WWE SmackDown Rankings: AJ Styles and John Cena Join Forces

Smackdown Live. Photo by WWE.com

Welcome to the Smackdown Live Division Rankings for the July 11 episode.

These are the power rankings for each division on Smackdown Live 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 get right to the rankings.

Smackdown Live. Photo by WWE.com

The SmackDown Live Women’s Division

Highlights of the Division

The Fatal-5 Way Elimination Match at Battleground is an interesting way of having Naomi keeping her title till Summerslam while she awaits her opponent. The obvious choice of who should win it must be Charlotte. A match between Naomi and Charlotte is a show stealing match that should be worthy of being a Summerslam match. Both competitors have unfinished business to settle since it was interrupted back in April and Naomi should be favoured to retain the title if that’s the case.   

The beef between Carmella and the Smackdown management continues as Shane McMahon ripped up her lawyer’s written request to reinstate James Ellsworth on TV. This storyline has the potential to steal the show if played out properly. Carmella could use that encounter with Shane McMahon as an example of favouritism towards the other superstars and not her. Paint herself as a victim of WWE corporatism and how the company didn’t want her to succeed since being drafted the last pick in the 2016 WWE Draft. Carmella has the opportunity to surpass the other male superstars and be the top heel of Smackdown Live.

Tamina and Natalya scored a huge win over the top two contenders of the division on Smackdown Live. The partnership between Tamina and Lana hasn’t been explained properly and it’ll be interesting to see how it plays out at Battleground. Will Tamina help out Lana reach her goal of facing Naomi for the title once again or is she using her to get to the top. So far it has worked to the benefit of the Samoan but in less than two weeks will it nab her the top spot of the division at Battleground?

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

SmackDown Live Women’s Champion: Naomi (9 Wins – 5 Losses)

Contenders

• Top Contender: Carmella (10 Wins – 3 Losses) (MITB Winner)
• Contender No. 2: Charlotte (7 Wins – 12 Losses)
• Contender No. 3: Becky Lynch (7 Wins – 11 Losses)

Pretenders

• Pretender No. 1: Nikki Bella (3 Wins – 1 Loss)
• Pretender No. 2: Natalya (6 Wins – 7 Losses)
• Pretender No. 3: Tamina Snuka (3 Wins – 2 Losses)
• Pretender No. 4: Lana (0 Wins – 3 Losses)