Best Wrestler of the Year

Who is the Best Wrestler of the Year in 2011?

  • Cody Rhodes

  • CM Punk

  • R-Truth

  • John Cena

  • James Storm

  • Dolph Ziggler

  • Randy Orton

  • Mark Henry

  • Bobby Roode

  • Christian


Results are only viewable after voting.
Young Randall for me. Whether it be dismantling Punk and his new Nexus, his quality feud with Christian, making big Mark look like a through behemoth champion or bringing up the profiles of Cody and Wade - Orton really has been the MVP for the WWe this year.

(As a side note; should the Bruce Prichard regime continue in it's initial vein, I can see guys like James Storm and Bobby Roode making strong claims for this award next year as I feel that Roode's work in the build up to and in the period since BFG is the best there has been out there over time span.)
 
Voted for the man himself CM Punk based on the sole fact that he was the catalyst for the best angle of the year, was one half of the participants of the match of the year, and went from upper card heel to one of the biggest face stars of the company within like a month and a half span. This year was the Year of Punk wether we knew it from the beginning of the year or not.
 
Orton had a great year. Cena is always a great choice. But this was the year of CM Punk.

CM Punk defied all the odds by becoming one of the WWE's top 3 guys this Summer after starting off the year as the upper-midcard heel that had the privilege of jobbing to the WWE's top guys. Furthermore, he had the best match of the year with John Cena, had some of the best feuds of the year, and perhaps changed the landscape of the WWE.

Some might say (ahem, Slyfox) that he had the unfair advantage of being allowed to break the rules. Cena, Orton, Miz... they all got over under the same strict code dictated by Vince McMahon. Punk was allowed to work outside those rules, and that was a clear advantage for him.

No disagreement there, but Punk also walked in with a disadvantage. Cena, Orton, Miz... all of these guys had the benefit of being members of the Vince McMahon club. They were all Vince's guys, and they were going to be pushed no matter what. How many times did Orton fail before he caught on? How many times has Cena been booed out of a building? How many times has Miz just been completely unimpressive? These guys were going to get pushed until we accepted them and their talents, and all three of those men are tremendously talented.

So is CM Punk, but Vince McMahon was happy to keep using that talent to put over Randy Orton. So Punk, in a last ditch effort, decided to go all out. I'm sure he had the blessing of McMahon and a few other key figures, but in the end it was Punk that put Punk over. The kid that got his start wrestling for years and years on the Indy circuit finally got his due. He finally got to let his true colors shine through, and the WWE fans loved every last bit of it.

And the rest, as they say, is history. CM Punk won the WWE Title without a contract. CM Punk's t-shirt became the highest selling item in the WWEshop. CM Punk won the belt not once, but twice this year. CM Punk went from afterthought to main event, and he's been proving he's worth it every step of the way.
 
We've had John Morrison and his multi-materialed trousers. We've had Daniel Bryan getting pushed one week and disappearing the next. We've had Zack Ryder fist pumping his way through the glass ceiling. John Cena's been as reliable, and as reliably despised, as ever. Mark Henry's surprised everyone. Cody Rhodes has put on a mask. Rey Mysterio's carried on wearing a mask. Christian has made me cry. CM Punk has made me cheer. But there can only be one.

And the Sammy goes to...

Randy Orton

Oh my God! Randall Keith Orton out of nowhere!

At the start of year, Randy Orton was WWE Champion. I don't know when he won the belt, or how, or who from. It's just of those things that was.

I'm sitting in Tastycles living room with Lee and we're waiting for the Royal Rumble. Phoenix wasn't there yet, because I know that's your first question out of the gate. We're agreed that none of us particularly like nor dislike The Miz. There's a silent agreement that CM Punk is the best thing since sliced bread. Randy Orton?

"Randy Orton's so boring. I know he's 'supposed' to be boring, but that still means he's boring."

We all solemnly nod. Yes, this will do. This will be our consensus on Randy Orton.

It's not like Orton's gone under any sort of caterpillar-to-butterfly metamorphosis. He's still essentially the same character, and the same wrestler, that he was last year. Yet when I think of how much I enjoyed Randy Orton in 2010 and how much I've enjoyed Randy Orton in 2011, it's like night and day. I agree - it makes no god damn sense.

Orton this year just had the Midas touch. Correction; Orton this year - after the Royal Rumble - had the Midas touch. Worth a watch every time he stepped into a ring. CM Punk, Dolph Ziggler, Christian, Cody Rhodes, Sheamus, Wade Barrett, Mark Henry (Mark Henry!). Ridiculous. Sure, I was just talking about how he made me so angry that I wanted to hit him, but that's in the past, man! Randy Orton's my boy now. Not in the house slave sense; more in the "I think he's an accomplished wrestler" sense.
 
Went with Punk. Orton probably had a slightly better year in terms of matches but no one has more impact in the WWE this year than Punk. Punk had great matches too though which also includes the best match of the year.

Second place would have to go to Orton who was consistent all year but niether of his feuds were as spectacular as the Summer of Punk story. He was easily the best in ring performer in the WWE though.

Third place would go to Cena who had an integral part to play in The Summer of Punk story and had good feuds and matches all round. He falls behind Orton because the feud with Miz was a bit on the weaker side.
 
Dolph Ziggler hands down has more OMG and Holy Shit matches than anyone else listed on the poll. That man could wrestle a paperbag full of shit and have a 5 star match, so yeah he deserves my vote.

Yeah pretty much, Dolph has blown me way this year with his ring abilities. The guy is incredibly talented and hell he's right, he's cocky but he can back his shit up.
 
I'm going for Christian. Not because I have some sort of preferrence towards him or anything (I swear, I don't) but, simply put he proved me right...

FLASHBACK!

I can remember a cool summer's day in Ayr, Scotland when me and my paps (not Sam) went down to see the our local wrestling promotions Wrestlemania. It was the week after 9/11 and my dad was being a moody bitch. He goes: ''Son, what happened last week changed the World.'' Me, being the innocent young 9 year-old sprout I was, asked why. ''Son, E&C broke up.'' ''Dad, that was two weeks ago.'' ''Yeah.'' This really has nothing to do with my picking of Christian, but it may interested you all to know that I saw Drew McIntyre at that same show. Maybe. Probably. I mean he is from Ayr. How the fuck should I know, I was 9?

FLASHFORWARD!

We're in 2005. The lights of the Smackdown arise and my buddy Lewis and I get ready for another Captain Charisma spectacular. But no, where's Christian? He's not on my screen. Why has WWE given me no explanation!? The days when I'd pull up to the TV on late friday nights were over. No more Christian, no more smirks. I had to become a normal kid.

FLASHFORWARD!

The now 16 year old Rohan logs on to wrestlezone to find out that it is heavily rumoured that Christian would be returning. All of a sudden, Jeff Hardy gets attacked. And again. And again. And again. What's this, WWE? A feud for my returning fully hair chested vanilla peep? No, the ICW ruined it. Vince's ego would not take another hit. Suck it, Christian you'll debut in ECW on a regular show greeted by Matt Striker acting like a prepubescent cunt and all the little one's thinking ''whaaaaaaaaaa?''. There would be no relevance for Christian. None at all.

FLASHFORWARD!

Tears streamed down Rohan's meek cheeks. Michelle McCool had been abolished from the WWE. Oh, and Christian won the World Heavyweight Championship like 20 minutes after. I jumped up from the puddle of tears and screamed. Mrs. Rohan and the dog woke up from their deep sleeps. They celebrated with me and the confetti fell from the skies like little droplets of beauty. My childhood hero had achieved what I always knew he probably wouldn't achieve. That was it, my day was made.

FLASHFORWARD! (This is the last time, I swear.)

Rohan chokes on his morning coffee and slips on the not yet picked up confetti and tears when reading the SmackDown spoiler finds out that Christian had the title stripped off him. My faith was shaken. I drove my car into a war and killed my dog (RIP Spot). Why, Vince, why? Randy Orton was a walking target. I had to find him. I had to hunt him. No man could do this, especially no chicken-shit-weak-ass-beard-growing wanker. I went to St. Louis but, I couldn't find him. That bastard. Think, Rohan, think. Where could a split-jumping, snake-like, ''where's my xbox!?'' chump be hiding. I had to rest. I turned on the TV to find out that Christian was again WHC. ''What is this, Juanita (the maid in my motel)? What happened?'' ''Ay, señor, vete a la mierda. Soy una mujer trabajadora. No tengo tiempo para ver la televisión. Sin embargo, tengo tiempo para llamar a mi marido para que te robe el coche, gilipollas.'' From what I could deduced of my now broken Spanish, Christian beat Orton at MiTB by spitting at him. Yes, Christian, like a true man! You did it! I returned home to my cottage in Scotland and came repeatedly at the footage of Orton vs. Christian. Phwoar.

So now, for the last time we FLASHFORWARD!

It's 22.02 on a rainy Thursday night on the 22nd of December. A pensive Rohan wonders what the many legions of WZ will think about this story. The 18 year-old believes to have convinced everyone why Christian should be the wrestler of the year. He went from being the child-hood underdog to the man-child bad-ass. Yup. Christian. Apartheid. Whatnot.
 
Yup, Punk makes a lot of sense. Much like Punk/Cena winning MOTY by a landslide, this makes perfect sense, and I'm not complaining. In fact, had there been a "most improved" category as per request, I wouldn't have to vote for R-Truth in this instance to get his name out there.

The guy went from terrible, mostly hated under-to-mid-card face...to a full blown main event heel that wrestled John Cena for the WWE title, CM PUnk and Triple H, and John Cena and the Rock in the main event of Survivor Series. He reinented his entire character and found a way to really connect with the audience. His theme still sucks, but he's become hilarious and is using his oddities to his advantage. The Little Jimmy thing stuck on way better than expected, and his persona has turned into something that could be very marketable int he future for the WWE. He's one of those guys I could see with a WWE title reign in 2012, if only for a short while. Maybe a MITB win to cash-in late in the year. Something like that...

I used to hate R-truth, now he's one of my favorites and I can't wait for him to come back from suspension.
 
It's not his fault, but CM Punk doesn't get my vote. He spent a large amount of the year being forced to drag lifeless corpses around. That's of course the New Nexus (though David Otunga is perfect in his current role as slimy stooge). It took him a good six months to rid himself of that horror show, and even then, the stink did come back a couple of times with the likes of Kevin Nash hanging around him.

I voted for Randy Orton. At no point this year was Randy Orton not involved in something interesting. That's quite hard to maintain. In January/February he was facing off with the Miz in what I feel is actually a fairly underrated programme, throughout the Road to WrestleMania and much of April, he was invested in a semi-decent feud with CM Punk that, while bogged down by the shell of a stable called Nexus, produced a trilogy of good to excellent encounters.

He moved to SmackDown in April and throughout the late Spring into the Summer, he feuded for the World Heavyweight Championship with Christian. Orton was the all conquering hero that came to SmackDown and took the gold, but was also the personal demon that haunted Christian's dreams as he became more and more desperate to vanquish "The Viper". The matches were incredible and the feud was perfect.

Orton has since spent his last few months of the year building new stars. He made Mark Henry look awesome as he bulldozed him to the World Heavyweight Championship. He made Cody Rhodes looks to be on his level as the (then) masked man got the better of his former mentor in a number of ways. And his final feud has somehow made Wade Barrett look like a potential future World Heavyweight Champion again. I'm not sure how he did it, but by Jove he did.
 
I went with the obvious choice here, but seriously, CM Punk made Wrestling "cool" again, if even for just a brief period of time this summer. He had the Promo of the Year in The Shoot Heard Round the World, he had the Match of the Year at MITB, and he has only continued to ride that momentum throughout the latter half of the year. Even though he is not as hot as he was during the summer, CM Punk is still one of the three best things going on in the WWE right now, and I don't see that changing anytime soon.
 
I'm going with Randy Orton. Think about this for a minute.

To open the year, Punk was leading the Nexus. This time for him, in short, sucked. He lost feuds to both Cena and Orton and the group fell apart. Until June when he got on a winning streak, Punk did NOTHING.

Henry: also did nothing until summer.

Cena spent the whole year chasing Rock around and having a lame feud with Del Rio.

Christian: his feud with Sheamus SUCKED. Did anyone really ever buy Christian as a serious threat against him?

Let's look at Orton. He starts the year losing title matches to Miz and then starts his program with Punk. He beats Punk twice on PPV, including in an underrated Mania match. The key to this feud though: he got rid of Nexus in about a month, totally on his own. Cena at one point had a team of six other guys and never could do it in 6 months. Orton did it alone in 1.

Then he goes to Smackdown and has the Feud of the Year with Christian. Tell me one bad match he had in that period. I'll spare you the time: they were all great.

At Night of Champions, dude got a good match out of Mark Henry. That should seal this for him already.

Hey look: another good feud, this time against Cody Rhodes.

Then he had a good feud with Barrett to end the year.

On top of all this, he high fived me at a Smackdown taping in August.

The guy had an all around great year, winning two world titles in the process. He had and won two feuds with top level talent, and the guy has zero chance of winning this award in anything major, because the year starts in June when Punk talked a lot and had two great matches instead of Orton, who had at least 3.
 
As much as I love Punk and think that he has had a great second half of the year and even a good first half (Nexus in the Rumble, feud with Orton, match with Mysterio) but in terms of sheer consistency of match quality over the year, Randy Orton is head and shoulders above everyone else.

Decent series with the Miz, good feuds with Punk, Rhodes and Barrett and the Feud of the Year with Christian. On top of that, he has proven himself a good company man by being willing to lose cleanly when necessary - his loss to Henry at NoC was vital to the World's Strongest Champion being taken seriously.
 
From an overall point of view, I have to go with Punk. He's had the promos, he's had the matches, he's had the feuds, he's had the storylines, he's had people talking and he's finally become a true main eventer.

I can't really fault anyone for voting for Orton. He's been refreshed since heading to SD!, his feud with Christian was great, his matches were sharper and he was just generally more interesting this year than he's been in forever. The fact that he's single handedly elevated or assisted in elevating the likes of Cody Rhodes, Mark Henry, Christian, Wade Barrett and Dolph Ziggler made great use of Orton's star power.
 
Orton's feud with Miz was shit. Every other feud he's had this year has been good though. I've voted CM Punk however because he made wrestling the most interesting it's been in quite a long time. Honorable mentions go to Orton, Henry and Christian.
 

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