PWI Most Popular Wrestler of the Year

The PWI Most Popular Wrestler of the Year Award, given yearly since 1972 by professional wrestling magazine Pro Wrestling Illustrated, recognizes the best face professional wrestler of the year as voted by readers of the magazine. Sting and John Cena have won this award a record four times, while Rob Van Dam was the only wrestler to win the award while competing as a heel.

Award winners and runners-up

Year	Winner	First runner-up	Second runner-up	Third runner-up
1972	Jack Brisco / Fred Curry	.	.	.
1973	Chief Jay Strongbow	.	.	.
1974	Billy Robinson	.	.	.
1975	Mil Máscaras	.	.	.
1976	Wahoo McDaniel	Chief Jay Strongbow	Mr. Wrestling II	Ivan Putski
1977	André the Giant	Dusty Rhodes	Bob Backlund	Mil Máscaras
1978	Dusty Rhodes	André the Giant	Ricky Steamboat	Bob Backlund
1979	Dusty Rhodes	André the Giant	Ivan Putski	Mr. Wrestling II
1980	Mr. Wrestling II	Dusty Rhodes	André the Giant	Bruno Sammartino
1981	Tommy Rich	Bob Backlund	André the Giant	Dusty Rhodes
1982	André the Giant	Tommy Rich	Hulk Hogan	Dusty Rhodes
1983	Jimmy Snuka	Dusty Rhodes	David Von Erich	The Junkyard Dog
1984	Kerry Von Erich	Hulk Hogan	Dusty Rhodes	Sgt. Slaughter
1985	Hulk Hogan	Magnum T.A.	Kerry Von Erich	Tito Santana
1986	Roddy Piper	Hulk Hogan	Ricky Morton	Nikita Koloff
1987	Dusty Rhodes	Hulk Hogan	Randy Savage	Nikita Koloff
1988	Randy Savage	Hulk Hogan	Sting	Lex Luger
1989	Hulk Hogan	Ric Flair	Sting	The Ultimate Warrior
1990	Hulk Hogan	Sting	The Ultimate Warrior	Lex Luger
1991	Sting	Hulk Hogan	Sid Justice	The Steiner Brothers (Rick and Scott Steiner)
1992	Sting	The Ultimate Warrior	The Undertaker	Ron Simmons
1993	Lex Luger	Sting	Bret Hart	Dustin Rhodes
1994	Sting	Bret Hart	The Undertaker	Hulk Hogan
1995	Shawn Michaels	Sting	The Undertaker	Hulk Hogan
1996	Shawn Michaels	Randy Savage	Sycho Sid	The Undertaker
1997	Sting	Steve Austin	Ric Flair	Diamond Dallas Page
1998	Steve Austin	Goldberg	The Rock	Diamond Dallas Page
1999	The Rock	Steve Austin	Goldberg	Mankind
2000	The Rock	Rob Van Dam	Chris Jericho	Goldberg
2001	Rob Van Dam	The Rock	Chris Jericho	Kurt Angle
2002	Rob Van Dam	Hulk Hogan	Booker T	The Rock
2003	Kurt Angle	Steve Austin	Rob Van Dam	Rey Mysterio
2004	John Cena	Chris Benoit	Shawn Michaels	Eugene
2005	John Cena	Batista	A.J. Styles	Rey Mysterio
2006	Samoa Joe	John Cena	Rey Mysterio	Sting
2007	John Cena	The Undertaker	Sting	CM Punk
2008	Jeff Hardy	Shawn Michaels	Samoa Joe	The Undertaker
2009	Jeff Hardy	John Cena	Sting	The Undertaker
2010	Randy Orton	John Cena	Rob Van Dam	Daniel Bryan
2011	CM Punk	John Cena	Sting	Randy Orton
2012	John Cena	Sheamus	Randy Orton	Jeff Hardy
2011	Daniel Bryan	John Cena	CM Punk	Dolph Ziggler
2012	John Cena	Sheamus	Randy Orton	Jeff Hardy
2013	Daniel Bryan	John Cena	CM Punk	Dolph Ziggler
2014	Dean Ambrose	Daniel Bryan	John Cena	The Usos
2015	Dean Ambrose	Brock Lesnar	Finn Bálor	Shinsuke Nakamura
2016	Shinsuke Nakamura	Dean Ambrose	Bayley	Enzo and Cass
2017	A.J. Styles	Shinsuke Nakamura	Braun Strowman	Kazuchika Okada
2018	A.J. Styles	Seth Rollins	Becky Lynch	Ronda Rousey
2019	Becky Lynch	Jon Moxley	Kofi Kingston	Johnny Gargano
2020	Orange Cassidy	Jon Moxley	Drew McIntyre	Keith Lee
2021	CM Punk	Adam Page	Big E	Bianca Belair
2022	Jon Moxley

See also

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
• WWE