It’s that time of year again… the Winners And Losers of 2025.
Have fun, kids.
THE WINNERS OF 2025
2025 has its fair share of winners, although some of them might be cutting it close to the mark. Maybe it’s me getting older and more forgiving, or maybe it’s just a matter of the bar being lowered enough that what would have been middle grounders or not even worth mention gets to make the cut, but regardless, we’ve got highlights this year. Isn’t that worth celebrating in any event? I’d like to think so… maybe.
Joe Hendry
Online sensation and eternal meme machine Joe Hendry won the TNA World Title, was an entrant in this year’s Royal Rumble where he got a massive reaction, and even got a Wrestlemania moment in a match against Randy Orton… which lasted about as long as you’d expect, but still, just based on that alone, our man Joe cinched the top winners spot as early as April and never really let go, even if his booking for the rest of the year has been a bit on the spotty side of things. Still, the man’s making his money, he’s getting his name out there to the widest possible audience, and you can’t help but admire that hustle. No matter what happens in 2026, the fact remains that we still believe in Joe Hendry and so should you.
Atari 7800 ProSystem
People are going to throw a hissy fit over this, aren’t they? “Brand spanking new Nintendo system got launched this year and you pick an old Atari console that couldn’t sniff Virtual Boy numbers?” Why, yes… yes, I am. Because 2025 was the year that I was able to accumulate a number of 7800 games to add to the pile, either through eBay sales, retro store finds, or the new releases from Atari. More than anything, however, out of the one hundred and thirty video reviews outputted this year, twenty of them were on Atari 7800 games, some of which were even released in the past couple years. So yes, I’d consider the Atari 7800 resurgence in the DTM household a winner over Nintendo’s latest Switch successor, which I have yet to play, but hear it’s doing well… enough.
The Naked Gun (2025)
A genuine surprise for me, as I expect most remakes of classic films to be underwhelming, lazy attempts at nostalgic cash-ins. But this new Naked Gun film – starring Liam Neeson as Frank Drebin Jr. (son of original Naked Gun and Police Squad Frank played by the late, great Leslie Nielson) – not only stayed true to its origins, but was a genuinely funny film in its own right without feeling pretentious. It aimed to be funny and it accomplished just that. I’d like more of this, please. Thanks.
Superman
James Gunn’s Superman nailed it out of the park. Is it a perfect film? No, of course not, but it did have…
And that’s all that matters.
Star Trek: Khan (audio series)
2025 has seen some great Star Trek material come out of the woodworks… and none of it has come from Paramount Plus. Perhaps the biggest surprise out of the bunch is the audio drama depicting the story of Khan and how he went from Space Seed’s enlightened augment dictator to Wrath Of Khan’s vengeful madman; a story that has been told a couple times before, but this take feels fresh, the performances are largely fantastic, and there’s a couple twists that makes things somewhat interesting. Honestly, if you haven’t checked this series out, you can catch it on Youtube or other audio podcasting services. A damned fine piece of Trek storytelling.
Star Trek: Redshirts (IDW miniseries)
A band of Starfleet redshirts must defend a listening post from enemy spies. Things go horribly wrong. A concept based on a somewhat tired meme of sorts, but actually does a tremendous job in not only making you care about some of these largely unknown characters with very short lifespans, but also tells a compelling enough story with a bit of a twist that some might see coming, but is so well executed that it’s satisfying. I honestly wasn’t expecting much out of this one, but this turned out to be a real treat. Honestly, IDW’s comic output this year has been largely tremendous, but Redshirts probably takes the cake for me. Highly recommended.
Star Trek: The Last Starship (IDW Ongoing)
This is still early days and the jury is still out on whether this is going to be a longterm hit, but the first arc does a fine job of setting up the premise; the cataclysmic Burn that was alluded to in Star Trek: Discovery has drastically crippled the Federation and its warp ability, leaving only one long ship built from scraps to try and salvage the situation with a resurrected James T. Kirk among its ranks. For as much as I don’t care for Discovery, I am at least intrigued by stories covering the aftermath of the Burn and so far, I’m liking what I’m reading. So this gets a win this year… let’s see if the momentum keeps up for next year.
Power Rangers Prime (Boom Studios series)
A reboot of Boom’s Power Rangers comic line and honestly, one that had me skeptical at first, but for what it is, it’s not a bad read. Not a fan of the whole Eltarian rule thing (I wasn’t a fan of their Eltarian invasion story arc in their main MMPR comic, so having this be based on that gave me pause), but the Ranger team is a fun dynamic, there’s some solid artwork, and most of all, it made the VR Troopers semi-relevant in the modern age. Too bad it’s all coming to an end sometime next year if rumors are to be believed.
Nintendo Switch 2
Now you must feel stupid for your overreacting to an old machine getting a higher spot than the new machine, but on the other hand… Hey, look, everyone! It’s the Nintendo Switch successor console that everyone wanted and it’s been a relative success so far. Well, as much of a success as you can get with the current climate of rising tech prices and imposed tariffs down south. This one barely makes the mark as I don’t currently own the system and thus can’t speak for the hands-on experience of whether it’s worth a damn, but word has been rather positive from the populace, Nintendo is making some decent pocket change with the thing, and it’s not another Virtual Boy… although they are putting that out in 2026 and you’ll need a gimmick to play them. But that’s 2026, not 2025, so there’s no knock here. Besides, Gamecube games are available. That’s worth something to someone, right?
Justin “Babyface” Trudeau
Remember what I said about the bar being lowered for this year’s winners? Well, here’s a rare dip into the political landscape in Canada that I rarely touch on because that’s another can of worms that I’d rather not open due to the general irritation over the general incompetence of the great majority of political leaders on this goddamned planet. Really, the best thing that former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was step down from his role after what has been a largely meandering stay in office. He could have stuck around until the next election, but he saw sense and jumped off the boat before he had a chance to be electorally bludgeoned with the populace’s rusted fishing vote. Although if I’m going to be fair… it’s not like the guy that replaced him is any better, so… okay, I’m done now.
Mercedes Mone
Whatever dirt she has on the wrestling business, the former Sasha Banks has somehow managed to convince various wrestling promotions across the globe to book her to win all their women’s titles, turning her into the modern-day equivalent of a female Ultimo Dragon (a notable Japanese wrestler of the 20th century who was largely known for winning a lot of belts due to whatever dirt he had on the puroresu scene). All kidding aside, you can’t help but admire Mercedes’ hustle. She could have stuck around WWE jobbing to NXT call-ups possessing the talent and personality of fly paper, but got out of there to go on a run that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise. That deserves some degree of respect.
WCW Youtube Channel
I’ll be honest; the modern wrestling landscape hasn’t inspired me with much hope for further investment, but fortunately, the WCW Youtube channel has been a bone. I’ve been watching old Nitros, Thunders, and other PPV things that they’ve been putting up and it’s been a wonderful satisfaction of that wrestling itch. Also special mention goes to the WWE Vault, which is also littered with amazing classic WWE material. Enjoy it while it last, kids, because I have a feeling TKO is going to find a way to ruin this goodwill with an ill-conceived deal that will make people sour on them more.
That’s how bad it is, man. Even when I’m enjoying stuff, I still can’t enjoy it fully. Thanks, Shanoa.
THE LOSERS OF 2025
Every year has its low points and 2025 is no exception. However, this year is a little bit different because most of the losing content comes from ol’ Tinsel Town itself. Yeah, there’s a couple wrestling and gaming related bits here and there… but it’s all movies, all the time, baby!
Star Trek: Section 31
The thing that was going to be a TV show, languished in developmental hell before being revived as a streaming movie starring Academy Award Winner Michelle Yeoh. Look, I’ll be honest. I had this pegged in the top Loser spot and prepped the banner since January when the movie received its verbal schelocking and I still haven’t watched the fucking thing… not to say that I never will, but so far, I’ve not had any inclination to do so.
On the bright side, aren’t you glad that, after five years, there isn’t a wrestling personality on the Winners And Losers banner? I feel we were long overdue for that changeover.
Dwayne “The Rock” “Poochie” Johnson
Dude, I don’t give a fuck what you say. This guy is an absolute fucking tool. Go back to your home planet and stay there while the real creative people handle the ride that we were enjoying just fine before you came along and fucked it all up. Yes, he apparently had a smart turn as The Smashing Machine and is willing to do more actual “acting” in his future roles, even if the box office returns end up being less than stellar. Yes, good for him. Stick with that instead of playing booker. We already have a McSon-In-Law who does that just fine (enough)… and that’s it.
John Cena’s Heel Turn
Hey, it’s the heel turn everyone wanted. And that first night looked promising, but then you take away the major players that precipitated this turn in the first place (Dwayne, Cody) and you’re left with John Cena saying the same thing over and over again. Hey, good on him for winning number 17, but that whole heel run fell off the rails faster than the CM Punk gravy train in AEW. A matter of too little, too late, and nobody really knowing where to go with this thing. Is it any wonder why they dropped the deal by Summerslam?
Rising Video Game Prices
Thanks to various stupidities in the US, video game prices have gone up. This is nothing new; as time passes, prices go up. But when I go to a store and find a game costs a hundred dollars, that’s when the red flag goes up.
Captain America: Brave New World
Yeah, one of many Disney misfires to make the list… and the sad thing is that it’s not necessarily a bad movie. It’s just that it’s more concerned about its world-building and planting seeds for future films than it is giving Sam Wilson’s first cinematic solo outing as Captain America the strong first impression he needed. It feels like a Hulk movie without the Hulk or it’s teasing future X-Men stuff. Or it’s teasing Thunderbolts. How about a coherent story that I can enjoy for this one film? Maybe Disney should follow Sam’s advice and do better, but I doubt they will.
Nguti Gatwa’s Entire Doctor Who Run*
This one gets an asterisk attached to it, because the blame for this does not fall on Nguti Gatwa, who did as good as he could with the material he was given… when he can be bothered to show up, that is. Instead, the blame falls upon the so-called creative behind the past two years worth of episodes because THEY ARE DREADFUL! Flimsy stories, characters based on online stereotypes and trolls, the teasing of legacy characters and then doing nothing worthwhile with them, and then you cap it all off with perhaps the worst, most laziest finale in modern Who. You’d be hard-pressed to process that the man behind the wheel, Russell T. Davies, was the same man responsible for spearheading Doctor Who’s return to television two decades ago. Whatever he had before is long gone. Absolutely fucking atrocious television that I wish I did not watch and has pretty much scared me off giving the Chinball shows a watch. Sack RTD, kill the show, move on to something else, put the TARDIS to sleep, whatever.
Snow White (2025)
Admittedly, Disney’s latest attempt at a live-action version of one of their animated classics makes the list almost entirely on account of the online noise it generated rather than the actual quality of the film. I’ve not seen the film nor do I have any interest in watching the film; my reasons for this and others of its ilk has been made apparent on this blog. But given all the noise regarding the online discord and publicity miscues, there wasn’t a day that went by where one of my usual channels didn’t have some news about “what stupid thing its main star said” or something to that extent. I’d figure the best way to kill the monster would be to not feed it or give it attention, but I guess that would go against whatever algorithmic clickbait science these people operate under. Thanks a lot, Snow.
TRON Ares (2025)
Every decade or so, Disney attempts a new TRON movie and every time it does, it tends to not do as well as hoped. TRON Ares scores a double whammy of not only being a box office underwhelment (it’s a word now, fuck off), but it’s probably the worst of the three TRON films. If not for the title and some of the familiar imagery, I would have never guessed that this was anything but a poor knockoff of a mildly popular cult film that produced some fun arcade games on the side. The only good thing to come out of this is the Nine Inch Nails soundtrack and THAT’S IT. I’m not even a big TRON fan and even I found this unworthy of the series’ spotty legacy.
Ice Cube’s War Of The Worlds
Remember that classic H.G. Wells novel War Of The World? The thing that Orson Welles once turned into a successful radio program and was the subject of a number of feature film adaptations. Well, we got another one from Amazon. And you can tell it’s from Amazon because Amazon is prominently featured in this glorified advert for Facetime, Prime Time, or whatever shit product Amazon is sponsoring this week.
Four And A Half Vulcans
The first piece of Strange New World’s third season that the fine folks at Paramount decided to share was a clip of this episode that was supposed to be comedic and just fell flat. Maybe the episode would be better. And then it aired. It wasn’t better. Although if your mission was to outsuck The Way to Eden, then mission accomplished, I guess.
Late-Night Programming
Well, I don’t know what to tell you because I haven’t watched a single late night program since Letterman fell off the radar. I never had TBS, so I never caught Conan’s program live, but the rest of them… yeah, when most of your jokes involve the one guy that everyone is making jokes about, you tend to wear me out. I’m not a fan of that one guy and find his temper tantrums over these trivial things to be cause for questioning his mental state, but on the other hand… yeah, one guy is closing up shop next year and my only reaction is who cares? We already have a guy on TV doing jokes on that one guy. I don’t think we need two and the other guy will be fine.
MIDDLE GROUNDER OF 2025
John Cena Retirement Tour
Yeah, so we got a heel turn that had potential, but didn’t quite work out. Once we pivoted, we’ve got some paint-by-number matches against classic foes before a quick IC title run and an eventual final match against GUNTHER that is known for its controversial ending that I absolutely agree with and thought made sense. In the end, this was neither a winner or loser in my book, but since we needed to mention it, it gets the sole Middle Ground nod of 2025 after a year of largely one or the other.
Happy New Year. Thank fuck 2025 is over and done with.
dtm666 