Dot Net Awards: 2011 Pro Wrestling MVP

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

(1) C.M. Punk: 58 percent
(2) John Cena: 8 percent
(3) The Rock: 5 percent
(4) Mark Henry: 5 percent
(5) Randy Orton: 5 percent
Others: 19 percent

Ryan Kester's Thoughts: Without a doubt in my mind, Randy Orton was the pro wrestling MVP of 2011. The man did more good business than any other wrestler over the past year and Christian, Mark Henry, Wade Barrett, Cody Rhodes, and to a less extent Dolph Ziggler can all thank Orton for the considerable rub he's given them during the latter half of the year. Heck, even CM Punk, the one the readers gave the MVP nod to, has a lot to thank Orton for from their WrestleMania 27 match.

Chris Shore's Thoughts: The easy pick here is CM Punk, but I'm going to have to disagree with the readers on this one. It's not entirely Punk's fault either. His hot storyline was killed quickly, so his impact on business as a whole was really short lived. For my money, Mark Henry is the guy that brought the company to new heights. Ratings for Smackdown are the highest they have ever been, and a large part of that is a testament to Henry's heel character as champion. Randy Orton certainly deserves a nod here for laying the foundation on the blue brand, but the house was built by Mark Henry.

Jake Barnett's Thoughts: Dot Net Readers chose C.M. Punk as their MVP of 2011, and I don't think you can make much of a case otherwise. The storyline surrounding C.M. Punk and John Cena at Money in the Bank was by far the best story execution in WWE this year, and Punk's initial performance in that feud turned eyes on WWE that hadn't glanced at it in years. You can't really fault Punk for the mediocre follow up, but you can point to many of his individual performances both on the microphone and in the ring as some of the best of the year. He is the MVP because without him, the second half of the year in WWE may have been as uninspiring as the first.

Will Pruett's Thoughts: C.M. Punk – This category is for the overall best total package. Where Punk did not exactly cut the best promos of the year or have the consistently great work of Randy Orton, he was the best overall package in wrestling. He was exciting, passionate and very entertaining. His promo at the end of June will be remembered forever, as will his absolutely transcendent match against John Cena at Money in the Bank. 2011 ended with Punk back on top and having great performances (after a mild break where a feud and partnership with Triple H failed to deliver). Punk was definitely the most valuable wrestler in 2011 and 2012 could be a banner year for him.

Jason Powell's Thoughts: This award comes down to three people as far as I'm concerned. Punk, Cena, and Rock. Punk had his best WWE year to date and stirred up an amazing amount of mainstream publicity. Cena was the anchor who continued to sell merchandise and house show tickets, though his popularity appeared to be way down by the end of the year. Rock is the guy who saved WrestleMania 27. You take him away from that show and the buy rate would have crashed. Punk gets my vote for the overall MVP because he was around all year, but Rock played a huge part in WWE's success despite being a part-timer and he's just a notch behind Punk as far as I'm concerned.