WWE Raw: Division Power Rankings Before WWE Payback

RAW. Photo by WWE.com

Welcome to the RAW Division Power Rankings before WWE Payback.

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

The featured Cruiserweight match on RAW was a tag team showdown between Austin Aries and Jack Gallagher versus TJ Perkins and his new business partner Neville. Aries picked up the huge win for his team by pinning TJ while the Cruiserweight Champion looked on at the entrance ramp. The title match between Neville and Aries has a feel of unpredictability where you don’t know who will walk away with the championship.

Neville has been a dominant title holder since the turn of the new year and might be facing the possibility of losing his championship this upcoming Sunday. If he beats Aries and retains the title, who would be next? I highly doubt that TJ Perkins would be in a position to challenge the crown of 205 Live, especially losing to Aries on RAW.

A-Double must defeat Neville in order to solidify his position as the best cruiserweight in the world. If he loses to Neville—he’ll be stuck in the same vicinity that Rich Swann, Jack Gallagher and Brian Kendrick are in: “Championship Purgatory”. This area is reserved to people who have lost the championship or the opportunity to challenge for it and are stuck in limbo with the rest of the contenders.    

For the sake of the division and for the repetitiveness of 205 Live, Aries needs to be the new “King of the Cruiserweights”. It’ll force Neville to re-invent himself as the top challenger trying to get back his gold and give A-Double a batch of fresh new challengers.   

Guys like Mustafa Ali, Gran Metalik, Akira Tozawa and Ariya Daivari would be given opportunities to challenge the new champion and might get a shot to move up the rankings. It’ll definitely shake-up the hierarchy of the division if Aries is the champ, if Neville retains his championship: more of the same will continue to trend on 205 Live. 

These are the rankings for the division this week.

WWE Cruiserweight Champion: Neville (13 Wins – 4 Losses)

Contenders

• No. 1 Contender: Austin Aries (7 Wins – 2 Loss)
• Contender No. 2: Jack Gallagher (15 Wins – 8 Losses)
• Contender No. 3: The Brian Kendrick (9 Wins – 7 Losses)
• Contender No. 4: Rich Swann (9 Wins – 3 Losses)
• Contender No. 5: Akira Tozawa (11 Wins – 4 Losses)
• Contender No. 6: TJ Perkins (9 Wins – 12 Losses)
• Contender No. 7: Gran Metalik (6 Wins – 2 Losses)

Pretenders

• Pretender No. 1: Mustafa Ali (9 Wins – 11 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 – 9 Losses)
• Pretender No. 5: Tony Nese (8 Wins – 16 Losses)
• Pretender No. 6: Noam Dar (4 Wins – 16 Losses)
• Pretender No. 7: Lince Dorado (2 Wins – 9 Losses)