WWE Power Rankings: The Top 20 Wrestlers Currently in WWE

The WWE is undoubtedly in a transitional period.

In recent years, top names like Chris Jericho, Shawn Michaels and Batista have left the company, while Triple H and The Undertaker are now special attractions rather than full-time wrestlers.

Sure, we still have huge superstars like John Cena and Randy Orton hanging around, but the time is now for the WWE's up-and-comers to take over and usher in a new era for both Raw and SmackDown.

Some guys are doing just that by taking advantage of every opportunity and rising up the ranks of the WWE. That's why a big chunk of the company's main-event scene features fresh faces that either haven't been around long or have been but are just getting their shot at the top.

So, let's take a look at which current wrestlers are the best the WWE has to offer, with my power rankings of the top 20 overall performers in the entire company.

The Rules

Injured superstars (whether storyline or legitimate) are not eligible for this list, so you won't see Kane, Rey Mysterio or The Big Show. 

This list is restricted to male wrestlers only. No Divas.

Also, no part-time wrestlers such as The Undertaker and Triple H are available.

There's no real set formula, with some wrestlers earning their spot because of their in-ring work, some more so because of their charisma and some because of a combination of both.

20. The Usos (Jimmy and Jey)

The Usos have flip-flopped between face and heel a few times already in their short WWE careers, but they seem to have settled into a comfortable role as a baby-face tag team.

Jimmy and Jey started out with no real gimmick and just looked like a set of twins who happened to be wrestlers. However, that changed when they started embracing their Samoan culture and doing the Haka as part of their in-ring entrance.

Even though their character change hasn't resulted in much more TV time, the Usos have progressed well over the last six months or so and are one of the few legitimate tag teams the WWE has.

There's no need to break these guys up. Keep them together, let them get some more TV time (both promos and in the ring) and you could have a valuable tag team for the next several years. 

19. Ted DiBiase

You wouldn't know it by tuning into SmackDown every week, but Ted DiBiase is actually a really good wrestler.

He's got the look, the size and the in-ring skills that most people can only dream about. The problem is that he once again seems to be lost in the shuffle on the blue brand after his feud with Cody Rhodes failed to do much for him.

It did do one thing, however: It turned him face.

Perhaps that's what DiBiase needed to turn his career around, although he still doesn't really have much of a gimmick. He has to develop some sort of character in order for the fans to get behind him as a face, or he'll be stuck in the same spot he is now.

Still, DiBiase has the name value and the wrestling ability to be a huge player in the WWE. It's all about him getting an opportunity.

18. Justin Gabriel

Much like Ted DiBiase, Justin Gabriel is another SmackDown star who seems to have lost his spot on the brand.

He hasn't appeared on the show much as of late, which is a shame because his offensive style is perfect for a mid-card baby face who can be incredibly over with the crowd.

Gabriel doesn't have much of a gimmick, and he hasn't proven to be the best talker we've ever seen. But that's fine.

He should be used much like Kofi Kingston or Evan Bourne, as a tag-team wrestler or a mid-carder who hits his big aerial moves to get a nice pop from the crowd.

17. Tyson Kidd

Who is the most underrated performer in all of the WWE?

Well, in my opinion, it's Tyson Kidd.

He has the same problem that a lot of other lower and mid-card workers have (no gimmick) and also doesn't have the greatest mic skills. He's a heel just because he's a heel, too.

But Kidd is arguably one of the top-five in-ring workers in all of the WWE. Watch Superstars if you get a chance, and you'll see what I'm talking about.

He consistently puts on some of the best matches of the week on WWE. We just don't know it because that show only airs overseas now.

16. John Morrison

What the hell has happened to John Morrison?

Once thought of as a future main eventer, Morrison has been booked like absolute crap since returning from injury this summer, and he's become almost completely irrelevant on Monday Night Raw.

That's a real shame, because JoMo has some of the most innovative offense in all of the WWE, and he's as over with the crowd as any mid-card baby face. I can see why people can't stand his baby face promos (they suck), but Morrison should do his talking in the ring.

His parkour style is unlike anyone else's, and he can put on great matches with just about anyone (see his bout against Sheamus at TLC 2010 or his WWE Championship match against The Miz on Raw at the beginning of 2011).

15. Jack Swagger

Jack Swagger should be one of the young guns that the WWE builds its future around.

He is Vince McMahon's dream: A huge guy who can cut a decent promo and has some of the best wrestling ability of any big man in recent WWE history.

Swagger's amateur background shines through in his matches, and he's proven in bouts with guys like John Cena and The Undertaker that he can hang with the big boys. I'm not sure why the WWE brass can't seem to get behind him, because he could be a main event player for years to come.

He's got the cocky jock gimmick that we've seen countless times before, but it works, and his All-American persona would probably get over if he we were to turn baby face.

I'm interested to see where this storyline between Swagger, Dolph Ziggler and Vickie Guerrero goes, because it could launch the careers of not one, but two future main eventers.

14. Zack Ryder

We all know the story of Zack Ryder by now.

He wasn't getting on TV at all, so he launched his own YouTube show, became a huge presence on Twitter and earned himself a legion of fans as a result. His increasing popularity on the Internet has led to more exposure on both Raw and SmackDown, and his career seems to be taking off.

I love seeing Ryder being pushed because he's hilarious, has a ton of charisma and can hold his own in the ring.

We need to see more of "Long Island Iced Z" before we move him up this list, but he's definitely headed in the right direction.

Expect big things from Ryder in the foreseeable future.

13. Wade Barrett

Since moving to SmackDown at the beginning of 2011, Wade Barrett has been perhaps the biggest victim of the WWE's poor booking.

Once the Nexus and the Corre dissolved, it's like the WWE completely forgot about Barrett, or simply had no idea what to do with him. I can't understand how that happens.

Though not a great in-ring worker, Barrett's definitely above average for a big man and can work great matches when given the right opponent (someone like Daniel Bryan). He's also arguably one of the top-five mic workers in the company.

Barrett simply commands attention when he speaks, and what he says comes across as extremely genuine. Not many wrestlers can do that, but Barrett does it very well.

12. Air Boom (Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne)

Holy crap! The WWE actually cares about the tag-team division!

Though the "Air Boom" name sucks, the decision to pair Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne together and make them the face of the WWE's tag-team division was one of the best moves the creative team has made all year.

They have some of the best baby face offense in the entire company, and fans pop huge for Kofi's high-flying offense and Bourne's shooting-star press. 

There's absolutely no reason to break these guys up anytime soon, and they should be the focal point of tag-team wrestling from this point forward.

Keeping them together will obviously give us better tag-team wrestling, but it will also hide these guys' weaknesses on the mic and let their in-ring work speak for them.

11. Daniel Bryan

If this were a list of best pure wrestlers, then Daniel Bryan would be at the top of it.

But he slides in here at No. 11 because he doesn't have much of a gimmick, and he's been booked like crap over the last several months.

That's not really Bryan's fault—and he is holding the Money in the Bank briefcase, too—but the WWE needs to take the restrictions off this guy and let him go all out in the ring every time he steps in it.

I could tell you again that Bryan is arguably the best wrestler in the world, but that would just be beating a dead horse.

Okay. I'll remind you one more time: Bryan's a beast in the ring. Give the man some sort of character, and he'll go far (if he doesn't go far without one).

10. Dolph Ziggler

Another Internet darling, Dolph Ziggler has gained a ton of respect from me over the last year or so.

We all knew that the former Spirit Squad member could really go in the ring, and he proves that just about every time he wrestles. But we still found ourselves complaining about his nervousness on the microphone.

That's completely gone now. Ziggler seems incredibly comfortable on the mic. He's got a unique look, some of the best wrestling ability in the entire company and Vickie Guerrero by his side.

He is destined for greatness, and—dare I say it?—I think he's shaping up to be the WWE's next big superstar.

9. Alberto Del Rio

Wrestling fans seem to be split 50/50 on Alberto Del Rio.

One half thinks he's great, and the other half thinks he's absolutely terrible. I'm somewhere in the middle.

I think he's an above-average talker and wrestler, and someone who has a boatload of charisma. But there's nothing about him in particular that stands out to me.

Whereas The Miz, R-Truth and Mark Henry generate massive heat for certain reasons, Del Rio doesn't get a ton of heat from the crowd. Most of his heat comes courtesy of Ricardo Rodriguez, and I don't think ADR would be as over as he is without him.

That being said, Del Rio's only been around for a little more than a year, and he's proven that he can perform at an elite level in the ring.

8. Christian

Christian is one of the most consistent performers in the WWE, and there really isn't one thing that he can't do well. 

Have him perform as a baby face, and the crowd loves him. Have him perform as a heel, and the crowd can't stand him.

Ask him to wrestle a 20-minute match with Randy Orton, and he puts on a classic. Ask him to put on a watchable match with Mark Henry, and he does it.

Captain Charisma is arguably the most reliable veteran on the WWE roster, and I can't remember the last time I wasn't entertained by him.

7. Cody Rhodes

If you've read any of my articles, you know that I'm a big Cody Rhodes fan.

The guy has this rare mix of both an old school and new school feel to him that makes me tune into SmackDown every week just to see what he's up to. He's really excelled in his current masked gimmick, and his promos as well as his mannerisms in the ring get him a ton of heat from the crowd.

Rhodes recently brought back the retro Intercontinental Championship and said that he plans to bring back the prestige the belt once had.

He's one of the few guys who can actually do that, because his charisma, name and in-ring skills make people want to watch him.

Watch out for Cody Rhodes—he could be the World Heavyweight champion sooner rather than later.

6. John Cena

John Cena has won over some of his haters in recent months by putting on two stellar matches with CM Punk at Money in the Bank and SummerSlam.

But anti-Cena wrestling fans are still all over the place, and I can see why.

Although I will applaud Cena for being a much better wrestler than people have ever given him credit for, I am beginning to get sick of the same crap over and over again. He's constantly around the WWE Championship, he still cuts corny promos and he doesn't put on great matches unless they're against great opponents.

Cena has great mic skills and all the charisma in the world, but the lack of freshness in his character is always going to bump him down lists like these... until he changes it.

5. R-Truth and the Miz

When The Miz and R-Truth first started working together to figure out "who was behind the conspiracy," I assumed this duo would be a short-lived one that would feud with Air Boom and then go their separate ways.

I'm incredibly glad that wasn't the case.

So far, Truth and Miz have been, well, awesome together, and their pairing has led to some of the most entertaining stuff we've seen on WWE TV in the last several years. The crazy thing is that they've missed a bunch of Raw shows recently, yet still have managed to be the reason I tune in on Monday nights.

It appears that we're only in the infant stages of this angle between The Miz, Truth and Triple H, and that's a good thing for the WWE, for me and for you.

Truth and Miz have been golden, and I can't wait to see what happens with them next.

4. Mark Henry

Mark Henry has never been and never will be a great technical wrestler.

But that's not what he's meant to do, and his powerhouse style suits him very well. That's why his heel turn from earlier this year was one of the best of 2011.

When someone's as big and dominant as Henry is, you book him as a heel, have him run through his opponents and show an intensity that's unmatched by anyone else on the WWE roster. The World's Strongest Man has done just that since being given the spotlight on SmackDown.

He's been portrayed as a legitimate badass, and it's led to the best work of his career. By far.

Who woulda thought that Mark Henry would be one of the main reasons I watch the WWE every week? Not me, that's for sure.

3. Sheamus

Did you know that Sheamus debuted in the WWE just 28 months ago.

Crazy, huh? It seems like the Celtic Warrior has been around for quite a while, probably because of his lightning quick ascension to the top of the company. 

He hasn't been in the WWE for very long, yet he's managed to get over in a massive way as a baby face on SmackDown. Sheamus shows the same fire and intensity he had as a heel, only he's getting cheers instead of boos.

Sheamus really knows how to work the crowd, and he's one of the most underrated talkers in the company. I'd expect him to remain a fan favorite for the foreseeable future because he seems really comfortable in that role.

2. Randy Orton

Say what you want about Randy Orton "always being in the World title scene" (which is true), but he's having arguably the best year of his career.

He's had several notable feuds this year—against the likes of The Miz and CM Punk—but it was his four-month rivalry with Christian that really showed just how great he can be. He put on multiple four-star matches against Captain Charisma and held his own on promos as well.

Orton is always going to be a little stiff and robotic on the mic, but he's been on fire in the ring as of late, even getting a good Hell in a Cell match out of Mark Henry earlier this week.

The Viper is a master of in-ring psychology and one of the best storytellers in the business, and he's at the top of SmackDown for a reason.

1. CM Punk

Was there any doubt who would be No. 1?

I know some of you are probably sick of hearing about how good CM Punk is, but it's the truth. He can do anything and everything that a wrestler is supposed to do, and he can do it better than almost everyone else.

Punk is clearly the top talker in the WWE, he's arguably the best in-ring worker and he's the most realistic actor the company has seen since The Rock.

If you want to be a wrestler, then watch Punk and watch him closely. He's as good as it gets.