Wrestle
of the Year
 |
| Alberto Del Rio |
Alberto
Del Rio is my pick for wrestler of the year for 2011. He won the WWE
Heavyweight Championship twice this year. Del Rio won the 2011 Royal Rumble. What
made this Rumble special was that there were 39 other men in this match, and he
out lasted all of them. He was Raw’s Money in the Bank winner for 2011. Del Rio
defeated The Miz, R-Truth, Jack Swagger, Kofi Kingston, Rey Mysterio, Alex
Riley and Evan Bourne, to win a grantee contract for the WWE Heavyweight
Championship. Del Rio also was in the co-main event of WrestleMania 27,
in which he faced Edge in his final match. What else can I say about the Del
Rio, he had an awesome year, but of course you already knew that!
Break
Out Star of the Year
 |
| Zack Ryder |
I
pick New York’s own Zack Ryder for Breakout Star of the year. Ryder was better
known as Brett Major a member of the Major Brothers. The WWE changed their names
to Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder. They used to help Edge during his matches
while they were part of “La Familia”. They were referred as the ‘Rated-R-Entourage’
during this time, they captured Tag Team gold, and surprisingly this was one of
his highest honor. Ryder was at the brink of getting fired from the WWE and he
started a YouTube channel called “Z! True Long Island Story”. This channel
changed his career, fans & wrestler started to support him, and he finally
made his debut no Raw. I have attended two live shows this year and the crowd always
chanted “we want Ryder”. His popularity has grown so much that the WWE has so many
items available for purchase on WWEshop.com, like the Broski T-shirt, Broski
head band, and even the Broski wall clock. The high light of 2011 was when he
defeated Dolph Ziggler for the United States Champion. 2012 looks so bright
that he needs to wear shades, which is also available at WWEShop.com, Woo Woo
Woo, you know it!
 |
| Harrington Bayas |
Wrestler of the Year
 |
| CM Punk |
I must say CM Punk. I also known about CM Punk from Ring of Honor and from some matches in TNA. Fun fact: He started in backyard wrestling with his tag team partner, CM Venom as the Chick Magnets. Hence, CM stands for Chick Magnet. But I've never really watched any backyard wrestling. It wasn’t my thing. I must also admit that I was never a huge fan of his. I respected his work and his mic skills. It wasn’t until he started the Straight Edge Society, that I began to really notice that he's better as a heel. He later began commentating and did an amazing job doing so. What I loved about Punk commentating is what I loved about Matt Stryker commentating, and that is the view of a wrestling fan. They would often reference wrestling legends, un-forgetful moments, etc. He then began leading the New Nexus but it wasn’t until his contract was up that he decides to cut a "shoot" promo live on Raw. He was suspended but the WWE just could not ignore the buzz that CM Punk created. To me, it brought back the realism to wrestling. I also must admit that his idea of him being the "Best in the World" is kind of a stretch and very arguable to say. Maybe now that Shawn Michaels is retired and Chris Jericho (who might come back) isn’t around right now, CM Punk might be the best. But none the less, CM Punk has also come a long way in his career and is doing a good job being the WWE Champion.
Hello
wrestling fans, so my vote for Breakout Star of the Year is Daniel Bryan.
 |
| Daniel Bryan |
As
I said before, I've known about The American Dragon Bryan Danielson since I
started watching Ring of Honor. His battles with guys like Lowki and The Fallen
Angel Christopher Daniels were amazing. What true wrestling fans need to
understand about Independent wrestling shows, is that those wrestlers will do
anything to put on a great match. They work their asses off to get noticed and
appreciated by the fans. When WWE NXT started, the first and only guy I noticed
was Daniel Bryan. We all know he didn’t win NXT but WWE still gave him a
chance. He had a rivalry with Michael Cole which I believe started Cole's
gimmick as the new heel commentator and it made new fans notice Bryan's skills.
I must admit, his mic skills needed to be a little better but he's grown to
hold his own on the mic. He later became the U.S. Champion for a few months
until he lost it to Sheamus. But that was all in 2010. His career really took a
big step when he won Money in the Bank 2011. When he started saying that he was
going to cash the briefcase in for WrestleMania 28, I believed that was how the
WWE was going to screw him out of the World Championship. He then had a long
list of losses against guys like Alberto Del Rio, Wade Barrett, etc. They even
had him job for Sin Cara because they knew Bryan could work well with the
Mexican Luchadore style of Sin Cara. He finally cashed in the briefcase at WWE
TLC, pinning Big Show and becoming the new World Champion. I believe he's come
a long way in his career and he deserved the championship.
 |
| Ernesto Heleno Jr. |
With
CM Punk and Daniel Bryan starting 2012 as the WWE Champion and World Champion,
it goes to show that the future of the WWE is now in the hands of the young
talented Superstars of today. The future is now, wrestling fans. Who do you
think are the Wrestler of the Year and Breakout Star of the Year for 2011?
