WWE: Grading each singles champion heading into 2021

SmackDown Women’s Champion Sasha Banks

WWE dropped the ball with some of the material they gave to Carmella in the rivalry with Sasha Banks, because the story could have gone without some of those bizarre lines, such as the ones in which ‘Mella called the Blueprint a knock-off Nicki Minaj.

But when it came to stuff Sasha and Carmella could control – the actual wrestling and acting – both were exceptional in the match before TLC and at the Pay Per View itself. Sasha Banks ALWAYS delivers and ALWAYS makes her opponent look better. We are only one feud into her reign, but she’s already doing a great job of continuing what Bayley did as perhaps the greatest SmackDown Women’s Champion of all-time.

The key will be providing Sasha with challengers who are worthy of her presence, and we all know that Bianca Belair is going to be an awesome rivalry for Mercedes Varnado down-the-road. There’s talent on the Blue Brand, and Sasha is capable of getting the most out of them. Like Roman Reigns, she is someone who can dominate a show and be the Conversation.

Grade: A

Universal Champion Roman Reigns

There isn’t a bigger star in professional wrestling right now than Roman Reigns, and his current run as Universal Champion with Paul Heyman by his side is all about proving his place among the best of all-time. That’s the level of competition Reigns is eyeing; his focus is on The Rock and John Cena, not just on his contemporaries on SmackDown.

Reigns is one of the two biggest reasons why SmackDown is the most compelling wrestling show right now, juxtaposed to Raw’s massive failings and NXT’s drop in quality.

He put on another absolute banger at TLC against Kevin Owens, and his matches more than match the hype that the layered builds to his feuds provide. Reigns is doing it better than anyone else right now, and he’s challenging anyone who crosses his path to raise their game accordingly. That’s what you want a world champion to do.

Grade: A+