WWE SmackDown Rankings: Baron Corbin is Still US Champ

Hell in a Cell. Photo by WWE.com

The Smackdown Live World Title Picture

Highlights of the division

WWE’s creative team made a huge mistake having Jinder Mahal retain the WWE Championship this past Sunday. They pretty much told the world that all the racist and bigoted things that Mahal said about Shinsuke Nakamura’s face and personality was right in the end by having Jinder retain the gold. It’s clearly a bad look by the WWE and it did Mahal no favours in the long run by the eyes of the fans. It’s stupid to have a guy saying racist stuff hold on to the top prize of the business.

Also, it’s silly to have a WWE Champion have a lengthy title reign based on his ethnicity and a proposed India tour in a few months. It isn’t fair to the fans or to Mahal himself for being typecast that way.

As for Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura, they won their tag team match on SmackDown Live but what is next for them? Both men are out of the title picture and clearly have no direction in sight for their career paths. It wouldn’t be surprising to have both men chase after the United States Championship in the meantime since Baron Corbin just won the title. It’ll be refreshing to see either man having a decent feud with the new US Champion for the next few weeks.

Next: RAW Division Rankings for the Oct. 9 Episode

Meanwhile, for the rest of the division…

Bobby Roode will have his shot to shut up Dolph Ziggler once and for all next week on SmackDown Live. Even though he did beat him last Sunday night, the match felt rushed and it didn’t get it’s proper due. The Glorious One has been booked as a babyface since debuting on SmackDown Live after SummerSlam but he should start turning the wheels for a heel turn very soon.

Ziggler already shown the video recap on how Bobby Roode cheated to win at Hell in a Cell, maybe they should play into that angle next week in their rematch. Maybe Dolph Ziggler becomes a face and garners sympathy from the fans after Roode tries to cheat in their match once again?

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

WWE World Champion: Jinder Mahal (16 Wins – 12 Losses)

Contenders

• Top Contender: Shinsuke Nakamura (13 Wins – 4 Losses)
• Contender No. 2: Randy Orton (17 Wins – 10 Losses)

Pretenders

• Pretender No. 1: Bobby Roode (4 Wins – 0 Losses)

What are your thoughts on this week’s SmackDown Live rankings?