Another edition of Raw means another set of WWE Raw Power Rankings! Why don’t we get crazy and include Elimination Chamber results as well?
Gentle reader, I return again this week with my Power Rankings for the February 26, 2018, edition of Monday Night Raw. I hope you are all excited to see what I have in store this time around.
It’s kind of difficult to do WWE Raw Power Rankings without taking the Elimination Chamber PPV into consideration. And since I know you don’t want difficult times to befall me, I’ll just go right ahead and take EC-related events into consideration.
WWE Universal Champion: Brock Lesnar
Raw Women’s Champion: Alexa Bliss
Credit: WWE.com
#10 Bayley
All around the Internet Wrestling Community™, the question everyone is asking is: “Did Bayley turn heel at Raw?” when in fact, the question should be: “Are we finally seeing NXT Bayley back?”
I would argue that for the past couple of weeks, we have. I would even go as far as to say that Bayley refusing to tag Sasha in on Monday was a logical progression into regaining the #1 Hugger that captured our minds just two years ago in NXT. And this is what I am most excited about: having kickass supermega babyface Bayley back. One can only hope her booking can continue on this upswing.
Credit: WWE.com
#9 Asuka
The Empress of Tomorrow had a great couple of nights, didn’t she? She was able to squeeze out a win against Nia Jax and got the pin for her team on Raw after an excellent sequence with Mickie James.
But it doesn’t feel like she’s on top of the world, yet. Her win at Elimination Chamber felt a little contrived, having spent most of the match getting brutalized, putting Nia’s power over.
I understand and appreciate that what makes Asuka great is that she wins competitive matches out of endurance, slyness, and skill. And I also get that it’s good for all the women’s division to have a strong Nia Jax. But the past few days haven’t been shining moments for her despite her wins. Let’s see how the booking progresses.
Credit: WWE.com
#8 John Cena
So the whole John Cena not-having-a-Wrestlemania-match thing is becoming more and more intriguing as it goes on. We’re bearing witness to a whole new aspect of Cena’s character, things that we have never seen before: a little desperate, a little bitter and just a dash of creepy.
It’s really interesting to see him invest himself into such a duality as far as direction is concerned. He still does his fan-favorite schtick, but being the super self-aware guy he is, he knows what he represents to a huge segment of the WWE Universe. And that seems to be fuelling him. And it’s got me intrigued.
Credit: WWE.com
#7 Finn Bálor
I feel like the spat of injuries that started rampaging through WWE (particularly Ambrose, Samoa Joe and Jordan) is to blame for Finn Bálor’s spotty and confusing booking. I feel like he may have had his destiny intertwined with these guys, from close or afar, and now he’s a bit player in another bigger story. He still put on some great showings, especially on Raw, but having him be tossed into a multi-man championship angle feels a little hotshotted.
But we did get Blue Bálor at Elimination Chamber, so that’s worth some ranking points, right?
Credit: WWE.com
#6 Sasha Banks
If anyone was still on the fence, it wasn’t clear before last Sunday and Monday nights, aggressive, heelish Sasha is superior in every way to babyface Sasha.
It transforms her to the very core of who she is. Her whole ring presence changes, her confidence mixes with smarmy arrogance and her aggro levels go through the roof. She may have lost at Elimination Chamber but she shined in each moment she was allowed to break out and strike. Not to mention that it was great to see her dark side leak out when she pulling a Scar on Bayley at the E.C.
Credit: WWE.com
#5 Seth Rollins
Seth “Monday Night” Rollins is still riding the gauntlet match wave. With that incredible performance still fresh and clear in our collective minds, it’s essential at this point that his booking be clear and strong to continue positioning himself as the top babyface on Raw.
In that respect, looking strong in defeat and winning a fun match on Raw is good, even booking. But having him be just another cog in a multi-man feud for the Intercontinental Championship is not the way to maintain his momentum or develop his mystique. Hopefully, the booking can remain focused and creative enough to benefit him.
Credit: WWE.com
#4 The Miz
The biggest winner from the crop of Elimination Chamber losers, Miz delivered on Monday night everything he does best: a promo that was ablaze with the scorching flames of a million well-dressed angels of vengeance and a super strong heel performance in not one but two matches.
While the “Hey, fight these guys and we’ll see what you get at Wrestlemania” angle was confusing and not very well executed, you can always leave it to Miz to make lemonade out of room-temperature tapioca. Here’s hoping this bit of the story can get ironed out quickly so we can focus on the (seemingly) inevitable triple threat IC title match at WrestleMania.
Credit: WWE.com
#3 Nia Jax
Hi, Warren ”Drooling Asuka Mark” Hayes here.
I’d like to say that between Elimination Chamber and Raw, there is no woman on the roster who saw her stock rise as much as Nia Jax. As much as I would love to rate Asuka much higher on the list we need to be honest: Nia was the reason her match with the Empress of Tomorrow worked so well. And she came off looking like the imposing competitor she should be. Not to mention she was awesome on Monday as well.
Did you hear the crowd react to her when she’d tag in? They bought into her booking. Just keep doing what you’re doing, WWE.
Credit: WWE.com
#2 Braun Strowman
Here is the man who single-handedly eliminated Miz, Elias, John, Seth, and Finn from the Elimination Chamber match.
Here is the man who took four different finishers in a row (including a freaking Coup de Grace to the back of the neck) and still got back up (although a single F5 is enough to end him…).
Here is a man who continues to be a shining star on Raw no matter what program or situation he gets put into.
Here is a man who seems to be heading into WrestleMania without a title opportunity.
Here is a crying shame.
Credit: WWE.com
#1 Roman Reigns
I’ll be super transparent with you, gentle reader, not unlike one of those Visible Man toys, but with more clothing. On the weight of Elimination Chamber alone, I would not have placed Roman Reigns in the #1 spot of my Power Rankings.
Sure, he won the Elimination Chamber match the night before, but his performance was clearly outshined by Braun Strowman. However, the concise and impassioned promo he cut on Brock Lesnar on Monday put him over the top.
Next: WWE Raw's Biggest Losers This Week
Look, I’m not a complete mark, I know it wasn’t a real shoot, he clearly got an OK from management to pull it off. We didn’t see a legit “pipe bomb” speech. But it was unquestionably the promo he needed to cut to get people invested in this match. He’s going to have to pull this kind of magic to help interest in the main event grow, and it’s off to a great start.