WWE Raw: Division Power Rankings for April 19

RAW. Photo by WWE.com

Welcome to the Raw Division Power Rankings for this week.

These are the power rankings for each division on Monday Night Raw for this following week. Each division would be ranked based on storyline progression and win/loss record as of 2017. Also, each division would be divided by contenders and pretenders, to differentiate the challengers in their respective division. I’ll also highlight a specific superstar in each division and explain their ranking based on their actions. Win/Loss record is provided by CageMatch.Net.

Each superstar or tag team can move up or down the rankings based on victory, defeat or storyline progression. Let’s see how the rankings shape up this week.

Photo by WWE.com

The Raw Cruiserweight Division

Highlights of the Division

Neville and Austin Aries’ ongoing feud has taken a backseat on Raw to the welcoming change of attitude from TJ Perkins. This was a man who was floundering in the lower-end of the Cruiserweight division till last week—where he pulled a 180 and defeated the top two contenders for the title. Knocking off Jack Gallagher for the second straight time in a span of 6 days was impressive and it shows the world that TJ can potentially usurp Neville’s spot as the top heel in the 205 weight class. 

The stupid love story with Rich Swann and Noam Dar over the affection of Alicia Fox is pathetic and dull. It’s beneath their competitive nature to use a former champion like Alicia Fox as a trophy case in their feud. Alicia should be competing in the Women’s division while Swann and Dar are angling for a title shot. It isn’t hard to create compelling rivalries over a title shot but it’s ridiculous to demean a female competitor as a prop in a love triangle.

Mustafa Ali has been hovering around a .500 win/loss record for a number of weeks now but hasn’t broken the pretender glass ceiling yet. He also hasn’t gotten the fan reaction that the WWE has been looking for. His interactions with Drew Gulak should give the Pakistani high-flyer more opportunities to express himself and give the fans something to react to—other than his awesome finisher.   

I’ve been monitoring the progression and booking of the Cruiserweight Classic runner-up Gran Metalik and it hasn’t been good. He’s lost matches on back to back weeks on WWE Main Event while teaming with Lince Dorado. WWE might be holding off in showcasing Metalik on Raw and 205 Live because he’s doesn’t speak English but how many times are we going to see the same matches on both shows week in and out?

These are the rankings for the division this week.

WWE Cruiserweight Champion: Neville (12 Wins – 3 Losses)

Contenders

• No. 1 Contender: Austin Aries (6 Wins – 2 Loss)
• Contender No. 2: Jack Gallagher (14 Wins – 7 Losses)
• Contender No. 3: The Brian Kendrick (9 Wins – 6 Losses)
• Contender No. 4: Rich Swann (8 Wins – 3 Losses)
• Contender No. 5: Akira Tozawa (10 Wins – 4 Losses)
• Contender No. 6: TJ Perkins (9 Wins – 11 Losses)
• Contender No. 7: Gran Metalik (5 Wins – 2 Losses)

Pretenders

• Pretender No. 1: Mustafa Ali (9 Wins – 10 Losses)
• Pretender No. 2: Cedric Alexander (5 Wins – 6 Losses)
• Pretender No. 3: Ariya Daivari (6 Wins – 9 Losses)
• Pretender No. 4: Drew Gulak (5 Wins – 8 Losses)
• Pretender No. 5: Tony Nese (7 Wins – 15 Losses)
• Pretender No. 6: Noam Dar (4 Wins – 15 Losses)
• Pretender No. 7: Lince Dorado (1 Win – 9 Losses)