WWE Raw Power Rankings: Birthday Boy Seth Rollins Celebrates By Retaining Top Spot

8. Nia Jax (last week: 7)

The Raw Women’s Champion had an unusual night, to say the least. I’m still not 100% sure if her scheduled match ever actually started, if it was a no contest, a knockout, or what. But there’s a couple of easy to grasp facts we can go off of.

First, Jax is back to squash matches — despite being champion. That makes little to no sense, but in the greater context of the feud (which also doesn’t really make much sense) it fits. And Nia uses this “exhibition match” to taunt Ronda Rousey, her next championship challenger. I always give bonus points for a superstar doing commentary for their own matches, which this one had in spades.

But the bigger issue is the random heel turn for Jax. She became a de facto babyface when she was body shamed and bullied by Alexa Bliss, but now that that feud is over she becomes a bully herself? Is her hatred for Ronda Rousey that deep? I don’t like the way this story has gone so far, but there’s still a few weeks until MITB.

7. Sasha Banks (last week: 13)

I’m a fan of Sasha Banks being in the MITB Ladder Match, because she’s one of the best performers on the entire roster. She’s competed in a Royal Rumble, an Elimination Chamber, and a Hell in a Cell — why not throw in a Money in the Bank?

The problem is how she won it, which I detailed in the Raw review this week. Short version: She played the role of the opportunistic heel by winning the gauntlet match as the fresh entrant. It’s backwards storytelling that made the victory less impressive to me. Still, Sasha rebounded from a week off with a great (albeit brief) match and a huge victory, so she moves right back into the top ten.