The landscape of WWE changed dramatically over the course of this week with WrestleMania 33 and the Raw and SmackDown after Mania taking place. The shows that take place on the nights after Mania are always some of the most exciting of the year, and with plenty of debuts and returns, this year’s editions did not disappoint.
With those debuts and returns happening, some changes have occurred to our Power Rankings, but first, let’s take a look at some of the Superstars that barely missed making it to the power rankings this week and the Superstars that fell out of the Rankings from last week.
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Honourable Mentions:
Baron Corbin - After a disappointing loss (and somewhat disappointing match) at WrestleMania to Dean Ambrose, “The Lone Wolf” asked for a rematch with Ambrose on this week’s SmackDown Live. However, this time Corbin demanded that it be a street fight and took full advantage of the stipulation.
After a very brutal, but entertaining match, Corbin picked up a huge win after hitting Ambrose with an “End of Days” and now looks set to finally capture the Intercontinental Title.
Samoa Joe - Shockingly, not only did Samoa Joe not have a match for WrestleMania this past weekend but “The Samoan Submission Machine” wasn’t featured on “The Grandest Stage of Them All” at all. However, the next night “The Destroyer” seemed determined to make a serious impact on RAW.
After sneak attacking Chris Jericho with Kevin Owens backstage, Joe and KO squared off with Seth Rollins and the returning Finn Balor in the main event. Even though his team lost the match, Joe’s impact on RAW seems to be increasing by the week.
Mojo Rawley – Since Zack Ryder’s injury a few months ago, Mojo Rawley has been in somewhat of a limbo on SmackDown LIVE, until this past Sunday. At WrestleMania 33, Mojo (with a little help from his friend Rob Gronkowski) won the Andre The Giant Battle Royal, picking up the biggest victory of his career to this point.
While some of the debuts and returns kept him out of the Top 10, Mojo has a chance to move into the Power Rankings over the next few weeks.
The Revival - The second-biggest debut of the week went to Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder, known to most as The Revival. Debuting on Raw and answering an open challenge from the top tag team on RAW, New Day, the “Top Guys” from NXT debuted with a bang by defeating the former two-time tag champs Monday night.
The sky is the limit for Dash and Dawson and with a few more wins, The Revival will surely debut in our Power Rankings sooner rather than later.
Shinsuke Nakamura – Don’t expect Nakamura’s name to stay in the Honourable Mentions section for very long. “The King of Strong Style” has arrived on the main roster and has immediately become a fan favourite in just a couple days.
Shinsuke is ready to be the top babyface of whichever show he ends up on after next week’s “Superstar Shake-up” and won’t take long to debut in our Power Rankings.
Superstars Who Dropped Out of the Power Rankings: Miz and Maryse, John Cena and Nikki Bella, Chris Jericho, Goldberg
***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 Finn Bálor (Not Ranked)
Finn Bálor has been missing from WWE TV since injuring his shoulder severely at Summerslam last summer. This past Monday, “The Demon” returned to Raw to replace Chris Jericho as Seth Rollins’ tag team partner against Kevin Owens and Samoa Joe.
Coincidentally, Bálor’s teammate on Monday night was the same Superstar that had put him on the shelf for over 6 months, but that didn’t keep the two men from picking up the tag victory.
Not surprisingly, it didn’t take long for Finn to reassert himself into the main event picture on Raw and in our Power Rankings. It seemed this past Monday that Finn and KO had quite some animosity with each other, which could likely lead to the two feuding over KO’s recently won United States Title.
#9 Seth Rollins (NR)
Seth Rollins finally returned to in-ring competition this past Sunday at WrestleMania in a non-sanctioned match with Triple H. And boy, he did not disappoint. The match was one of the better ones from the show and Rollins went on to pick up the victory over Trips after hitting a “Pedigree” on his former mentor.
The following night on Raw, Rollins was scheduled to team with Y2J to attempt to gain some retribution against Jericho’s opponent from the night before, Kevin Owens and the man that put Rollins on the shelf, Samoa Joe.
After KO and Joe jumped Jericho backstage, Rollins was left without a partner for the match later that night, until new Raw GM Kurt Angle appointed Finn Bálor as his new partner.
Finn and Rollins picked up the win, and Rollins now likely will head into a feud with Samoa Joe.
#8 The Hardy Boyz (NR)
If there was one moment from this past Sunday’s WrestleMania that got the WWE Universe talking, it was the return of Matt and Jeff, The Hardy Boyz. The Hardyz returned to take place in the Raw Tag Team Title Ladder Match at WrestleMania, making the match a Fatal 4 Way.
After a great match that featured Jeff jumping off a 30-foot ladder to deliver a Swanton Bomb to Cesaro and Sheamus who were draped across ladders, Matt climbed the ladder and secured the Raw tag titles for the Hardyz, making them the seven-time tag team champions in the WWE.
The following night on Raw, Matt and Jeff were forced to defend their newly won titles against the former champs, The Club.
After a decent tag match, Matt Hardy hit Luke Gallows with a Twist of Fate and then Jeff hit a Swanton Bomb on Sheamus and Cesaro to pick up the win. With the return of the Hardyz and the debut of The Revival, the Raw tag team division is now loaded and should be one of the most compelling parts of Monday nights.
#7 Dean Ambrose (-1 Spot)
Many fans, before WrestleMania, believed that Ambrose was going to lose his Intercontinental Title at WrestleMania 33 to Baron Corbin. However, most fans also expected this match to be on the main show, but seemingly at the last minute, the match was moved to the Mania pre-show.
The match was underwhelming, to say the least, even though it barely got half the time it deserved to get after the year these two Superstars have had and saw Ambrose retain his IC Title.
Two nights later on SmackDown LIVE, Corbin demanded a rematch with “The Lunatic Fringe”, but this time it was in a street fight and the IC Title was not on the line. Corbin picked up the win in a match that was much better and way more intense than their match at Mania.
Moving forward, it seems that Baron Corbin and Dean Ambrose have unfinished business and it wouldn’t surprise us to see Corbin eventually end Ambrose’s reign as Intercontinental Champ.
#6 Kevin Owens (+3 Spots)
Kevin Owens has put together quite the résumé in his short time in WWE, and on Sunday night, KO added another impressive feat to it.
Owens defeated his former best friend, Chris Jericho, for the coveted United States Title and is now only a tag team title win away from becoming a Grand Slam Champion in WWE.
In a little less than two years, Kevin Owens has won more titles than most do in a career and has beat some Superstars that the other guys would only dream of defeating.
Although he lost the main event tag match the next night on Raw, Kevin Owens showed Sunday night why he’s considered one of the top guys in the company. At this month’s Raw PPV, Payback, Kevin Owens is scheduled for his rematch with Jericho.
However, after the attack KO and Samoa Joe put on Jericho this past Monday, that match is now in doubt, and could lead to Finn Bálor taking Y2J’s place.
#5 Bray Wyatt (-4 Spots)
Bray Wyatt has been number one in this power rankings for weeks now, but losing the WWE Title at WrestleMania this past Sunday night dropped “The Eater of Worlds” several spots in our Power Rankings to number 5.
The build-up to this match was some of the best storytelling WWE has done recently, but the match itself was very, very underwhelming. Fortunately, it seems like the reasoning behind it was that this feud is nowhere close to concluding anytime soon.
The following Tuesday on SmackDown LIVE, Wyatt challenged Orton to a rematch, this time in a match that Wyatt deemed a “House of Horrors Match”.
Orton agreed to the match, even though he didn’t fully comprehend what kind of a match had he agreed to, then told Wyatt to make his way to the ring. Wyatt obliged, teleporting to the ring and ambushing “The Viper”, but Orton would turn the tables.
However, as soon as Orton gained control, Erick Rowan made his return to the WWE by attacking Orton and re-aligning himself with Bray. Luke Harper came out to make the save and a tag match was set-up for the main event that night, where Harper and Orton would best The Wyatts.
#4 Roman Reigns (+1 Spot)
WrestleMania 33 was by far the biggest night of Roman Reigns’ career, as he was able to defeat The Undertaker in a match that Reigns pretty much dominated. After the match, Reigns left the ring so that Taker could have his final moment in the sun, as it was assumed that this was the last time that we’d see “The Deadman” in a WWE ring.
But the real fun didn’t start until the next night on Raw. Roman started the show and came out to an unbelievable chorus of boos and deragatory chants. When Reigns’ music stopped playing, the noise of disapproval in the arena was deafening.
He stood in the ring for what felt like an eternity, waiting for the crowd to settle down just a little bit so he could deliver his promo. However, every time “The Big Dog” put the mic up to speak, the arena would boo louder, trying to insure they never heard a word from Reigns.
Roman eventually spoke, and even though it was only five words, may have been the best promo he’s done to date, saying simply “This is my yard now”, Roman dropped the mic and walked out of the ring while being booed mercilessly.
It really seems like Roman is starting to embrace the “not a good guy, not a bad guy” persona. His heelish work leading into his match with Taker was excellent and the poise he showed in the ring Monday night was something many may have thought that they’d never see from Reigns.
Later in the night, Braun Strowman made it very clear that he has unfinished business with Reigns, so expect their feud to continue moving forward.
#3 AJ Styles (+1 Spot)
AJ Styles is simply the man.
After putting on the match of the night at WrestleMania 33, with Shane McMahon at that, there is no debate that AJ Styles is the best Superstar WWE has to offer currently. Over the past year, Styles has proved capable of putting on a 4-star match with anybody in the company, regardless of size or athleticism.
The following Tuesday night, Styles interrupted Shane O’ Mac and told him that he didn’t want to be moved during the “Superstar Shake-up” next week because as everyone knew already, SmackDown LIVE is the house that AJ built and he wasn’t going to let another Superstar take that away from him.
After his comments about SD, Styles also stated he had something to say to Shane, but instead, just stuck his hand out for a handshake between the two that was well-deserved and a great moment to see.
While many do believe that Styles is heading to Raw next week, there is no denying that SmackDown LIVE is what it is because of “The Phenomenal One”.
#2 Brock Lesnar (NR)
Brock Lesnar has been widely regarded as one of the toughest Superstars in WWE history, having defeated some of the best that the WWE has had to offer. However, there was one man that always seemed to have “The Beast”’s number, and that man was Goldberg.
After WrestleMania 33, it seems like Lesnar has exorcised those demons by finally getting the best of Goldberg and winning the WWE Universal Title this past Sunday, in a match that, honestly, was way better than I thought it would be. Lesnar joined Kevin Nash, Triple H, Bret Hart, Scott Steiner and Booker T in the list of men to have conquered the Myth himself.
The following night on Raw, Lesnar and his advocate, Paul Heyman, made their way to the ring to gloat about Lesnar’s win the night before, when they were suddenly interrupted by Braun Strowman.
Strowman claimed Lesnar has gotten “The Monster Among Men”’s attention and after he was finished with Roman Reigns, maybe Strowman would gain Lesnar’s attention, then shoved Lesnar.
Nothing came from the confrontation, however, it’s clear to see that these two will be meeting eventually.
#1 Randy Orton (+2 Spots)
As mentioned in the Bray Wyatt write-up, Orton and Wyatt’s title match Sunday was a bit underwhelming given how fantastic the build-up was to the match.
However, there is no denying that Orton solidified his spot as one of the top Superstars in WWE history by becoming a 13-time World Champion, behind only Ric Flair, John Cena, and Triple H in the history books.
On SmackDown the following Tuesday night, Orton opened up the show, but was quickly interrupted by Bray Wyatt.
Wyatt challenged him to a “House of Horrors” match and Orton accepted, even though he wasn’t fully aware of exactly what he was signing up for. He and Luke Harper picked up a tag win over Bray and the returning Erick Rowan in the main event later that night and this blood feud between Orton and Wyatt is FAR from over.
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