Playstation Wrap-Up 2025

Greetings, everyone, and welcome to one of my most-anticipated blog posts of the year: the Playstation Wrap-Up for 2025!

However, let's just go ahead and get this out of the way right now - this was a disappointing year for Playstation's yearly recap. Typically, they're really good about continuing to update the stats through December 31, but this year, despite the website being up through January 8, I didn't see an update to my numbers after December 23. This really rubbed me the wrong way this year, in particular, because I was on paternity leave during all of December, so I know that I got short-changed. This means that my numbers this year are not completely accurate and, most likely, quite different than what they actually wound up being.

But with that in mind, we'll jump in and break down my top games from last year, with a bit of an asterisk on top of it all. Let's take a look and see what topped the Playstation charts for 2025!

Total Hours:

Playstation said that I played 961 hours this year, but I know that to be lower than whatever the final number ended up being. I presume that I probably played another 10 or 15 hours (maybe more) in the final eight days of the year, especially considering that I wasn't working at the time.

The screenshots above also don't indicate that I spent a dozen hours or so playing the Playstation 3, cleaning up trophies on Skyrim and some old NCAA football games that my brother played on my profile back during my college years. (Also, if I did play "a dozen hours or so" on the PS3, the numbers in the Wrap-Up wouldn't add up. I'm skeptical.)

Ultimately, I don't know what my total number of hours for 2025 ended up being, so we'll just call it "961+ hours," for the sake of my final stats.

I wish that they would have given me the stats for my controller usage because I've been using a new purple controller pretty much exclusively for months, so I really must have loved that black controller in the first half of the year.

Top Five Games:

1. Assassin's Creed Shadows: Ah, yes. "Assassin's Creed Shadows." After getting some real burnout from "Assassin's Creed Valhalla," I was hesitant to pick up the next big, open world installment in the franchise, especially after having played the significantly smaller "Mirage," but I had a great time sneaking around Japan as Naoe and Yasuke. I learned to rely on Naoe for exploration and Yasuke for butt-kicking but truly enjoyed playing with both characters, which I had been a little hesitant about. I, sadly, didn't spend nearly as much time cultivating my ninja hideout as I thought I would, when I first heard that that was going to be a thing, but that was still a fun aspect of the game. My mind was constantly blown when I thought for the thirtieth time, "There's no way that this villain board can get any bigger," and then watched in amazement as a new sub-faction of thugs appeared in my objective map. I picked up the "Claws of Awaji" DLC but only played that for about an hour around Christmastime, so my total number of hours played actually should have been 95, not 94, but who's counting, right? Thanks to Assassin's Creed for pumping out a game that never felt too big and never made me bored. Good stuff.
2. Star Wars Outlaws: I hadn't heard a single good thing about "Star Wars Outlaws," but I love Star Wars and I wanted to give it a shot anyway. I really liked it! I don't know if I was just late enough to the game that the developers had fixed all the stuff that players complained about, but I didn't really have many issues with it. No Force usage, no lightsabers, sure, but the thing about Star Wars is that there is room for so many stories to be told that don't directly involve the Skywalker family. I really liked Kay Vess and her little space puppy. I had fun sneaking around and trying to avoid detection. I enjoyed the reputation system revolving around the biggest crime syndicates in the galaxy far, far away. I was secretly hoping that "Outlaws" would be one of my top games and was really glad to see that it was. I also picked up and completed all of the DLC missions, so if you were ever wondering what it would be like to play Lando Calrissian in Sabaac, have I got some stories for you!
3. Disney Dreamlight Valley: Sixty-eight hours of "Dreamlight Valley" is going to look weak next year, I tell you! With the final days of my paternity leave in early January, I put in WORK on DLV, but those stats will have to wait until the end of 2026 to manifest themselves. The most impressive thing I can say about "Dreamlight Valley" is that it remains one of my top games despite already having earned the platinum trophy. Almost 70 more hours of this game and not a single trophy to show for it? That's just wild.
4. WWE 2K25: Yep, back at it with the pro wrestling. "2K25" was a solid entry in the series with a more up-to-date roster at the time of its release than some of the other recent WWE games, and the game modes are fun enough to merit several dozen hours of play time. However, I dislike how much 2K wants us to play the "career" mode each year. It's my least favorite thing to do with each installment, and it seems like 2K is just doubling down on it every year, as if we think the cheesy original storylines are fun. Less of that in the future, please! But I did appreciate some improvements to GM Mode and (shockingly) the decreased load time required to boot up MyFaction mode. Thank you!!
5. Blue Prince: Talk about an original game! If a puzzle and an escape room had a baby, it would be "Blue Prince." It was free for Playstation+ members and I had heard some online rumblings about it being a noteworthy release, so I figured I'd try it out. The fact that I spent 56 hours on it speaks volumes to how deep I got into it. I HAD A PHYSICAL NOTEBOOK TO KEEP TRACK OF WHAT I HAD DISCOVERED. Trial and error, trial and error, and some great successes along the way. I'm too weak of an individual to try to beat the game on its intimidating harder difficulties, but I mostly enjoyed my time in that weird old mansion, and this game will probably wind up as one of my more memorable gaming experiences for years to come.

Honorable mention: "Indiana Jones and the Great Circle," which was my #5 game when Playstation Wrap-Up first kicked off but got booted from the leaderboard by "WWE 2K25" a few days later.

Games Played:

Aside from my top five games of the year, here are a few other games that I loved in 2025:

• NHL 25, NHL 26 - New year, new hockey game. The Mammoth have arrived!
• Final Fantasy VII Rebirth - I'm not brave enough to go for the platinum, but a very good game with a lot of stuff to do along the way.
• Astro Bot - The continuous addition of free DLC speed run levels was a lot of fun and occasionally very stressful.
• Backyard Baseball '97 - Not as good as it was on PC when I was a kid, but a nice shot of nostalgia nevertheless.
• Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3+4 - THPS 4 takes me way back! I had never played THPS 3, but I always love a good shred session.
• Split Fiction - More on this later, but a really innovated and exciting game.
• The Outer Worlds 2 - One of the funniest games in recent memory. It got pushed to the backburner toward the end of the year, but I look forward to hopping back in very soon!
• Anno 1800 - I can't believe it but I finally beat the story. Good heavens, this was one of the hardest games I have ever played and I don't think anything in the world could convince me to try for the platinum.
• Sunderfolk - This was a really cool local co-op game where you and some friends can use your phones as controllers. I would have played it more often if I felt more comfortable asking my married guy friends if they could come over to play video games. Those parental responsibilities will get you, man!
• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 - This game basically took over at the end of the year - not soon enough to crack my top five but there's a small chance that the time I've spent playing it in January could get it high up on my list for 2026. I bought it on sale after it won Game of the Year and a ton of other awards and loved the unique, original story. (It definitely had some outbursts of profanity that caught me off guard with my wife and kids in the room, so be aware of that, but it was a very fun late-night game for dad.) The combat system was incredibly difficult to learn and master but provided some of the most thrilling moments when I finally figured out the timing and beat some hard bosses. I'm sure I'll be writing more about this in my recap for next year, so... stay tuned for that, I guess.

Trophies Earned:

Although Playstation said I earned 751 trophies in 2025, it didn't account for an additional 18 trophies earned after December 23, so my actual total for the year would have actually been 769. That's the fewest trophies that I've earned in a year since I started keeping track of my stats back in 2020, but paternity leave with three kids is way different than paternity leave with one kid - especially since the older two boys are smart enough to vote me off of the big TV from time to time.

Here's a list of all of the games for which I either got the platinum trophy or reached 100% completion in 2025:

1. Sonic Frontiers - January 4
2. Epic Mickey Rebrushed - January 14
3. WWE 2K24 - February 2
4. No Man's Sky - February 10
5. Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions - February 17
6. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2 - March 9
7. Star Wars Outlaws - March 27
8. Hello Neighbor 2 - April 30
9. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle - June 17
10. LEGO Movie: The Videogame - July 2
11. MLB 14 The Show - July 13
12. Disco Elysium - August 1
13. Split Fiction - August 16
14. Assassin's Creed Mirage - August 20
15. NCAA Football 11 - August 25
16. Stick It To the Man, 100% - November 5
17. Endling: Extinction is Forever - November 6
18. Assassin's Creed Shadows - November 7

Thoughts on that list:

• I played "Sonic Frontiers" mainly because my oldest son accidentally earned a trophy on my profile and I therefore felt the need to finish the game for the sake of my completion percentage. Same thing with the "LEGO Movie" game. Probably wouldn't have played either of those if it weren't for my son "helping me out." Whoops!
• I had played "Epic Mickey 2" but never the original, so I was happy when they remastered it; that was a fun game.
• "No Man's Sky" certainly deserves some credit for how much better the game has become over the years - it's basically a totally different game than what it was when it was first released about 10 years ago.
• Getting the platinum trophy for "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2" was incredibly tedious. I love that game, but I did not love that trophy list. Sheesh.
• "Hello Neighbor 2" and "Endling: Extinction is Forever" were two games that, if I'm being honest, I only played because I Googled how long it would take to get the platinum trophies and I wanted to boost my stats.
• Speaking of boosting my stats, I spent a decent amount of time cleaning up games on my old Playstation 3. I got the platinum trophies for "MLB 14 The Show" and "NCAA Football 11" but also cleaned up the original "Skyrim" (even though I made it further on the PS4 version of the game) and a "Call of Duty" game that I had never actually played. NCAA and CoD were played on my profile by two of my brothers way back when I was in college and the completion level was not good. They're looking much better now.
• "Stick it to the Man" was a free PS4 game for Playstation+ members years and years ago. I played it but didn't complete it, and I finally got around to just knocking it out so I never have to think about it again.
• "Indiana Jones" was a lot of fun. I'm a product of the '80s and love Indy, so I loved the game. I had a couple of gripes about it - one of the areas was very dark and difficult to navigate, and the collectibles were such a pain. Holy cow, I think I was missing a collectible that took me about an hour and a half to find. Horrendous. Other than that, though, really enjoyable.
• I had heard great things about "Disco Elysium." It was a very interesting game that took me a while to complete. I don't believe that I would recommend it to most of my family, friends and associates.
• I got the platinum trophy for "Split Fiction" after playing the entire game with my oldest son, who is five years old. I do not believe that the game was intended for such young players. I was so proud of him. It was extremely frustrating at times and probably took two or three times longer to beat than it would have if I had played with, say, my wife (with whom I had originally planned on playing), but the fact that I beat it with a child was a fantastic accomplishment.
• "Assassin's Creed Mirage" was great. In fact, it's probably one of my top three or four AC games of all time. I enjoyed the series reverting back to the old stealth system, the simplified controls, and the much, much, much smaller map. It only took me about 35 hours to beat, including the free DLC update that came out toward the end of the year, and I'd recommend any AC fans who were on the fence about "Mirage" to give it a chance.

In the past, Playstation has given us a monthly breakdown of top games, hours logged and play sessions, but they didn't do that again this year. Instead, they gave us some trophy milestones to sort of journal our stats throughout the year. Here's what they had for me:

...except this wasn't my latest trophy - just proof that Playstation gave up on me after December 23, frowny face emoji.

Yearly Comparison:

• 2025
• Hours played: 961+
• Top games: Assassin's Creed Shadows, Star Wars Outlaws, Disney Dreamlight Valley, WWE 2K25, Blue Prince
• Trophies earned: 769
• Platinum trophies: 16
• 2024
• Hours played: 1,091
• Top games: Baldur's Gate III, Disney Dreamlight Valley, Assassin's Creed Valhalla, WWE 2K24, Star Wars Battlefront II
• Trophies earned: 845
• Platinum trophies: 15
• 2023
• Hours played: 1,212
• Top games: Disney Dreamlight Valley, Hogwarts Legacy, Marvel's Midnight Suns, NBA 2K23, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
• Trophies earned: 911
• Platinum trophies: 20
• 2022
• Hours played: 1,308
• Top games: WWE 2K22, Disney Dreamlight Valley, Gotham Knights, Ghost of Tsushima, Stardew Valley
• Trophies earned: 968
• Platinum trophies: 18
• 2021
• Hours played: 1,203
• Top games: MLB The Show 21, NBA 2K21, Marvel's Avengers, Watch Dogs Legion, Final Fantasy VII Remake
• Trophies earned: 1,091
• Platinum trophies: 14
• 2020
• Hours played: 2,419 (holy crap, COVID!)
• Top games: MLB The Show 20, Kingdom Hearts 1.5+2.5 Remix, NBA 2K20
• Trophies earned: 1,410
• Platinum trophies: 15

Final Thoughts:

So, in the end, the combination of having growing kids and playing really long games resulted in a year with fewer hours and trophies, but that's ok. Games like "Assassin's Creed Shadows," "Clair Obscur: Expedition 33," "Disco Elysium," "Anno 1800," hockey games and even "The Outer Worlds 2" all have stretches where trophies are few and far between, not to mention the 68 hours I put into earning no trophies on "Dreamlight Valley." But I had a great time playing and, perhaps, even a few less regrets about the games I've played than in past years, so that's a win, ultimately. I'll be back next year, probably even bigger and better, so I look forward to the exciting games, stories and platinum trophies that lie just beyond the horizon.

Mainly, I'm just disappointed in Playstation for not continuing to update my stats through the end of the year like they have in the past. Come on, guys. That was just lazy. Do you not really love me, after all we've been through??

Anyway, feel free to let me know what your top games were by leaving a comment below, following us on Twitter (here and here) or finding me on Facebook or some other method of communication.

Until next time!

A-Town's Bookshelf: The Year in Books, 2025

Greetings, greetings! The new year brings another handful of Year in Review posts, and the first of those much-anticipated posts is this one: A-Town's Bookshelf! Join me as I recap all of the books I read and listened to over the past year. Of course, as I've stated in the past, I understand that my total number of books will sound absurd to some of you and like a little drop in the bucket to others, but I've spent a lot of time with literature over the past 12 months and, taking advantage of paternity leave, have been able to put together a decent list of (mostly) good stuff.

I'd also like to take a moment to thank Audible and Libby, which, to date, have saved me (*checks notes*) an approximate amount of just under $2,900 on Audiobooks over the past three years. (That's about $900 higher than the total I mentioned in last year's post, which is crazy. Just insane.) I also couldn't have done this post without the services of Goodreads.com and the Fable mobile app, which I started using this year. Goodreads has been my go-to service for tracking my reading since 2023, and Fable was a fun new tool that encouraged me to read every day for 232 days and counting.

In 2025, I enjoyed lots of sci-fi (tons of Star Wars), ventured into some fantasy and (LitRPGs, as nerdy as that has been), listened to a handful of celebrity memoirs, bounced back to some murder mysteries and thrillers, and finished off the Harry Potter audiobooks with my wife (who had never read or listened beyond Prisoner of Azkaban before, so that was fun).

Thirteen books received a perfect five-star rating from me, and only one received a one-star review. There were maybe three or four books that I started but gave up on; those books will not be mentioned here.

With no further ado, let's jump in and break it all down!

Thanks for reading.

Books Read

Here is a list of all of the books I completed in 2025, along with my star rating:

1. Kill the Beast (Villains #11) by Serena Valentino, 3/5 stars
2. The Guest List by Lucy Foley, 2/5 stars
3. Along Came a Spider (Alex Cross #1) by James Patterson, 4/5 stars
4. The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss, 2/5 stars
5. Kiss the Girls (Alex Cross #2) by James Patterson, 3/5 stars
6. Temptation of the Force (Star Wars: The High Republic #8) by Tessa Gratton, 2/5 stars (physical copy)
7. Dungeon Crawler Carl (Dungeon Crawler Carl #1) by Matt Dinniman, 3/5 stars
8. Get Out of Your Head: Stopping the Spiral of Toxic Thoughts by Jennie Allen, 3/5 stars
9. NPCs (Spells, Swords, & Stealth #1) by Drew Hayes, 3/5 stars
10. Split the Party (Spells, Swords, & Stealth #2) by Drew Hayes, 3/5 stars
11. Going Rogue (Spells, Swords, & Stealth #3) by Drew Hayes, 4/5 stars
12. Siege Tactics (Spells, Swords, & Stealth #4) by Drew Hayes, 2/5 stars
13. Sunrise on the Reaping (The Hunger Games #5) by Suzanne Collins, 5/5 stars
14. Anxious People by Fredrik Backman, 4/5 stars
15. 61 Hours (Jack Reacher #14) by Lee Child, 5/5 stars (physical copy)
16. Noble Roots (Spells, Swords, & Stealth #5) by Drew Hayes, 3/5 stars
17. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter #4) by J.K. Rowling, 5/5 stars
18. That's Not Right by Scott Meyer, 3/5 stars
19. Mistborn: The Final Empire (Mistborn #1) by Brandon Sanderson, 3/5 stars
20. The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill, 3/5 stars
21. Star Wars: Aftermath by Chuck Wendig, 3/5 stars
22. Titanborn (Children of Titan #1) by Rhett C. Bruno, 4/5 stars
23. QB: My Life Behind the Spiral by Steve Young, 5/5 stars
24. A Very Punchable Face by Colin Jost, 4/5 stars
25. An Unexpected Hero by Rhett C. Bruno, 3/5 stars
26. The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides, 4/5 stars
27. Killing Jesus: A History by Bill O'Reilly, 5/5 stars
28. The Bourne Identity (Jason Bourne #1) by Robert Ludlum, 1/5 stars
29. Colony One Mars (Colony Mars #1) by Gerald M. Kilby, 4/5 stars
30. Star Wars: The Mask of Fear by Alexander Freed, 4/5 stars
31. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter #5) by J.K. Rowling, 4/5 stars
32. As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride by Cary Elwes, 5/5 stars
33. Colony Two Mars (Colony Mars #2) by Gerald M. Kilby, 3/5 stars
34. Becky Lynch: The Man - Not Your Average Average Girl by Rebecca Quin, 3/5 stars
35. Colony Three Mars (Colony Mars #3) by Gerald M. Kilby, 2/5 stars
36. American Brutus: John Wilkes Booth and the Lincoln Conspiracies by Michael W. Kauffman, 5/5 stars
37. My Next Breath by Jeremy Renner, 5/5 stars
38. Big Dumb Eyes: Stories from a Simpler Mind by Nate Bargatze, 4/5 stars
39. The Secret of Secrets (Robert Langdon #6) by Dan Brown, 4/5 stars
40. BioShock: Rapture by John Shirley, 5/5 stars
41. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter #6) by J.K. Rowling, 5/5 stars
42. Future Boy: Back to the Future and My Journey Through the Space-Time Continuum by Michael J. Fox, 4/5 stars
43. The Running Man by Richard Bachman (Stephen King), 3/5 stars
44. Trials of the Jedi (Star Wars: The High Republic #9) by Charles Soule, 5/5 stars (physical copy)
45. Romney: A Reckoning by McKay Coppins, 4/5 stars
46. Star Wars: A Crash of Fate by Zoraida Cordova, 2/5 stars
47. Read Your Mind: Proven Habits for Success from the World's Greatest Mentalist by Oz Pearlman, 3/5 stars
48. Star Wars: Master of Evil by Adam Christopher, 3/5 stars
49. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter #7) by J.K. Rowling, 5/5 stars
50. The Ghostwriter by Julie Clark, 5/5 stars
51. CivCEO (The Accidental Champion #1) by Andrew Karevik, 4/5 stars
52. CivCEO 2 (The Accidental Champion #2) by Andrew Karevik, 3/5 stars
53. CivCEO 3 (The Accidental Champion #3) by Andrew Karevik, 2/5 stars
54. CivCEO 4 (The Accidental Champion #4) by Andrew Karevik, 3/5 stars
55. CivCEO 5 (The Accidental Champion #5) by Andrew Karevik, 3/5 stars
56. CivCEO 6 (The Accidental Champion #6) by Andrew Karevik, 4/5 stars
57. Skipping Christmas by John Grisham, 4/5 stars

Other Stats

The A-Town Awards

Best Book of the Year: Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins

Honorable Mention: My Next Breath by Jeremy Renner; Killing Jesus: A History by Bill O'Reilly

Worst Book of the Year: The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum

Honorable Mention: The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss

Best Audiobook Narration: Jim Dale (Harry Potter series)

Honorable Mention: Colin Jost (A Very Punchable Face); Cary Elwes (As You Wish...)

Yearly Comparison

2025: 57 books read, 3.6 average rating

2024: 68 books read, 3.4 average rating

2023: 48 books read

*****

And there we have it: another year of reading and listening! I'd love to hear what you enjoyed last year; I'm always open to recommendations! Did you read anything on my list? Do you agree with my ratings? Leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter (here and here), or feel free to reach out on Facebook.

Until next time!

Wynmore Wendall: Superstitious Sailor

Wynmore Wendall washed up on the shores of Cryndoria with nothing but splinters in his hands and a shipwreck behind his eyes. The storm that destroyed his vessel was no ordinary squall—it screamed, twisted, and seemed almost alive, as though the sea itself had decided he did not belong upon it. He was the lone survivor, dragged ashore half-dead and changed in ways he still doesn’t fully understand. Once a sailor who trusted wind, tide, and routine, Wynmore emerged from the wreck deeply superstitious, forever uneasy. Even now, years later, he mutters charms, avoids certain roads on unlucky days, and believes the world is constantly sending him signs—warnings, omens, or calls he doesn’t yet know how to answer.

With no ship to return to and no desire to look back, Wynmore began moving inland, away from the coast and the memory of the sea. He traveled slowly across Cryndoria, attaching himself to merchant convoys and wandering caravans, earning his keep by hauling crates, guarding wagons, and throwing his weight around when trouble arose. Though Cryndoria was still recovering from a brutal civil war that had ended fifteen years earlier, Wynmore felt no attachment to its history or politics. Whenever the subject arose, his response was always the same: a shrug and a flat, “I’m not from here.” Eventually, his wandering carried him to Oakbarrow—a fertile, agricultural town sustained by farms and fields rather than trade routes or ports. Travelers passed through often enough, but Oakbarrow was quiet, grounded, and far enough from the coast that Wynmore finally felt safe enough to stop moving.

Life in Oakbarrow settled into a routine that both sustains and suffocates him. Wynmore earns his living hauling goods to and from the local tavern, lifting sacks of grain and barrels of ale with the ease of someone who has never let his body go soft. By night, he supplements his income in Oakbarrow’s underground fighting circuit, where his size, stamina, and sailor-honed toughness have earned him a respectable win–loss record. Still, whenever a fight doesn’t go his way, Wynmore is quick to complain—about rigged matches, bad luck, cursed opponents, or unseen forces working against him. His whining has become part of his reputation, and the locals—especially the town’s children—have taken to calling after him with the mocking chant, “Win more!” a nickname he pretends not to mind but never truly shakes.

Despite his small, solitary life, Wynmore is convinced he is meant for something greater. He lingers in the tavern long after his shifts end, listening closely whenever travelers share rumors of monsters, lost relics, ancient ruins, or distant wars. Every whispered story feels like destiny tapping him on the shoulder—yet he never quite acts on it. Fear, doubt, and superstition keep him rooted in Oakbarrow, trapped between the comfort of familiarity and the promise of legend. Wynmore Wendall is a man standing at the edge of his own story, waiting for the world—or fate—to shove him forward.

And when that moment comes, one thing is certain: Wynmore Wendall will venture forth...

A-Town D&D Landing Page

The Bitter Pill 6: John Cena Gives Up

For more than two decades, WWE superstar John Cena lived by a pair of three-word mottos: “Hustle, loyalty, respect” and “Never give up.” Across nearly 25 years, he granted hundreds of Make-a-Wish requests, served as the undisputed face of WWE, and crafted a heroic legacy that spanned multiple generations of fans.

In July 2024, Cena announced that he would retire at the end of 2025, breaking the hearts of millions of wrestling fans. Yet the announcement also sparked immediate intrigue. Who would Cena face on his way out? Old rivals? Dream matches? A final spotlight on rising talent?

Few could have predicted what followed.

Cena’s 18-match retirement tour featured several notable moments: a second-place finish in the Royal Rumble, a victory inside the Elimination Chamber, and the most shocking development of all: his long-awaited heel turn. After years of fan speculation, Cena finally embraced the dark side, aligning himself with The Rock and Travis Scott, stunning the wrestling world by delivering a low blow to Cody Rhodes at the conclusion of Elimination Chamber.

For years, fans begged to see the company’s white knight bend the rules but Cena always resisted, determined to preserve his family-friendly image. When it finally happened, it felt historic - although the storyline ultimately lacked follow-through once Dwayne and Travis unexpectedly vanished from television.

Still, the heel turn opened the door for fresh matchups for a few months. Cena squared off against top babyfaces including Cody Rhodes, CM Punk, Sami Zayn, and longtime admirer R-Truth. Along the way, he broke Ric Flair’s long-standing world championship record, capturing a historic seventeenth title. But without meaningful direction, Cena’s villain run always felt temporary and quickly ran out of steam, not to mention that fans continued to cheer him despite his dastardly deeds. Entertaining as it was, it seemed inevitable that he would finish his career the way he started it - as a hero.

Eventually, he did pivot back to his old, righteous character. After a brief, almost abrupt redemption, the WWE Universe welcomed him back with open arms. Cena closed out his tour with strong performances with and against familiar foes like AJ Styles, Sheamus, and Rey Mysterio. He even defeated Dominik Mysterio to capture the Intercontinental Championship - the only major title that had eluded him - officially making Cena a Grand Slam Champion in the twilight of his career.

His final opponent was decided via a 16-man “Last Time Is Now” tournament featuring WWE and NXT talent, along surprise appearances from ex-WWE stars Zack Ryder and Dolph Ziggler. From early on, rumors pointed toward Gunther as the scripted winner. Gunther, who returned from an injury that kept him out of action for several months, had already established himself as a multi-time champion and recently retired Goldberg in the summer of 2025, and a probably “career ender” reputation wouldn’t be an unrealistic angle.

For some fans – myself included - that outcome felt potentially underwhelming. Cena’s final match seemed better suited for a long-standing rival like Randy Orton or The Miz, or even an impossible dream opponent like Edge, who is currently contracted by WWE’s main rival, AEW. But the rumors proved true. Gunther won the tournament and earned the right to face John Cena in his retirement match at Saturday Night’s Main Event in Washington, D.C.

The match itself was fine. It wasn’t a highlight-reel classic like Cena’s bout with AJ Styles, nor was it a one-sided demolition like his loss to Brock Lesnar. As the tour progressed, Cena showed signs of slowing down - precisely the reason he chose to retire while still capable. He wasn’t bad; he was simply no longer prime Cena. Against a methodical opponent like Gunther, that worked. The slower pace fit the moment.

The crowd was firmly in Cena’s corner, louder and more unified than perhaps any audience of Cena’s storied career. There seemed to be a genuine belief that he could pull off one last victory.

Industry tradition suggests otherwise. Retirement matches are often about passing the torch, and legends typically go out on their backs, looking up at the lights. Ric Flair did it. Kurt Angle did it. Batista did it. The Undertaker did it. Goldberg lost consciousness in his last match with Gunther. That’s just how wrestling works.

But John Cena felt different. It felt like maybe - just maybe - WWE would let us see Cena’s hand raised one last time.

In the episode or two preceding Saturday Night’s Main Event, Gunther promised he would make Cena go against everything he preached; he promised to make Cena give up.

That idea alone felt wrong. The man whose entire career was built on “Never Give Up” was not going to tap out. Not in his final match.

Throughout the bout, Cena delivered his signature offense - the Five Knuckle Shuffle, the “five moves of doom,” and multiple Attitude Adjustments, including one through the announce table and another from the middle ropes. Gunther kicked out every time. He fought back relentlessly, chopping Cena down and repeatedly locking in the sleeper hold - the same move that ended Goldberg’s career.

Surely they weren’t going to make John Cena submit.

…Right?

As the match wore on, Cena struggled to stay upright, narrowly escaping defeat multiple times. The crowd roared, chanting “Don’t give up!” and unleashing venom toward Gunther, urging their hero onward.

But time and time again, Gunther cinched in that sleeper hold, and Cena started to fade. Finally, in a moment that will be talked about and debated for years to come, John Cena smiled.

And then, softly, he tapped out.

John Cena gave up.

This just felt wrong. Cena didn’t look overpowered. He didn’t look completely out of gas. He just looked tired - disappointed, even. Sad. The moment felt symbolic, as if Cena were quietly acknowledging, “My time is over. The job is done.”

This week on his social media accounts, Cena posted a captionless image of Obi-Wan Kenobi smiling just before being struck down by Darth Vader. The comparison spoke for itself.

The crowd, meanwhile, was stunned into near silence as Gunther’s hand was raised. A smattering of applause followed - more out of appreciation for Cena than appreciation of the moment itself - but it hardly resembled the sendoff WWE likely envisioned. Wrestlers soon filed to the ring, led by WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque, who was met with loud boos and profanity-laced chants. The tonal shift was jarring: from Cena’s shocking defeat to Triple H laughing and grinning as he gestured toward the video board, where a triumphant highlight package of Cena’s career began to play.

Fans could do nothing but watch in disbelief as the curtain fell on an unrivaled career during a moment that should have felt triumphant but simply didn’t.

Yahoo! Sports journalist Ariel Helwani addressed Cena’s retirement on his podcast, The Ariel Helwani Show, pushing back against the familiar argument that this was “what wrestling tradition demands”:

“People will say, ‘This is what John wanted - he wanted to give back to the business.’ And to that I say that’s nonsense. That ideology belongs to wrestling in the ’70s and ’80s, not the era we’re living in now. Who wanted to see John Cena lose again and again in his final months? And not only does he lose his retirement match, but the guy who told us for over 20 years to never give up loses by submission. The match never should have been Cena vs. Gunther, and it sure as [expletive] never should have ended with Cena tapping out.”

Helwani also suggested that WWE may as well have told its audience, “You want this? Well, here’s the exact opposite.” During the match, fans loudly chanted “Super Cena,” a nickname once used mockingly by detractors who resented his seemingly invincible booking. On this night, however, the chant carried nostalgia and affection. The fans were trying to will him to victory. And what they received in return was a version of John Cena who abandoned the very mantra that defined his career, tapping out and exiting with a whimper.

Bleacher Report echoed that frustration, criticizing Cena’s retirement run as a whole and calling it a program that “largely missed the mark,” citing inconsistent storytelling, the failed heel turn, and a lack of meaningful payoff. What should have been a legacy-defining farewell instead became a wave of nostalgia filled with squandered opportunities.

The larger problem for WWE is that moments like this tend to linger with its audience. Last weekend, fans in Washington were taunting Gunther for having tapped out to Jey Uso at WrestleMania last April; there is little chance they’ll forget that he ended John Cena’s career via one of the most pathetic-looking tap-outs of all time.

WWE may be comfortable doubling down on the idea that this was “best for business,” and to Gunther’s credit, his character thrives in hostility. But Cena’s farewell wasn’t supposed to be about solidifying Gunther as a star. It was supposed to be about John Cena.

At a time when WWE is steadily pricing fans out of live events and television programming, the company had a chance to give its audience something simple and rare: a joyful goodbye. A victory lap. A final image worthy of the man who carried the brand for a generation.

The fans deserved better. John Cena deserved better. Instead, WWE chose an ending that undercut the very values its biggest star spent decades promoting.

I know it’s all part of the show - but for once, wouldn’t a happy ending have been enough?

Hustle, loyalty, respect. Never give up… unless it’s the final match of your career and the script says otherwise.

*****

The Bitter Pill is an ongoing series containing my thoughts on moments that make me wonder why I even watch sports (even the pre-determined ones) in the first place. For a nice jog down Pain Boulevard, read the other posts here. You can also try to find me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter (here and here), and explain why it's still real to you, dang it, in the comments section below.

Until next time.

A-Town Playlist: Top Spotify Songs of 2025 and Songs for Corey

'Tis the season for Spotify Wrapped! And A-Town is back with his yearly listening recap, showcasing his musical taste and the extent to which his children influenced the results! Special this year is the inclusion of a playlist created for the newest addition of the A-Town clan - Corey, who was born in September, so we'll have that playlist loaded up later on. Let's hand the keys over to A-Town himself, dive in and see how it went.

Spotify Wrapped - Top 10 Songs

1. 
   "All My Love" - Coldplay
2. "Carry You Home" - Alex Warren
3. "HandClap" - Fitz and the Tantrums
4. "Hope" - We Shot the Moon
5. "Who Needs Sleep?" - Barenaked Ladies
6. "A Little Bit of Love" - Weezer
7. "Foolish Father" - Weezer
8. "Safe and Sound" - Capital Cities
9. "This Too Shall Last" - Anderson East
10. "Blackbird" - The Beatles

Over the past couple of years, since becoming a parent, I've come to wish that Spotify would give us, like, two vetoes for our top songs as a way of correcting the meddling of our children. Give us two. Anything beyond that is our fault.

If I could veto two of my songs, I'd kick out "HandClap" and "Blackbird," which are both good songs, but definitely not in the top 10 because of me. My two oldest boys are obsessed with "HandClap" and have even figured out how to get it to play on our Google Nest Hub - somewhat to my chagrin - but they sure are cute when they dance to it. "Blackbird" is a prominent song in the movie "Boss Baby," which they like, so I blame Theodore Leslie Templeton, Jr. for that one. "Who Needs Sleep?" is another one that was played on repeat in the car many, many times, at the request of my kids, but it's a fun song that I hadn't listened to in years, so I'd let that one slide.

If I bumped those two songs out and slid two songs up, the new additions would have been "Turn the Lights Back On," a song by Billy Joel that I had no idea existed but really ended up loving, and "Change Your Mind" by Sister Hazel, which is a great one, too. The honorable mention will live on for eternity.

Analysis: I was hoping "All My Love" would be the top song. Until earlier this year, I was unaware that Coldplay made good songs after "Viva La Vida," but as soon as I heard this one, I knew I wanted it as the first song on the baby playlist. It was definitely my favorite song of the year, and I went to some lengths to ensure that it wound up on top. "Carry You Home" and "Hope" were also on the baby playlist early on, so they got a lot of run through the summer and early fall. I don't know why I kept going back to the Weezer album "Everything Will Be Alright in the End" this year, but "Foolish Father" is a hidden gem, for sure. "This Too Shall Last" was a song that I discovered while trying to get creative for Corey, and I'd be interested in listening to more of Anderson East (who I had never previously heard of) to see if he has anything else that I like. Overall, not a bad top 10 list for the year. I'll take it.

Minutes Listened

I tried to be more intentional about my music listening this year. Since I was sent home for COVID, I've never reached even close to the number of minutes listened that I was doing back in the office, due to a lot of things, from constant access to the TV, my newfound addiction to audiobooks and several other factors.

However, this year, I bounced back in a big way, hitting my highest total since before the pandemic! Look at me go!

• 2025: 12,635
• 2024: 8,251
• 2023: 7,205
• 2022: 9,000+
• 2021: 6,918
• 2020: ?
• 2019: 30,613
• 2018: ?

Analysis: This year, I thought it might be cool to listen to bands' entire discographies, from start to finish. I figured that could be a way to force the Spotify algorithm to understand which artists I actually like and possibly even broaden the number of songs Spotify would feed me when I opened the app, as opposed to just repeating my 15 most recent tracks over and over. (I don't think that second part worked; I love the AI "DJ" feature but he was always just feeding me the same dozen songs, as if they were the only ones I'd ever need.)

One of the firsts bands I tried this experiment with was Chicago - one of my all-time favorites - but I'll be honest: I couldn't do it. First of all, they have so many albums. It would have taken me all year, probably. And secondly, a bunch of their albums are live recordings and the amount of screechy freestyle guitar solos that were assaulting my eardrums was truly surprising. Less overwhelming, however, were the following artists, whose discographies (excluding some "greatest hits" releases, the songs of which I had already heard) I listened to in their entirety:

• Weezer
• The Goo Goo Dolls
• Muse
• The Killers
• Benson Boone
• Train
• Coldplay
• Fountains of Wayne
• Bob Seger
• The Strokes
• Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
• OneRepublic
• Cold War Kids

Also, doing a baby playlist surely boosted my stats this year. More on that later, of course, but it was a daily excuse to get at least a few minutes of listening in.

Spotify Being Weird

I have no idea what the heck Club Seratonin is, but 18% of Spotify listeners are right there with me. And telling me that my "Listening Age" is 76 is just straight-up insulting. Ok, I'm sorry that I listened to Elvis and The Beatles, but don't try to act like I was born in 1950, guys. Come on now.

Top Artists

Spotify says that I listened to 493 artists this year (don't know if that's actually true, but 47 less than last year, for what it's worth), and these were my top five:

1. Weezer: Not a surprise here. Weezer has been my favorite band since high school and, as the record shows, my top artist every year that I've been doing these blogs except for one. The fact that it was the 30th anniversary of the "Blue Album" only added fuel to the fire. Long live Weezer.
2. 
   Coldplay: It was the summer of Coldplay, was it not? The memes were hysterical and the Coldplay Kiss Cam became one of the funniest things of the entire year. Heck, even I was caught on a Coldplay Kiss Cam while running the social media for FanX Salt Lake Comic Convention in September. I can report, as indicated earlier, that Coldplay did produce a few other hits after "Viva La Vida," despite all those pop super-hits like "Paradise," which turned me off from them for a few years.
3. Train: Let me say: Train is excellent live. I've seen them twice and they put on a great show. I mentioned that I skipped a lot of "greatest hits" albums, but I did listen to Train's because their best stuff is really, really good, and they have a lot of fun with their audiences. Would recommend.
4. Muse: Maybe Muse just had a really long discography or something because I'm a bit surprised that they landed at #4 this year. Their music takes me back to my college days, and their albums "Black Holes and Revelations" and "The Resistance" are tremendous. 
5. The Goo Goo Dolls: I don't know what the heck was going on when The Goo Goo Dolls recorded their first studio album (I almost typed "stupid album," which would have applied) because it was HORRIBLE. I actually had to pull up Spotify to make sure that I was listening to the right band. But after that, they pulled a 180 (I don't know if they swapped out some band members or something) and produced some classic stuff. "Dizzy Up the Girl" is an all-timer.

Analysis: Awesome, like it. It is interesting to note that bands 2-4 all changed from last year; only Weezer stayed on the leaderboard.

Top Albums

Listening to full albums was kind of my thing this year, but these albums stood tall:

Analysis: It's funny that Weezer's "Blue Album" made the list twice. "Weezer 30" was the special 30th anniversary edition, which I cranked at almost full blast while building a bunk bed for my boys. In fact, Spotify made a special note of that night in August, which was a fun reminder. It's also interesting to see how much of a difference listening to "All My Love" by Coldplay made, in terms of album listening time, because there's no way that I actually listened to "Moon Music" that often - probably just once, from start to finish, and then that single like 39 times (no joke, I think that's the number).

Top Genres

Here are what Spotify identified as my top genres of the year:

I had to Google "AOR." It means "album-oriented rock," and some bands associated with that genre include Journey, Foreigner, Styx, REO Speedwagon, Boston and Heart, so I guess that's pretty accurate. I learned something new today.

Analysis: Accurate. I'd probably have put oldies above pop, but I guess that all comes down to how those genres are being defined, which I'm not privy to.

Other Fun and Notable Songs in This Year's Top 100

Shoutouts to some great stuff that didn't make the top 10:

• "Da Vinci" - Weezer (#13; another song that contributed to "Everything Will Be Alright in the End" being my top album of the year)
• "The Lotto" - Ingrid Michaelson (#15; a cute song from the baby playlist - honestly surprised this one didn't crack the top 10)
• "Beautiful Things" - Benson Boone (#19; it was a big summer for Brother Boone, and I went out of my way to educate myself)
• "Someone to You" - BANNERS (#27; I remember snuggling my oldest son, who was there for almost every song of the baby playlist, to this song - I think he might have even asked me to play it twice)
• "St. Elmo's Fire" - John Parr (#28; this one is becoming a standard on my Spotify Wrapped)
• "Carried Me With You" - Brandi Carlile (#29; from the "Onward" soundtrack - a song that will always remind me of my kids)
• "Doctor Worm" - They Might Be Giants (#30; right up there with "Who Needs Sleep?" in terms of songs that my boys unexpectedly loved)
• "MMMBop" - Hanson (#36; I'm honestly sad and surprised that this song wasn't higher - it was the butt of many jokes in the 90s, but we can't deny its lasting power)
• "Peace Train" - Cat Stevens (#49; my oldest loved this one, along with the animation of a "flat man" with a bird that appeared on the Spotify app while it was playing)
• "I Will Wait" - Mumford & Sons (#59; one of the most interesting time signatures of any song out there)
• "Time is Running Out" - Muse (#60; a dark horse contender for Muse's best song? - is that aggressive?)
• "...Baby One More Time" - Tenacious D (#68; the cover song we never knew we needed)
• "Classical Gas" - Mason Williams (#74; "I need two men!" - IYKYK... and when my wife asked why it was called "Classical Gas," I had no idea what to tell her)
• "Right Here Right Now" - Jesus Jones (#85; a blast from the past)
• "Invisible Touch" - Genesis (#90; featuring one of the greatest key changes of all time)
• "Pokémon Theme" - Pokémon (#100; heck yeah - raising my kids right!)

Bonus Tracks

There are always a few songs that are conspicuous by their absence. In the past, I've condensed my top 100 songs into a 50-song playlist and added a couple bonus tracks. There were two songs this year that I was surprised to not see in the full Spotify playlist:

• "Welcome to Paradise" - Plain White T's (a cute song that I found for the baby playlist)
• "The Final Countdown" - Europe (a song we played to hype up our oldest son on the way to his soccer games)

Condensed Playlist

Speaking of that condensed playlist, here are 52 of my favorite songs from the year (including those two bonus tracks), embedded for your consumption and enjoyment:

Songs for Corey

We welcomed another baby into the world this September and, as I did for my other two boys, I threw together a playlist for him while he was still in the womb. Some parents read or talk to the baby, I communicate through Spotify, I guess. Now, when I did this for the first kid, I didn't know this was going to become a tradition, nor did I realize how hard it would be to continue doing what I've been doing. The concept is this: I play one song each night for 75 nights, leading up to the birth of the baby, all of the songs must contain kid-friendly lyrics (i.e., no inappropriate references to romance, no mention of alcohol or drugs - stuff I could listen to with the child without blushing), with no duplicate artists in a single playlist and no repeated songs across any of the playlists. This is to say that I can't play "Better Together" by Jack Johnson twice on the same playlist, but I can play different songs by Jack Johnson for each child. There are only so many songs by some of these artists that you can play for babies! It got tough! So I had to get creative.

Here are some fun facts that I dug up upon completion of Corey's playlist:

• The three playlists I've made for my boys contain 225 different songs from 156 different artists. No artists are repeated on a single playlist, and no songs are duplicated across any of the three playlists.
• Nineteen (12%) of the artists are featured on all three playlists (Barenaked Ladies; Billy Joel; Bob Seger; Chicago; Coldplay; Creedence Clearwater Revival; Earth, Wind & Fire; Elton John; Elvis Presley; Goo Goo Dolls; John Mayer; Journey; Juanes; Kenny Loggins; The Killers; Queen; Three Dog Night; U2; Weezer)
• Forty-two artists on Corey's playlist (56%) had not been featured on either of the other playlists.
• Ten artists that were featured on both of the previous playlists were not on the third playlist.
• At 4 hours 45 minutes, this playlist was the shortest (Griffin: 5 hours 13 minutes, Stockton: 4 hours 56 minutes)

Here is the full playlist, for those who are curious about which songs I added this time around. I found some really great songs - both by artists that I already knew and many that I had never listened to before. The songs on this playlist greatly altered my top 100 songs of the year and, thankfully, broke up what I'm sure has kind of been a monotonous streak of Spotify Wrapped playlists since I kind of get into a rut sometimes because I continue to listen to the same music I liked when I was in high school and college. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this and can find a few new songs of your own!

*****

And that will bring us to the end of another glorious recap blog. I love keeping track of these statistics, and I'm super grateful for companies and websites that make my weird hobbies easier to compile. If you've made it this far, bless your little heart! You might as well take a second to let me know what you spent your time listening to in 2025. Leave me a comment down below, follow me on Twitter (here and here), or hit me up on Facebook. I'd love to hear from you.

As always, keep it dialed here at Signs of the Times for all of the upcoming Year in Review blogs! We just got our Playstation stats the other day, but those will continue to update over the next few weeks, and we'll have recaps for Nintendo and audiobooks on the way here shortly, as well.

Until next time.