WWE SmackDown Rankings: Baron Corbin is Still US Champ

These are the Smackdown Live Division Rankings after Hell in a Cell. Baron Corbin retained the US Championship against AJ Styles in the main event.

These are the Smackdown Live rankings for each division 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.

Hell In A Cell. Photo by WWE.com

The SmackDown Live Women’s Division

Highlights of the division

Natalya retaining her title by disqualification at Hell in a Cell was a silly move. Having any championship match end like that in a pay per view weakens the champion in the audiences eyes. WWE hasn’t done Natalya any favours since she won the gold back at SummerSlam.

She has been presented on SmackDown Live as a champion who’s happy to hold the gold. The Queen of Blackhearts is too talented in the ring and on the mic to be given a generic persona that will hurt her in the long run.

As for Charlotte, she was so close to winning the gold before Natalya viciously attacked her with a chair to end the match. Based on her backstage segment on SmackDown Live this week, it’s obvious that she’ll be winning the gold if she ever gets her rematch in the next few weeks. Natalya has already been booked as a transitional champion so it seems logical that WWE would prefer Charlotte to hold the gold in the long run.

It’s kind of sad that it might turn out this way given that both Charlotte and Natalya had one hell of a match on Sunday but WWE hasn’t given them time to develop a genuine feud from the get go.

Meanwhile, for the rest of the division…

What in the world has happened to Carmella? She had SmackDown Live in the palm of her hands back in July only to now lose majority of her matches since SummerSlam. WWE has completely dropped the ball on Carmella since they had a huge star on their hands but squandered that star in a span of a few weeks. There are even times that Carmella isn’t even featured on SmackDown Live  – but she’s caught on WWE.com videos making fun of James Ellsworth. Shame on WWE for turning a potential superstar in the making into a forgotten candle light in a span of a short time.

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

SmackDown Live Women’s Champion: Natalya (12 Wins – 10 Losses)

Contenders

• No. 1 Contender: Charlotte (12 Wins – 15 Losses)
• Contender No. 2: Naomi (11 Wins – 9 Losses)
• Contender No. 3: Carmella (12 Wins – 8 Losses) (MITB Winner)
• Contender No. 4: Becky Lynch (12 Wins – 15 Losses)

Pretenders

• Pretender No. 1: Tamina Snuka (4 Wins – 5 Losses)
• Pretender No. 2: Lana (0 Wins – 6 Losses)