WWE 2011: The 10 Wrestlers Who Improved the Most This Year

In some ways 2011 was a great year for WWE, and in other ways it was a flop.

PPV buys are down for the most part, but WWE has plenty of superstars who are working their butts off to turn that around.

Many of today's young talent have really stepped up their game over the last 12 months. Several superstars who were stuck in midcard hell in 2011 seem to be making their way into the main event picture.

Plenty of people had a great showing this year, but I will take a look at the top 10 most-improved wrestlers.

The Usos

When Tamina and the Usos first showed up in WWE they had fire in their eyes. Their first exposure was in a personal feud with The Hart Dynasty where they tried to prove they were from the superior wrestling family.

After that program ended we did not see much of the Usos for the better part of the year. Over the last couple of months though they have gained some momentum and ended up back on WWE TV.

I am looking to the Usos not only to help rebuild the tag team division, but also to become tag team Champions before WrestleMania.

Randy Orton

Orton may have started out 2011 at the top of the food chain, but that does not mean he did not have room to improve.

Randy has really found his groove as a babyface wrestler and I think he has shown over the last year that he is capable of being a top face and not just a vicious heel.

While I am a big fan of Orton's heel work, he has won me over as a face, especially in the last few months where he has began putting over other talents in WWE like Ziggler and Barrett.

He also seems to have given some substantial time to improving in the ring; I have begun to notice less of a pattern in his matches lately.

Orton will keep climbing the ladder in WWE to a spot in the Hall of Fame, I have no doubt about that.

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Dolph Ziggler

The man who calls himself the show-off has certainly lived up to his nickname.

Over the last year several of the best matches on TV and PPV have involved Ziggler.

Whether he is facing Punk, Orton or Bryan he has been able to stand up against any of them.

When he lost the US title to Ryder at TLC my first thought was "Good, now he can focus on the main event scene."

I have absolute faith in Ziggler as one of the top heels of the future and I hope in 2012 he truly gets his chance to shine as a world champion for more than 10 minutes.

Cody Rhodes

Cody Rhodes has gone from midcard heel who WWE paired with McIntyre for lack of a better option to being one of the most interesting heels in all of WWE.

His gimmick with the mask was one I thought would kill any momentum he had, but he made it work and now is on his own without a prop to back him up.

His match with Booker T at TLC proved he can perform just as well as some of the best in the business. His father and brother should be proud of Rhodes because he is on track to accomplish more than either of them.

I can see Rhodes being the next Orton in terms of being the top vicious heel in WWE within the next year.

CM Punk

Punk did not start out 2011 on top of the mountain, but he climbed his way there by TLC. Now it looks as if Punk will be positioned as one of the top stars in WWE, and for good reason.

When he gave that promo where he blasted everyone in WWE I thought it was WWE's way of letting him go out on his own terms, but instead it turned out to be the best storyline of the year.

Punk leaving with the WWE title was as intriguing as Lex Luger being in a WWE and WCW event within 24 hours; no one knew what to make of it.

Now he is undoubtedly one of the most magnetic people in all of wrestling, and he seems to be backing up his "best in the world" claim quite well.

WrestleMania may be hyped for the Rock and Cena's match, but Punk will probably have the match of the night with whomever he ends up facing.

Alberto Del Rio

When he first showed up in WWE Alberto Del Rio had a lot of pressure on him. He was being pushed as the next big thing and bypassed the midcard completely to win the Royal Rumble within months of debuting.

He may have fallen down the ladder a bit in recent months, but he will be back on top within the next year; he is too talented not to be.

As long as he stays uninjured and keeps putting out great matches then WWE will keep him in the main event.

I hope he does not have the same problem Swagger and Sheamus had after they lost the title and kind of got de-pushed.

I think he may fit better on SmackDown considering the talent they have there vs. the talent on Raw.

Air Boom

Evan Bourne and Kofi Kingston have had roller-coaster careers in WWE. Both men have been pushed, de-pished and pushed again.

They are both talented high flyers, but I think they found their groove together as tag team partners. WWE actually has created shirts for their team, which may indicate they will stick around for awhile.

Between them, The Usos and Primo and Epico, the tag team division is getting more competitive again and Air Boom could keep making it more interesting if they actually stay together.

Their performances in tag matches have been great so far and it does not look like Bourne's suspension is having a negative impact on their reign since they are still champions.

I am not predicting they will be world champions anytime soon, but as far as tag teams go they have a lot of potential to make things better.

Wade Barrett

When Barrett first showed up on NXT he turned some heads for sure. His size and attitude helped him stand out against the group.

When Nexus showed up and rampaged all over Raw it looked like Barrett was being positioned to be the next big heel in WWE.

He had some title matches, but after several unsuccessful attempts he was outed from the group and sent packing to SmackDown.

He had a decent IC title reign, but it is his feud with Orton over the last couple of months which has shown me how good he really is.

Orton has the ability to make people look good in the ring, but Barrett doesn't need his help—in fact I would say they are performing on a very equal level in the ring.

I would not be surprised to see this feud lead to Barrett challenging Daniel Bryan for the title sometime soon, as long as Bryan keeps the title past Royal Rumble.

Honorable Mentions

Other people who have improved their game over the past year would be Sheamus, Daniel Bryan, John Cena and Miz.

Update: Since publishing this article many people have expressed that they wish to see Ryder on the list, the reason he did not make the list is because I am doing a separate article on how he is the overall most-improved wrestler of the year. I probably should have mentioned that before, sorry for the confusion.

Who do you think has shown the most improvement over the past year?