WWE SmackDown Power Rankings: Daniel Bryan Makes It All Look Good

6. Asuka

Every week I have to write a blurb about Asuka, I’m just tempted to sit here and write 1,000 words about how awesome she is, completely ignoring the number of times I just repeat myself. Look, all of her transitions into the Asuka Lock are so smooth and satisfying to watch that I audibly gasp, irrelevant of how many times I’ve seen her tap someone out with this move.

Asuka literally has great chemistry with every single opponent she faces, and I’m sure we’re about to watch Carmella’s best match of her career on Sunday. The Empress of Tomorrow has as much personality as any hard-nosed babyface on the main roster, and there are only a handful of better wrestlers in the entire company.

5. Carmella, SmackDown Women’s Champion

With each passing week, I’m becoming more uncertain about Asuka’s chances of winning the SmackDown Women’s Championship outright, just because it seems a little bit too predictable. You can never call something a “guarantee” in WWE, or you’ll end up like the people who thought Roman Reigns was going to beat Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 34 or the Greatest Royal Rumble (yes, I was one of those jabroni marks).

Mella is money, and her reign as champion has shown that you don’t need to be as good as Becky Lynch or Lana (that was obviously a joke, before anyone tries to wreck me on Twitter) to be a great champion in WWE. The SmackDown Women’s Championship feels like a bigger deal around Carmella’s waist than it ever did around Charlotte Flair’s. That should tell you something about how valuable Carmella is as a talker.