Last week of WWE programming was nothing less than eventful. WWE made a huge attempt to put over the Randy Orton vs. Brock Lesnar feud and also, they made big strides in building up the upcoming Championship matches at SummerSlam. The momentum of numerous superstars was affected due to the bold booking decisions that WWE made, and the upcoming week is going to have an impact on the same.
But before we head into another week of WWE programming, it would make sense to look back and see which all superstars comes in with momentum on their side. So, here is the WWE Power Rankings ahead of the August 8, 2016, edition of Monday Night Raw.
#1 Brock Lesnar
Brock Lesnar made his return to WWE last week and made an immediate impact. Though there were concerns about the reaction he would get due to the USADA bust, it turned out to be a good outing for everyone. Having Paul Heyman at their disposal was a big boost for the WWE and Heyman simply sold the match.
Randy Orton got the better of Lesnar on Raw, but Lesnar leveled the score when he showed up on SmackDown Live!. Lesnar might not appear this week, but that would not be a problem since he has already made a lasting impression with his appearance last week.
#2 Randy Orton
Like Lesnar, Randy Orton was someone that was lucky enough to be on both SmackDown Live! and Monday Night Raw. While Orton himself was a great presence on both the shows, it was Paul Heyman that actually did the magic for Orton. Heyman underlined how vicious and unpredictable Orton is and this resulted in a huge pop for The Viper when he showed up on Raw.
Later on SmackDown, Orton renewed his battle lines with Lesnar and is slowly turning into a compelling character in the WWE roster. If WWE lets him be strong for the coming weeks, the Lesnar vs. Orton match at SummerSlam is bound to attract more eyeballs.
#3 Sasha Banks
Sasha Banks might be the reigning Women’s champion but there is still a lot of pressure on her shoulders. The main reason for this is the fact that she is feuding with Charlotte, who WWE has backed so well over the past few months. Sasha needs to be on top of her game to stay afloat and she did just that this past week. The limelight of the opening segment was stolen by Enzo Amore but then again, Sasha played her role well.
The match showcased Sasha Banks sharing the ring with Chris Jericho and Enzo Amore, which is bound to be a learning experience for the newly crowned champion.
#4 Bray Wyatt
For the first time perhaps, WWE has clearly stated what Bray Wyatt wants. Till now, he has been cryptic about his intentions and this to an extent has hurt his feud, but now, he clearly wants to get his hand on the WWE championship. It was good from WWE’s side to give him a match against Dolph Ziggler as sharing the limelight with the number one contender puts Bray up there even though there is nothing officially booked.
Despite the loss, Bray had a strong showing and the reunion with Erick Rowan seems to be a promising start for Bray. It would be interesting to see how The New Face of Fear gets booked in the coming weeks.
#5 AJ Styles and John Cena
AJ Styles and John Cena booked a date for SummerSlam and their trajectory will be something worth watching. Before the brand split, there were rumors about Cena and Styles being the top draws for SmackDown, and WWE underlined this fact with the Style-Cena promo on SmackDown. For these two, it is about knowing who the greatest is and the emotions were there to be seen throughout their segment.
Styles, in particular, impressed people with his urge to show everyone that he was above Cena. Cena was typical and great as expected. The next chapter of this saga invokes interest and hopefully WWE will not mess things up.
#6 Finn Balor
Finn Balor had the entire limelight on him two weeks back thanks to his huge win on debut. While the super push of Balor did cause a lot of chaos on the internet, it was welcomed by a majority of the fan base. This week around, WWE had to prove that Balor is indeed the real deal and they tried to do so by letting him be in a verbal promo with Seth Rollins.
WWE fans got to know the microphone skills of Balor and the way he got the upper hand proves that WWE is really high on the Irish star.
#7 Dean Ambrose
Dean Ambrose had the responsibility of taking a small step away from the limelight and letting it shine on Dolph Ziggler. While Ambrose did not get a quality match compared to that of Ziggler, Ambrose did show shades of brilliance as a character. There was a new found emotion of dominance from the Lunatic Fringe as he seems to have come to the realization that he is indeed the top name in SmackDown.
This transition of character from Ambrose is going to contribute big time to his on-going feud against Ziggler and when SummerSlam arrives, WWE could even pull off a full-blown heel turn from the champion.
#8 Charlotte
Charlotte might not have the WWE Women’s championship around her waist, but she certain has momentum on her side. WWE is also, not letting her slip down the ranks and the opening segment of Raw this past week was a proof of this. Charlotte proved once again that she is much superior to Sasha Banks when it comes to microphone work and this worked in favor of her.
Charlotte, without any doubt, would go in with tons of momentum into SummerSlam and we could see her get a similar booking this week as well. WWE’s usage of Dana Brooke will also be a major factor for Charlotte’s immediate future.
#9 Seth Rollins
The Architect shared the squared circle with Finn Balor this week and it did not end well for him. Though Rollins seemed much more confident than Finn in the segment, it was Finn that got the upper hand in the end. However, Rollins, in no context was inferior. He put together a great match with Sami Zayn later that night and went on to win the match as well.
In-ring ability still remains to be one of the major attractions about Rollins and WWE should flaunt it more in the coming weeks. The Rollins – Balor story can take interesting turns if WWE is willing to take bold decisions and Rollins will have his stage to shine.
#10 Dolph Ziggler
Dolph Ziggler was bound to have an eventful week this time around due to the buzz he created in the one that preceded. Ziggler will be facing Dean Ambrose for the WWE Championship at SummerSlam and it was all about proving a point for him. There were a lot of negative comments about WWE booking Ziggler as the No.1 contender and it was great to see Ziggler come in and embrace the hate.
And to top things off, he also had an excellent match with Bray Wyatt. The win is a big boost for the Show off and WWE should think about pushing him further this week.
