WWE Raw Power Rankings: Braun Strowman Climbs to Top After Smashing Ladder

WWE Raw is still mostly a disaster, but it did improve in some areas this week. Who moved up and down in our power rankings after the episode?

Once again, WWE Raw was a mess. Sometimes you watch the show and get the feeling every booking decision was made via Mad Lib. This week definitely fell into that category. With Money in the Bank just under two weeks away, that’s a little alarming. But perhaps things are about to turn around? It might happen…

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 June 4 episode.

20. Bobby Lashley (last week: 17)

19. Sami Zayn (last week: 18)

Once again, I’m lumping these two together. It’s not so much that they’re comparable in their rank, though they are. It’s not even because Zayn and Lashley are involved in a storyline together. No, I’m keeping these two on the same slide because I can’t bear to think on their segments more than once. If they’re both on the same slide, we can move on very quickly.

The longer Zayn and Lashley keep going back and forth, the more I feel like every week is just a double down on the previous week’s misadventures. Lashley has no program or story? MAKE HIM A FAMILY MAN! Wait, he came across more like a sociopath than a loving family man? PUT LOCAL INDIE WRESTLERS IN DRAG, IT’LL BE HILARIOUS! Wait, people thought that skit was terrible, transphobic, and a waste of time? SUPPORT THE TROOPS!

The larger issue is that Lashley has no discernible character at the moment. A while back, I wrote about the need to develop characters consistent with a performer’s personality. Bobby Lashley is a monster — why isn’t he just throwing people around like stuffed animals? At least Sami, bless his heart, is trying his best to salvage this mess, but there’s only so much he can do.

I’m looking forward to their MITB match for a few reasons. I think it’s going to be pretty good, all things considered, so I want to see what they can do. But mostly, I want this feud to end and never be mentioned again.

18. Baron Corbin (last week: not ranked)

Immediately after I tweeted during WWE Raw this week that the Corbin/Hawkins segment was great (it was), a few people disagreed because the final result was Constable Baron Corbin. While I fully admit that it has the possibility to flop big time, I am 100% on board for The Lone Wolf exerting his authority as he sees fit.

First off, the way Corbin came down to ruin Taco

Tuesday

Monday was delightful. I’m actually excited for the potential of Hawkins ending his streak by defeating Corbin, because Baron will be unaffected by it long term. Heck, he survived the failed cash-in attempt last year, why not have him take the fall for Hawkins?

And “constable”? I want him to go full bore on this — bushy mustache, helmet with a badge on it and a strap that goes under his nose, nightstick, the whole nine yards.

17. Bayley (last week: 20)

One of Corbin’s first official acts in his new role was to punish Bayley and friends for the Hugger taking it upon herself to enter a six woman tag match. Alexa Bliss was “injured,” and Sasha Banks and Ember Moon were down 3-2 to the Riott Squad. Bayley evened the score and picked up the win, but Corbin forced Angle to reverse the decision.

So why is Bayley moving up the rankings if she did something so stupid? Well, the referee allowed her to not only hop up on the apron, but “legally” tag in, and he counted the pin. If he was halfway competent, he would have at very least turned his back on the match to admonish Bayley. Plus, no one had a problem with Bayley’s actions when it looked like she was the hero. She showed initiative, stood up for her friends, and ultimately faced the consequences. That’s more than others would have done.

Photo Source: WWE.com

16. Bobby Roode (last week: 19)

In another ranking that may puzzle some readers, Bobby Roode gloriously moves up three spots after losing to Braun Strowman in relatively convincing fashion. How is this possible?

First off, Roode finally showed a little bit of character development. During the match, Bobby was very clearly the heel, goading Strowman into chasing after him and calling him “big boy.” Oh, and he literally thumbed his nose at Braun, like a schoolyard bully taunting someone on the playground.

Second, he made one of the greatest spots on WWE Raw this week possible when he set a ladder up in a Keystone Kops kind of moment. But more on that later.

15. Ronda Rousey (last week: 11)

There really wasn’t much of a difference in Ronda Rousey’s appearance this week from last week, but the greater context sees her take a tumble. While on commentary, Rousey repeated herself a bit, including one ridiculous line that seemed like a poor attempt at PG sexual innuendo. Good job, producers!

More importantly, Rousey acted like a real jerk for no apparent reason. If you watched the match between Natalya and Nia Jax, you saw that Natalya hurt herself through no involvement of Jax. Jax, showing concern (even if it doesn’t make sense for where her character is), draws Rousey’s ire because only she can be Nattie’s concerned friend? I don’t get it.

14. Matt Hardy & Bray Wyatt (last week: 16)

13. Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel (last week: 14)

If you only paid attention to their main roster careers, it may surprise you to realize that the Rotunda brothers are in the top two tag teams on WWE Raw. Maybe you could see Bray Wyatt in a prevalent role. After all, he is a former WWE Champion. (remember that?)

But Bo Dallas? The inspirational guy with a penchant for singing songs from The Lion King in an airport? Don’t forget, he’s a former NXT Champion, and he did great things as champion.

And now, Wyatt, with Matt Hardy, will defend the Raw Tag Team Championships against Dallas, with Curtis Axel. The Deleters of Worlds have had a fairly uneventful reign since winning the titles at the Greatest Royal Rumble in April. Their first major-ish defense is against the B-Team, now with snazzy new shirts on WWE Shop! The former Miztourage have again proven themselves to be entertaining and talented with their battle royal victory on Raw.

Or maybe they’re entertaining and lucky? Either way, Dallas and Axel are making waves in the tag team division, and maybe a run with the titles is just what the doctor ordered. Then we can let the Authors of Pain annihilate them and perform a hard reset on the tag division.

Photo Source: WWE.com

12. Ember Moon (last week: 12)

Ember Moon didn’t really factor into any of the women’s division drama this week, so it makes sense she’d hold steady from last week. Bayley caused the ruckus, Sasha Banks was all for it and then turned on a dime, and Ember, uh, just kind of hung out?

Don’t get me wrong, she performed perfectly fine in the ring. It’s just that, grand scheme of things, if she wasn’t in the match, nothing would have changed. It’s been a very slow burn for Moon as she acclimates to the main roster, but the payoff is absolutely going to be worth it. She is definitely in the conversation of “best in the division,” and when she really gets to show it off it’s going to be awesome.

11. Jinder Mahal (last week: 10)

Unpopular opinion time: I think Jinder Mahal is doing great in his current role, and it’s awesome to see. Here’s a guy who wasn’t really expected to go anywhere, as evidenced by his non-use and release several years ago. When he returned to the company, he made the most of every opportunity, and he became WWE Champion.

When he won the title, my initial attitude was, “Why not?” I’m one of those people Michael Caine talks about in The Dark Knight — I just want to watch the world burn. Jinder’s reign was not great, I’ll admit that, but now that he’s not expected to be “the guy” he’s excelling.

He’s the perfect foil for Roman Reigns, even though some of you may not want to hear that. Mahal is helping Roman get the reactions he should be getting from the crowd, and there’s enough talent in both guys to pull out a good match at Money in the Bank.

10. Roman Reigns (last week: 15)

After a week off from WWE Raw, Roman Reigns returned this episode and made a big impact. First, he saved Shield brother Seth Rollins from a 2-on-1 beat down. Then he busted his butt in the ensuing tag team match against Elias and Jinder Mahal. Finally, a somewhat awkward duelling promo segment ended with Reigns finding Mahal backstage and brawling.

This is what Roman Reigns should be doing to be successful. None of this “woe is me, I should be Universal Champion” garbage. He’s a legit tough guy, and he should do tough guy things. Most of his matches where he’s been allowed to do that are really good. The problem comes when he’s forced into a bad spot, and the booking doesn’t match his natural character. But now he’s on the right track, the cheers are getting louder, and The Big Dog is in a good spot.

9. Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre (last week: 6)

I wrestled with keeping Drew McIntyre and Dolph Ziggler hovering around the top five this week, based on their actions following elimination from the Tag Team Battle Royal. Biut ultimately, I decided that two things justified dropping them down the list. First and foremost, they were the first team eliminated from a battle royal that also featured The Ascension, Breezango, and Heath Slater & Rhyno. (Nothing against those teams, but there’s a huge divide between Ziggler/McIntyre and them.)

Second, Ziggler and McIntyre work much better as an alliance than an actual tag team. There was really no way Ziggler and McIntyre were going to become the number one contenders for the Raw Tag Team Titles, so there was no reason for them to be in the match at all. It was a waste of their time, and — post-match beat down aside — was a waste of time for both men.

8. Sasha Banks (last week: 7)

Sasha Banks bounced back nicely from the poor booking of last week’s gauntlet match (yes, even though she won, she suffered from poor booking; it’s possible). In the six woman tag match this week, Banks handled herself nicely, as is usually the case for her.

The issue I have is how Sasha reacted to Bayley after everything went down. There’s been little to no movement on the Bayley/Banks front for a few weeks; now all of a sudden it’s back on at full speed ahead? Sasha was happy for about six seconds until Kurt Angle showed up to announce the reversal of the decision. Then she dropped an eye roll that may have allowed her to see behind herself.

There needs to be some consistency with the Bayley/Banks thing, because right now it might be too slow of a build.

7. Nia Jax (last week: 8)

The only reason Nia Jax is moving up a spot this week? She defeated an actual, legitimate superstar who happens to be a former champion. Natalya is definitely a step up from the local competitor Jax pasted a week earlier.

But besides that, the unevenness to Jax’s character over the past few weeks negates any major gains she made. Is she a face or a heel? As champion, it benefits the entire division if Jax is stable in her characterization. Too much Big Show-like flip flopping hurts everyone.

6. Elias (last week: 9)

Everyone’s favorite musician-turned-wrestler (or is he a wrestler-turned-musician?) makes a big leap this week by virtue of pinning the Intercontinental Champion. Personally, I despise match results like this — if you want your champion to get pinned, take the title off him/her. But you can’t deny that it is by far the biggest victory of Elias’s career. And it puts him in great position heading into Money in the Bank, where the title is actually on the line.

The rise of Elias from borderline useless NXT superstar to possible Intercontinental Champion is inspiring. It’s truly impressive, because by all rights he should have been a failure on the main roster. Instead, he’s killing it on a weekly basis. Terrific job.

Photo Source: WWE.com

5. Ruby Riott (last week: 4)

Despite being on the losing team in the six woman tag match, I still think Ruby Riott is being positioned as the top star of the division. Whether intentional or not, Riott is the superstar I most want to see in action on a regular basis. Her matches are always good to great, and her character is developing nicely.

Even Ruby’s mic work is getting better. She didn’t speak at all this week, but I remember her first NXT promo — woof. Over the past few weeks she’s delivered a few mice promos, and they’re soooooo much better. Considering Ruby didn’t spend a whole lot of time in NXT or at the Performance Center, it’s really a testament to her will and determination to better herself. And that’s why she’s top five on WWE Raw.

4. Kevin Owens (last week: 3)

Nothing major here, just Kevin Owens once again proving he’s got what it takes to be a top guy in WWE. You’d think a fairly lengthy Universal Championship reign would have done that, but there was that whole year Owens spent feuding with Shane gosh darn McMahon. But if there’s anyone who’s benefitted from a shift away from SmackDown to get to Raw, it’s definitely KO.

I don’t know how smart it was to have Owens display a fear of heights less than two weeks before a ladder match, but I’m sure KO will find a way to overcome that phobia to grab the briefcase if push comes to shove. Knowing the Owens mentality, he’ll just bulldoze his way through as many of his seven opponents as possible before risking a trek up the ladder.

3. Finn Balor (last week: 4)

KO’s opponent this week was Finn Balor, who also raised his stock in a big way in the main event. Balor should absolutely be in the Universal Title picture, especially since he’s the inaugural champion and never received his rematch. But over the past few weeks, he’s made it increasingly difficult to keep him away from the championship for much longer.

His victory over Owens was a pretty good match, even though it suffered from one of pro wrestling’s most garbage finishes (“you wrestled too much!”). Balor’s survival of the post-match assault to hit a Coup de Grace from the top of the ladder should be a sign of things to come at MITB, even if it may have been better to hold that spot until the pay per view.

Oh, and Balor doing his entrance with the Special Olympians? Too sweet, indeed. And that’s just more proof that Balor Club is for everyone.

2. Seth Rollins (last week: 1)

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Well, folks, there it is. Seth Rollins has been dethroned for the first time in several weeks. Not that he fell too far, or had a particularly bad match. But there were just too many shenanigans in the match, the set-up, and the finish, plus Seth lost. Combine all that, and WWE Raw‘s hottest superstar cools off just a tad, which opens the door for someone else to sneak into the top spot for a week.

There’s also the matter of HOLY COW SETH WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO YOUR NECK to think of. Rollins came into the night selling a beating at the hands of Elias, so he already was hurting. Then he got decimated throughout this match, jammed himself on a suicide dive, then ate a DDT onto a steel chair. Yeesh.

Throw in the fact that the Intercontinental Champion was pinned by his next championship challenger, and it was a rare rough night for the Kingslayer. I wouldn’t doubt his ability to rebound and reclaim the top spot next week, but for now, Rollins is in unfamiliar territory as a runner-up.

1. Braun Strowman (last week: 2)

Trouble for Seth Rollins this week on WWE Raw set the stage for Braun Strowman to slide into the top spot. And you can’t say he doesn’t deserve it, because the man Monster Among Men is one of the most consistently entertaining parts of the show. This week, he dropped the promos and got back to basics — enter ring, destroy something, and leave victorious.

Last week, Strowman took exception to Bobby Roode celebrating as Braun took Kevin Owens to the woodshed, and he took him out for it. So this week’s match featured Roode trying to get even, and in doing so, he brought out a ladder. The ladder was meant to be a roadblock, but since Strowman doesn’t have a single digit IQ, he figured out a way around it pretty darn quick:

Yeah. How do you stop this man?

It doesn’t hurt that Strowman’s victory was one of the few matches that was free of Braun’s performance next week in the MITB participant fatal four way keeps him on top, or if Rollins can work his way back up with whatever he’s involved in.

Next: 25 Greatest Entrance Themes in WWE History

What do you think of our WWE Raw power rankings this week? Who’s too high, and who’s too low? Sound off in the comments below!