List of Pro Wrestling Illustrated awards
Wrestler of the Year
The PWI Wrestler of the Year award recognizes the best professional wrestler of the year. Ric Flair has won the award a record six times.

List of Pro Wrestling Illustrated awards

Section Title: Wrestler of the Year
Table Section Text: The PWI Wrestler of the Year award recognizes the best professional wrestler of the year. Ric Flair has won the award a record six times.

Year	Winner	Runner-up	Second runner-up	Third runner-up

1972	Pedro Morales	N/A	N/A	N/A

1973	Jack Brisco	N/A	N/A	N/A

1974	Bruno Sammartino	N/A	N/A	N/A

1975	Mr. Wrestling II	N/A	N/A	N/A

1976	Terry Funk	Bruno Sammartino	Nick Bockwinkel	Paul Jones

1977	Dusty Rhodes	Superstar Billy Graham	Bob Backlund	Harley Race

1978	Dusty Rhodes (2)	Bob Backlund	Ricky Steamboat	Harley Race

1979	Harley Race	Dusty Rhodes	Jimmy Snuka	Bob Backlund

1980	Bob Backlund	Harley Race	Verne Gagne	The Iron Sheik

1981	Ric Flair	Bob Backlund	Tommy Rich	Dusty Rhodes

1982	Bob Backlund (2)	Ric Flair	Hulk Hogan	Jimmy Snuka

1983	Harley Race (2)	Nick Bockwinkel	André the Giant	Bob Backlund

1984	Ric Flair (2)	Hulk Hogan	Kerry Von Erich	Rick Martel

1985	Ric Flair (3)	Hulk Hogan	Rick Martel	Sgt. Slaughter

1986	Ric Flair (4)	Hulk Hogan	Randy Savage	Nikita Koloff

1987	Hulk Hogan	Ric Flair	Randy Savage	Steve Williams

1988	Randy Savage	Jerry Lawler	Lex Luger	Ric Flair

1989	Ric Flair (5)	Hulk Hogan	Lex Luger	Ricky Steamboat

1990	Sting	The Ultimate Warrior	Hulk Hogan	Lex Luger

1991	Hulk Hogan (2)	Lex Luger	Bret Hart	Sting

1992	Ric Flair (6)	Ron Simmons	Rick Rude	Bret Hart

1993	Big Van Vader	Bret Hart	Shawn Michaels	Yokozuna

1994	Hulk Hogan (3)	Bret Hart	Razor Ramon	Ric Flair

1995	Diesel	Shawn Michaels	Sting	Hulk Hogan

1996	The Giant	Shawn Michaels	Ric Flair	Ahmed Johnson

1997	Lex Luger	Stone Cold Steve Austin	The Undertaker	Diamond Dallas Page

1998	Stone Cold Steve Austin	Goldberg	Diamond Dallas Page	The Rock

1999	Stone Cold Steve Austin (2)	The Rock	Sting	Taz

2000	The Rock	Triple H	Booker T	Kurt Angle

2001	Stone Cold Steve Austin (3)	Kurt Angle	The Rock	Rob Van Dam

2002	Brock Lesnar	Rob Van Dam	Triple H	The Undertaker

2003	Kurt Angle	Brock Lesnar	Triple H	A.J. Styles

2004	Chris Benoit	Randy Orton	Eddie Guerrero	A.J. Styles

2005	Batista	John Cena	A.J. Styles	Samoa Joe

2006	John Cena	Samoa Joe	Rey Mysterio	Edge

2007	John Cena (2)	Kurt Angle	Batista	Randy Orton

2008	Triple H	Kurt Angle	Randy Orton	Samoa Joe

2009	Randy Orton	John Cena	Chris Jericho	Kurt Angle

2010	Randy Orton (2)	Rob Van Dam	John Cena	Sheamus

2011	CM Punk	John Cena	Davey Richards	Bobby Roode

2012	CM Punk (2)	Sheamus	Austin Aries	John Cena

2013	Daniel Bryan	John Cena	Bully Ray	Randy Orton

2014	Brock Lesnar (2)	Daniel Bryan	A.J. Styles	John Cena

2015	Seth Rollins	Jay Lethal	Roman Reigns	John Cena

2016	A.J. Styles	Roman Reigns	Kevin Owens	Dean Ambrose

2017	A.J. Styles (2)	Kazuchika Okada	Kenny Omega	Cody

2018	A.J. Styles (3)	Kenny Omega	Cody	Seth Rollins

Sentence(s)

In 2001, Rob Van Dam was the Wrestler of the Year.

final_sentence: In 2001, Rob Van Dam was the Wrestler of the Year.