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Post by Todd Pettengill on Dec 28, 2011 16:32:50 GMT -5
I think 2011 in terms of WWE/WWF history was a very good year. I said in the "Not many Roster Cuts Thread":
Guys like Mark Henry, R-Truth, and Christian have shown massive improvement. In the cases of Henry & Truth, I had written both off a very long time ago, (and a very, very, very, long time ago for Henry).
But staying true to this thread's theme, the aforementioned superstars are all in the latter parts of their career.
I think Zack Ryder has improved immensely, so has Cody Rhodes. I think Cody/Rey at Mania is easily one of the top 10 or 15 matches of the year.
I'm not a fan of the indies, so I was very skeptical of Daniel Bryan in 2010. But he really had a breakout year to me in 2011. Looking at where he was in the WWE last January, and where he is now, is very impressive. I was not a Daniel Bryan fan in Jan 2011. I currently love "dat supahero!" I think he's gotten a number of chances to demonstrate his ring style, and he has adapted it to the WWE style very well. He's also gotten very good on the mike over the last few months. I'm glad he's the WHC.
I also have to admit, that I'm currently drinking Dolph Ziggler's Kool Aid. I knew almost nothing about Dolph in Jan. I thought his work was average, and Vickie generally did all of the talking. I think adding Swagger to the fold has helped Dolph out onscreen in a lot of ways. It's given him more time to talk and be on Raw each week. His performances at the recent PPV's were great, (especially his 2 matches in 1 night run). I'm glad he's being given a shot at moving further up the card.
CM Punk improved by leaps this year as well. I think he may be my winner. He was a guy who we knew had the talent, and he totally broke out from the midcard, and became THE major player on Raw. His promos this year are amazing. His matches with Orton @ Mania, Cena @ MITB, Miz & Del Rio @ TLC, his 800 matches against Mysterio, were all great. His body of work this year is so much better than anything else I've seen of him in WWE.
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anglarite
Don Corleone
...enchantment!
Posts: 1,545
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Post by anglarite on Dec 28, 2011 17:02:30 GMT -5
Kevin Nash: from not even being employed by WWE, and then BAM! He's feuding with Punk and Triple H.
John Cena: added a monkey flip and dropkick to his moveset. Also, from people complaining how he can't wrestle he moved on to have one of the best matches of the year at MitB.
Randy Orton: On Smackdown he moved from stale main event blocker to someone who can be a) fun and b) putting over new guys.
Zack Ryder: from no-name to no-brainer. (and US champ)
Kelly Kelly: Hate to say it, but she had a couple matches which actually were compelling. I wonder how it would have be if only Kharma wouldn't have been sidelined.
Wade Barrett: After last TLC he really had to start from scratch and now he's main eventing.
Cody Rhodes: Going through some great gimmicks and personality changes, and his in-ring work gets better and better.
Dolph Ziggler: DUH.
R-Truth: Character-wise this was his year. As for actual wrestling skills, he quickly fell of grace after his only ppv title shot against Cena.
Mark Henry: Character-wise they did a great job to make him a credible main event monster. In-ring his matches ain't as bad as usually were.
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Post by dlg3000 on Dec 28, 2011 17:09:34 GMT -5
Improved wrestling-wise or promo-wise? Either way is fine. I personally find myself impressed more with R-Truth as a wrestler and he is interesting character wise. Any black guy that dresses up as a Confederate soldier in a politically correct era has got to have some cajones. Maybe I'm wrong, but R-Truth was entertaining this year.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 28, 2011 17:10:27 GMT -5
Cody Rhodes was already great, but this year's just been phenomenal for him.
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Big L
Grimlock
Posts: 13,883
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Post by Big L on Dec 28, 2011 17:35:06 GMT -5
Cody
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Post by saneiac on Dec 28, 2011 18:26:09 GMT -5
Dolph Ziggler. His ring work was always good, but his promos were complete John Morrison. This year, he somehow managed to improve in both areas.
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Post by moneyman20 on Dec 28, 2011 18:26:44 GMT -5
R-Truth. Better promos, much better characters. Hell, his matches weren't that bad either.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 28, 2011 18:27:36 GMT -5
David Otunga. Dude is light years better than when he started.
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Post by austinariesfan88 on Dec 28, 2011 19:53:24 GMT -5
hard to say cause alot of wrestlers have improved R-Truth went from annoying wack rapper to one of the funniest promo guys this year, Cody and Dolph who were already good but just got better in every category from matches to promos, but I'm gonna have to say Dolph Ziggler he just gets better every night and match
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Crappler El 0 M
Dalek
Never Forgets an Octagon
I'm a good R-Truth.
Posts: 58,479
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Post by Crappler El 0 M on Dec 29, 2011 0:22:49 GMT -5
To me, Cody seemed just as good in the last half of 2010 as he did in 2011.
The most improved overall could be Dolph Ziggler or Zack Ryder. I think Mark Henry was nearly as good in his SmackDown heel push and his ECW heel push as he has been in 2011.
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Post by Joe Galt on Dec 29, 2011 10:05:12 GMT -5
R-Truth by far.
I have to also mention John Cena. He has had some really good matches this year.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 29, 2011 20:59:14 GMT -5
Between R-Truth and Henry. Henry always had this kind of run in him (character wise), but Truth's turn was like night and day in terms of how interesting his character became.
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Post by Bishblast on Dec 29, 2011 21:01:49 GMT -5
In terms of promos and/or expression of charisma: R Truth
In terms of in ring: Cody Rhodes (and since he's stopped with that stupid voice, he's been projecting his character better.)
Dolph Ziggler was already great in 2010, so he doesn't count to me, even if he has naturally gotten better. Also, Randy Orton didn't improve dramatically, but he transitioned into being one of the best overall performers in the company, this year.
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trollrogue
Hank Scorpio
Nashville City of Music!!
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Post by trollrogue on Dec 30, 2011 10:21:12 GMT -5
Otunga is my pick. I actually mark out whenever he comes to the ring to his awesome entrance theme now, because it's sure to be an epic squash match at his expense and the crowd just eats it up. He's really found his niche under Mr. Excitement's wing and as some kinda heel version of Santino, and his street fight with Randy Orton was probably my favorite no holds barred match of 2011.
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Post by kingoftheindies on Dec 30, 2011 11:27:07 GMT -5
Cody in ring. I've always liked Cody even when he was in OVW, but he had no character and didn't show much charisma for awhile. Then, his face is broken and he becomes Dr. Doom and really developed a character from there.
Also have to give Ryder props. He went from a guy barely seen to fans chanting his name during every match
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543Y2J
Patti Mayonnaise
Seventh level .gif Master
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Post by 543Y2J on Dec 30, 2011 11:39:08 GMT -5
Cody Rhodes was already great, but this year's just been phenomenal for him.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 30, 2011 12:26:57 GMT -5
Otunga easily, he's worked his arse off, he's a good speaker, he's decent in the ring and bumping his arse off, and generally has found his niche whilst he improves.
I don't think Cena or anyone of that ilk should qualify in this thread given he always had good matches and at least participated in feuds that started interestingly enough the last few years. That being said, I have enjoyed Randy Orton 100 times more than I did in 2010, but he was always good in the ring.
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CH Punk
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Advice: Noted
Stuck in the Retro Zone
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Post by CH Punk on Dec 30, 2011 17:55:36 GMT -5
Let me throw a couple of names out there.
R-Truth: Stepped up his promo game to new levels of awesome and made some compelling segments.
Mark Henry: Had written him of as a mid-carder a long time ago, but wow did he have some the best promos of the year and was involved in some of the most memorable moments of the year (The ring collapse at Vengeance, the elbow drop by Show at Survivor Series).
Big Show: He did an elbow drop from the top rope in 2011, Enough said.
Cody Rhodes: He went from having one of the worst gimmicks in recent years to being one of the most interesting personas on the roster not only that but he also had some great matches.
Kaitlyn: In less than a year she went from having one of the worst matches of all time (Vs Maxine) to having one of the better diva matches this year (Again Vs Maxine).
Maxine: See Kaitlyn but I will add that she is one of the better talkers in WWE right now.
Dolph Ziggler: 2011 has really been his time to shine from fun matches with Edge, Kofi Kingston, Daniel Bryan, Randy Orton and, of course, Zack Ryder, to his new Show Off gimmick and his improvements in the talking department, he is by far the most improved of 2011.
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Post by Drink Up Me Cider on Dec 30, 2011 18:00:32 GMT -5
David Otunga. He started as total s***. Now he has great character potential and is at least competent (enough) in the ring. Quote me from some where on this board from like two years ago but I typed/said that David had the most personality of the Nexus and could go far. I think he's done very well. BUT, Cody has come on leaps and bounds, he took a gimmick, ran with it and had the best match at wrestlemania (in my opinion), got crowd reactions with the bags and has now become a complete ass...who can still win titles legitimately. What more could you want? Well played Cody.
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percymania
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Percymania will live forever! Oh yeah!
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Post by percymania on Jan 1, 2012 2:35:21 GMT -5
1. Zack Ryder 2. Cody Rhodes 3. Dolph Ziggler 4. Mark Henry 5. Christian
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