baseball's WWE Top 15 Weekly Rankings

[bullyballmm]

A bad RAW, a good Smackdown. So business as usual. Let's look at the rankings:

RAW Top 15:

1. Seth Rollins (up 1)
2. Dolph & Drew (up 1)
3. Braun Strowman (down 2)
4. Nia Jax
5. Ronda Rousey (up 1)
6. Deleters of Worlds (down 1)
7. Elias (up 1)
8. Brock Lesnar (up 1)
9. The B Team (down 2)
10. Roman Reigns (up 1)
11. Alexa Bliss (up 1)
12. Finn Balor (down 2)
13. Mojo Rawley (up 1)
14. Bobby Lashley (down 1)
15. Baron Corbin (back on the list)

Dolph & Drew said they were coming on RAW to take over, and they pretty much have. Wouldn't be surprised to see them at the top of the list in the upcoming weeks. Deleters of Worlds continue to go down in the rankings as they lose, but since they were dominant for so long, they have still ended up in the top 5th of the RAW roster. I wonder what the future holds for them. I also wonder what the future holds for Brock Lesnar. If he drops the title to Roman (or Braun), he may end up just focusing on UFC and be done with WWE, at least for bit. If so, he will be taken off the list, allowing a free slot to open (pretty much every week 2 or more people have been fighting for the final 15th spot, e.g. this week I had to decide if Owens stayed at 15, or if someone like Corbin, The Revival, or the Hug & Boss connection, who all won their matches this week, should get the spot - I gave it to the Constable, who not only won his match but appeared in the Roman/Brock segments).

Smackdown Top 15:

1. AJ Styles
2. Shinsuke Nakamura (up 1)
3. The Bludgeon Brothers (down 1)
4. Daniel Bryan
5. Carmella
6. Asuka
7. The New Day (up 1)
8. Rusev Day (down 1)
9. Sanity
10. Andrade 'Cien' Almas (up 1)
11. Becky Lynch (up 1)
12. Randy Orton (up 1)
13. Samoa Joe (down 3)
14. The Miz (up 1)
15. Charlotte (back on the list)

A big Smackdown for the women's division, with Becky getting to open the show and the return of Charlotte Flair. Charlotte has not only come to claim back her title; she has also come to take her place back at the heights of the Top 15 list, which funnily enough she was just kicked off of last week as other people gained momentum while she was on the sideline injured. Speaking of coming off the list, Jeff Hardy has just done that after losing momentum the past couple of weeks due to both Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura's heelish antics. Speaking of Nakamura, people thought he would be done after his failed attempts at claiming the WWE Championship from AJ Styles, but he has managed to cement his high place on the list. And speaking of the WWE Championship, the challenger, Samoa Joe, has gone down 3 spots this week, simply for the fact that while others gained momentum, he stagnated. He's trying to get into the mind of AJ Styles, but as we saw in the Nakamura fued, that tactic doesn't work. You just have to out wrestle AJ Styles on the night (or out muscle him as Brock Lesnar did). So I doubt Joe's words on Tuesday had any affect on the champion.

 

[bullyballmm]

What a boring road to the biggest event of the summer. Why doesn't the WWE know how to book the weeks in between PPVs that have a big gap between them? Stop giving us the same match-ups each week (sometimes exactly the same, sometimes like a singles match one week, a tag match with 2 other people feuding another week). Anyway, the list:

RAW Top 15:

1. Dolph & Drew (up 1)
2. Seth Rollins (down 1)
3. Braun Strowman
4. Ronda Rousey (up 1)
5. Deleters of Worlds (up 1)
6. Nia Jax (down 2)
7. Elias
8. Roman Reigns (up 2)
9. Brock Lesnar (down 1)
10. The B Team (down 1)
11. Alexa Bliss
12. Bobby Lashley (up 2)
13. Finn Balor (down 1)
14. Mojo Rawley (down 1)
15. Bobby Roode (back on the list)

Hmm, that RAW was awful but not as bad as last weeks. That sit down interview started to make me like Roman. Just let him be no-nonsense, admitting his losses - not a whiny bitch like he has been portrayed the past few months. Man, Roode has really gone downhill. He should have stayed on Smackdown. Watch Rawley win the rematch on the SummerSlam pre-show. Oh and my prediction came true. Dolph & Drew have dominated RAW so much they've got to the top. I wonder if Seth will reclaim his title? With the rumours of both Jason Jordan and Dean Ambrose returning imminently, there will be a lot of competition to get on the list - even now, people like Kevin Owens and Corbin can't fit on there.

Smackdown Top 15:

1. AJ Styles
2. Shinsuke Nakamura
3. The Bludgeon Brothers
4. Daniel Bryan
5. The New Day (up 2)
6. Carmella (down 1)
7. Asuka (down 1)
8. Sanity (up 1)
9. Rusev Day (down 1)
10. Becky Lynch (up 1)
11. Randy Orton (up 1)
12. Andrade 'Cien' Almas (down 2)
13. The Miz (up 1)
14. Charlotte (up 1)
15. Samoa Joe (down 2)

And the Smackdown list shows how important it is not build momentum each and every episode. Samoa Joe - the no. 1 contender for the most prestigious title in the WWE atm - is at the bottom of the list as for 2 weeks he hasn't built any momentum (it hasn't helped that he hasn't been booked that well this year, starting him off from a bad base). But while he has sort of just existed, others like The Miz, Orton, Charlotte, Becky etc. have been building momentum towards SummerSlam. What is interesting to see is how the top of the list has hardly changed since WM - there has been a constant 4 of AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura, The Bludgeon Brothers and Daniel Bryan. On the hand, RAW has only got the constant of Rollins and Braun (and I guess Deleters of Worlds, who have now been replaced by Dolph & Drew).

 

[bullyballmm]

I have this to say about SummerSlam - the card looks good and stacked, but the build has been absolutely awful. Now onto the rankings.

RAW Top 15:

1. Dolph & Drew
2. Braun Strowman (up 1)
3. Ronda Rousey (up 1)
4. Seth Rollins (down 2)
5. Nia Jax (up 1)
6. Elias (up 1)
7. Roman Reigns (up 1)
8. Brock Lesnar (up 1)
9. Deleters of Worlds (down 4)
10. The B Team
11. Alexa Bliss
12. Finn Balor (up 1)
13. Bobby Lashley (down 1)
14. Bobby Roode (up 1)
15. Dean Ambrose (new list member)

An eventful RAW before SummerSlam. I would have preferred if they did the "everyone stands on stage paying their respects" thing with regards to Anvil's passing instead of trying to give the rub to Ronda. Alexa Bliss is stale - what about her promo opening the show was good? She just repeated lines, I would have preferred if her and Alicia just walked down the ramp without her having a mic in her hand. My prediction for this Sunday: the bat will cost Ronda the match. Ugh, the Roman/Brock match has become boring again. It would have been much better if they just left the segment at Heyman handing Roman the paper, leaving it at that. Hopefully whoever holds the briefcase after the Strowman/Owens match cashes in and saves us from this shitty Universal Championship booking. Speaking of shitty booking, wtf is going on with Mojo Rawley? It looked like they were building him up, even putting him in a feud with Roode. But then they have Mojo lose not once, but twice - the second time being in a tag team match with the fucking Authors of Pain as his partners! I honestly don't get WWE booking sometimes. Finally: yay, Ambrose is back! Now on to Smackdown.

Smackdown Top 15:

1. AJ Styles
2. Shinsuke Nakamura
3. Daniel Bryan (up 1)
4. The New Day (up 1)
5. The Bludgeon Brothers (down 2)
6. Carmella
7. Asuka
8. Becky Lynch (up 2)
9. Sanity (down 1)
10. Rusev Day (down 1)
11. Andrade "Cien" Almas (up 1)
12. Charlotte (up 2)
13. The Miz
14. Randy Orton (down 3)
15. Jeff Hardy (back on the list)

Creepy Randy Orton best Randy Orton. I bet he was holding his dick while he was hiding behind the curtains. I wouldn't be surprised if New Day win on Sunday. And my prediction is that Charlotte will turn, not Becky. Other than that, I don't have much else to say, except for this about the AJ/Joe feud - Joe has been booked fucking awfully. Instead of having him do what he does best, physically dominating his opponents, they have him try to play mind games with AJ, throwing petty insults about his family. That's something The Miz should do if he was in a feud with AJ, not Samoa Joe. And we just saw with the AJ/Shinsuke feud that playing mind games with AJ doesn't work - you just have to be the better man in the ring to beat AJ. So why should we believe any of what Joe has been doing these past weeks gives him any momentum going into Sunday?

 

[bullyballmm]

SummerSlam was ok. RAW was weird and I want to see what goes on from here. Smackdown was good. WWE you have my interest (unlike the lack of interest in this weekly series kek). Anyway onto the lists.

RAW Top 15:

1. Ronda Rousey (up 2)
2. Seth Rollins (up 2)
3. Roman Reigns (up 4)
4. Braun Strowman (down 2)
5. Dolph & Drew (down 4)
6. Elias
7. Nia Jax (down 2)
8. Brock Lesnar
9. The B Team (up 1)
10. Bray Wyatt (down 1)
11. Finn Balor (up 1)
12. Bobby Lashley (up 1)
13. Dean Ambrose (up 2)
14. Alexa Bliss (down 3)
15. The Riott Squad (back on the list)

Thank you Matt. I know some people were disappointed in your run, but I enjoyed it. So the Deleters of Worlds are done, but apparently something is in store for Bray some time in the future. Sounds very vague - just like Bray himself lol! Oh and look at that! Ronda Rousey is at the top of the list! Fun fact: she isn't the first woman to make the top of the list. Asuka did. How far she's fallen lol. She needs a heel turn. Anyway I should stop talking about a Smackdown superstar. I was thinking about of putting Seth and Dean as one team when Dean first returned, and I was also thinking of doing the same thing after RAW with the reformation of The Shield. But I think they are going to be singles stars who back each other up instead of being a proper team/stable. Idk let's see what happens next week.

Smackdown Top 15:

1. Shinsuke Nakamura (up 1)
2. The New Day (up 2)
3. Daniel Bryan
4. AJ Styles (down 3)
5. Becky Lynch (up 3)
6. The Bludgeon Brothers (down 1)
7. Charlotte (up 5)
8. Asuka (down 1)
9. Carmella (down 3)
10. Sanity (down 1)
11. The Miz (up 2)
12. Andrade 'Cien' Almas (down 1)
13. Samoa Joe (back on the list)
14. Rusev Day (down 4)
15. The Iconics (new list members)

I refuse to spell Iconics with two I's. Nice to see my fellow aussies on the list. Charlotte is a champion once again. Yay? I think she should have turned heel, not Becky. Why did they think crowds would boo Becky? Samoa Joe has got AJ's number. I reckon he will win at Hell in a Cell and become Wendy's daddy,uh, I mean, WWE Champion. Rusev Day falls, but Almas doesn't go as high as he should because for some reason he lost on Smackdown? I guess they want to continue feud, which is stupid. Speaking of continuing feuds, I find it silly how soon we are having a rematch between Miz and Bryan. If this is match 2 of a 3 match series, which should culminate at WrestleMania, then there is a long gap between matches 2 and 3. I would have preferred each man to go their separate ways, face off again at like Survivor Series or something, then have the rubber match at WM. Also don't think the wives should be there - surprised Maryse is going to be in a match so soon after having a baby. Finally, it looks like they are also extending the Hardy/Orton feud. I thought they would have Orton beat Jeff and possibly give Jeff time to recover before coming back for revenge. But no, it looks like they will have a match at Hell in a Cell (maybe a Hell in a Cell match?).

 

[bullyballmm]

The build to HiaC feels much better than the build to SummerSlam and we are only two weeks into the post-SS pre-HiaC schedule. Anyway, onto the rankings.

RAW Top 15:

1. Seth Rollins (up 1)
2. Ronda Rousey (down 1)
3. Bruan Strowman (up 1)
4. Dolph & Drew (up 1)
5. Elias (up 1)
6. Roman Reigns (down 3)
7. Nia Jax
8. Brock Lesnar
9. The B Team
10. Bray Wyatt
11. Bobby Lashley (up 1)
12. Dean Ambrose (up 1)
13. Finn Balor (down 2)
14. Alexa Bliss
15. Baron Corbin (back on the list)

On RAW, the movements in the rankings are sometimes at the top, always at the bottom, but rarely in the middle. This is because of a refusal by bookers to continue with their strong booking of superstars that are stuck at the bottom - those who get meaningless wins because creative has nothing for them, like The Riott Squad, both Bobbys, Mojo Rawley, The Revival, Finn Balor, Ember Moon etc. The ending of this RAW solidified that Braun is a "heel" again - heel in quotation marks because anybody who faces Roman is a face according to the fans. It also resulted in Braun, Dolph & Drew moving up in the rankings while Roman moves down - even when champion, Roman has to be booked as the (big) underdog. Dean Ambrose continues to move up - I wonder what they are going to do with him in the future? Seth Rollins puts on a stellar match yet again and moves into the no. 1 spot yet again this week. Not much else to say about this RAW, I found it rather boring.

Smackdown Top 15:

1. The New Day (up 1)
2. Shinsuke Nakamura (down 1)
3. Daniel Bryan
4. Becky Lynch (up 1)
5. AJ Styles (down 1)
6. Charlotte (up 1)
7. The Bludgeon Brothers (down 1)
8. Asuka
9. Andrade 'Cien' Almas (up 1)
10. The Miz (up 1)
11. Samoa Joe (up 2)
12. Sanity (down 2)
13. Carmella (down 4)
14. The Iconics (up 1)
15. Jeff Hardy (back on the list)

IT'S A NEW DAY, YES IT IS! Ya boys the "NEW DAY" have made it to the top of the list after getting to open the show, be crowned by none other than King Booker and then got to be on commentary as 3 other teams fought for an opportunity to get to fight against another yet-to-be-determined team for an opportunity at The New Day's championships at HiaC. Smackdown Live, unlike RAW, is the land of opportunity, and that is reflected in the fact that movement can exist across the board - superstars like Asuka, Carmella, The Bludgeon Brothers, Naomi and Rusev Day have fallen while others like Becky Lynch, Daniel Bryan, The Miz, Almas and yes, even now The Iconics, have or are starting to rise. Press F for Carmella - she got no reaction when she came out for her title rematch this week and is effectively just the subject of one of R-Truth's skits for the time being. Funnily enough, even though they were mentioned to be in a tag tourney triple threat match next week, both Sanity and Rusev Day have fell - the latter falling of the list. And to think Rusev was challenging for the WWE title just over a month ago. Jeff Hardy continues his tango with jumping on and off the list, as does Orton. Since they are feuding with each other, both men can't gain momentum at the same time, and because of WWE's 50/50 booking, one man can't be booked more dominantly than the other, meaning we will only see who rises up the list after their feud is over and we get a winner at HiaC. My money is on Orton.

 

[bullyballmm]

Hmm. I think Vince looked at All In and said "Right, we have to make RAW even weirder than that penis parade segment!" Anyway, onto the rankings.

RAW Top 15:

1. Seth Rollins
2. Braun Strowman (up 1)
3. Dolph & Drew (up 1)
4. Ronda Rousey (down 2)
5. Elias
6. Roman Reigns
7. Nia Jax
8. Brock Lesnar
9. Bray Wyatt (up 1)
10. Bobby Lashley (up 1)
11. Dean Ambrose (up 1)
12. The B Team (down 3)
13. Alexa Bliss (up 1)
14. Finn Balor (down 1)
15. Kevin Owens (back on the list)

What a bizarre episode of RAW. And a very bad at that. The Shield had to beat up the entire roster at the start of the show to make them, and therefore Roman, look strong. KO is helping Braun even though he hated him just 2 weeks ago. And Braun is destroying Finn after their match even though he was on good terms with him weeks ago. Character continuity can't exist when we have to turn people's alignments to fit Roman's storyline. Because, y'know, we can't just turn Roman heel. Dolph & Drew get the tag titles good for them. Good for Bray Wyatt too, as he gets to move up due to the sheer fact that The B Team had to go down. The bottom of the list is still packed - Boss n Hug Connection have been picking up wins but there just hasn't been room on them for the list - this week Kevin Owens gets that final coveted 15th spot. Oh and I haven't added the Bellas to either lists since it seems they will only be around up until Evolution. Anyway, onto a better show.

Smackdown Top 15:

1. The New Day
2. Daniel Bryan (up 1)
3. Shinsuke Nakamura (down 1)
4. AJ Styles (up 1)
5. Becky Lynch (down 1)
6. Charlotte
7. The Bludgeon Brothers
8. The Miz (up 2)
9. Asuka (down 1)
10. Andrade 'Cien' Almas (down 1)
11. Samoa Joe
12. Jeff Hardy (up 3)
13. Carmella
14. Rusev Day (back on the list)
15. R-Truth (new list member)

First things first - Sanity is off the list. How do you fuck something up like Sanity? Well, first of all, they should have debuted on RAW. A chaotic, ruthless team looking to dominate the tag division? Yeah, Smackdown already had that in The Bludgeon Brothers. Rusev Day get back on the list, and R-Truth gets on the list for the first time, getting Carmella, a main event match, and a win against the A-Lister. A great night for Truth. Jeff Hardy gets a big push up as The Iconics and Sanity fall off the list. No sign of Nakamura has resulted him in going down as DB goes up after picking up a win from Almas, who also went down. The Miz benefits from being the star of this episode. A lot of movement on Smackdown's list, as always. Land of Opportunity indeed.