SK WWE Power Rankings: 7 November, 2016

Reigns has his eyes set on the gold

WWE is headed to the United Kingdom this upcoming week for Monday Night Raw and SmackDown Live and all the superstars on the roster would be looking to pile up some momentum ahead of Survivor Series.

Last week, the return of Goldberg and the brief reunion of Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins were the major talking points of Raw; Whereas Dean Ambrose becoming the new number one contender proved to be the highlight of SmackDown.

The Survivor Series buildup was common on both brands and all these developments had an impact on the Power Rankings as well. Before we gear up for another week filled with WWE programming, here is a look at this week’s Power Rankings.


#10 Braun Strowman (NR)

Strowman will be a major factor at Survivor Series

The squash run of Braun Strowman continued this past week and he ended up making a big impact as well. Strowman was part of the Battle Royal on Raw last week and the winner was going to get a place on the Raw team for Survivor Series. Strowman went into the battle royal as the favourite and came out winning it as well.

Being part of the Raw team is a big achievement for the monster and it will be a platform for WWE to push him further. And thanks to his win in the Battle Royal, Strowman makes a return to the Power Rankings.

#9 Goldberg (NC)

Keeps his place in the list

Goldberg made his return to Monday Night Raw this past week and was confronted by Paul Heyman and Rusev.

While the involvement of Heyman helped to push the feud between Lesnar and Goldberg ahead of Survivor Series, Rusev was thrown in as a scapegoat in an attempt to showcase that Goldberg was still good to go, WWE made the former WCW champion deliver a jackhammer to Rusev.

To Goldberg’s credit, it didn’t look so bad and the spear that followed to Paul Heyman did wonders as well. Thanks to this strong showing on Monday Night Raw, Goldberg manages to keep his place intact in the Power Rankings for this week.

#8 Seth Rollins (-2)

Needs to recover from his loss

The Architect lost out to Kevin Owens at Hell in a Cell thanks to Chris Jericho. Rollins is one of the victims of the friendship that Owens and Jericho uphold at the moment and he is out to seek revenge. Jericho faced off against Roman Reigns in the Raw main event last week and Jericho’s best friend Owens was ringside as well.

With Reigns outnumbered, Rollins came to the rescue and gave a helping hand to Reigns. The storyline is far from over but the last minute rescue was not enough to mask the inactivity of Rollins as he drops down two places in the rankings.

#7 Sasha Banks (-2)

A Survivor Series spot would be great for her

Sasha Banks took a devastating defeat at Hell in a Cell and she is probably feeling the aftereffects of the same now. Sasha, just like the case with Rollins as we saw earlier, had a week of inactivity this past week and this is what contributes to her slip in the rankings. Sasha was not involved in the Survivor Series discussions either.

This could indicate at a possible hiatus from the former champion but at the same time, it also opens up the door for Sasha being the last minute addition to Raw’s Women’s team for Survivor Series. Either way, a return from Sasha can only help her cause in the Power Rankings.

#6 Dean Ambrose (+4)

The new contender

Dean Ambrose makes a huge leap in the Power Rankings thanks to his win over AJ Styles on SmackDown. Not only did Ambrose get the win, but he was also crowned the new number one contender for the WWE championship.

Ambrose had some help from James Ellsworth, who had been a major factor on the WWE title scene but nevertheless, Ambrose has his shot and that’s what matters most.

The title match will take place at TLC as per Shane McMahon and this means that Ambrose will have to work as a team with AJ Styles in the upcoming showdown with Team Raw on Survivor Series.

#5 Dolph Ziggler (+2)

Open challenge issued

Ever since winning the Intercontinental championship from The Miz, Dolph Ziggler has been on an impressive run. Last week on SmackDown, he dispatched Curt Hawkins with ease and retained the Intercontinental title. Not only this, Ziggler went on to issue an open challenge to all the members of Team Raw for Survivor Series.

The open challenge itself is enough to keep Ziggler relevant till the road to Survivor Series as WWE has the opportunity to build up an interesting cross–brand feud. What this also means is that Ziggler will not be part of the Survivor Series elimination matches, which apparently is a turn off considering his record.

#4 AJ Styles (-1)

Ellsworth came back to haunt AJ

Another setback unfolded for AJ Styles this week around as he was defeated by Dean Ambrose on SmackDown.

James Ellsworth, who was the reason why AJ got a win over Ambrose in the first place, came back to haunt AJ this time around. Though the loss is a short-term set-back for the reigning WWE champion, he has plenty of time to bounce back.

AJ will co-exist with Ambrose at Survivor Series before their showdown at TLC and all of this provides Styles with a chance improve his place in the Power Rankings. For now, he takes a one place drop to fourth in the rankings.

#3 Charlotte (+1)

The leader

Charlotte projected an air of confidence and dominance throughout her appearance last week on Monday Night Raw. She announced that she will be leading Raw Women’s team at Survivor Series and took shots at all the other divas on the roster, indicating that she is on top of the food chain.

With this being her third title reign, Charlotte does have a point as well and her brilliance as a heel leader puts her under the limelight once again. In the upcoming weeks, Charlotte will get a strong booking and if things fall in her favour, Charlotte could get a higher ranking. For now, she takes over AJ Styles for the third position.

#2 Kevin Owens (NC)

Needs a better booking

The booking of Kevin Owens as the Universal champion has been a curious one.

He does defend his title every once in a while, but Owens has been getting only minimal action these days. And to make matters worse, Owens is being overshadowed by his best friend, Chris Jericho. Last week, Owens was relegated to being ring side of Jericho and no development whatsoever happened for him.

Owens not getting the spotlight has drastically affected the credibility of the Universal championship and projecting their champion as an inferior name is not something Raw would want ahead of a pay-per-view like Survivor Series. For the time being, Owens keeps the second spot but his booking needs to improve immediately.

#1 Roman Reigns (NC)

Still on top

The stay of Roman Reigns on top of the Power Rankings continues. This past week, Roman made his intentions clear. He wants to go after the WWE Universal championship and the showdown with Chris Jericho on Raw was the first step. Reigns secured a win against Jericho via disqualification and got help from Seth Rollins as well.

The Reigns – Rollins association is bound to be a talking point this upcoming week and this once again puts Reigns on the helm of a major storyline. Getting the upper hand over his foes this week alongside Rollins would be more than enough for Reigns to continue his run on top of the Power Rankings.


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