3. John Cena
Unfairly underrated, John Cena is a genuine wrestling great who will go down in history with the likes of Hogan, Rock and Austin. His match of the year performance against CM Punk on the February 25th 2013 Raw was as good as the Money in the Bank 2011 encounter with Punk. In terms of ring work, he is often criticized. Can he be sloppy? Absolutely. But the difference between Cena and other talent is that people are looking for him to mess up. Daniel Bryan commented on this when appearing on the Steve Austin Podcast, noting that no one really notices Daniel Bryan cock ups which happen all the time. Bryan then went on to put over Cena's ability as a worker. Bryan claimed Cena is one of the best, and pointed out that a few years back it was Cena who called and worked a main event match with Khali that was a great contest. Khali can barely walk. Bryan pointed out that for Cena to get a match of such quality out of the giant is testament to John's talent. Regarding 2013 it was another top year for the franchise star. Nobody on the roster works harder, Cena appears more than any other man in the company, constantly working events or doing media. In terms of assets, Cena is the biggest talent that the WWE has - this was proved when numbers dropped when he went out injured in the Autumn. The year started with a series of great matches with Dolph Ziggler and a Royal Rumble match win. An entertaining feud with The Shield was next before a rematch with The Rock at Wrestlemania 29, which proved to be another commercial success. Alhough Cena's WWE title winning main event got some criticism, I personally enjoyed it. Cena managed to pull some decent performances out of Ryback and had a decent feud with Mark Henry next, before defending the WWE title against Daniel Bryan at Summerslam. The champion put the challenger over clean in a big way. Cena helped to make Bryan a star. A period of inactivity due to injury was next, before Cena returned at Hell in a Cell to win the World Title off Alberto Del Rio in a good match. His year closed off when he put Randy Orton over in a good undisputed championship match at TLC. A consistent main event star in matches and promos, there is no denying Cena's place as an elite wrestler. If he was as bad as he is perceived to be there is no way he would have lasted nearly a decade now as the main star of the WWE. He continues to get some of the biggest reactions of the entire roster.
Highlight of the year: Beating The Rock at Wrestlemania 29 for the WWE Title