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WWE gave emphasis to some hard hitting in ring action this week rather than heavily investing on the narrative aspects and were looking like a wrestling promotion to a certain extent.This meant that the wrestlers who had a lot to give in terms of in ring skills shined this time. At the same time, with the Authority taking a vacation, the creative team also had time to look into the mid-card scene and divas division which showed improvements.Three solid angles are running in the divas division at the moment which marks the best run that the division has had in a long time. The company has kept their momentum well after Money in the Bank and here is a look at this weeks Power Rankings.
#25 Naomi (Previous Rank 24)
The friction between the Funkadactyls is not doing any good for Naomi as she slips down one place in the ranking. She suffered back to back defeats in Raw and SmackDown, both thanks to her partner , Cameron getting involved in one way or the other.
#24 Summer Rae (Previous Rank Nil)
The ongoing feud with Layla and some good television time in Total divas is doing wonder for Summer Rae who climbs into the Power Rankings. She had a good win over Nikki Bella in the main event and will be looking to build on that as she continues to haunt Fandango.
#23 Jack Swagger (Previous Rank 22)
Jack Swagger and Zeb Colter stayed away from in ring action this week which has cost them their place in the power rankings. The match against Rusev has been set for Battleground and Swagger will be looking to continue his face run with a win over the Bulgarian Brute.
#22 Los Matadores (Previous Rank 21)
Los Matadores continues their free fall down the Power Rankings after they picked up a pair of losses over the week. Both Diego and El Torito failed to change the course of their bad run and the losses take them farther away from the tag team championship.
#21 Alberto Del Rio (Previous Rank 20)
Alberto Del Rio failed to capitalize his chance to win the United states title from Sheamus but found place in the Battle Royal at Battle ground which gives him a chance to win the Intercontinental title instead. The loss however drags Del Rio out of the top twenty as we head closer to the PPV.
#20 Chris Jericho (Previous Rank Nil)
While most of the part timers that WWE bring in wrestle only in pay-per-views, Chris Jericho is showing a different pattern. He wrestled both in Raw and SmackDown recently and came out with two solid performances. And the wins get Jericho back in the rankings and it looks like he is here to stay.
#19 Rybaxel (Previous Rank 18)
Curtis Axel and Ryback continued their feud with the Rhodes brothers this week. The team however still failed to find a way past the magnificent team of Goldust and Stardust which reflects in their rankings. Dreams of challenging for the tag titles are nowhere to be seen for the team which is bad news.
#18 Bo Dallas (Previous Rank 19)
The inspirational Bo Dallas proved too hot for the Los Matadores to handle this week as he registered back to back wins. Bo remained unbeaten and extended his unbeaten streak with the two wins which help him to climb in the Power Rankings.
#17 Goldust and Stardust (Previous Rank 17)
Goldust registered a win over Ryback at SmackDown which keeps the team rooted to their spot in the ranking. Stardust is also getting warm reactions from the WWE Universe and the Rhodes Brothers might be propelled into the title scene soon with this kind of momentum.
#16 Adam Rose (Previous Rank 16)
WWE might not be high on giving Rose some good storyline back up, but the party animal is piling up wins. Quality of his opponents is a concerning sight for everyone who knows how talented Rose is in between the ropes and WWE should address the matter soon.
#15 Paige (Previous Rank 15)
The former divas champion alongside the current one picked up a win on Raw thanks to the friction between Funkadactyls. Paige so far has just shown her friendly side towards AJ Lee, and this is a situation that might change as the two divas will go head to head at Battleground.
#14 Rob Van Dam (Previous Rank 14)
WWE is showing excellence in managing Rob Van Dam during his current run. Van Dam has been used wisely to put over young talent and the creative has also given him a good amount of time to shine under the spotlight. He hangs on to the ranking despite the loss to Rusev and looks all set to take part in the battle royal.
#13 Big E (Previous Rank 13)
Big E shook off the loss he suffered against Rusev at Money in the bank and showed up on Raw to save Kofi Kingston from Cesaro. The battle lines between Big E and Cesaro might be drawn after this encounter and a confrontation is sure to happen in near future.
#12 Rusev (Previous Rank 12)
The Bulgarian Brute boosted his resume with the win over Rob Van Dam and was going to bring down the roof again when he faced Roman Reigns on SmackDown. However, Randy Orton’s interference gave the match to Reigns which apparently didn’t hurt Rusev.
#11 AJ Lee (Previous Rank 11)
AJ Lee was back this week to reign the division which she owned a few months before. She carried the momentum as champion with a tag team win over the Funkadactyls and has a date set up with Paige for Battleground where she will have the real test.
#10 Cesaro (Previous Rank 9)
Cesaro might’ve toppled many big names in the roster but seems to be having a tough time against Kofi Kingston. The energetic superstar got his second win against Cesaro this week and this has pushed the Swiss Superman to the edge of top ten.
#9 Kane (Previous Rank 10)
The big red monster is building a good amount of momentum before his match at Battleground for the WWE championship. This actually is in contradiction to what everyone was expecting after Daniel Bryan was injured leaving Kane without a feud to speak about. Creative team used some intelligent booking to take Kane out of the situation and he sits pretty at 9th position.
#8 Usos (Previous Rank 8)
WWE is giving the Usos a similar booking to what they gave Rhodes brothers when they were champions. This means that the Usos will be getting the job done when the title is on the line but fails to capitalize in weekly situations. This however doesn’t affect the power rankings this week as they split a win and a loss.
#7 Seth Rollins (Previous Rank 2)
Seth Rollins drops out of the top five after he squandered another chance to be the World Champions this week when he faced John Cena. The ghost from his past, Dean Ambrose is the one that’s haunting Rollins at this moment and Rollins would be looking to settle the angle once and for all before he would consider cashing in again.
#6 Wyatt Family (Previous Rank 6)
Wyatt Family would have no complaints about this week as they ended it on a high. Luke Harper and Erick Rowan had their win over Usos and also received a title shot at Battleground. Bray Wyatt on the other hand got into Jericho’s head and made it clear that the war has only begun between the two.
#5 Dean Ambrose (Previous Rank 4)
Dean Ambrose hasn’t still digested the betrayal of Seth Rollins which is not surprising at all. Roman Reigns might be busy chasing big things, but Ambrose is still living up to the promise he made against Rollins. The loss against Randy Orton however, drops him one place in the rankings despite being full of momentum.
#4 Sheamus (Previous Rank 5)
The United States champion kept his momentum high after he fended off Alberto Del Rio successfully in a last man standing match. After dispatching the Mexican in style, the Celtic Warrior now has his eyes set on the intercontinental championship at which he will have a shot at Battleground.
#3 Randy Orton (Previous Rank 7)
It was a great week for Randy Orton as he picked up two big wins. The first one came against Dean Ambrose on Raw while some help from Wyatt Family gave him a second. Orton will be taking all the positives from the wins as he looks forward to become the WWE champion once again.
#2 Roman Reigns (Previous Rank 3)
Roman Reigns showed to the WWE universe that he is here to stay by making some big statements. He had a stare down with John Cena on Raw and won against Rusev at SmackDown after Randy Orton got involved. Reigns still is having a battle with the authority, which he will be reigniting once again when Hunter and Stephanie returns from vacation.
#1 John Cena (Previous Rank 1)
The WWE World Heavyweight champion met his worst fear on Raw when he faced off against Seth Rollins. However, the timely interference of Dean Ambrose helped the Cenation leader to keep hold of his title and pick up a win. This might not be the case at Battleground where all the odds would be stacked against Cena.
