The Survivor Series fallout was what dominated the last week of WWE programming. After the shocking events of the pay-per-view, WWE managed to cool down certain storylines and created some new ones in the process as well.
The big announcement from Goldberg and the No-Disqualification title match between Seth Rollins and Kevin Owens proved to be the major talking points from Raw while James Ellsworth climbing up the ladder to earn his WWE contract headlined SmackDown.
There were a string of undercard developments as well last week and as every week, we are going to take a look at how the last week’s programming impacted the Power Rankings.
#10 James Ellsworth (NR)
This week James Ellsworth officially became a full-time WWE employee. After weeks of confusion, Shane McMahon gave Ellsworth the contract but rather than taking it, Ellsworth went on to earn it by defeating AJ Styles in a ladder match on Tuesday night.
Though he got some help from Dean Ambrose, it’s still Ellsworth 3-0 Styles in the books.
Holding three wins over the WWE champion is not a cake walk and Ellsworth also made his intentions clear about wanting a shot at the gold, whch he also earned when he defeated AJ Styles. Whether or not he should get the title shot would be a debate suitable for another time.
For the time being, he returns to the Power Rankings.
#9 New Day (NR)
New Day is currently on course to break all sorts of records with their title reign. The trio has been entertaining and successful at the same time and their win over Cesaro and Sheamus helps them make a return into the Power Rankings.
After the outing that Cesaro and Sheamus had at Survivor Series, they were a real threat to New Day on Monday Night.
But fortunately, with some timely interference, New Day managed to keep the gold around their waist. They will be looking to defend the title once again this week and this time around, they will be doing it against Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows.
#8 Bayley (NC)
After the solid showing at Survivor Series where she was one of the Survivors for Team Raw, Bayley teamed up with Sasha Banks on Monday Night against Charlotte and Nia Jax.
She was on the winning side in this match as well and though Bayley did not get her title shot, a win against the Women’s champion Charlotte and one of the most dominating names in the division Nia Jax, works well for her.
The good show on Raw helps her keep hold of the eight spot in the rankings and now that WWE is going to give Sasha another title shot, it would be interesting to see where Bayley fits in for the upcoming week of Monday Night Raw.
#7 The Wyatt Family (-1)
Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton were the biggest winners of Survivor Series.
The duo led Team SmackDown to victory at Survivor Series and now, they themselves have a chance to be number one contenders for the Tag team championship. American Alpha had to go through a handful of other teams to get a shot and now, all Orton and Bray need to do is defeat American Alpha.
Bray and Orton up against Heath Slater and Rhyno is indeed a good feud for SmackDown but the lack of activity this past week costs them one spot in the rankings as they drop down to seventh.
#6 AJ Styles (-1)
The James Ellsworth curse of AJ Styles continued on SmackDown this week. He challenged Ellsworth for a ladder match and though Ambrose was initially banned from ringside, the Lunatic fringe ended up costing Styles the match. With three defeats against Ellsworth on his resume, Styles is bound to have his revenge at one point or the other.
For the time being, WWE needs to book him strongly in the coming weeks as he has a big match with Ambrose coming up. For this week, the loss against Ellsworth drops AJ down one place in the rankings as he ends up in sixth.
#5 The Miz (+2)
As the top champion of SmackDown suffered a defeat at the hands of WWE’s latest signing, the strong booking of Miz continued.
Back in Survivor Series, Miz successfully kept the Intercontinental championship in SmackDown and this week around, he got a win over Kalisto. Kalisto’s woes continued, but for Miz, it helped him to stamp his spot as a solid champion once again.
The feud between Miz and Dolph Ziggler looks set to be the immediate path for the Intercontinental championship and though it might sound like a repetition of the storyline, this is the best path that WWE has for both Ziggler and Miz right now as they have unfinished business.
#4 Roman Reigns (-1)
Roman Reigns didn’t have much to do this week on Monday Night Raw. WWE did make their intentions clear about his near future but for some reason, he was kept away from action on Raw. Reigns suffered a setback at Survivor Series and not showing up on Raw costs him as well, in the Power Rankings.
Reigns slips down one place but with Kevin Owens successfully defeating Seth Rollins, Reigns looks set to be next in line to get a shot at the Universal champion. If this is indeed the case, then we can expect Reigns to make a jump in the rankings soon. For now, he is in the fourth position.
#3 Charlotte (-1)
Charlotte was one of the Survivors for Team Raw at Survivor Series.
Last week, however, Charlotte suffered a setback when she lost a tag team bout to Bayley and Sasha Banks. Though it was a tag team match, it counts as a loss nevertheless. Charlotte drops down one place in the rankings due to this defeat but she does have an opportunity to bounce back.
Charlotte will be defending the WWE Women’s championship against Sasha on Monday and a dominating win on the show could see her rise up the ranks. And as the match is happening in her hometown, the win would be much sweeter.
#2 Kevin Owens (+2)
After a week of setbacks, the reigning Universal champion makes another leap in the Power rankings. Kevin Owens defended his gold against Seth Rollins on Monday night and with some timely help from Chris Jericho, he kept it around his waist as well.
It was a much-needed win for Owens and it helps him to improve two places in the rankings.
With the number of wins that he has against Rollins up by one, Owens would indeed need a newer challenge and we might get an idea about the same on Monday. With the possible inactivity of the man next in this list, Owens could reach the top as well.
#1 Goldberg (NC)
It’s the huge win that he secured against Brock Lesnar that still keeps Goldberg on top of the Power Rankings.
Cancelling out the achievements of Lesnar inside two minutes shows how dominating Goldberg was and he made a huge announcement this week when he revealed that he is coming to Royal Rumble to get the gold.
While it is good news, it also questions whether Goldberg would be missing the WWE programming till Rumble or not. If he does miss, his place in the rankings is going to take a big hit and by the time of Rumble, Goldberg could not even be in the rankings.
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