PWI Most Improved Wrestler of the Year

The PWI Most Improved Wrestler of the Year Award, given yearly since 1978 by professional wrestling magazine Pro Wrestling Illustrated, recognizes the most improved professional wrestler of the year as voted by readers of the magazine.

Award winners and runners-up

Year	Winner	First runner-up	Second runner-up	Third runner-up
1978	Dino Bravo	Bob Backlund	Ricky Steamboat	Tony Atlas
1979	Tommy Rich	Eddy Mansfield	Kevin Von Erich	Ted DiBiase
1980	Tony Atlas	Larry Zbyszko	Ted DiBiase	Kerry Von Erich
1981	Kevin Sullivan	Sgt. Slaughter	Charlie Cook	Tito Santana
1982	Barry Windham	Otto Wanz	Buzz Sawyer	Rick Martel
1983	Brett Wayne Sawyer	Mike Rotundo	Pez Whatley	Brad Rheingans
1984	Billy Jack Haynes	Magnum T.A.	Rick Martel	Ron Garvin
1985	Steve Williams	Brian Adias	Nikita Koloff	Randy Savage
1986	Terry Gordy	Scott Hall	Sam Houston	Wendell Cooley
1987	Curt Hennig	Al Perez	The Honky Tonk Man	Sting
1988	Sting	The Ultimate Warrior	Iceman Parsons	Jeff Jarrett
1989	Scott Steiner	Brutus Beefcake	Jeff Jarrett	P.Y. Chu-Hi
1990	Paul Roma	Doom (Ron Simmons and Butch Reed)	Tugboat	Cactus Jack
1991	Dustin Rhodes	Ron Simmons	The Undertaker	Crush
1992	Razor Ramon	Ron Simmons	Virgil	Brian Christopher
1993	Yokozuna	The 1-2-3 Kid	Brian Lee	Tatanka
1994	Diesel	Johnny B. Badd	Sabu	Owen Hart
1995	Diamond Dallas Page	Tommy Dreamer	Harlem Heat (Booker T and Stevie Ray)	Savio Vega
1996	Ahmed Johnson	Chris Benoit	Stevie Richards	Taz
1997	Ken Shamrock	Steve McMichael	The Headbangers (Mosh and Thrasher)	Alex Wright
1998	Booker T	D'Lo Brown	New Age Outlaws (Road Dogg and Billy Gunn)	Juventud Guerrera
1999	Jerry Lynn	The Hardy Boyz (Matt and Jeff Hardy)	Hardcore Holly	Kanyon
2000	Steve Corino	Lance Storm	Scotty 2 Hotty	Justin Credible
2001	Edge	Test	The Hurricane	Kurt Angle
2002	Brock Lesnar	Trish Stratus	Jamie Noble	A.J. Styles
2003	John Cena	Matt Hardy	Team Angle (Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas)	Victoria
2004	Randy Orton	Shelton Benjamin	Batista	John "Bradshaw" Layfield
2005	Batista	Carlito	Monty Brown	Chris Masters
2006	Bobby Lashley	Johnny Nitro	Chris Sabin	Umaga
2007	Candice Michelle	Jay Lethal	Montel Vontavious Porter	Cody Rhodes
2008	Cody Rhodes	The Miz	Petey Williams	Kofi Kingston
2009	John Morrison	Dolph Ziggler	Eric Young	The Miz
2010	D'Angelo Dinero	Wade Barrett	Sheamus	Jay Lethal
2011	Mark Henry	Kelly Kelly	Eddie Edwards	Zack Ryder
2012	Ryback	Brooke Adams	Michael Elgin	Adam Cole
2013	Magnus	Curtis Axel	Roman Reigns	Big E Langston
2014	Rusev	Ethan Carter III	Luke Harper	Eric Young
2015	Roman Reigns	Nikki Bella	Sasha Banks	Bayley
2016	The Miz	T.J. Perkins	Kenny Omega	Dalton Castle
2017	Jinder Mahal	Braun Strowman	Eli Drake	Naomi
2018	The Velveteen Dream	The B-Team (Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel)	Nia Jax	Hangman Page
2019	Brian Cage	Jay White	Buddy Murphy	Shorty G
2020	Drew McIntyre	Ricky Starks	Otis	Jey Uso
2021	Britt Baker	Bobby Lashley	Trevor Murdoch	Deonna Purrazzo
2022	Mandy Rose

See also

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
• WWE