WWE Raw was kind of a mess this week. Who made big gains in our power rankings after the episode?
Oh, WWE Raw. What are we going to do with you? This week’s episode had a pretty okay first hour, but none of the matches in that span had a clean finish. Surely the second and third hours would be better, but they were, in fact, an abomination of bad booking and poor storytelling. How has this show had 1,305 episodes again?
Every week after Raw, we’ll take a look at the roster to find out who is in the best position moving forward. But, much like the creative team, we’re not paying attention to wins and losses only. They matter a bit, but a strong loss is better than a lousy win, at least as far as I’m concerned. Championships? They have their place, but just because a particular superstar has a heavy piece of gold around their waste doesn’t guarantee them a spot at the top. And if a superstars doesn’t have a match, they can still move up or down based on what they did in a given week.
So what does contribute to our rankings? Long term potential is key — how is a superstar’s position today leading to tomorrow? The past helps, too — just because someone has a big win one week doesn’t negate 17 weeks of losses before that. Think of ESPN’s NFL power rankings, where a 5-3 team could be ranked higher than a 6-2 team.
Let’s take a look at the updated power rankings for WWE Raw, following the May 28 episode.
Photo Source: WWE.com via Twitter
20. Bayley (last week: unranked)
For the first time since we started doing these power rankings, WWE’s resident hugger makes the list. It’s been a long time since Bayley seemed like she was an important part of the women’s division, but this week she took a big step forward. Entering the gauntlet match at number one put her at a severe disadvantage. However, Bayley was able to score two quick eliminations on Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan before falling victim to the entire Riott Squad.
Things would be even better for Bayley if the entire gauntlet match didn’t suffer from some of the worst booking decisions and illogical storytelling of the year. It was great to see her score some eliminations, but it went nowhere in the short term. We’ll see what happens in the coming weeks, though The Hugger is on the rise for at least a week.
Bobby Roode watches his competition tear each other apart. Photo Source: WWE.com via Twitter
19. Bobby Roode (last week: 19)
Sigh. Bobby Roode is floundering like no other superstar on the main roster. His time on WWE Raw has been spent putting on mediocre matches in a go-nowhere storyline, and losing the feud to boot. Then he qualifies for the Money in the Bank Ladder Match, and follows that up by… losing in consecutive weeks immediately after that.
This week, Bobby Roode took exception to Kevin Owens accurately claiming that Roode can’t do anything right except watch the matches from the back. When he got his chance in the ring, Roode lost to KO. I can’t use the phrase “negative momentum” enough to describe the Glorious One.
18. Sami Zayn (last week: 18)
17. Bobby Lashley (last week: 14)
Another week, another lackluster segment featuring Sami Zayn and Bobby Lashley. This one didn’t have any cross-dressing, transphobia, or anything else in poor taste. But you know what else it didn’t have? Anything of any entertainment value.
Take away Sami’s reading glasses, and this is like watching paint dry. As I mentioned in our Raw review during the show, Evil Sami doesn’t really work as well as it did when he was working alongside Kevin Owens. The two best friends had reasons for working together and forming an alliance, which helped explain Sami’s behavior. But with the two separated by their current rivalries and storylines, Zayn just doesn’t seem right in this role.
Then there’s Bobby Lashley, one of the most robotic personalities on WWE Raw. Since returning in the wake of WrestleMania, Lashley has done diddly squat. He gave an awkward, bad interview after Backlash, which led to the garbage segment last week, and that brought us to this week. Outside of saluting the veterans in attendance, Lashley may well have been a statue.
I would assume this is supposed to be the feud that reminds everyone in the WWE Universe that Lashley is a beast, and can go toe to toe with the best of them. But so far, things are in a downward spiral. Perhaps they can pull out of it by the time Money in the Bank is done. Time will tell, I guess.
16. Matt Hardy & Bray Wyatt (last week: unranked)
Welcome back to the show, guys. I almost had forgotten that Raw even had Tag Team Champions. Never a good sign.
Hardy and Wyatt came back with a decent little match against The Ascension, which may be the most surprising thing I’ve written in 2018 (and I once compared Braun Strowman to Fonzie from Happy Days with a straight face). Konnor and Viktor in an entertaining match? It had me confused, too.
But the match highlighted all the problems with Raw’s tag division right now. Hardy and Wyatt have no real challengers, because every other team is still hurting from Braun Strowman being the best tag team on the roster. After the Braun fiasco, most of the other teams did little to nothing on Raw — Braun was part of the only tag team match on the Backlash card (at least he had a partner there).
Photo Source: WWE.com
15. Roman Reigns (last week: 10)
Hey, where’s Poochie?
Roman Reigns got the week off this week, which is a little surprising. A week ago, he finally got (mostly) the crowd reaction WWE has meant for him to have. To follow that up, you’d think “management” would want to build some momentum for the Big Dog. Instead, he got the night off, and outside of a quick graphic hyping his MITB match with Jinder Mahal, there was nary a mention of Reigns. We’ll see what happens next week, when I’m sure Roman will return. But a curious decision this week.
14. Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel (last week: 15)
Quick, raise your hand if you thought Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel would be the most entertaining tag team on Raw in 2018. If your hand is up right now, you are a liar. Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel wouldn’t think this.
And yet somehow, here we are. I’ll be frank with you, I thought the execution of the barbecue was so-so, and the placement of it on the episode (right before a gauntlet match that was clearly getting short-changed on time) seemed to doom the segment to failure. But bless Axel and his inability to talk, bless Bo and his ability to make anything seem amazing, and throw a special assist to Titus Worldwide and Heath Slater & Rhyno for putting this over the top.
Photo Source: WWE.com via Twitter
13. Mickie James (last week: unranked)
Richmond native Mickie James got basically a featured spot in the gauntlet match — she entered second from the end, and had one of the longer segments of the seven-woman match. The likelihood of James winning the whole thing and qualifying for the Money in the Bank Ladder Match was low, but her performance made everyone in her hometown belive she really did have a chance.
James went up against Ruby Riott, who had already defeated two opponents. It was by far the best part of the match to that point, and James got the crowd going more than they had any right to. Her loss really deflated them for a moment, but hey — Riott needed a handful of tights to score the pinfall, which shows how much of a threat Mickie truly was.
Photo Source: WWE.com
12. Ember Moon (last week: 5)
Out of the three already-determined participants in the Money in the Bank Ladder Match from Raw, Ember Moon seems to have the most momentum. So even though all she did this week was stand still backstage while watching seven superstars fight for the chance to join her in the match, she remains in our rankings. That’s the beauty of being on a roll — a week out of the ring, and even a pretty substantial tumble doesn’t hurt too much.
The true test is what happens next week, and on every episode of WWE Raw between now and MITB. The field for the match is set, so how will Moon find a way to stand out and separate herself from the pack?
Photo Source: WWE.com
11. Ronda Rousey (last week: 8)
In one of several questionable creative decisions, Ronda Rousey looked like a deer in the headlights this week in her dealings with Nia Jax. It’s not the kind of showing you want to have when you’re about to challenge for the Raw Women’s Championship.
Rousey’s stint on commentary was pretty pointless, since Nia took the opportunity to taunt her and not really allow her to speak. Once Rousey got in the ring, Nia literally laughed in her face and turned her back on the supposed Baddest Woman on the Planet. And there was no consequence to that! How does Rousey, even as the happy-to-be-there rookie, allow such disrespect?
10. Jinder Mahal (last week: 11)
Former WWE Champion Jinder Mahal cracks the top 10 this week with one of his best in-ring performances since returning to WWE Raw. The Modern Day Maharaja is at his best when he’s allowed to be an actual, old-school heel who abuses his opponent with superior strength. And that’s how he spent most of the match, taking Seth Rollins to the limit in an Intercontinental Championship match.
For a while, I had a sneaking suspicion that Mahal might actually win the match. Rollins is on fire right now and doesn’t really need the Intercontinental Title, and dropping it would free him up to go after Brock Lesnar and the Universal Championship (you know, when Brock shows up next). But the Mahal/Reigns match at MITB doesn’t need a title involved, and ultimately no title change was the right decision, even if the finish was a little weird.
9. Elias (last week: 12)
Another superstar who crossed paths with Seth Rollins this week was Elias. The greatest musician on the Raw roster never really got around to performing his song, and he didn’t have a scheduled match, but it would be hard to argue that he didn’t take a big step forward with his actions.
After dealing with technical issues, an uncooperative (and ugly) crowd, and the disgust with having to do everyone else’s jobs, Elias was interrupted when Rollins came out for his match. The Kingslayer made the mistake of forcing Elias out, and he paid for it after the end of his match with a guitar shot that sent him off the announce table to the arena floor.
For Elias to make such a statement in the face of the Intercontinental Champion is a huge leap for him. And a Rollins/Elias program could be off the wall good, so bring it on.
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.
6. Drew McIntyre & Dolph Ziggler (last week: 6)
While Chad Gable and Dolph Ziggler had a really entertaining back and forth match a week prior, this time around Drew McIntyre squashed poor Chad like a bug. Outside of a moonsault, there really wasn’t much offense from the Olympian, which goes to show just how impressive McIntyre is as a competitor.
I’m a big fan of the acknowledgement of McIntyre’s previous stint in the company, especially as motivation for his current run as “the most legit terror on the roster not named Braun Strowman.” Coach’s point about Drew working on his shortcomings outside WWE to the point that he doesn’t have them anymore is huge.
And Ziggler is benefitting from the association with McIntyre, because there’s something about Dolph today that wasn’t there a few months ago. Having these two together is working gangbusters for both.
5. Finn Balor (last week: 4)
I love Finn Balor, I truly do. His main roster run has been a mixed bag, from Universal Champion to injured to “uh Finn is back what do we do with him.” He is tremendous in the ring, decent on the mic, he does great work outside the ring from a social standpoint, and he seems like a nice dude.
But slapping Braun Strowman in the face, while bold, is possibly the stupidest act I’ve seen inside a wrestling ring. And I’m currently in wrestling training, so I know a little something about stupid things in the ring.
4. Ruby Riott (last week: 9)
If you watched the main event gauntlet match this week on WWE Raw and didn’t think the star of the match — and possibly the entire division — was Ruby Riott, you may want to borrow Sami Zayn’s glasses. While I’ll freely admit that Riott’s initial segment of the gauntlet against Bayley was a little lackluster thanks to the Riott Squad beat down, the rest of the match was all Ruby.
The match with Dana Brooke was short, but inoffensive. When Mickie James entered, that could have been the best segment of the match, and though James was a big reason why you can’t discount Riott’s contributions. Sasha Banks coming in to snipe the victory from Riott was both elating and disappointing, but bad booking aside, Riott killed this one.
3. Kevin Owens (last week: 3)
As good as Kevin Owens is inside the ring, his greatest contribution to pro wrestling may end up being his gift of gab. It still boggles the mind that KO isn’t a native English speaker, because he has such a grasp on the ins and outs of the language. His work on commentary was impeccable, from deflecting ridiculous questions and comments to actually putting over the competitors in the ring as well as himself.
Backstage was more great verbal action, between yelling at the poor valet dweeb and his quick improv for a reason to leave when questioned by Kurt Angle. And his in-ring stuff was perfectly cromulent as well, as he picked up a victory over Bobby Roode. Everything went KO’s way except for that whole Braun Strowman thing. And speaking of Braun…
2. Braun Strowman (last week: 2)
Move over, Lex Luger: There’s a new “Total Package” in town. Braun Strowman can talk (acceptably, at least), he can wrestle, and he’s got the look — but most importantly, he’s got “it.” Whatever intangibles you want to talk about, Braun has them.
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His show opening promo wasn’t breaking any new ground, but it served a purpose. And yeah, it was all exposition, but at least Braun could get all the words out clearly (looking at you, Axe-Man). Dude even paused to let the crowd reaction kick in, so he clearly understands performance.
And Braun’s reaction to getting slapped across the face by Finn Balor was perfect: let’s have a match, and I will literally throw you around until the match is over. Kevin Owens may have saved Strowman a loss with his interference, but Braun didn’t share that thought, as evidenced by his throwing a ladder about 20 feet.
If a guy can do that, I’m not bumping him out of the top three anytime soon.
1. Seth Rollins (last week: 1)
For the third straight week, and fourth time in five weeks, Seth Rollins is the top superstar on WWE Raw. Any arguments?
Didn’t think so. In basically one segment, the Kingslayer successfully defended the Intercontinental Championship, settled a feud with Jinder Mahal, set up a feud with Elias, and furthered the feud with Elias mere minutes after setting it up! Throw in the fact that he had another 3+ star match, and was in serious contention for yet another Match of the Night award, and Rollins is a clear cut number one again.
I know I mentioned this before, but Elias and Rollins could have one of those great feuds that you never saw coming. I’m so hyped for it, I want their match to be official for MITB already. Let’s do it!
Next: WWE Raw: 5 Takeaways from May 28
Where did your favorite WWE Raw superstar end up on our rankings? Who’s too high or too low? Sound off in the comments!