How Do You Rate The WWE in 2011?

[The Dragon Saga]

Tonight was the final Pay-Per-View of 2011 and it has been some year.

Going back to last January when Alberto Del Rio shockingly won the Royal Rumble in his rookie year, to February when after a seven year absence "The People's Champion" The Rock returned to announce himself as the host of WrestleMania, to Cena and The Rock agreeing a match one year in advance for WrestleMania 28, "The Rated R Superstar" Edge retiring as the World Heavyweight Champion only for his childhood friend Christian to achieve his dream of becoming a World Champion to the explosive summer which saw CM Punk storm out of Chicago through the All-State Arena crowd taking with him the WWE Championship, not before blowing a kiss to Vince McMahon.

Mr. McMahon was relieved of his duties and replaced by his son-in-law Triple H, Bryan Danielson and Alberto Del Rio both claimed Money in The Bank briefcases and as of tonight both cashed in and became World Champions respectively. We've witnessed the reinvention and rise of the likes of Cody Rhodes, R-Truth and Mark Henry while some declined and lurked in the shadows like Drew McIntyre and others have simply left, like John Morrison.

2011 really has had a lot of surprises in the WWE, whether it be returns like Booker T and Kevin Nash, pipe bombs from "The Voice of the Voiceless", the rise of Zack Ryder and his Revolution, Kane returning underneath his mask or even the small things like Hornswaggle gaining a voice. A lot has happened.

But how do you rate the year 2011 in the WWE? Have you enjoyed it? Have you hated it? Do you think next year could be better? Do you think 2011 was a lesser year compared to years gone by? Here's your chance to say.

 

[#hamler]

While the WWE produced a solid product this year with many great moments like The Rock's return and CM Punk's promo, they failed to deliver a good product that was consistant throughout the year. I don't know about any of you but the amount of Raws this year that were way below average quality was shockinly a lot. With that said, I love the amount of midcarders who are stepping it up. Cody Rhodes, Dolph Ziggler, Zack Ryder, Daniel Bryan, Mark Henry and R-Truth were mostly all nobodies at the start of 2010. There have been a signifcant amount of wrestlers who've shown me why they're still emplyed in the WWE. The pushes thois year have been awesome.

Matches this year were without a doubt very exciting. Dolph Ziggler wrestling two matches in a PPV means the WWE sees something in him and he has a very bright future. John Cena/CM Punk put on one of the best wrestling feuds outside of the attitude era. The Rock returns and shocks everyone. Edge sadly retires. Undertaker/Triple H proves that Shawn Michaels isn't needed to have the best match on the WM card. An overall great year. Next year will undoubtedly be better though. With the current promising midcard, I can't help but imagine we'll see many first time champions like Wade Barrett, Dolph Ziggler and Cody Rhodes. Add that to the fact that next year's Wrestlemania has the potential to be one of the better 'Mania's since 17, I'm certain next year the WWE will be a lot better. However, that takes nothing away from WWE's 2011.

Overall, 2011 was a fine year. A lot of shock and suprises this year. Individual shows could've been a lot better. It's fine thouh.

Grade - B

 

[TheRealDeal]

Comparing it with last year. I felt that 2011 had a lot of merits. First was that there were a lot of returns (Kevin Nash, Can you dig BOOKER T Sucka, The Rock, JBL (yeah only for a night, but it was good to see him) and most recently Masked Kane, which was seriously the best return of 2011).

Moreover, they were pushing more stars here, Dolph Ziggler, Cody Rhodes, Wade Barrett and Zack Ryder, it was good seeing them in action (especially Cody Rhodes).

Finally, is the match quality and shock factors. Christian v Randy Orton had really great matches this year, this is kind of the highlight of Smackdown and plus Daniel Bryan winning the MITB briefcase. CM Punk v John Cena was incredible, CM Punk really the star of this year and it just made me more interested in the product, (cause I'm a CMPunk guy). A lot of memorable things happened this year comparing to last year, Edge retiring, Christian celebrating with Edge, Rock/Cena v Awesome Truth (yeah it wasn't that great, but the great one is action is always good to see), TRUTH'S HEEL TURN (this was great, I don't care what anybody says, Truth was gold on 2011) and finally CM Punk's promo. I think a lot of people will talk about CM Punk on this thread, so I'll leave it to them to say it.

Overall, I really enjoyed this year cause I got to be part of the upcoming news on WrestleZone and I really followed this year compared to last year. Based on a grade rating, I would definitely give this year an A

 

[Foshinzo]

On a scale from 1 to 10, I would give 2011 a 5.
Not to be a pessimist, but there were so many things that just annoyed me:

1) Twitter.
2) WrestleMania XXVII.
3) Michael Cole.
4) Michael Cole (he warrants two different offenses,).
5) Alberto Del Rio's main event push.
6) John Lauranitis.
7) The release of John Morrison (I know I'm probably in the minority, but I thought it was a waste of veteran talent,).

All of these things have dragged down the product significantly. However, some positive things have come out of 2011, too:

1) CM Punk.
2) R-Truth's push.
3) Mark Henry.
4) Randy Orton putting over new talent.
5) WWE noticing Zack Ryder.

I know the bad is outweighing the good, but Punk has made up for a lot of negatives, in my eyes. I've really liked his push. He's made wrestling interesting for me, again. Before Punk's push, I was honestly missing episodes of Raw and tuning out, but after he turned things on, I couldn't wait to see what he was going to do, next.

2011 has been a mixed year. As slummy as the product has been at times, it's been a year to remember. CM Punk's worked shoot promo was something I'll always remember. Therefore, 2011 is a year that, for better or worse, I'll always remember in wrestling.

 

[SD619]

The year 2011 has been really good for the WWE, both in terms of feuds and matches. They had really good feuds like Punk-Cena, Orton-Christian, Henry-Show etc. Match-wise, this year was impressive with a lot of great matches.

The best part of the year has been the rise of newer guys like Ziggler, Ryder, Barrett, Rhodes, Sheamus. Also some veterans like Christian and Henry got their first world titles.

The best part of the year is that the future looks really bright with a lot of potential good feuds and PPVs to come.

Overall, a really good year for the WWE.

 

[Paralyzer Z]

On the Last Monday night before the beginning of 2011, seconds before the MIZ attacked Jerry Lawler the anonymous Raw GM said this : may 2011 be the best year in WWE History". Was it the greatest ever? No but it was the best in quite awhile.

We got off to a great start in January with the Falls count anywhere match (that is still a MOTY contender ). The Royal Rumble match was great, and Elimination Chamber was incredible as well. As we headed off into May, Extreme Rules was another fantastic PPV, though after that we got a decline that would last until July. I will talk about that when I get to the negatives. How could I forget the return of The ROCK! He and John Cena had the most memorable feud of the entire year (which is saying a lot). CM Punk finally had his IWC support pay-off for him, and proceeded to have a "5 star match" (according to Dave Metzler the first since 1997, however that is debatable when it comes to casual fan opinion.) Anyway after August we saw another period of the underwhelming curse striking WWE again. In November a "Decent" Survivor Series was the turning point and then we got the exceptional TLC PPV with plenty of mark out moments that made marks go nuts!

Now for the negatives of cons as you might say.For one Wrestlemania itself was to me very average. Ranging from Over the limit to the Raw after Capitol Punishment we got a bit of a decline. It was not too bad but it was nothing compared to the build up to Wrestlemania. More of a calm down period, well if you exclude R-Truth from the equation. He was the best thing going until the push of CM Punk. Christian and Orton helped as well but would reach their best after this period was over. Another less than exciting time was from September to November but again it was nothing to horrendous, just underwhelming coming off the Cena/Punk and Orton/Christian feud. That and the overall point off TE that failed are in my opinions the low points of 2011.

Overall I would give this year a: B+ due to all the returns and shocks, as well as the quality matches and the rise of certain guys. The periods of low points is necessary after an exciting period of time (e.g Build to WM, and Punk/Cena). The GM was damn close at the end of 2010, I will give whoever the fuck was sending the E-mails that.

 

[DiscipleofWrestling]

2011 was a solid and memorable year. Look at the unbelievable things we saw this year: The Rock returning after seven years to the WWE, Edge being forced to retire due to injury, Christian finally breaking through that glass ceiling and becoming a main event wrestler and champion, R-Truth going from a joke face to a solid (and hilariously paranoid) heel, Daniel Bryan winning Money in the Bank and now the World Heavyweight Championship, Mark Henry finally coming to his own and becoming the monster heel, Zack Ryder goes from being on the verge of being fired to becoming an internet sensation and now United States Champion, and Kane emerging with the mask again and becoming relevant once again. We also had Santino Marella come within a second of winning the Royal Rumble in one of the biggest shocks of the year. Characters developed and the status quo was challenged, thanks mostly to CM Punk's legendary worked shoot in June. This was also the year of consistency in solid ring work. We had a lot of great matches that came to the four star level, some even going to five star status. Wrestlers such as Dolph Ziggler, Cody Rhodes, Daniel Bryan, Christian, and CM Punk have become the consistent workhorses of this company, bringing watchable to great matches out of all of their opponents. If match quality is one of your demands from wrestling, WWE brought it this year. If you wanted long title reigns, WWE has been better at it (albeit not perfect). We had The Miz cap off a near half year reign as WWE Champion, Mark Henry getting a solid 3 month reign as World Heavyweight Champion, Dolph Ziggler with another half year as U.S. Champion, and Cody Rhodes holding the Intercontinental Championship for a solid four months (so far).

There were some negative aspects to this year too. One, the power struggle storyline in WWE fizzled and ended up leading to some uninteresting moments on television. If there is a big disappointment in the grand scope of the year, it is that the momentum that was with CM Punk's "Will he or won't he leave" storyline blew up after SummerSlam and now feels like ancient history. Also, this was the year of Michael Cole becoming so damn overbearing that it brought commentary and the product down. We had two horrific matches between Cole and Lawler which devalued their respective Pay Per Views and led to pointless and uninteresting moments on television for the rest of the year. If anyone needs an exhibit to the type of crap that this year has brought thanks to the Michael Cole character, just watch the opening 20 minutes of Raw this past week.

However, this year as a whole was a lot better than 2010 in my personal opinion. I hated the Nexus storyline as it did nothing for anyone. Even John Cena didn't look any better at the end of the storyline as it became a distant memory and is hardly referenced. The Pay Per Views are much better this year than the last overall, with Money in the Bank and SummerSlam hailed as one of the best one-two punches in recent memory. So, my grade for WWE this year is in the area of a B+/A-, all things considered (I would have given 2010 a C just for the record). I just hope that in 2012 the company corrects its writing errors and continues bringing solid matches and exciting moments.

 

[Philly88]

I used to watch it all the time from around 1992- around 2006 but I had not watched wwe after that because I hated it because it was just the same old thing every week. Then when I would try to get back into it somewhat receltly it got way to kiddie. I remember I couldent believe it when I tuned in a year or so ago and Cena's moves were no longer called the FU and STFU I was like wtf? Im 28 and was like well I guess its not geared for me anymore anyways. The nexus and core was also a big turn off. However when CM Punk started his worked shoot promos I started watching again and have been watching ever since. Maybe I was not giving it a fair chance before but it seems like it is a lot better than I remember. I even watch most of Smackdown now. I would give it a solid B since it got me watching it again maybe B+

 

[mareek]

This has honestly been the best year since the WWE has gone pg. I'll even say this has been one of the best years of all time. The year started to become extremely epic with the return of the rock, and that epic promo he gave. With that promo by the rock it seemed like that kicked off the edginess that we've see this year.

Memorable moments this year
- The Rock's return
-HHH vs Taker at Mania
- Cena vs Rock rivalry at the beginning of the year
-CM Punk's shoot promo
-The Summer of Punk
-Money in the Bank ppv
-Survivor Series
- Rise of mid card talents like ziggler, rhodes, and ryder
-Vince getting fired
-R-truth
- D-Bryan getting recognition
- Micheal cole ( I actually like cole, sue me)

And these are the only ones I can think off at the top of my head. But needless to say this was a tremendous year for the wwe.

 

[Juvenal]

Honestly, 2011 was a pretty good year, but could have been better. A lot of WWE's talent have left due to retiring or pursuing another passion, but it left a huge gap for young talents to breakout. A lot of memorable moments and matches came from 2011 and not so many good ones. The only thing I have to complain about this year is...Michael Cole and WWE dropping the ball with major storylines.

Michael Cole is an idiot and takes up vaulable air time. Idk what Vince is smoking, but Cole needs to go! Can't stand him. I know he's the heel, but he's extremely annoying to the point where you wanna change the channel.

WWE dropping the ball with the Anonymous GM Storyline & Conspiracy Angle. These were WWE's major storylines and WWE drop the ball with no one finding out who the GM was and WWE taking the momentum they had with Punk versus HHH about the text message. They could have lengthen the storyline, but rush it.

 

[RkoMachine]

This has definitely been a great year for the WWE!

It had its down points like every year will (Micheal Cole/King feud, ETC)

But the good definitely outweighed the bad! We had the return of The Great One! Cm Punk's EPIC promo! Cena/Punk at Money In The Bank! An AMAZING SUMMERSLAM easily the best since 2002! The rise of Henry, Rhodes, Bryan, Ziggler, Ryder, Barret! And my favorite moment of 2011.......... THE RETURN OF FUCKING MASKED KANE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I give this year an A for sure! and im looking for 2012 to be even better!

 

[kokoBawesome]

A+ year. I haven't had this much watching wrestling since 2002. I always float in and out as a wrestling fan, not nearly as loyal over the years as I'd like to pretend. This is the first time in ten years that I've made it a point to find out what happens on Raw every week.

Its like wrestling is almost respectable again. People that are proud to be wrestlers are suddenly champions. It the WWE can get the tag division back in order and teach these "divas" how to wrestle this is going to be a third golden age of wrestling.

 

[The 1-2-3 Killam]

2011 was much more than I hoped it would be, but still has a lot of room to grow going into 2012. I was best label it as a "growing year" as they started to take the focus off of guys like John Cena and Randy Orton, and place their trust in new (and old) faces to get the job done. CM Punk's accidental success has launched the product into a slightly new direction, and as proved by tonight's TLC pay-per-view, you can have a good event without John Cena. Still, there's a lot of room to work with...

Dolph Ziggler and Cody Rhodes rose through the ranks to become serious contenders for the future. Alberto del Rio rose, fell, and has hit a pretty decent level after dropping the WWE championship. Mark Henry rebuilt himself into one of the best monster heels in WWE history and held the World title through a great reign. R-Truth completely redid his character and figured out how to interact with the crowd. The Miz fluctuated from main eventer to upper-mid-card talent. Wade Barrett and Sheamus rose out of their ashes and are on the verge of greatness. Daniel Bryan, like or not, is the new World champion. And then there's Zack Ryder...

Lots of talent building... But the real question is: what to do with that talent in 2012? The Rock's return, Punk's title wins, and a few other surprises kept the product raking in money and the fans turning on the show, while they built up their mid-card stars into something that truly puts hope into the future. 2011 was great, but 2012 has the potential to be even better. Now that they have true "wrestlers" on top that are connecting with fans, the product may return to the late-90s, early-00's era that I truly loved - wrestling reigns supreme!

 

[FearMyBeard]

I'd say WWE in 2011 was a good product for the most part as it had great to tremendous stretches but also had bad stretches. From my perspective, I think the great stretches outweigh the bad ones mainly because the great stretches were more memorable than the bad ones. Off the top of my head, some of the bad in the 2011 were:

-Ezekiel Jackson's push. Seriously, the guy was a waste of a champion. The IC belt literally meant nothing. The face run was a complete failure.
-The Corre. 'Nuff said.
-The follow-up RAW of the "Walkout" angle.
-The end of the conspiracy storyline.
-Mason Ryan
-Sin Cara vs Sin Cara

*Off the top of my head, those were the things that made me yawn and bore the hell out of me from the WWE.

For the goodies:
-The rise of Punk, Miz and Mark Henry.
-Christian vs Orton feud. I feel that this is an underrated feud. They showcased tremendous matches despite the fact that it was back-to-back's. Christian showed his card versality here.
-Cena vs Punk feud.
-Midcard titles becoming relevant again.
-Dolph, Wade, Cody, Zack, D-Bry, and R-Truth all rising up.
-The Rock's (limited)involvement with the company.
-Triple H vs Undertaker @WM27
-Less involvement of the previous generation stars(i.e. Mysterio, Triple H, 'Taker). I'm not a hater but rather, it shows that the WWE trusts the current roster and its faces(Orton,Cena and recently Punk) to carry them.
-Sheamus' face turn.
-An attempt to make the Divas division relevant. Although they're still mostly bad, at least the WWE made an effort to feature them.

Del Rio is sort of in a gray zone. He started the year nicely but as time went on, his promos weren't just getting it done which most likely contributed, or if not led, to his short runs as WWE champion. His main event push and run just never clicked with the audience.

 

[conrad405]

with this year i can only remember the big OMG WTF mark out moments besides from them its been a pretty plain year of wrestling for me.

GRADE B

 

[Ellye]

I think this has been among the the best years for the WWE, ever. So many surprises, many great matches, many great feuds...
All in all, I can't complain at all about 2011 in the WWE.

I rate it 9/10. They lost a bit of steam in the whole conspiracy angle and such, otherwise it could have been a 10/10.

Low points:
- The conspiracy angle, or it's execution.
- The divas division (after Michele McCool retired and after Kharma left and Layla got injured).
- The Corre.
- Ezekiel Jackson push.
- Mason Ryan almost push.
- Sin Cara.
- Alberto Del Rio lack of a storyline.
- Christian getting injured again, I hope he recovers soon.
- Edge's retirement.

High Points:
- The way Edge retired - since he had to do this, at least he did it while at the top of his game.
- So many great rising stars - Cody, Dolph, Bryan, Ryder, etcetera.
- So many fantastic matches and feuds.
- A surprise push that worked formidably well: Mark Henry.
- John Cena character seems to be evolving!
- Very interesting storylines, breaking the 4th wall.

 

[Marv95]

If I had to grade it I'd give it a C+. Slow improvement from 2010. Still too much crap to make it a good year. But there were some memorable moments that we haven't seen much of in one calendar year since...2002?

The Good:
-Rock's return
-R-Truth's heel turn(at first)
-Kharma(though it floundered)
-Punk becoming a major player
-Raw from June till October(must see TV)
-MITB PPV(best PPV since ONS 2008)
-Nash's return
-Henry as WHC
-Slightly edgier product(but still very corny at times; I need more than cuss words)

The Bad:
-Edge retiring
-Christian's "reign"
-The Smackdown brand throughout the whole year
-Boring PPVs including a horrible Wrestlemania
-ADR and Miz as champs(are you kidding me)
-Zack Ryder's character shoved down my throat
-Dropped storylines that had potential(walkout, Punk leaving with the belt, conspiracy)
-Johnny Ace
-Raw from October to present(worst wrestling TV I've ever witnessed)
-Cole and Lawler's commentary(especially Cole)
-Cole/JR/Lawler feud

 

[Ellye]

Oh god, the terrible Cole vs Lawler feud. I had forgotten about that. My brain was protecting me.

Ok, I change my 9/10 to 8/10. Something as awful as that is enough to drop a whole point in rating, for me.

 

[Dagger Dias]

WWE had a somewhat neutral year in 2011.

It started off absolutely awful with the Royal Rumble only having 4 matches on the show, Miz feuding with LAWLER of all people, the disastrous Wrestlemania 27 PPV that sucked other than Trips VS Taker and Miz's video package. Edge retired sadly. The Rock's return did help a little during this time. Then things improved a bit. Cena defeated The Miz. Lawler and Cole's horrible feud ended. Christian finally got his big main event push in the feud of the year with Randy Orton. CM Punk's shoot promos began a new direction where WWE listens more closely to what the fans specifically want. The conspiracy angle was great while it lasted. Ryder finally got pushed. Rock & Cena's tag team. Then things got bad again. MARK HENRY won the World Championship and had a boring feud with Big Show and they ruined Daniel Bryan's MITB push that should have been saved for Wrestlemania. Kane returned with a Mask which was pretty cool. As you can see, I have mixed feelings about this year. Some things were good. Some REALLY sucked.

I give WWE in 2011 an average review because it had some awful moments but it also had enough really cool things that happened which made up for some of the trash we had to endure this year. I have higher expectations for WWE in 2012 and hope that things will keep going the way they have recently with listening more closely to what we as fans want to see. Otherwise Bryan and Punk would not be our champions, Kane would not be masked, and Ryder would be jobbing to other jobbers. It was arguably the weakest year for WWE in the past decade or so, but things could still have been far worse.

DAGGER'S REVIEW
C-

 

[Heel Beard]

Ive been pretty happy with 2011, after a so-so Wrestlemania and a horrible feud (Cole vs Lawler) things really picked up. They have been pushing the right people for the most part and there have been alot of memorable and solid matches.

 

[amazing_blue]

For me, the WWE has been up and down throughout the year. It got off to a hot start with The Miz, John Morrison, Kane, Edge, Dolph Ziggler and Alberto Del Rio all making things interesting. Also, there was a brief stretch back in January when CM Punk actually made the Nexus interesting for the first time since SummerSlam. Unfortunately, that didn't last long and we ended up getting a somewhat underwhelming feud between Punk and Orton.

The road to WrestleMania was okay, but it was right after the PPV that things started to lose a lot of steam. Alberto Del Rio had his momentum killed, Miz did not look like a credible champion and guys like Punk were treading water. The ONLY interesting things going at this time were the heel turn of R-Truth (which was actually quit edgy and had racial undertones) and the start of the Orton\Christian rivalry. That was until....Stone Cold came back! Everyone wants to talk about The Rock coming back in February but I for one enjoyed Stone Cold's two-week comeback more than anything Rocky has done this year. His episodes got the ball rolling for the epic summer that was to come.

I don't need to say much about CM Punk and the storyline that owned the summer. We got one of the best stretches in WWE history from June through August, highlighted by one of the best pay per view events of all-time, Money In The Bank.

Of course the WWE did not keep up this momentum. They royally screwed up what could have been the next Austin vs. McMahon type rivalry in Punk vs. HHH. They screwed up the entire conspiracy storyline and had the fall began the product has gone backwards. Still, things look like they might pick back up.