Survivor Series is one of the biggest shows of the year for WWE, and the results of the show were bound to have an impact on the Power Rankings as well. These expectations were exceeded as Sunday night’s show completely turned the Power Rankings upside down.
Kevin Owens, who reigned on top, suffered an early elimination that worked against him in the rankings when Goldberg came in with one of the biggest wins in recent history.
Meanwhile, a string of unexpected survivors poked up last night and also had an impact on the rankings. As we are now heading into the post-Survivor Series period, here is a look at how the show changed the Power Rankings.
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#10 Cesaro and Sheamus (NR)
The tag team of Cesaro and Sheamus was a work in progress. It was interesting to see Sheamus and Cesaro team up initially, but the whole storyline had slowed down a bit since then. At Survivor Series, it once again hit the throttle.
In a match that showcased the top teams from both brands, it was Cesaro and Sheamus that came out on top, and this is a big achievement indeed.
By doing so, Cesaro and Sheamus have now earned a shot at the Tag team championships and if they manage to dethrone New Day from the top on Monday Night, expect the team to make another leap in the rankings.
#9 Seth Rollins (NC)
Seth Rollins was part of Team Raw that suffered defeat on Sunday night. Despite the defeat, Rollins had a strong showing in the match, and this is why he manages to keep his place in the rankings. Rollins was second last man to get eliminated in the match, and he also managed to get an elimination when he took AJ Styles out of the contest.
Pinning the WWE champion helps Rollins look good. The real question, however, would be Rollins' future. He needs to have a clear-cut direction after Survivor Series, and we could get a clearer picture when WWE brings out Raw on Monday night.
#8 Bayley (NR)
The Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte feud had run its course at Hell in a Cell. WWE needed to establish a new challenger for Charlotte, and they successfully did the same at Survivor Series. Charlotte and Bayley were the survivors for Team Raw, and this means that Bayley is ready to stand toe-to-toe with Charlotte.
Bayley also has a case to make with Stephanie McMahon and Mick Foley after such a performance. Charlotte’s pay-per-view streak could be played into the storyline as well and in comparison to Sasha; Bayley might be able to evoke a reaction from the crowd as she is the underdog, which always works for the baby faces.
#7 The Miz (NR)
The Miz makes his return to the Power Rankings after a long break, thanks to regaining the Intercontinental championship at SmackDown this past week. In addition to this, The Miz also successfully defended his recently-earned belt against Sami Zayn on Sunday night.
The two wins help Miz make his return to the rankings but there are many questions that need to be answered.
With the Zayn chapter in the past now, Miz could move back to the Dolph Ziggler program that he has on SmackDown. But as we have already seen these two face off on numerous occasions, the amount of success that they could produce would be questionable.
#6 The Wyatt Family (NR)
If you have to point out one reason why Team SmackDown won, here it is: The Wyatt Family. In a match that had its fair share of count out and disqualification eliminations, it was Wyatt Family that cleaned up Raw.
Both Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt were responsible for all three of Team Raw’s legitimate eliminations, with Bray getting two pins and Orton getting one.
Leading SmackDown to the win has positioned the stable well as they head into TLC and the Orton – Wyatt Storyline has also picked up momentum due to the same. The exact destination of their journey could be revealed this week on SmackDown.
#5 AJ Styles (-1)
Getting pinned and being eliminated was probably not the ideal way that AJ Styles wanted his Survivor Series to end, but the fans would easily forget this since his elimination involved the temporary reunion of Shield.
Ambrose coming out and joining his Shield teammates for a brief moment was indeed a memorable spell but at the same time, he directly helped Team Raw by doing so.
As SmackDown went on to win the match, the actions of Ambrose might be forgiven, but WWE has already started building up towards Ambrose vs. Styles at TLC and what went down at Survivor Series was the first chapter of the story.
#4 Kevin Owens (-3)
The booking woes of Kevin Owens continued at Survivor Series when he suffered an early elimination. None of the Superstars from SmackDown pinned or submitted him, but at the same time, the way he got eliminated, showcases irresponsibility. Using the list of Jericho as a weapon might be WWE’s idea of kick starting the feud with Jericho.
The Owens vs. Jericho program is bound to happen soon and now, as WWE has a good reason to pull the plug on their best friend relation, Monday night would be a good place to turn these two against each other.
#3 Roman Reigns (-1)
A good portion of the fans out there thought that WWE was going to make Reigns the lone Survivor. When Seth Rollins was eliminated, this assumption grew stronger. While such a decision would’ve had a huge impact on the Power Rankings of Reigns, it would’ve bombed with the fans.
Fortunately, WWE went with a win for Team SmackDown, but going that far was a big positive for Reigns.
He was one of the strongest members of Team Raw in the match and it was his spear that took out Shane McMahon. However, the lack of a proper finish and elimination costs Reigns a place in the rankings.
#2 Charlotte (+1)
The pay-per-view streak of Charlotte lived to see another day. Ever since she showed on the main roster, Charlotte has been booked strongly and has slowly turned herself into one of the major superstars on Raw. She was the only captain from six teams that tasted victory at Survivor Series and this is enough to showcase the confidence that WWE has in her.
A feud with Bayley, as mentioned earlier, looks to be in the works next. After her feud with Sasha Banks, this will be an entirely different challenge and this means, it would be another platform for Charlotte to showcase how good she is.
#1 Goldberg (+9)
Brock Lesnar came into the match against Goldberg with almost three years of buildup. He ended the streak of the Undertaker, destroyed John Cena, and outclassed almost everyone that stepped into his path. And Lesnar going to UFC 200 and getting a win raised his stock higher. He was considered to be unbeatable.
Goldberg comes in, pulls off three moves and defeats Lesnar in under two minutes. Do we need any more reasons to make Goldberg the top ranked name in the list? This latest spell from Goldberg seems set to continue and if that is the case, he could be staying on top for some time.
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