WrestleMania 33 is only three short days away and this past week’s Raw and SmackDown LIVE have made the WWE Universe ready for WWE’s biggest event of the year.
With very little actual wrestling action taking place this week (only 7 official matches took place this week on Raw and SD), the power rankings for the week didn’t change very much.
However, there are a few new additions and a couple Superstars that fell out of the Top 10, but first, let’s take a look at some of the Superstars that barely missed making the power rankings this week.
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Honourable Mentions:
Luke Harper – This past Tuesday night on SmackDown LIVE, Luke Harper showed up looking a bit different than his Wyatt Family days. Donning a black tank top and dark jeans and being in the best shape of his career, he and Bray Wyatt put on a heck of a match on SmackDown.
Harper ended up eating a “Sister Abigail” from Wyatt and took the loss but the new look and new attitude could do wonders for Harper’s character moving forward after WrestleMania 33.
Baron Corbin – Inching closer and closer to Corbin’s first ever one-on-one title shot, “The Lone Wolf” wasn’t active this week on SmackDown. However, he and IC Champ, Dean Ambrose, were special guests on Talking Smack and gave us some back-and-forth banter that has us looking forward to their match on Sunday.
Sami Zayn – Zayn picked up a huge victory on Monday night, defeating Kevin Owens to earn a spot in The Andre The Giant Battle Royal this Sunday in Orlando. While not expected to win the match, expect Zayn to be a stand-out performer in the battle royal.
Samoa Joe – After debuting on the initial Power Rankings a week ago, Samoa Joe drops out of the Top 10 this week because of his short, impactless role on Raw this past Monday. But if there’s one thing we know about Joe, it’s that it doesn’t take much for him to make an impact, so expect a big impact from “The Destroyer” at WrestleMania 33.
The Usos – The Usos also debuted on the initial Power Rankings last week, but dropped out because of the exceptional performances from other Superstars that were right outside the Top 10 last week.
The fact that they won’t be defending their newly-won SmackDown Tag Team Titles and instead will be in the Andre The Giant Battle Royal at WrestleMania also hurt their stock.
***This week and for weeks in the future, the change in ranking from last week to this week will be in parentheses next to the Superstar’s name.
#10 The Miz and Maryse (Not Ranked)
No Superstar on the entire WWE roster is clicking outside of the squared circle like The Miz is doing right now. Always able to get heat quickly with a mic in his hand, The Miz has become the top heel in WWE since the brand split, and it’s not even close.
His recent feud with John Cena has brought out the best in “The A-Lister” and his wife, Maryse, who for the past two weeks have done skits making fun of the portrayal of Nikki Bella and Cena’s relationship on Total Bellas.
This past week, they even mocked SmackDown LIVE General Manager Daniel Bryan and his wife and Nikki’s sister, Brie Bella.
At the end of the skits this week, Miz stopped the jokes and cut one of the best promos his career on Cena, declaring this Sunday that everyone would find out what they already know about Cena and Nikki.
When this intergender tag team match was booked a month ago or so, I was not too thrilled at the prospect of this match. However, the four Superstars involved have done a great job at making this match a must-see event at WrestleMania 33.
#9 Kevin Owens (-3 Spots)
Kevin Owens debuted last week at number 6 in our power rankings, but a loss to Sami Zayn this week on Raw dropped him a couple spots to number 9.
However, he didn’t fall completely out of the rankings because the loss came at the hands of his former best friend, Chris Jericho, who distracted Owens long enough for Zayn to roll him up for the victory.
However, KO has a huge match coming up at WrestleMania against Jericho for the United States Championship. Since losing the Universal Title, KO has been in somewhat of a slump and is in need of a big victory, and can do so at Mania this Sunday.
#8 John Cena and Nikki Bella (NR)
While there are many fans out there that hate John Cena, there is no denying that Cena has stepped his game up since the brand split.
His matches with AJ Styles during 2016 and then their match at Royal Rumble this year were some of the best matches in WWE history and he has simultaneously been almost as good on the mic.
Since beginning a feud with Miz, the leader of Cenation has had some of the best promos of his career, especially this past Tuesday night on SmackDown LIVE.
These four Superstars will finally get their hands on each other at WrestleMania 33, but the question still remains: Who is the WWE’s “It Couple”? We will find out this Sunday in Orlando.
#7 Chris Jericho (United States Champion) (+1 Spot)
Chris Jericho is up a spot from last week’s rankings at number 7, with plenty of room to move up if he retains his US title this Sunday at WrestleMania 33.
This week on WWE TV, Jericho showed up during Kevin Owens’ match with Sami Zayn and distracted KO enough for Zayn to pick up the win. After the match, Jericho pulled out a revamped “List of Jericho” and finally added Owens’ name to it.
This Sunday is a match most fans have been waiting months for and are expecting it to be one of the better matches of WrestleMania 33. With Jericho due to leave the company for a short time after WrestleMania 33, it is expected that he will drop the US title to his former best friend, Kevin Owens.
#6 Dean Ambrose (Intercontinental Champion) (+1 spot)
Dean Ambrose failed to make an appearance on SmackDown Live this week, however, he and his WrestleMania opponent, Baron Corbin, went at it verbally on Talking Smack.
Each Superstar seemed ready and willing to do anything to walk out of Orlando with the Intercontinental title this Sunday, especially Ambrose.
After a disappointing match at last year’s Mania, there’s no doubt that Dean Ambrose wants to show up Sunday and steal the show, and these two have shown the ability to do just that.
Personally, I can’t wait for this match and have been looking forward to it since Corbin debuted on the main roster.
#5 Roman Reigns (No Change)
There is no question that Roman Reigns faces his toughest challenge yet this Sunday at WrestleMania 33 when he takes on The Undertaker.
However, “The Big Dog” has let it be known that he is in no way afraid or nervous about facing “The Deadman”, and he made that very clear this past week on Raw.
“The Big Dog” sets out to claim “his yard” Sunday night in Orlando in a match that is sure to have the WWE Universe up on its feet the entire time.
It will be very interesting to see how a crowd of over 50,000 people react to the possibility of Reigns defeating The Undertaker, and possibly retiring him from the WWE.
#4 AJ Styles (NC)
AJ Styles may have bitten off a little more than he can chew a couple weeks ago on SmackDown when he attacked Shane McMahon, SmackDown’s Commissioner, by throwing him through the back window of a car.
Since then, Shane has taken every opportunity to let Styles know that he made a mistake by thinking he could take advantage of Shane O’ Mac and bully him into getting what he wanted.
Last week, he put Styles through a table with a diving elbow from the top rope, and this week, he made sure Styles understood the résumé that he has built over the last twenty years.
#3 Randy Orton (NC)
Randy Orton faces off against his former “leader”, Bray Wyatt, this Sunday at WrestleMania 33 in a feud that is set to culminate after months and months of madness.
We’ve seen everything from burning graves to both Superstars using the ashes of Sister Abigail to strengthen themselves or to weaken their opponent. This week was no different as Orton showed back up at the grave of Sister Abigail he set ablaze a few weeks ago, destroying the soul of Abigail.
Both these men have done some wonderful work over the past few months and this feud has honestly been one of the best feuds WWE has run in a long, long time. The only thing better than the mind games played heading into the match is sure to be the match itself.
#2 Goldberg (WWE Universal Champion) (NC)
While Goldberg’s time on Raw hasn’t been necessarily impactful, this past week he made one heck of an impact on his WrestleMania opponent, Brock Lesnar.
Paul Heyman and his beast made their way out to the ring to declare Goldberg’s fate for this Sunday, which was for him to be defeated by “The Beast Incarnate”. However, the WWE Universal Champion made his way out to the arena and made quite the statement himself.
Nobody is certain whether Goldberg’s time with WWE is about to run out, but the match he’s going to have on Sunday will surely have a serious impact on the way his return will be viewed.
There’s no question that he’s exceeded expectations with his current run, but does it all come crashing down on Sunday thanks to Lesnar?
#1 Bray Wyatt (WWE Champion) (+)
The Era of Wyatt began at Elimination Chamber over a month ago and hasn’t slowed down one bit. This past week on SmackDown LIVE, Bray took on his former “brother”, Luke Harper, in a one-on-one matchup that was one of the more hard-hitting contests of the year.
At first, it seemed that Harper had kicked Bray to the curb successfully, no longer stuck in trances like he was months ago. However, by the end of the contest, Harper once again fell victim to Wyatt and was defeated.
This Sunday is by far the biggest match of Bray Wyatt’s career.
Headlining WrestleMania as WWE Champion is one of the biggest accomplishments one can get within the company and the match Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton will have Sunday is sure to steal the show and be twice the match that the Raw title match will be.
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