WWE Raw Rankings: Is The Shield Reuniting Next Monday night?

Welcome to the Raw Division Rankings for the Oct. 2nd episode. Is the Shield reuniting next Monday night?

These are the 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.

Raw. Photo by WWE.com

The RAW Cruiserweight Division

Highlights of the division

Enzo Amore main evented Raw for the second straight week in row, even roasted the Cruiserweight Division yet again. If the WWE is planning to go that route from now on, I’m all for it. The problem with this division was that nobody really stood out from the pack, including Neville. He definitely upgraded his character but it wasn’t moving the needle on Raw and barely made a dent on 205 Live. Enzo Amore is a game changer and he is absolutely right, he has the opportunity to make stars out of this division. 

That’s where Kalisto comes in. The former United States Champion was misused in the mid-card division for so long that it was a given that he needed a change of scenery. Kalisto had a breakout moment when he beat Braun Strowman in a dumpster match back in April but never capitalized on that win. He should be the man to face Enzo Amore at TLC since the rest of the division lost that opportunity after beating down the champ last week. The former Lucha Dragon will need to step up his game on the mic to have any kind of shot to be on the same equal footing as Enzo. The man can wrestle but he’ll need to use his verbal skills to make the fans care about him.

Meanwhile, for the rest of the division…

Drew Gulak has been the unsung entertainer of 205 Live this year. His campaign to change the division has been the show stealer every week. That’s why his feud with Akira Tozawa must seriously address this vision, similar to the feud Gulak had with Mustafa Ali. Gulak has been hammering on no chanting during matches so this theme should be consistent every week when confronting Tozawa.

Cedric Alexander shown a vicious side to his character on 205 Live with the backstage beatdown of Brian Kendrick and his match with Jack Gallagher. Even though he got disqualified, his actions against Jack Gallagher will go a long way to finally legitimize Cedric as more than a bland high-flyer. Enzo Amore was right about Cedric Alexander that he had no charisma, but the man is definitely has proved the champ and everybody else wrong with his actions on Tuesday Night.

These are the rankings for the division this week.

WWE Cruiserweight Champion: Enzo Amore (12 Wins – 15 Losses)

Contenders

• No. 1 Contender: Neville (23 Wins – 10 Losses)
• Contender No. 2: Akira Tozawa (26 Wins – 7 Losses)
• Contender No. 3: Jack Gallagher (22 Wins – 12 Losses)
• Contender No. 4: Rich Swann (20 Wins – 9 Losses)
• Contender No. 5: Cedric Alexander (20 Wins – 11 Losses)
• Contender No. 6: TJP (19 Wins – 20 Losses)
• Contender No. 7: Mustafa Ali (19 Wins – 16 Losses)
• Contender No. 8: The Brian Kendrick (13 Wins – 16 Losses)
• Contender No. 9: Kalisto (10 Wins – 13 Losses)

Pretenders

• Pretender No. 1: Gran Metalik (11 Wins – 9 Losses)
• Pretender No. 2: Ariya Daivari (11 Wins – 23 Losses)
• Pretender No. 3: Drew Gulak (7 Wins – 22 Losses)
• Pretender No. 4: Tony Nese (13 Wins – 28 Losses)
• Pretender No. 5: Noam Dar (8 Wins – 26 Losses)
• Pretender No. 6: Lince Dorado (5 Wins – 17 Losses)

Raw. Photo by WWE.com

The RAW Women’s Division

Highlights of the division

It’s refreshing to see how Mickie James was booked on Raw this week. Some of the backstage segments she had with the female talent and Kurt Angle was wonderfully done, but needed to happen a while back. Not a fan of her getting a title shot after winning her match against Nia Jax by disqualification. If the WWE wants to cement a title contender, they need to book that talent in a way that reinforces the audience that she deserved it. Mickie James was only placed in that situation because she got called out by the champ. Can’t reward someone just by a call out and poor booking.

Emma screwing over Alicia Fox in their tag team loss to Bayley and Sasha Banks is a head scratcher. Not sure what the WWE has in store for Emma, are they planning to have her feud with Alicia Fox? The Australian has been booked all over the place the past few months, but nothing consistent at the moment. At least the WWE has given her a chance but what good is that chance if the audience doesn’t know what direction she’s heading at?

Meanwhile, for the rest of the division…

The WWE will need to pull the trigger soon for both Bayley and Sasha Banks. They’ve teamed up together the past few weeks after their title match at No Mercy. Something will need to give for both contenders to find a way to get a title shot after TLC concludes. It’ll be the first time this year that neither Sasha Banks or Bayley will competing for the Women’s Championship at a pay per view. It’ll be a waste of their talents not to be used on the pay per view unless there is a program between them.

These are the rankings for the division this week.

RAW Women’s Champion: Alexa Bliss (11 Wins – 16 Losses)

Contenders

• No.1 Contender: Mickie James (7 Wins – 14 Losses)
• Contender No. 2: Sasha Banks (20 Wins – 13 Losses)
• Contender No. 2: Nia Jax (18 Wins – 15 Losses)
• Contender No. 3: Bayley (14 Wins – 11 Losses)

Pretenders

• Pretender No. 1: Alicia Fox (4 Wins – 8 Losses)
• Pretender No. 2: Dana Brooke (5 Wins – 8 Losses)
• Pretender No. 3: Emma (3 Wins – 11 Losses)

RAW. Photo by WWE.com

The RAW Tag Team Division

Highlights of the division

The Raw Tag Team Champions have their eyes set on re-uniting with Roman Reigns next week to reform the Shield. It’s about time the champs have some sort of stable booking after the two week draught they faced at the hands of Braun Strowman. They shouldn’t have ever been booked in singles matches against the Monster Among Men but now it looks like that’s over with.

With the Bar joining forces with the Miz to take out Roman Reigns, it should be finalized for these three men to be the opponents for the Shield. For both Sheamus and Cesaro, this is the opportunity that both men needed for so long. They have never been exclusively featured on Raw since their best of seven series last year. Even as a tag team, they have been booked with lacklustre. They are formidably against the current tag champs and with the Miz on their side, their alliance could be the key to keeping the Shield around for a while.

As for Gallows and Anderson, they scored a win over Matt Hardy and Jason Jordan on Raw. This team still has absolutely no direction in the tag team division. Let me rephrase that, this division is completely shallow to begin with. Unless there is other teams that might get called up or traded to Raw, this isn’t going to help this team in the long haul. With no direction, they’ll probably win one match a month and lose a lot in the meantime.

These are the rankings for the division this week.

RAW Tag Team Champions: Dean Ambrose & Seth Rollins (6 Wins – 1 Losses)

Contenders

• Top Contender: Cesaro and Sheamus (11 Wins – 11 Losses)
• Contender No. 2: The Hardy Boyz (9 Wins – 6 Losses)
• Contender No. 3: The Revival (5 Wins – 0 Losses)
• Contender No. 4: Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson (11 Wins – 18 Losses)

Pretenders

• Pretender No. 1: Heath Slater & Rhyno (4 Wins – 6 Losses)
• Pretender No. 2: Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel (2 Wins – 3 Losses)

Raw. Photo by WWE.com

The RAW Mid Card Division

Highlights of the division

More from Raw

• WWE Raw Predictions: Seth Rollins Will BURY Jey Uso
• Three feuds for CM Punk on WWE Monday Night Raw
• Three candidates to take the Women’s World Championship from Rhea Ripley
• WWE Raw Predictions: LA Knight Will Return The Favor To Cody Rhodes
• Why Drew McIntyre turned heel during WWE Monday Night Raw

The Miz retained his Intercontinental Championship in a disqualification loss to Roman Reigns after the Bar attacked him. Having the Miz inserted into a main event angle on Raw was simply a no-brainer after having Brock Lesnar take a hiatus on Raw. There is still unfinished business with Roman Reigns and that could be played up in their eventual match at TLC. It looks like the Bar and the Miz might be facing the Shield in the main event of the pay per view, with the possibility of all the championships being up for grabs. The Miz has already cleaned house in the mid card division, so this is his chance to step up in the main event slot and show the world he belongs on the big stage.

Elias scored a win over Titus O’Neal this week on Raw, so what is next for him. He’s already beaten both members of the Titus Worldwide brand so what is there left for him to do now? The strange booking of Elias since arriving to Raw in April clearly hasn’t gone anywhere. He’s already beaten Finn Balor, Dean Ambrose, Kalisto, Apollo Crews, Titus O’Neil and other mid-card talents. The WWE has somewhat overdone his guitar entrance the past few months and need to shake things up to keep Elias fresh for the fans. He can’t be stale if the company has nothing for him in their long-term booking plans.

Meanwhile, for the rest of the division…

Jason Jordan lost in a tag team match this week on Raw and it looks like the WWE might be scraping his Kurt Angle father gimmick very quietly. Having him team with Matt Hardy is a step backwards from how he was presented and traded from Smackdown Live a few months ago. Splitting up a tag team just to push one guy who had some potential as a big star but now fizzled up was big mistake the WWE knew they made.

These are the rankings for the division this week.

WWE Intercontinental Champion: The Miz (11 Wins – 17 Losses)

Contenders

• Top Contender: Jason Jordan (13 Wins – 13 Losses)
• Contender No. 2: Elias (12 Wins – 5 Losses)
• Contender No. 3: The Big Show (4 Wins – 7 Losses) (INJ)
• Contender No. 4: Apollo Crews (8 Wins – 10 Losses)
• Contender No. 5: Big Cass (13 Wins – 11 Losses) (INJ)

Pretenders

• Pretender No. 1: Titus O’Neil (2 Wins – 10 Losses)
• Pretender No. 2: Goldust (1 Win – 6 Losses)
• Pretender No. 3: R-Truth (0 Wins – 5 Losses)
• Pretender No. 4: Curt Hawkins (0 Wins – 18 Losses)

Raw. Photo by WWE.com

The RAW World Title Picture

Highlights of the division

Braun Strowman scored another big win against the other half of the Raw Tag Team Champions. It’s still crazy at the moment there is absolutely no direction for the Monster Among Men after his championship loss at No Mercy. Beating both Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins in two straight weeks won’t really budge Strowman to go after the tag titles. The only possible avenue that the Monster Among Men could entertain is feuding with the returning Samoa Joe. Both these men haven’t really had match against each other in singles competition and it’s about time they scrap. It should be booked for TLC in a few weeks.

Roman Reigns didn’t capture the Intercontinental Championship this week on Raw after he was ambushed by the Bar. It looks like it’s set in stone that the Shield will be reuniting next week and might be facing the Miz and the Bar at TLC. This is probably the best thing that has ever happened to Roman Reigns after his win over John Cena. He’s had a hard time being booked as a babyface and having him join with his Shield brethren will get the fans behind him once again.

Next: Raw Winners and Losers for Oct. 2nd

Meanwhile, for the rest of the division…

The Bray Wyatt/Finn Balor rivalry made a crazy turn this week when Bray announced to Balor that Sister Abagail will be debuting. This is amazing and fascinating to see that the WWE is willing to have a female talent work with Bray after his Abagail teases for many years. Everybody was in the assumption that the character was killed off during the Orton feud on Smackdown Live earlier this year. Orion went to the Wyatt Compound and burned the place and Abagail’s “grave” to the ground. We’ll need more explanations in the next few weeks on how Bray Wyatt revived the character and who might it be?

These are the rankings for the division this week.

WWE Universal Champion: Brock Lesnar (4 Wins – 1 Loss)

Contenders

• Top Contender: Braun Strowman (13 Wins – 9 Losses)
• Contender No. 2: Samoa Joe (11 Wins – 9 Losses) (INJ)
• Contender No. 3: Roman Reigns (17 Wins – 13 Losses)
• Contender No. 4: John Cena (13 Wins – 5 Losses)

Pretenders

• Pretender No. 1: Finn Balor (15 Wins – 7 Losses)
• Pretender No. 2: Bray Wyatt (11 Wins – 10 Losses)

What are your thoughts on this week’s Raw Rankings?