to win the Rumble match, had been booked for the win against John Cena.
#3 Karrion Kross' exit from WWE
Karrion Kross's departure from WWE, at a time when he was immensely over with the fans, would go down as one of the worst moments of 2025. Kross, ironically, left at a time when he started getting massive reception from the fans. It was believed that WWE would do everything to make him stay. However, that wasn't the case.
His contract expired on August 10, 2025, along with his wife, Scarlett's, and both left the company on the same day. Kross, later, revealed that the company did offer him another contract, but withdrew it after he demanded clarification on certain terms in the contract.
Even though he has expressed his desire to come back to the promotion if things work out between the two parties, it doesn't appear that Triple H would sign him back once again, or at least in 2026. His departure came at a crucial time, and the fans resented it. And without a doubt, this would go down as one of the worst moments of 2025.
#2 Travis Scott's intervention in the main event of WrestleMania 41
Travis Scott got involved in John Cena and Cody Rhodes' storyline from Elimination Chamber 2025. He was with The Rock at Chamber, when Cena turned heel. However, when Travis Scott came out alone in the final moments of the main event of WWE WrestleMania 41, the fans went mad.
Scott's appearance without The Rock invited intense criticism from the fans. The Final Boss, who was instrumental in leading to Cena's heel turn, was absent from the scene, and Travis Scott tried to fill in his spot. His intervention went horribly wrong, as the main event of WrestleMania 41 was heavily criticized.
Even Drew McIntyre criticized Scott's presence at WrestleMania 41 main event. The company understood what went wrong, and since then, the rapper hasn't been seen in WWE. And there are chances that Travis Scott will not be seen anytime soon in WWE.
#1 John Cena losing his retirement match by tapping out
The worst moment of 2025 would undoubtedly be John Cena losing his last match in WWE by tapping out to Gunther at Saturday Night's Main Event. Cena hadn't tapped out to any superstar in the last 21 years. He resonated his catchphrase of 'Never Give Up' in his matches.
However, the company chose to end his legacy by making him lose by tapping out in the last match of his wrestling career. The finish of the match wasn't anticipated by the fans. It was expected that Cena might put over Gunther, but hardly anybody anticipated that the creative team would push The Champ to tap out.
The fans became extremely angry with this finish, and they started booing Triple H when he came out along with his wife, Stephanie McMahon. However, Hunter was unfazed by the criticism. He stated that this was a decision taken in the interest of the future of this business. He even went on to mock the fans, saying that he was surprised that they didn't throw things at him after Cena's match.
Being the Head of the creatives of the company, Hunter has sent the message wide and clear-- He will make big decisions and won't bow down to the fans' criticism.
Be that as it may, WWE might have a lot of surprises for next year. With Brock Lesnar and AJ Styles' retirements in speculation by next year, it will be interesting to see how WWE handles the final matches of these two superstars.
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Edited by Mohammad Bilal

2 hours ago
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