7 Things WWE Chairman Vince McMahon Should Be Thankful for This Year

In two days, people will be packed around crowded tables filled with different things that comprise a traditional Thanksgiving dinner.

This is also a day when people say what they are thankful for. Whether it's family, friends, work or personal achievement, everyone has something to be thankful for.

With all of our criticism of the WWE, we are still thankful they put on dozens of hours of entertainment each and every month.

We are thankful for the men and women who put their bodies through physical hell for the entertainment of the millions of fans around the world.

Vince McMahon certainly has many things to be thankful for over the past year. WWE has done many things over the last year, some amazing and some cringe-worthy.

He has had numerous superstars break out over this past year who could carry the company for years to come, while also having established stars put on some great programs.

Here is a list of seven things I believe Vince McMahon should be thankful for this year.

CM Punk's Revolution

Over the last few months, CM Punk has raised his stock considerably in the WWE. He went from being someone who had won some world titles but seemed stuck in mid-card hell to one of the top names in the company.

It all started that night on Raw when CM Punk would deliver a promo that set the wrestling world on fire. His honesty and cutting remarks showed that WWE was ready to take a chance on Punk.

Many people compared him to Stone Cold Steve Austin, but I think Punk has carved his own legacy with what he has done in the past year.

Vince McMahon allowing Punk to take a mic and say what he wanted shows that he is not as out of touch with what the wrestling fans want as we sometimes think he is.

The fact is that not every Raw or PPV can be groundbreaking or original, but those moments that stand out as amazing are what we wait so desperately for.

CM Punk gave us one of those moments, and he put a lot of money in the pockets of Vince McMahon while doing it.

With the WWE Championship firmly in his grasp, CM Punk is gearing up to take WWE into 2012 and beyond.

Daniel Bryan

Daniel Bryan may not be in the best program of his life right now, but one thing I think Vince McMahon knows about Daniel Bryan is that he makes everyone who steps in the ring with him look better than they really are.

Bryan is one of those talents who does not come along very often. I would compare him to the likes of Dena Malenko and Arn Anderson. These were guys who were not always at the top of the card, but they were always having great matches.

Bryan's in-ring skills have elevated other superstars to try and be better. I firmly believe that his three-match series with Ziggler is what truly exposed the raw talent Ziggler has.

Other stars who step in the ring with him tend to elevate their game to keep up with Bryan. Guys like Tyson Kidd stand out when in the ring with Bryan.

Even though he is not getting the best push right now, I think he will be successful in cashing in his briefcase and become World Champion.

Vince made the right move in bringing Bryan back after releasing him, and I think that over the years, Daniel Bryan can help the other members in the locker room become better in-ring performers.

His fans don't call him the best in the world for nothing.

The Rock

Something most people thought would never happen finally came to fruition this year. After seven years away from the ring, The Rock returned to wrestle for WWE.

For seven years The Rock said he was done with wrestling, but that itch must have kept nagging at Dwayne because he made the decision to return.

The movie industry allows Rocky to have fun acting while making millions of dollars and not destroying his body in the process.

But from what many legends have said, that feeling of thousands of people chanting your name as you walk through that curtain is something you can't get anywhere else in the world.

Rocky proved at Survivor Series that when he says he can still go, he can still go. Vince McMahon probably had a smile across his face during the whole match.

Vince needs to know that this is something he lucked into because had Rocky not decided to come back, WrestleMania 28 would not have had much to make it stand out among other events.

I for one think much of the hype surrounding Rocky is too much, but I cannot deny that he is a money-making machine for WWE every time he steps in front of a camera.

Cody Rhodes

Over the last year, Cody Rhodes has done just about everything right. He has made himself a new image that has made him a real prospect for main event status.

With his use of the mask for all those months, Rhodes turned into a heel fans loved to hate. His win over Mysterio at WrestleMania also proves WWE feels he is ready to start taking on the WWE's top talents.

While many people feel he should have gotten the better of Orton during their recent feud, I think he still came out of it looking good.

By getting rid of the mask, Rhodes now has to show that he does not need a strange gimmick to be a real threat to anyone at anytime.

His showing at Survivor Series as one of only two men left on the winning team allowed him to stand out on a bigger stage.

He has made the IC title a little more prestigious again, which is exactly what he said he would do. By bringing back the old design he also brought back  many memories of when that title truly meant something in the WWE.

Social Media

As much as I cannot stand the constant and insane use of Twitter on WWE programming, I understand it from a business standpoint.

WWE has taken what is essentially their most effective form of free advertising and used it to cultivate a huge following through online media.

Fans follow their favorite superstars as well as talk about them through these mini-posts to Twitter and Facebook.

I think that while the use of these outlets to further feuds is a good idea,  they should keep the mentions of Twitter on their shows to a minimum, otherwise the effect will wear off.

We watch Raw, SmackDown and buy PPV's to see wrestling, not to hear about what is trending worldwide.

I like that WWE is broadening their horizons, but they need to recognize that the use of these things also annoys those who do not use them when they are mentioned every six seconds.

Vince needs to be thankful for this stuff but also realize that there is a limit to what we can take.

Dolph Ziggler

The former Spirit Squad member has really stepped up over this last year to show that he is ready for the next level of competition.

Dolph Ziggler has improved in the ring, on the mic and in every other possible way WWE could have hoped he would.

While his quick elimination in the Survivor Series tag team match was disappointing, his match with Morrison was one of the highlights of the night.

CM Punk also made Ziggler look strong in their match on Raw last night, which also proves Punk is not greedy with the spotlight all the time.

I think that in 2012, Ziggler will become a world champion again, and he will show all the people who have ever doubted him that they were wrong.

I have become a huge Ziggler fan over this last year, and I think it is safe to say Vince is a fan, too. He needs to be thankful for having guys like Ziggler who work so hard to improve for the betterment of WWE.

The Miz

The most must-see champion in WWE history had a great year in 2011, and because of that, so did Vince.

He not only main-evented WrestleMania as champion, but he won against the company's biggest star. Miz has worked so hard to be taken seriously, and it has finally paid off for the former Real World house guest.

He does the media appearances, interviews, autograph signings and anything else WWE asks him to do, and he does it with a smile because it is what he wants to be doing.

He showed Vince he was ready to help carry the weight of a billion-dollar company and Vince gave him that chance.

He proved so many people wrong, and in typical Miz style, he shoved it in everyone's faces till they couldn't stand him.

I think that in 2012, Miz will continue to improve and become one of the top heels in the business. Vince needs to be thankful for guys like Miz who love the business enough to become great.