WWE SmackDown Division Power Rankings: Jinder Mahal Beats Randy Orton

Smackdown Live

. Photo by WWE.com

The SmackDown Live Mid Card Division

Highlights of the Division

It looks like the winner of the United States Championship match at Backlash might be positioning themselves for a future WWE title shot down the line. That would probably make sense since both AJ Styles and Kevin Owens are still owed world title rematches that they haven’t received yet. Owens lost his Universal title to Goldberg at Fastlane and never got a rematch, same goes with AJ and loss at the Royal Rumble. It’ll be wise for the WWE to play up that angle before Backlash approaches.

Sami Zayn and Baron Corbin most likely be a Backlash match to determine who will get a shot at the United States Championship. Both men have been hovering around the top of the mid card division for weeks now but haven’t looked good all year round. Corbin looks like the guy who needs this win more than Zayn does based on the rumours circulating that the WWE might push him to the top of the card later this year.

Erick Rowan scored his first win of the year against his former Wyatt brethren Luke Harper. It’s kind of shocking and surprising that both men haven’t really accomplished anything since splitting with Bray Wyatt. They have always seem better to be paired up as a tag team than single competitors and let’s be frank here, neither men will get any crack for both the US and WWE championships based on their performances. The WWE should consider reforming Harper and Rowan as a tag team once again and have them run roughshod over the entire division. That would definitely change-up the flow of the Smackdown Live product. 

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

WWE United States Champion: Kevin Owens (10 Wins – 7 Losses)

Contenders

• No. 1 Contender: AJ Styles (7 Wins – 6 Losses)
• Contender No. 2: Sami Zayn (6 Wins – 12 Losses)
• Contender No. 2: Chris Jericho (5 Wins – 8 Losses)
• Contender No. 3: Baron Corbin (4 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 – 9 Losses)
• Pretender No. 5: Erick Rowan (1 Win – 4 Losses) (Moved Up 1 Spot)
• Pretender No. 6: Aiden English (1 Win – 5 Losses) (Moved Down 1 Spot)