Dot Net Awards: 2011 Best Pro Wrestler

Dot Net readers voted on a variety of 2011 awards throughout January and early February. The following are the results of our final poll for Best Pro Wrestler. Thanks to everyone who took part in the voting. You can check out the other winners in our Awards section.

(1) C.M. Punk: 63 percent
(2) Daniel Bryan: 7 percent
(3) Dolph Ziggler: 6 percent
(4) Bobby Roode and Christian tied: 3 percent each
Others: 21 percent

Jason Powell's Thoughts: I am kicking myself for not including Randy Orton on the list of candidates. I don't think our readers would have given him the nod over Punk, as no one mentioned the fact that he wasn't included, but he had a strong year and is in my personal top three. I agree completely with the readers regarding Punk getting the nod. He also won this award last year, but did so with only 14 percent of the vote. Quick, name a great Daniel Bryan match from 2011. He is one of the best wrestlers in the world, but WWE didn't give him enough chances to shine, so I think the reader vote is based on his track record and reputation.

Will Pruett's Thoughts: Randy Orton – Since moving to Smackdown at the beginning of the year, Orton has been on fire. Even before that he had a great match with C.M. Punk at WrestleMania, then was placed into the best in-ring series of his career with Christian. Immediately following that he entered into a feud where he definitively put over Mark Henry. He was the top star on Smackdown during a time of a ratings resurgence. Orton has been amazing this year. Even on the B-show he has put in A caliber performances.

Ryan Kester's Thoughts: I have to agree with the readers; CM Punk is my pick for the pro wrestler of the year. Punk really came into his own this past year and he had one of the greatest feuds of the year with John Cena heading into Money in the Bank. Punk did a great job of getting the world buzzing around him during that feud, was in several great matches in that PPV's wake, and he rounded out the year serving as a foil to John Laurinaitis of all people and made their interactions must-see TV.

Jake Barnett's Thoughts: Well, if we are going to give an award to the guy who had the best and most consistent in ring performances of 2011, I have to give it to Dolph Ziggler. I don't think anyone delivered better matches on a more consistent basis than he did. His offense always looks good, but I don't think anyone can tell me I'm wrong when I say that nobody makes other people look as good as Dolph does. He has good matches with everybody, great matches with some, and always manages to make every match he's in feel like he's giving it 100 percent of his effort. I congratulate him for that, and I'm happy to see someone in WWE overcome the horrible name that has been given them with sheer talent.

Chris Shore's Thoughts: These last two awards, MVP and Best Wrestler, have a lot of overlap. I voted MVP based on who had the greatest impact all year, and am voting wrestler based on who had the best matches all year. Even though he was injured for the early part of the year, I have to give the nod to CM Punk. His match with Cena at Money in the Bank set the standard for every other match in 2011, and he continued to be the best in the ring while having the most impact. Dolph Ziggler comes a very close second for me, and is only beaten by Punk because of the gravity of Punk's matches being greater than Ziggler.