Ranking all the current champions in the WWE after Survivor Series 2018

As 2018 draws to a close, we can agree that WWE has done SOMETHING right towards the end of the year.

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Yes, Crown Jewel was a disaster, but Survivor Series was arguably one of the best PPVs we have got all year. Yes, Raw pulled a clean sweep on Smackdown, but the quality of most of the matches was absolutely brilliant.

Similar to last year, we got a couple of championship change hands ahead of the PPV and some champs kept holding on their belts just so WWE could advertise a dream match (Looking at you Nakamura). But, I can safely say that the end result has been satisfactory both times.

Anyway, when I last wrote an article ranking all the champs, I was utterly horrified by the quality of the champions.

The Tag Team division was severely underwhelming, the Universal Championship was held by a part-timing Beast (although it still is) and the Women's championships were held by Divas.

This time, it is very much different. Although the Tag Team Division could still use some work, the women of the WWE are the hottest commodities in the company.

The IC championship has taken the mantle of being the top championship on RAW in the Beast's absence, and we have an intriguing WWE champion.

Some champions are relatively new to be judged properly, but we can make safe predictions. On the other hand, Superstars like Rollins, Rousey and Nakamura have held the championships long enough for fair judgements.

Similar to last time, I will rank all the champions on the Monday Night Raw and SmackDown Live. Cruiserweight division and NXT will not be included (although Buddy Murphy would have ranked high on this list).

A total of 8 champions will be judged on the basis of their in-ring performance, their rivalries and the overall prestige they bring to the championship.

Let's begin.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the article by the writer do not reflect the views of Sportskeeda.

#8 Shinsuke Nakamura (United States Champion)

One of the worst United States Champions. EVER.

What happened to Nakamura? A year ago he was one of the biggest names of the company and was on a hot trail to become the WWE Champion.

Now, he is degraded to be the worst singles champion who hasn't even defended the championship in what seems like years.

After a quick Wikipedia search, I created the list of his title defences. He won the title at Extreme Rules from Jeff Hardy after a low blow brought the former champ to his knees.

After that, he defended against Hardy at Summerslam, Rusev and R-Truth on SmackDown Live episodes and the Bulgarian Brute again at Crown Jewel.

So, in a total of 130+ days as champion, he has defended the belt at two PPVs and at two episodes on the Blue brand.

Let's put aside the number of defences for a minute and focus on his rivalries. Throughout his title reign, the only rivalry he has been involved in is the Hardy vs Orton feud. Even in that rivalry, he was just treated as a side attraction.

Since Summerslam, he has just floated around the roster, rarely appearing on weekly shows and PPVs. Yes, his match against Seth Rollins was good, but it was neither a title defence, nor a relevant bout.

In addition to that, his title win always seemed like a consolation as he couldn't capture the big one from AJ Styles. Thus, he is at the bottom of the list.

#7 The Bar (SmackDown Live Tag Team champions)

I will admit straight up - The Bar has never seemed like a good tag team to me. They have always seemed to me like WWE's go-to-option as champions. It certainly didn't help that for the majority of their career they had to make-do with Raw's terrible tag team division.

The Bar won their first-ever Smackdown Tag Team Championships on Smackdown 1000 as Big Show turned heel and help them beat the New Day.

They have defended their belts just once in their short reign, against the former champs at Crown Jewel. Storyline consistency was dumped again and again as they faced the New Day three times until they finally won the belts.

With Big Show in their corner, they have formed a stable to compete with the New Day but it has hardly done them any favours.

Their latest matches were against AOP at Survivor Series (which was easily the worst match on the card) and against The New Day (again) in a Thanksgiving feast fight.

They are never treated as serious champs and have only had sub-par rivalries. Hence, they are at No.7 on this list.

#6 AOP (RAW Tag Team Champions)

The Authors of Pain are now addressed as AOP - apparently, Vince McMahon thinks that we can't remember names.

Anyway, AOP won their first-ever main roster Tag Team Championships on the RAW following Crown Jewel.

Although a title change was imminent as Ambrose had turned on Rollins after winning tag team gold, it was good to see that AOP was chosen to perform the deed.

As addressed earlier, several championships changed hands ahead of Survivor Series. RAW Tag Team championships were one of them.

But, Rezar and Akam have never been treated like the monsters they are. Since their debut, they have been on-and-off Raw until Drake Maverick became their manager. So they have a lot of mistakes to make up for.

Let's countdown their matches from their title victory. First, they won the title. But, their win was not fulfilling as they won the titles against Rollins in a handicap match.

Their match against The Bar at Survivor Series had no buildup and was treated like a joke. This week on Raw, they were beaten by Roode and Gable which brings us back to their inconsistent booking.

Although they have time for improvement, their reign until now has been crippled by bad booking. Hence, they are awarded the #6 slot on this list.

#5 Brock Lesnar (Universal Champion)

WWE Crown Jewel was overshadowed by two supremely bad decisions: Shane McMahon winning the World Cup Tournament and Brock Lesnar squashing Braun Strowman.

Brock Lesnar was one of the worst champions till date as he rarely defended his title and didn't even appear on the weekly telecasts.

It's surprising that despite such criticism, WWE decided to crown him as the champion again following Reigns' leukemia recurrence.

We all know the drawbacks of Lesnar as a champion so I'm not going to revisit them. The only new thing I would like to mention is that he has the capability to put up great matches but he rarely does that.

I hate his indifference to the product. His only good matches have been against AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan, both on Survivor Series. Rest of his matches just have repeated the same formula.

But, just because of his brilliant match against Daniel Bryan and his consistent booking, I will have to give him the No.5 spot. Believe me, I'm not happy about this.

#4 Seth Rollins (Intercontinental Champion)

He has certainly lived up to his gimmick of Monday Night Rollins.

There are two reasons why Seth Rollins is not on the No.2 spot. The first reason is that we can't start counting his title reign from Wrestlemania as he lost the belt to Ziggler.

Eventually, he did regain it, but we can't count it as one title reign. Secondly, I believe that since he regained the IC title, the title itself has never been the main focus. The main focus has always been The Shield.

Since winning the title at SummerSlam, he was involved with the Shield in one way or the other. First, the feud against Strowman, Ziggler and McIntyre was the main focus, and as soon as the afore-mentioned group disbanded, Reigns had to step away from the WWE.

On the same night, Ambrose turned heel. Although their bout at TLC will be for the IC Championship, it is not the main focus of the rivalry.

If any other man had been holding the IC title, perhaps he would have been lower on the list. But Rollins' performance as the workhorse of Monday Night Raw has nonetheless elevated the title. Hence the No. 4 spot.

#3 Ronda Rousey (RAW Women's Champion)

This is a controversial opinion. Many people will place Rollins above Rousey as they believe he is the better champion. But, due to the reasons I have mentioned in the previous slide, Ronda just nearly wins the comparison.

We certainly can't deny that the Raw Women's Championship has been a better centre of focus in Ronda's rivalries.

Her feud with Alexa Bliss was red-hot (although their Hell in a Cell encounter was subpar) and her current rivalry with Becky - Charlotte has brought out the best in all three women.

Her feud with Nikki Bella was a misstep, but the Survivor Series payoff has elevated her title reign to another level.

With three potential red-hot Wrestlemania main events in the form of Rousey vs Becky, Rousey vs Charlotte and a triple-threat encounter, the future for the Raw Women's Championship is incredibly bright.

Also, with Rousey at its helm, the women's division has the capability of stealing the show.

She is not a bad wrestler either. Although her match quality largely depends on her opponent, she has the ability to deliver when the stakes are high.

As she has proved this time and again, she deserves the No.3 spot.

#2 Daniel Bryan (WWE CHAMPION)

WWE definitely took some bold decisions in 2018. One of those bold decisions which paid off was turning Bryan heel.

Although some people might believe it ruined his coronation as the champ, but his heel turn just added more intrigue to his character.

WWE didn't exactly handle Bryan's return to the WWE as we would have expected. Instead of receiving a hero's welcome, Bryan was repeatedly denied opportunities to be the main event star he should be.

After being stuck in storylines against Big Cass and The Miz, he finally got a shot at the belt at Crown Jewel. But, as Bryan refused to work at the event, he was buried a week prior to the event. We all thought this was where Bryan lost his push.

Surprisingly, he got a title shot against Styles a week from Survivor Series. He won the match by turning heel and executing a low blow.

Since then, we have seen a different side of Bryan. His heel character is not just another trademark WWE, he has truly redefined himself. His tactics against Brock Lesnar made the match very entertaining.

Overall, owing to his shock title win and subsequent great character work, I have decided to Bryan at the No.2 spot.

#1 Becky Lynch (SmackDown Live Women's Champion)

Well, it was kind of predictable. Ever since she turned heel at SummerSlam by attacking Charlotte, she has been on a roll. There is no wrestler in the WWE right now - male or female - who garners such a huge pop.

Perhaps what helped Becky was the relevance of her storyline. People could relate to the fact that when she was pushed around too much, she stood up for herself.

Kind of like Steve Austin in the Attitude Era, Becky Lynch can do no wrong and is the hottest commodity in the wrestling community.

Her matches against Charlotte have been show stealers. The Last Woman Standing match at Evolution was better than any match at Crown Jewel.

But, what has really been the highlight was her invasion of Monday Night Raw. When she was standing with the crowd with a bloodied face, she officially became the leader of the women's division.

It was perhaps a blessing in disguise that her match against Ronda was scrapped. Fans' excitement for this match has turned it into a potential Wrestlemania main-event. Also, with Charlotte's heel turn, we can even expect a triple threat bout.

The only thing stopping this match is how to make Becky/Ronda lose their championship without hurting their momentum. Perhaps an injury angle could work? We'll see.

Anyway, for turning around WWE's disastrous year and for starting one of the best women's rivalries we have ever seen in years, Becky Lynch is awarded the No.1 spot on this list.