10 Most Improved Wrestlers Of The Past Decade
It's not where you start, it's where you finish.
Wrestling may not be a competitive sport, but it's certainly a difficult one. Just taking bumps can be hard from both a physical and a mental standpoint, and actually learning enough to do something above and beyond what everyone else is doing can take years. Over the past couple of years, men like Ricochet and Kenny Omega have raised the bar so high that the true elite of pro wrestling have to be better than ever before.
Sometimes, that takes years. Not everybody is a Kurt Angle or a Matt Riddle, two men who seemed to take to pro wrestling with uncanny ease. For most stars, the endeavor is awkward for a while. If they're really lucky and truly talented, they'll eventually gain an acuity that sees them take the sport somewhere it's never been. The rest will end up somewhere between "okay" and "lousy".
Over the past decade, there have been several wrestlers who started off like most, but eventually shocked fans with the leaps and bounds they took.
Today, these men and women have inherited the sport of pro wrestling - or if they haven't yet, they're poised to in the years ahead.
10. Braun Strowman
Braun Strowman was pretty terrible when he first debuted in WWE, but it wasn't his fault. The former powerlifter had been signed purely for his size and build, but for some reason, the company decided to push him straight to the main roster and skip NXT. As a result, when he first showed up on Raw, he'd only had about six matches in his career.
People belittled Strowman, fairly pointing out that his offence looked terrible and that he wasn't ready for his position. It didn't stop WWE from pushing him, though, and they continued to book him as the most bulletproof member of The Wyatt Family.
After Strowman was left on his own by the brand split, he started to compete in squash matches. With the spotlight solely on him, he was able to show more presence, and eventually (and surely thanks to working with Sami Zayn), his work improved. He's no AJ Styles, but what he's managed to accomplish in the past couple of months has been impressive, proving he has a bright future.