SK Power Rankings: May 7th, 2017
After another exciting week of WWE programming, our Power Rankings took on a different look, even if the names stayed the same. Several huge matchups at Payback, Raw, and SmackDown Live from this past week have given some Superstars new life, including an explosion of women’s talent in and right outside of our Rankings.
So right now, let’s take a look at the Superstars or tag teams that just missed out on making the top 10 this week and others that fell out of our Power Rankings.
Honourable Mentions:
Naomi – Naomi has been in and out of our Rankings since winning the Smackdown Women’s Title back at Wrestlemania 33 a few weeks ago. This week she’s on the outside looking in after being pinned in a tag team match by Carmella this week on Smackdown Live.
With a six-woman tag team match on the horizon at Backlash, Naomi (and the entire SD Women’s division) may stay right outside the top 10 for the next few weeks.
Welcoming Committee – Never in my wildest dreams did I think Carmella, Tamina, or Natalya would come close to cracking our Power Rankings, yet after the past few weeks “The Welcoming Committee” have put together, these three women are becoming hard to ignore.
The trio feels they’ve been overlooked in SmackDown Live’s revamped Women’s division and especially disrespected by SD management for giving Charlotte “special treatment”. This past week, Carmella and Natalya defeated Naomi and Charlotte in a tag match on SDL and seem to be heading for a six-woman tag match at SmackDown Live’s next exclusive PPV, Backlash.
Charlotte – ”The Queen” has made quite the impact on SmackDown Live after moving over to the blue brand from Raw a few weeks ago in the Superstar Shake-up. Charlotte was immediately placed in what we thought was a feud with Naomi for the SD Women’s Title.
However, that has been put on hold while Charlotte, Naomi, and Becky Lynch deal with “The Welcoming Committee". Now, with a six-woman tag match possibly planned for Backlash, it seems that Creative’s main goal for Charlotte on the blue brand may be to turn the long-time heel into a babyface.
Time will surely tell, and if “The Queen” aligns herself with Naomi and Lynch just to take out “The Welcoming Committee" and then turns her back on the two babyfaces, it will be the perfect way to start her SmackDown Live career.
Bray Wyatt – When we first started our Rankings, Bray Wyatt was by far the #1 Superstar in all of WWE. Nowadays, “The Eater of Worlds” struggles to find a spot in our top 10. In fact, he has been in somewhat of a limbo with Creative ever since he lost his WWE Title to Randy Orton at Wrestlemania 33.
Finishing up his feud with Orton on SD and moving on to new feuds on Raw have kept Wyatt from making the kind of impact he was making a few months ago. Hopefully, now that he’s completely done with SmackDown Live, Wyatt can find his groove on Monday nights and become the big-time player he was just a few short weeks ago.
The Miz – It would be extremely difficult to find a WWE Superstar that has benefited more from the brand split than The Miz. From his fantastic reign as Intercontinental Champion on SmackDown Live to his feud with John Cena, Miz now looks to take back what has brought him back to relevance over the past year, the Intercontinental Championship.
With a matchup against Dean Ambrose coming up, The Miz will surely look to climb up our Rankings in the weeks to come.
***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 Seth Rollins (No Change)
Seth Rollins has been on quite a tear since defeating Triple H at Wrestlemania 33, and his hot streak didn’t end at Payback. After a very brutal back-and-forth contest between Rollins and Samoa Joe, the Kingslayer picked up the win after he countered the “Coquina Clutch” into a roll-up for the 1, 2, 3.
The next night on Raw, Rollins made it clear, along with Finn Bálor and The Miz, that he wanted a shot at Brock Lesnar and the WWE Universal Title. However, instead of a shot at “The Beast Incarnate”, the three men were put into a #1 contender’s match for Dean Ambrose’s Intercontinental Title.
After an intense battle between the three, Rollins began to fire on all cylinders, showing off some very impressive acrobatic offence and looked like he was well on his way to becoming the #1 contender. As Rollins attempted to put the finishing touches on The Miz, Samoa Joe appeared out of nowhere and took out The Kingslayer.
The Miz eventually picked up the win to become the #1 contender and it seems that the feud between Joe and Rollins is far from over.