JNPO: August 2025 wrestling year in review | WWE’s big year continues as Will Ospreay’s ends
Image: AEW
On a brand-new Josh Nason’s Punch-Out, Josh continues with his 12-part pro wrestling year in review series with a stop in August 2025 and returning guest Andrew Thompson of Fightful.
Josh and Andrew talk about another big month in WWE which saw the first-ever two-night SummerSlam which saw the return of Brock Lesnar after two years and the subsequent PR sh*tshow. Seth Rollins also made his *surprise* return after his “injury” to both cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase and win the WWE World Heavyweight title.
On the AEW side of the street, Will Ospreay wrestled his final match prior to undergoing neck surgery, competing in an unsanctioned multi-man steel cage match to close Forbidden Door in London, England.
Oh, and there was WWE announcing their PLEs were heading to ESPN in April 2026…only to bump that timeframe up to September and introduce Wrestlepalooza that would go head-to-head with AEW All Out.
Oh, and John Cena turned babyface about 48 hours before losing the WWE title back to Cody Rhodes.
Between all that, the rest of the AEW and WWE news, Ring of Honor, NJPW, Mexico and the indies, we go through roughly 400 headlines and news items.
Click here to listen on our site or listen on either Spotify or Apple Podcasts (just search Wrestling Observer).
Since 2011, Josh has been a contributing editor to Wrestling Observer/F4WOnline.com and also hosts the Punch-Out podcast. He has also written for Fight Magazine, Bloody Elbow, Bleacher Report, and other websites. He's a 2000 graduate of the University of Maine, worked in pro sports, and once was an indie ring announcer.