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WWE SmackDown Live Division Rankings: The Jinder Mahal Era Begins

By Warsame A

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Smackdown Live. Photo by WWE.com

The Smackdown Live Mid Card Division

Highlights of the Division

The odd booking of Baron Corbin is beyond strange and dumbfounded to say the least. He has lost in back-to-back contests with Sami Zayn and now hails a 4-12 win/loss record for the year. The mishandling booking of the Lone Wolf is one of the most outrageous crimes the WWE has committed in 2017. He had an absolute strong push to end 2016 with a bang, to now looking like a man who has no shot in winning the Money in the Bank briefcase. The man has one month before the pay per view to rack up some wins and momentum to regain back the credibility he has lost since early April—when he pinned the Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose in the middle of the ring. He hasn’t won a singles match since. That has to change.

It’s surprising that Kevin Owens will be participating in the ladder match at Money in the Bank without defending his US title. It honestly looks like he has unfinished business with AJ Styles and it wouldn’t be surprising if they have another championship match before the pay per view looms in. Or actually, there could be one scenario that WWE could look at where they can remove AJ and KO from the ladder match and replace them with two different superstars.

Possible Scenarios to Remove Owens and Styles from MITB Ladder Match

That scenario would have to be forcing both Styles and Owens in singles matches on Smackdown Live against two men who wanted an opportunity to be in the ladder match. Tye Dillinger was on Talking Smack after Backlash and he told Renee Young that he wanted to be in the MITB ladder match. He could confront Shane McMahon in the following weeks and asked to be put in that match. He could pit him in a match against Kevin Owens and the winner of that match goes to the ladder match. The same could be said for Rusev, he’s been demanding a WWE title shot at MITB. Shane could also pit him against AJ Styles and the winner can go to the ladder match as well.

This scenario can free up Styles and Owens away from the ladder match. They could face each other on the pay per view for the US title while two fresh new challengers can be added to the MITB ladder match. It’ll be a win for everybody. 

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

WWE United States Champion: Kevin Owens (11 Wins – 8 Losses)

Contenders

  • No. 1 Contender: AJ Styles (8 Wins – 8 Losses)
  • Contender No. 2: Sami Zayn (8 Wins – 12 Losses)
  • Contender No. 2: Chris Jericho (5 Wins – 8 Losses)
  • Contender No. 3: Mojo Rawley (6 Wins – 3 Losses)
  • Contender No. 4: Baron Corbin (4 Wins – 12 Losses) (Moved Down 1 Spot)
  • Contender No. 5: Rusev (3 Wins – 7 Losses)

Pretenders

  • Pretender No. 1: Dolph Ziggler (4 Wins – 10 Losses)
  • Pretender No. 2: Tye Dillinger (4 Wins – 0 Losses)
  • Pretender No. 3: Sin Cara (2 Wins – 6 Losses)
  • Pretender No. 4: Luke Harper (2 Wins – 9 Losses)
  • Pretender No. 5: Erick Rowan (1 Win – 5 Losses)
  • Pretender No. 6: Aiden English (1 Win – 6 Losses)