Royal Rumble is bound to change the Power Rankings upside down.
The winner of the Rumble is definitely going to get a huge jump and will probably end up inside the top five position considering how the top stars of the WWE roster have been booked so far. Speaking about the Rumble, the week prior to it was eventful to say the least
The entire limelight went to Monday Night Raw where WWE showcased a showdown between Goldberg, Undertaker and Brock Lesnar. While Raw banked in on the star power of part-timers, SmackDown once again relied on the content quality and delivered another memorable show.
The things that happened both on Raw and SmackDown had their impact on the Power Rankings and before Royal Rumble; here is a look at how the Rankings are laid out.
#10 Mickie James (NR)
After a long break, former Divas champion Mickie James made her return to the WWE programming a couple of weeks back. She was revealed as La Luchadora on SmackDown sometime back, but this week, it was all about re-establishing the heel Mickie that we once knew.
The association between Alexa Bliss and Mickie has already captured the attention of the WWE fans out there and the situation is bound to get better as we move forward.
The way in which Mickie carried herself in the ring and how she performed shows that Mickie has still got some years in her. Hopefully, WWE would make good use of the veteran to elevate the division as a whole.
#9 Chris Jericho (-1)
The reigning United States champion suffered a setback this week when Roman Reigns got the upper hand.
Jericho managed to keep the title around his waist thanks to the disqualification ending that the match had but it was a loss for the champion nevertheless. Also, Reigns getting the better of Jericho and Owens didn’t do Jericho much good.
Jericho heads into Royal Rumble with low momentum but he does have a huge role to play in the show. Apart from his presence in the Rumble match, Jericho will also be a huge factor in the WWE Universal title match where he will be suspended above the WWE ring in a shark cage.
#8 Braun Strowman (+2)
The impressive run of Braun Strowman continued this week. He teamed up with heel trio of Rusev, Jinder Mahal and Titus O’Neil to face New Day, Enzo Amore and Big Cass on Monday Night.
Strowman’s team came out with the win and this marked yet another good outing for the former Wyatt Family member.
Strowman is going to be a force to reckon with in the Rumble and it would be a good idea to keep an eye out for him. WWE could have some big plans in place for Strowman and this might include having him brush shoulders with some big names that are involved in the Royal Rumble match.
#7 The Miz (-1)
Miz faced Dean Ambrose in an Intercontinental championship match at SmackDown this week.
The lumberjack match marked Miz’s return to the Intercontinental championship scene after flirting shortly with John Cena and AJ Styles. But unfortunately for Miz, his efforts went in vain as he could not get the title back from Ambrose.
The loss is another setback for Miz and he should be looking to bounce back when he enters the Royal Rumble. Miz, with the amount of work that he has been putting in, deserves a solid showing in the match and could be a dark horse due to this factor.
#6 John Cena (+1)
John Cena got a strong booking this week on SmackDown.
While he did not get physical with AJ Styles, Cena delivered a promo that silenced most of his haters. All the questions that were raised against the Cenation leader were fittingly replied to and it has set him up well for the upcoming showdown with AJ Styles at the Royal Rumble.
Cena goes in as a favourite for the match and if he wins, he could equal the record of Ric Flair, which makes his WrestleMania outing all the more interesting. We could see Cena make history at the event and a win could catapult him towards the top three in the Power Rankings.
#5 Charlotte (-2)
It was another week of inactivity for Charlotte. With such a big match coming up against Bayley at Royal Rumble, it is understandable why WWE wanted to avoid physical confrontation between both of these women.
Charlotte did have a sit-down promo during Monday Night Raw and the idea of this was to deliver the big fight feel to the match on Sunday night.
The intentions were good but not having both of them in a sensitive situation might’ve made the fans less invested in this feud. It was already overshadowed with all the star power that Royal Rumble had and with no extra effort from WWE, the Charlotte – Bayley feud is suffering more.
#4 Dean Ambrose (+1)
The Lunatic Fringe was made to put his WWE Intercontinental championship on the line against The Miz in a Lumberjack match this week on SmackDown Live. The match ended in chaos and proved to be nothing more than a build-up for the Royal Rumble match. Ambrose anyways got the win he needed and retained his title.
The title reign of Ambrose is probably going to be elevated once Royal Rumble goes into the books as WWE has been more focused on building up towards Rumble for the past few weeks.
There is also a chance of Ambrose getting a place in the Elimination Chamber match as SmackDown only has a few main event level superstars who can step in.
#3 AJ Styles (-1)
Just like the situation with John Cena, AJ Styles was confined to a promo on this week’s SmackDown. But for Styles, it was a setback. Despite having equal importance when compared to Cena, Styles was on the backfoot throughout the segment.
Cena stressed on how important he was and is to the WWE and also took shots at AJ Styles coming through the independent scene.
Cena closed the segment with a microphone drop moment and left AJ Styles hanging in the ring, which was not at all something that the reigning WWE champion would’ve wanted. He would be looking to bounce back by retaining the gold at Rumble.
#2 Kevin Owens (-1)
After getting strongly booked for a few weeks, it was back to the drawing board for Kevin Owens.
He was once again projected as the frustrated champion that wanted a better treatment and the behaviour surfacing just days before his title defence at the Royal Rumble was not a good thing for the champion.
The odds will be stacked against Owens at the show with the match being a no-disqualification one, and due to having Chris Jericho trapped inside a shark cage above the ring. If Owens manages to win despite all these hurdles, it is going to be a memorable victory for his reign.
#1 Roman Reigns (+3)
Roman Reigns makes a return to the top of the Power Rankings thanks to a strong showing on Monday Night Raw. He got a win over Chris Jericho thanks to a disqualification and landed a huge spear on the United States champion after locking up Kevin Owens inside the shark cage.
After he had been beaten up by Owens for the past couple of weeks, getting such a moment was crucial for Reigns ahead of his showdown at the Royal Rumble.
The no disqualification rule also works in his favour as Jericho is locked up inside the cage. If Reigns wins the match on Sunday night, he would be able to cement his place on top of the rankings.
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