Ranking all of WWE's current champions (post-Survivor Series)

Another of the big four pay per views is in the books, so it's time to look once again at WWE's crop of champions. There are currently 15 in the company, with newly-crowned NXT UK Women's Champion Rhea Ripley joining the mix.

Which is better than the other? Opinions will vary, but most will agree that a combination of ring ability, charisma, and the ability of the champion to elevate his or her respective division during the reign are the important considerations. Recent booking matters for this, but so does latent ability. Daniel Bryan has the potential to deliver a lot of classics, for example, while Brock Lesnar's absentee status hurts his division.

Let's take a look at all 15.

#15 AOP

The September and October resurgence was all too brief. Raw's tag team division remains the worst in the company following the latest big four pay per view. The champions, who are the latest act in WWE to have their name mysteriously shortened, have been comically misused on the main roster. Unlike the B-Team, there's no reason why they should be ranked so low here, but their glory days in NXT seem an eternity ago.

Since then, they've taken random pins, even as champions and the centre of gravity of their act isn't their monstrous size and fearsome strength as it was on the yellow brand, but...urination jokes involving their manager. We saw it at Survivor Series and we saw it this week on Raw in two of the worst segments of the year.

It's a perfect microcosm for both Vince McMahon's five-year-old sense of humour and how he views tag team wrestling in general. The 2017 renaissance was an aberration. Raw's tag team division has been at the epicentre of the levelling. The prospects of its recovery don't appear anywhere in sight, despite the latent talent of the champions.

#14 Shinsuke Nakamura

Nakamura's stock has fallen a lot, even with his United States title reign. Since securing the championship in July, he's been pulling a bit of a Brock Lesnar, rarely appearing on SmackDown. Despite being champion, he's been so irrelevant to SmackDown's midcard that it's been rolling on without him, while he appears like the least important part of it.

Only recently have we seen a hint of this beginning to change. His match at Survivor Series with Seth Rollins was very good, and now, he looks like he'll be in a feud with Rusev. Unfortunately, it would have been a far hotter rivalry a year ago. Both men remain popular, but they've diminished a lot, and their feud already feels like it's less important than Rey Mysterio vs. Randy Orton, or possibly even the coming feud between Samoa Joe and Jeff Hardy.

For the prestige of the title, Nakamura should probably drop it to Orton or Mysterio soon.

#13 Brock Lesnar

Despite the classic he just had with Daniel Bryan, it didn't do him any favours with fans who were revolting at the decision to crown him Universal Champion for the second time at Crown Jewel. It isn't hard to see why. Since Survivor series, we haven't heard a peep from Lesnar, and won't until January, when the Royal Rumble is near.

The issue of Lesnar's schedule will always persist and you also never know what you'll get from him in the ring. Sometimes you'll get a classic, as we saw with Bryan, and many times, you'll get a dud, as we saw with Braun Strowman and Roman Reigns.

Despite it supposedly being the top title in the company, its prestige is in the gutter, and the Universal Championship will remain there as long as Lesnar holds it. It's hard to care about something you barely see.

#12 Shayna Baszler

It's a shame what's happened to the NXT Women's Championship this year. What was previously one of the most prestigious titles in the company and the gold standard of women's wrestling has been degraded since Asuka vacated it. All the best matches and moments from the women's division have been on the main roster this year, which is an affront to a title that used to be the tip of the spear of the "women's revolution."

Shayna Baszler is the primary reason for this. While her first reign told a great story for a babyface to eventually overcome, that culminated at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn 4. Her second reign, on the other hand, just feels like it's happening because of Ronda Rousey nepotism, and with the decision to put the championship back on Baszler, we need to take stock of the facts.

The division has been levelled during her tenure. Few superstars feel important and Kairi Sane, the last remaining strong babyface, now faces an uncertain future. During the course of this turn of events, Baszler was at the epicentre of the worst NXT Women's Championship feud in history with Ember Moon, and also had the worst TakeOver match for the championship with Nikki Cross. The prospects of a Baszler vs. Bianca Belair feud are far from promising. Their styles are unlikely to mesh well and it will be hard to get invested in either one against the other.

For the sake of the championship and the division, we better hope that NXT employs Io Shirai well.

#11 The Bar

While SmackDown's tag team division is thankfully in a better place than its Raw counterpart, The Bar's reign with the blue brand's titles has been underwhelming by their standards. Their alliance with the Big Show was always random and now appears over. Meanwhile, they've taken part in a silly "Thanksgiving feast fight" with the New Day and were part of the even worse "Drake Maverick goes to the bathroom in his pants" segment at Survivor Series.

Fortunately, that feud with The Usos we've been hoping, for now, appears like it's on the cards, even if it got started off on the wrong foot (champions getting pinned in non-title matches happens way too often in this company). Hopefully, it will heat up, and if the four of them are left to their own devices, the tag team division should see an elevation again.

#10 Rhea Ripley

WWE's newest champion was officially crowned this week in a match against Mae Young Classic winner Toni Storm. Talk about getting your reign started on the right foot!

Rhea Ripley has been one of the breakout stars of 2018. A completely different performer than she was a year ago, her improvements have been exceptional. In everything from her look to her character to her ring work, she's made giant leaps. Rhea Ripley has the potential to be one of the standout performers of her generation and one imagines she's destined for bigger things than the UK women's title.

Rhea Ripley still needs to prove herself, though. She's not the finished item yet. Nevertheless, her prospects as champion look bright. There's a lot of talent in the UK women's division, and it will be open season to unseat her. Truthfully, she's only ranked this low because of her relative inexperience and her competition being very steep from here.

#9 The Undisputed Era

Still going, but cracks are beginning to show.

The Undisputed Era have dominated the tag team division in NXT for a year now. It's understandable why that's been the case. They deliver every time they're in a title match. Their matches with Orcan and Burch, and following them, Moustache Mountain, were highly praised. They delivered as they always do at TakeOver: War Games II as well.

It is true, however, that their reign is getting long in the tooth. It feels like they've done all they can as champions, and the division needs a shakeup.

The NXT tag team division hasn't been as exciting these past few months, though that may start to change now that War Games is in the rearview mirror. They're probably set to drop their titles to War Raiders sooner rather than later, at TakeOver: Phoenix on January 26th. We'll just need to see how that feud unfolds.

#8 Pete Dunne

The Bruiserweight continues his reign of dominance.

Pete Dunne is the longest reigning champion of the past 25 years for a reason. He delivers every time he goes out to the ring. He recently took part in barnburner matches with Ricochet, Adam Cole, and in the War Games structure earlier this month.

Truthfully, Pete Dunne is only ranked this low because the UK division is still in its infancy, but now that it's up and running, his prospects look even brighter. There will be many challenges to his crown and so far, he's fended them off in exciting fashion. Recent waves were made with the signing of WALTER, a major standout on the independent scene, to the UK division.

Now that's a rivalry that we should get very excited about. If there's anyone that can credibly end Dunne's reign, it would be WALTER, though one imagines it's still some months off.

#7 Buddy Murphy

The Juggernaut of 205 Live is precisely the right guy to hold the championship now. Delivering standout performance after standout performance, he's had a tremendous 2018. It's a year he's proven that he isn't the 'best-kept secret' in WWE anymore!

Were Buddy Murphy goes from here as Cruiserweight Champion remains to be decided. His perennial rivalries with the previous titleholder, Cedric Alexander, and Mustafa Ali, will probably continue. In these, we can expect to see even more classic matches, especially with Ali, who will hopefully be his WrestleMania opponent. They can do a lot more together than they showed at Survivor Series, good as that match was. That's for certain.

In the meantime, it would be nice to see the purple brand build up other challengers to Murphy's crown. Might his alliance with Tony Nese break up at some time in the future? We would be in for another great match if that's the case!

Truthfully, there are almost no bad options with Murphy.

#6 Ricochet

Fresh off his victory at War Games, the sky appears the limit for the NXT North American Champion. A singles rematch with Adam Cole, which still hasn't happened, needs to be in the cards at some point in the near future. Beyond that, there are many exciting possibilities awaiting Ricochet in NXT.

Keith Lee, Matt Riddle, and a renewed rivalry with Velveteen Dream all spring to mind as potential possibilities for the champion going forward. Each one brings its own unique excitement to contrast with Ricochet's style.

And if you're privy to what went down at the latest set of NXT tapings, let's just say that an old friend returned to put on a hell of a match with Ricochet.

WWE's best arrival in 2018 is going to continue to fly, no matter what course he takes. That much is set in stone.

#5 Seth Rollins

Unfortunately, the feud between Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose which began in October hasn't had a stellar first month. One feels that it's been a bit of a letdown so far, compared to what these two can do together. That segment with Dean Ambrose taking shots in his butt from this week's horrible Raw is a case in point.

But there's still a lot of time to right the ship. Their match at TLC should be one of the better ones on a card that's already shaping up to be great. It might be the case that Seth Rollins is going to drop his title there, given some rumours that we've heard about him.

It would be a just reward for someone who has taken over from The Miz and elevated the Intercontinental title to a relevance not seen in a while.

#4 Daniel Bryan

Daniel Bryan's shocking WWE Championship win was just what the doctor ordered, both for him and the title. It was a shot in the arm that made the title far more relevant than it had been in AJ Styles' lengthy reign. For the first time in a while, there's a lot of buzz surrounding it. Styles did a fine job, but it was more than time for a change.

Daniel Bryan increased the buzz with his bizarre (in a good way) promo last week and his absence this week. AJ Styles certainly wasn't pleased. The two will have a rematch at TLC in what should be an excellent contest, but the Phenomenal One is unlikely to win.

It will be an open question as to who can dethrone the fallen Daniel Bryan. The Royal Rumble will certainly be a lot more interesting with him holding the WWE Championship.

#3 Ronda Rousey

Ronda Rousey will cap off a great rookie year with a successful title defense at TLC against Nia Jax. No one should doubt this. We should also be confident enough in Rousey that she'll make a good match out of it, as she did at Money in the Bank earlier this year.

After stagnating for over a year under the dominance of Alexa Bliss, the Raw Women's Championship has never had more buzz surrounding it. Rousey was the injection of adrenaline that the championship was so lacking and what the "women's revolution" was always supposed to be about.

Following Rousey's great match with Charlotte at Survivor Series and the ditching of what should have been a match with Becky Lynch, we're already looking past TLC to the Royal Rumble. No matter what happens there, Ronda Rousey is going to have even more buzz surrounding her.

#2 Tommaso Ciampa

The self-proclaimed "greatest sports entertainer of all time" stagnated somewhat following NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn 4, but he's back to the forefront hot off his match of the year candidate against Velveteen Dream a couple of weeks ago.

As the champ now looks ahead to the New Year, he needs to realize that the former champion, Aleister Black, is going to be waiting for him. We should all get excited about that potentiality. Johnny Gargano, in all his pitiful derangement, isn't going to go away either.

Ciampa is going to be at the epicentre of some intense angles for a long time still to come. We can rely on his ability to troll throughout his tenure to make them even hotter. It's likely indeed that he's going to get the top spot back in the next iteration of our rankings after the Royal Rumble.

#1 Becky Lynch

No one has been hotter in the company these past few months than Becky Lynch. Her level of connection with the crowd is truly something to behold. With a likely match of the year candidate at TLC against Charlotte and Asuka on the way, she's about to get even hotter. Becky Lynch has taken the SmackDown Women's Championship out of the doldrums and into the promised land.

But what if she winds up losing at TLC?

She'd be passing the championship off to a worthy successor. You can't go wrong with either Charlotte or Asuka. And it would be her opportunity to get even hotter with the Royal Rumble on the way. But that's in the future.

For now, the SmackDown Women's Championship is the hottest title in the company thanks to its holder. It should be the main event at TLC, though knowing Vince McMahon, it won't be.