2021 was a bittersweet year for WWE that saw a slew of releases, however the return of fans and outstanding performances by some superstars brought the excitement. To determine the best WWE wrestlers of 2021, all aspects were taken into account, from in-ring performances, promos, great feuds, titles and general consistency.
With that said, it is worth clarifying that wrestlers like Edge and Becky Lynch were not considered because they spent less time on-screen. Likewise, there are wrestlers who deserve an honorable mention and came close to making the list, including Kevin Owens, King Woods, Cesaro and Rhea Ripley. Below are the 10 best WWE wrestlers of 2021.
* Updated on 20th May 2022 by Andrew Kelly: 2021 was a strange year from WWE, starting off inside the ThunderDome with no fans, to a WrestleMania which suffered a rain delay, and then returning to the road full time. There were ups and downs during the course of the year, but some superstars managed to persevere and perform consistently, impressively massively with strong character and good matches. With how WWE book, it can sometimes be hard for certain stars to get over, but a selection managed to do so in 2021. When looking back at where those names were then versus where they are now, it is interesting to see how their trajectories have changed, and whether WWE have committed to their strong booking and pushes.
10 Damian Priest
You may be surprised to read Damian Priest's name, but he actually had an outstanding year. Since his appearance in the Royal Rumble match, Priest shone in the spotlight alongside Bad Bunny, then moved his way up the card to win the United States Title and became a great champion. You also have to give credit to WWE's booking, as hard as it is to accept.
Priest is the wrestler with the most wins in televised singles matches in 2021, having won 24 (including eight successful title defenses) and, believe or not, he hasn’t been pinned on the main roster. Most importantly, Priest puts on a good show on a regular basis.
*Where Is Damian Priest In 2022?
At the start of the year, Priest descended into darkness, turning heel following the loss of his United States Championship, which he dropped to Finn Balor. From there, Priest aligned with Edge to form the Judgment Day faction, which looks to dominate Raw’s upper midcard in both the men’s and women’s divisions. This is a completely different version of Priest to the one that fans saw in 2021, but he is still getting featured, which is a good thing.
9 Seth Rollins
This was another successful year for Seth Rollins. He didn't win any titles, but he was consistent, cutting entertaining promos, doing excellent character work and delivering good matches. The rivalry between Rollins and Cesaro was quite good, with solid matches including an excellent bout at WrestleMania 37. Then Rollins had a trilogy of top notch matches against Edge, including a terrific Hell In A Cell match, which is contender for match of the year.
Rollins is closing out the year on a high note, as he won the #1 Contendership Fatal Four Way Ladder match, was the sole survivor at Survivor Series and he has defeated Kevin Owens and Finn Balor.
*Where Is Seth Rollins In 2022?
Rollins’ entertaining alliance with Owens began to fade away during the early months of 2022, with them having a match with one another to determine who would interview Steve Austin at WrestleMania 38. Rollins became unhinged, desperate for a match at WrestleMania, before facing the returning Cody Rhodes. Thus far, Rollins has lost each time against Rhodes, with him serving to put over Rhodes as a top name in WWE. Rollins has enough star power to bounce back from any defeat though.
8 Randy Orton
Despite being heel for most of his career, including the previous three years, Randy Orton was been one of WWE's best babyfaces in 2021. The fans simply love him, when his music plays there is always a loud pop, and when he is in the ring the crowd goes wild.
Putting the Viper together with Riddle was one of the best decisions WWE made this year, as it is a unique team, easily the most loved WWE tag team of 2021. Randy did a great job both as a tag team wrestler and as a singles star.
*Where Is Randy Orton In 2022?
The RK-Bro team is still beloved by fans, but the pair recently lost the Raw Tag Team Championships in a unification match to The Usos. Orton is still looking as though he is enjoying every moment spent in his team with Riddle, and a breakup looks like a very distant thing currently, which is a positive for the tag team division for the time being.
7 Charlotte Flair
Charlotte Flair had another solid year, as despite the criticism and emerging female faces, she spent most of the year on top of the women's division.
Charlotte's heelwork was excellent, and her in-ring work was as good as ever. Her best performances were against Rhea Ripley at Money In the Bank 2021 and against Becky Lynch at Survivor Series 2021. In addition, The Queen continued to add titles to her resume.
* Where Is Charlotte Flair In 2022?
Charlotte Flair held the SmackDown Women’s Title up until recently, defeating Ronda Rousey at WrestleMania 38 before dropping the belt to her at Backlash. The feud has received a lot of criticism, but the in-ring work has been very good. Flair is now taking a break from WWE after being written off TV, as she is set to get married soon.
6 Drew McIntyre
Certainly, Drew McIntyre dropped the WWE Title, couldn't get it back and, overall, had much less prominence than he had in 2020, but he was still one of the best WWE wrestlers of 2021.
McIntyre wrestled in almost every show, in fact, only Riddle and Shayna Baszler have had more televised matches than him. But besides quantity, it is quality that sets Drew apart, as every time he steps into the ring the show is a guaranteed spectacle. It was an excellent year for McIntyre, no doubt.
* Where Is Drew McIntyre In 2022?
Throughout the opening quarter of 2022, McIntyre feuded with Happy Corbin and Madcap Moss in a rivalry that stretched far too long, damaging McIntyre’s momentum. However, things look to be taking a turn upwards as he has begun getting involved in the main event scene, with a showdown with Roman Reigns potentially coming at some point down the line at WWE's UK Clash At The Castle show.
5 Riddle
Riddle has done an excellent job in every aspect of sports entertainment, his character is stupidly hilarious, he can cut compelling promos and his in-ring skills are amazing. Riddle didn't shine that much on PPVs, but his best matches were against AJ Styles, against Xavier Woods and against Drew McIntyre on Monday Night Raw.
Simply put, The Original Bro always delivers. Obviously, there's no need to mention the great moments he's had alongside Randy Orton.
* Where Is Riddle In 2022?
Riddle’s infectious character work and great tag team with Randy Orton has been going strong well into 2022, continuing from the success they had in 2021. Although an eventual implosion will happen, Riddle looks likely to benefit from it in a big way, with rumors indicating that he was originally set to win the 2022 Royal Rumble, though it didn’t come to fruition.
4 Big E
In 2021 Big E finally established himself as a singles star, not only holding the Intercontinental Title in the first quarter of the year but winning the WWE Championship and holding the belt in the last quarter.
Big E is having his well-deserved World Title run and is not disappointing, as he has managed to retain the title against two former champions like Bobby Lashley and Drew McIntyre, and also fought toe-to-toe with Roman Reigns. Big E deserves a standing ovation for his excellent work this year.
*Where Is Big E In 2022?
2022 has seen a disastrous turn of events when it comes to Big E. Despite walking into the year as WWE Champion, he quickly dropped the belt to Brock Lesnar during a fatal five-way at the Day One PPV, in a result which made E look weak. He dropped back into the tag team scene alongside The New Day, before being ruled out with a long-term neck injury.
3 Bobby Lashley
This was undoubtedly the best year of Bobby Lashley’s career. He won the most prestigious title in the world, the WWE Championship. He was a dominant Champion and carried Monday Night Raw for several months. Bobby finally established himself as a top superstar.
The Almighty also delivered some brutal matches, like the Hell In A Cell match against Drew McIntyre or the Triple Threat match against Big E and Roman Reigns, which was one of the best RAW matches of the year.
* Where Is Bobby Lashley In 2022?
At the Royal Rumble, Lashley faced Brock Lesnar in what was a dream match for many, and he emerged victorious, winning his second WWE Championship. An injury forced him into dropping the belt, before returning to battle Omos at WrestleMania 38, with him cementing a face turn. The feud with Omos hasn’t been anything special, but fans are fully behind Lashley as he looks to find success as a good guy.
2 Bianca Belair
Bianca Belair was arguably the most outstanding WWE female wrestler of 2021. She won the Women's Royal Rumble match in epic fashion, made history in the main event of WrestleMania 37, defeating Sasha Banks and becoming SmackDown Women's Champion and had a good reign that didn't end the way it should have.
The EST is absolutely phenomenal in the ring, she is very strong, athletic and fast, she is the complete package and does things that most women can't do. Bianca is also very charismatic and rapidly became a fan favorite.
* Where Is Bianca Belair In 2022?
2021 was one hell of a year for Belair, with ups and downs, but so far in 2022 there have only been ups. Belair’s popularity has risen through the roof, with her defeating Becky Lynch in the best match from WrestleMania 38, gaining revenge and winning the Raw Women’s Championship. Belair is constantly making moments, with 2022 looking to be a more consistent year.
1 Roman Reigns
Obviously, the best WWE wrestler of 2021 was Roman Reigns. In fact, Reigns was arguably the best wrestler in the world this year. The Tribal Chief smashed everyone in his path, including Brock Lesnar, John Cena, Edge, Daniel Bryan, the Demon Finn Balor Cesaro and Kevin Owens. Reigns has now gone two years without being pinned and there doesn't seem to be anyone capable of breaking that streak.
To top it off, Reigns' character work has been excellent. Despite being the biggest heel out there, he has a big fan base that acknowledges him.
* Where Is Roman Reigns In 2022?
Reigns has continued his good form into 2022, though he has perhaps lost some of his momentum. He has faced the likes of Seth Rollins, Goldberg, and Brock Lesnar this year, notably winning both the WWE and Universal Titles at WrestleMania 38 in a big moment. Reigns’ matches and feuds haven’t been too memorable this year, at least not yet, with his schedule looking to wind down soon too.