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WWE: Five candidates for midyear MVP – Men’s Edition

By Saksham Karakasia

Apr 11, 2021; Tampa, Florida, USA; Roman Reigns (black pants) and Daniel Bryan (green trunks) and Edge (white pants) during their Universal Championship match at WrestleMania 37 at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 11, 2021; Tampa, Florida, USA; Roman Reigns (black pants) and Daniel Bryan (green trunks) and Edge (white pants) during their Universal Championship match at WrestleMania 37 at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports /
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2021 was supposed to be great, wasn’t it? Well, that certainly hasn’t been the case for WWE, from a creative standpoint, of course.

Financially, Vince McMohan is making more money now than ever before. Who thought cutting live events would actually make the company money?

However, fan reception hasn’t been the best. A lot of controversies have landed the company in hot waters in recent times. They didn’t handle the Covid situation well, they imposed a 3rd party ban on the wrestlers, and even while stacking more money than they ever have in history, they made frequent and erratic talent cuts. On top of all that, WWE main roster shows are routinely criticized for their horrible booking on a weekly basis now. Even NXT, which was considered to be the crown jewel of WWE by hardcore fans, has now lost its former glory.

What’s surprising is that I had somewhat of a difficult task coming up with 5 wrestlers who had the best 2021 so far. Considering the sheer volume of talent WWE has and considering some of the very best on the planet work there, it shouldn’t be this hard.

Anyway, this list is about honoring the workers who put their bodies on the line for our entertainment. For the performers who manage to shine even though the company seems to do everything in its power to stop them from doing anything but.

It surely isn’t the best time to be a WWE fan, we’ve seen much better days. NXT has confusing angles and characters, SmackDown is usually a mixed bag, and RAW oscillates between average and unwatchably bad every single week.

In these times it’s easy to forget the hard work WWE wrestlers are still putting in the week by week, and today we celebrate the wrestlers who’ve made 2021 worth watching for WWE fans. But first, some honorable mentions.

Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens for making an evergreen feud work even with a complete change in character dynamics. Cesaro, Big E, Seth Rollins, and Apollo Crews for being workhorses that harken back to SmackDown 2004-05.

With Carmella having the “Most Beautiful Woman” gimmick, WWE seems to be going backward with Women’s wrestling. To Sasha Banks, Bianca Bellair, Asuka, and Rhea Ripley for keeping that flame alive while Lily and Alexa run through the entire Women’s division. A special shoutout to Bayley who really didn’t deserve that throwaway segment with the Bellas at Mania. Bobby Lashley for being the Almighty WWE champion.

Kyle O’Reilly, Pete Dunne, Io Shirai, and Santos Escobar for some amazing wrestling and Cameron Grimes for being Cameron Grimes.

Last but certainly not least, Kay Lee Ray, who’s been an excellent albeit unnoticed, and highly underrated NXT UK Women’s Champion.

Here are the 5 best WWE wrestlers of 2021 so far.

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