Best of WWE: 2011

Right. I intended to do something like this last year but got a late start and never recovered. Basically, my goal is to keep a running list of the best matches WWE runs this year, with links to the blog post where I talk about all those matches. There'll probably be multiple matches in each post, so if you click the link to Punk/Cena to find me rambling about Miz/Morrison, don't worry: you didn't do anything wrong, and I'd never do anything wrong.

Starting to get rolling with this for real. Going to drop it to a top 25 for now, though as I watch more that I want to keep listed, I might expand to a top 40 or something. Everything the slides off I'll drop into a pile called THE REST, which will basically be a bunch of matches, listed chronologically, that I'd call worth seeing, either because of high quality or surprising quality, as is the case with Striker/Young from NXT 8/9.

1. CM Punk vs. John Cena - Money in the Bank 7/17/2011
2. CM Punk vs. John Cena - SummerSlam 8/14/2011
3. John Cena vs. Rey Mysterio - Raw 7/25/2011
4. CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio - Capitol Punishment 6/19/2011
5. Christian vs. Randy Orton - SummerSlam 8/14/2011
6. The Miz vs. Jerry Lawler - Elimination Chamber 2/20/2011
7. Randy Orton vs. CM Punk - WrestleMania XXVII 4/3/2011
8. Christian vs. Alberto Del Rio - Ladder Match - Extreme Rules 5/1/2011
9. Drew McIntyre vs. Chris Masters - Superstars 5/12/2011
10. John Cena vs. CM Punk – Raw 1/17/2011
11. CM Punk vs. Randy Orton - LMS - Extreme Rules 5/1/2011
12. Cody Rhodes vs. Rey Mysterio - FCA - Extreme Rules 5/1/2011
13. Daniel Bryan vs. Wade Barrett - SummerSlam 8/14/2011
14. Cody Rhodes vs. Rey Mysterio - WrestleMania XXVII 4/3/2011
15. Drew McIntyre vs. Evan Bourne - Superstars 5/19/2011
16. John Morrison vs. Sheamus vs. Randy Orton vs. CM Punk vs. John Cena vs. R-Truth – Elimination Chamber 2/20/2011
17. Alberto Del Rio vs. Rey Mysterio – 2/3 Falls – Smackdown 1/7/2011
18. The Miz vs. John Morrison – FCA – Raw 1/3/2011
19. Big Show vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Cody Rhodes – Smackdown 1/7/2011
20. Sheamus vs. Mark Henry - SummerSlam 8/14/2011
21. The Miz vs. Daniel Bryan – Raw 2/14/2011
22. Drew McIntyre vs. Rey Mysterio - Smackdown 3/11/2011
23. Evan Bourne vs. Zack Ryder - Superstars 5/5/2011
24. Yoshi Tatsu vs. Tyson Kidd – Superstars 1/20/2011
25. CM Punk vs. John Cena – Raw 2/14/2011
26. Edge vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Wade Barrett vs. Kane vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Big Show – Elimination Chamber 2/20/2011
27. Daniel Bryan vs. Ted Dibiase – NXT 1/25/2011
28. Matt Striker vs. Darren Young - NXT 8/9/2011

THE REST:

• Mark Henry & Daniel Bryan vs. Tyson Kidd & Ted Dibiase – Superstars 1/6/2011
• William Regal, Zack Ryder, & the Usos vs. DH Smith, Yoshi Tatsu, Primo, & Darren Young – Superstars 1/13/2011
• John Cena, Rey Mysterio, Edge, R-Truth, Randy Orton, & John Morrison vs. Sheamus, CM Punk, Kane, Wade Barrett, Drew McIntyre, & Dolph Ziggler – Smackdown 2/18/2011
• Drew McIntyre vs. Rey Mysterio - Smackdown 4/15/2011
• John Cena vs. John Morrison vs. The Miz - Cage Match - Extreme Rules 5/1/2011
• Darren Young vs. Matt Striker - NXT 8/9/2011
• Drew McIntyre vs. Zack Ryder - Superstars 8/18/2011