SK WWE Power Rankings: April 8th, 2017
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.
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.