WWE SmackDown Live Division Power Rankings: Kevin Owens Destroys Chris Jericho

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The SmackDown Live Mid Card Division

Highlights of the Division

The main event of Smackdown Live saw Kevin Owens reclaim his United States Championship from RAW’s newly arrived import: Chris Jericho. It was a silly idea for Owens to lose his title in the first place at Payback just to win it back two days later. Having him viciously dismantle Y2J after his victory should be the catalyst to stake his name as the man to beat on the blue brand.

AJ Styles will face Kevin Owens for the US title at Backlash but won’t be walking away with the championship. The reason for this specific logic is because AJ is a world title competitor who still hasn’t received his rematch for the WWE Championship. It wouldn’t be wise for the WWE to strap a mid card title to the face of Smackdown Live. The Phenomenal One should lose to KO and hover back to the WWE title picture where he should await the winner of the Backlash main event.

Meanwhile, for the Rest of the Division

Dolph Ziggler scored a needed victory over the newly acquired luchador from RAW: Sin Cara. The Showoff has arguably had the worst year of his professional career after the success he had last year. The potential match he might have with Shinsuke Nakamura should be a barometer for the overall progression of Dolph Ziggler. Will their match be competitive or will it be a one-sided beatdown?

Tye Dillinger defeated Aiden English once again to nab his third win since joining Smackdown Live last month. This slow progression is key to build up the Perfect 10 as a huge superstar and shed his label as a pretender in the mid card division. In order for him to be considered a contender, he must defeat someone that’s above him in the rankings in order to qualify as such.

Let’s see the rankings for the division this week.

WWE United States Champion: Kevin Owens (9 Wins – 7 Losses)

Contenders

• No. 1 Contender: AJ Styles (7 Wins – 5 Losses)
• Contender No. 2: Sami Zayn (6 Wins – 11 Losses)
• Contender No. 2: Chris Jericho (5 Wins – 8 Losses)
• Contender No. 3: Baron Corbin (3 Wins – 9 Losses)
• Contender No. 4: Mojo Rawley (6 Wins – 3 Losses)
• Contender No. 5: Rusev (3 Wins – 7 Losses)

Pretenders

• Pretender No. 1: Dolph Ziggler (4 Wins – 9 Losses)
• Pretender No. 2: Tye Dillinger (3 Wins – 0 Losses)
• Pretender No. 3: Sin Cara (2 Wins – 6 Losses)
• Pretender No. 4: Luke Harper (1 Win – 8 Losses)
• Pretender No. 5: Aiden English (1 Win – 5 Losses)
• Pretender No. 6: Erick Rowan (0 Wins – 4 Losses)