Momentum is everything in the WWE, as even a main event superstar is only a few bad losses away from being relegated to the midcard. Inspired by pound-for-pound boxing rankings, we will track the biggest winners and losers each week in the WWE. With Survivor Series fast approaching, here are this week’s power rankings.
10. Bray Wyatt (Last Week: Not Ranked)
The Eater of Worlds picked up a win over Sin Cara on SmackDown this week. Wyatt cracks the top ten this week after an entertaining segment with Dean Ambrose, as the top continue to hype their match at Survivor Series.
9. Ryback (LW: 10)
Ryback continued his dominance this week, destroying members of the Authority to close both Raw and SmackDown. It appears the company has faith in the Big Guy once again, considering he’s been booked as an unstopped monster over the past few weeks.
When Rusev first appeared in the WWE, he resembled a cookie-cutter foreign heel. From the ominous entrance featuring images of Vladimir Putin to the valet with a suspect foreign accent, Rusev met every requirement on the “Generic Foreign Heel” checklist.
Despite the lack of originality in his character, the company continued to push him to the top, booking the Bulgarian in a number of squash matches, often featuring multiple opponents. Along the way, Rusev was able to elevate his status during a feud with Jack Swagger, and eventually captured the United States Championship from Sheamus.
During Rusev’s push to win the title, the unthinkable occurred: I actually started to enjoy this generic heel’s presence. At first, it was assumed that the interest was due to a lack of build for other programs on the card. After all, the WWE title had essentially vanished, the feuds at the top of the card were becoming a bit stale, and the Rusev/Swagger program was one of the few to receive significant attention.
Rusev struck gold after defeating Sheamus a few weeks back.
However, even after the Swagger feud ended, his work continued to interest me. So what is it about Rusev that generates interest? Perhaps most importantly, he is an admirable worker for a man of his size.
It was difficult to show off during his early matches, but he has excelled in recent weeks. His matches with Swagger a few months back were solid, and although he didn’t have a ton of chemistry with either Big Show or Mark Henry, his recent feud with Sheamus proved he can hold his own in the ring.
In addition to his agility in the ring, Rusev and Lana can actually cut a decent promo. Lana is of course going to be Rusev’s mouthpiece in most instances, but I don’t see many complaining, as she is articulate, charming, and knows how to get a heel over with the audience. In fact, I’ve even enjoyed Rusev’s promos in recent weeks, as it’s somewhat humorous to see him pick up the mic and talk a little smack.
As you might have picked up on, the top priority for WWE television this past week was to elevate Ryback back to the top-tier status he enjoyed prior to his lost to CM Punk at Hell in a Cell 2013.
Speaking of Ryback, he’s official for “Team Cena” at the upcoming WWE Survivor Series pay-per-view on November 23rd, as he joins team captain John Cena and team members Dolph Ziggler, Big Show and Sheamus.
On the other end of the match, which is a traditional ten-man elimination style match with the big Authority stipulation, is Seth Rollins, Kane, Mark Henry, Rusev and Luke Harper.
Dean Ambrose vs. Bray Wyatt and Nikki Bella vs. AJ Lee for the WWE Divas Championship are the only other two matches official for the show thus far.
As noted, Adam Rose vs. The Bunny in a Kickoff Show match and a WWE Tag-Team Championship four-way with Goldust & Stardust vs. The Usos vs. Los Matadores vs. The Miz and Damien Mizdow is also expected.
Survivor Series is less than two weeks away, and while three matches on the card are essentially set, much of the program is still unannounced. So, will the WWE work to build a pay-per-view that is solid from top to bottom, or are they simply throwing in the towel because this is a “free” event? Here is the card is expect to see on November 23rd in St. Louis.
Adam Rose vs. The Bunny
After attacking the Bunny last week on Raw, it appears these two legends of the squared circle will square off sooner rather than later. This pairing has kickoff show written all over it, as the company tries to get the crowd going with a “humorous” contest.
Gold & Stardust (Tag Team Champions) vs. The Miz & Damien Mizdow vs. Los Matadores vs. The Usos
Los Matadores have picked up a few victories over Gold & Stardust over the past few weeks, and the Miz and his stunt double have also feuded with the champs. Throw in the Usos to make an even number of teams, and you’ve got yourself an elimination tag team match for the straps.
John Cena spoke about the fact that Zack Ryder is having surgery during Monday’s edition of WWE RAW. Cena noted that Ryder will be out of action for six months.
In the storylines, Cena blamed Ryder’s injury on Rusev and The Authority, noting he suffered that fate because of a tweet he posted about “Team Cena.”
Ryder’s last match was against Rusev on last week’s edition of RAW.
During today’s edition of WWE RAW, which was taped this afternoon in Liverpool, England, most of the remaining members of both “Team Cena” and “Team Authority” were named for the upcoming WWE Survivor Series pay-per-view.
Official for “Team Cena” now are John Cena, Dolph Ziggler, Big Show, Jack Swagger and Sheamus.
Confirmed for “Team Authority” are Seth Rollins, Kane, Rusev and Mark Henry, leaving one spot remaining.
For complete spoilers for tonight’s RAW, click here.
Momentum is everything in the WWE, as even a main event superstar is only a few bad losses away from being relegated to the midcard. Inspired by pound-for-pound boxing rankings, we will track the biggest winners and losers each week in the WWE. Here are this week’s power rankings.
10. Ryback
The Big Guy is back in a big way. Since returning to action, Ryback has squashed his competition. He took out Titus O’Neil on Raw and Cesaro on SmackDown to secure his spot in the top ten. It will be interesting to see how his matchup with John Cena plays out tonight on Raw.
9. Damien Mizdow
The crowd continues to eat up Sandow’s work on a weekly basis. He helped the Miz pick up a win on Raw against Jimmy Uso as his stock continues to rise.
– It looks like WWE has dropped the “We’re here” part of the ring entrance for Bray Wyatt.
– The Big Show vs. Randy Orton match scheduled for WWE’s return to Madison Square Garden on December 26th has been changed to Big Show vs. Mark Henry. Also scheduled for the 12/26 MSG live event is Rusev vs. Sheamus for the WWE United States Championship and John Cena vs. Seth Rollins as the main event.
– Another name who was at the most recent WWE tryout camp was Mark Ptasnik, who is Midwest independent wrestler Mark Sterling. He was recommended by Gerald Brisco. The negative on Ptasnik is that he is already 35 years old, which is expected to hurt his chances of getting a deal.
The following are highlights of a new U.K. Independent interview with Sheamus:
Returning home: “It’s always great to come home, it really is. It just kind of resets me every time I come home and reminds me how it started and how far I’ve come, and it’s kind of like the same thing where you’re so busy that you sort of get lost in the day-to-day stuff but you come home and it really puts everything into perspective.”
“This is where I started, I started in the UK and in Ireland wrestling, did my first couple of tryouts here a couple of years ago, well actually more than a couple of years ago back in 2005, 2006 and 2007 so yeah, it’s very special for me.”
Wanting a rematch against United States Champion Rusev: “I obviously want a rematch. I want to prove I can beat Rusev. That’s important, we went back and forth the other night – it was a long night – but it was cool the way it was on the network. It was like the first of its kind, to broadcast that match on the network and it shows how powerful the network can be with so much opportunity and options that the WWE can put any match on there, anytime, anywhere, exclusively for the fans that subscribe to the network.”
Possibly being in a UK WrestleMania main event: “That’d be fantastic. At Wembley, the Aviva Stadium or even Croke Park in Dublin, that would be amazing. I’d love nothing more, but I’ve got to get some more momentum first. I just lost the US Championship so I’ve got to get some momentum behind me, get everything back into perspective and I think I’ve got to come a little bit more ruthless and selfish to go out there and put Sheamus back where he belongs, back in the main event.”
The latest edition of Michael Cole’s weekly sit-down interview with Triple H has been added to the official WWE YouTube channel.
In this week’s interview, which you can see above, “The Game” talks to Cole about his history inside Hell In A Cell, Rusev attacking a U.S. soldier on RAW and more.
Fans are only days away from the annual Hell in a Cell pay-per-view. Emanating from Dallas, TX, this year’s event will feature a total of eight matches, including a WWE World Heavyweight Championship-less double main event.
With the title being noticeably absent, the company will hopefully try to pull out something to make this a memorable pay-per-view. Here are five potential Hell in a Cell shockers.
On Monday’s RAW, Rusev got a ton of heat by nearly kicking the head off of a “fan” who jumped in the ring while he was about to tear down the American flag. For those who have emailed in and Tweeted us asking about the angle, the military serviceman was a “plant” hired by WWE.
Correspondents who were at the show say that the “soldier” was not sitting ringside until right before the Rusev segment, which is typically how WWE handles angles with planted actors. The security guy who attempted to restrain the soldier before he got kicked by Rusev actually let him jump the ringside barricade before following him into the ring.
It was also mentioned by some of our followers that the soldier was not wearing the proper Army uniform, since his American flag was on the wrong sleeve. This is apparently something that’s done on TV and in movies all the time, since there is a law that prohibits someone acting in a TV show from wearing the official uniform.
We are less than one week away from the WWE’s latest pay-per-view, Hell in a Cell. At last year’s event, Shawn Michaels betrayed Daniel Bryan in a championship match against Randy Orton.
A lot has changed over the past year, evidenced by the fact that Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose will be headlining half of the double main event. The shelf life of a WWE superstar can be short, so it’s always important for superstars to make the most of their time in the ring, especially at pay-per-views. Here is a look at the superstars who have progressed, regressed, or remained stagnant over the past year.
Progression:
1. Dean Ambrose
Nobody had made more progress since last year than Dean Ambrose. At last year’s event, Ambrose was an invisible US Champion and lost his undercard contest to Big E by countout.
This year, he will be headlining the event in a Hell in a Cell match with Seth Rollins. He continues to receive as much airtime as anyone on Raw each week and has been getting great reactions from the crowds. What a difference a year makes.
2. Seth Rollins
Although Dean Ambrose has progressed the most over the past year, his former partner Seth Rollins is a close second. Rollins will be joining Ambrose inside of a Hell in a Cell for half of the main event, and also holds the Money in the Bank briefcase.
Over the past year, Rollins has improved every aspect of his game. He is stronger on the mic, he developed a convincing and unique finisher, and has adopted a heel personality that has gotten over with the fans. Rollins is a star on the rise and without a doubt a future world champion.
WWE Hall Of Famer Mick Foley recently posted the following blog on his official Facebook page:
USA, USA?
Maybe I’ve been too rough on Rusev. Not that I’ve ever said or written anything about him. But in my mind, I think he’s always going to suffer by comparison to The Iron Shiek – a classic anti-American heel who thrived on crowd heat, and was part of an all-time classic brawl with Sgt Slaughter in MSG that had a young Mick Foley on his feet, chanting USA, USA.
But last night, I think I finally “got” Rusev. He showed himself to be a very capable, believable big man – going head to head with Big Show in a hard-hitting, entertaining match. But I sure was bamboozled by the ending. Having Marc Henry hit the ring for the DQ and team up with Show to leave Rusev laying seemed odd and anti-climactic. It also seemed to be decidedly pro bullying, with two larger men ganging up on one smaller man.
I’ll be watching to see if this goes somewhere. Certainly, last night’s scenario lends itself to potential conflict between Show and Henry – and also leaves the door open for a different American hero to conquer the foreign menace…even though I still think Jack Swagger is the right man for the task.
The following are highlights of a new Miami Herald interview with Mark Henry:
On working with Rusev: “He is respectful. He is a really good listener. He is going to be a guy who holds true for the next 10 or 15 years. Hopefully, his body holds up, and he doesn’t have as many injuries as I did. I know what talent looks like and who has got it. Those are the people I want to work with and against. I’m happy to be able to say I had a hand in making some moments for him in his career.”
On NXT star Jason Jordan: “Jason Jordan is one of the ones who are next. He is very athletic. I’m hoping to see more of him in the near future. Athletic, smart, college graduate and understands you have to wait your turn. Ambitious. Not sitting back and collecting checks. I’m happy to know him and know the future is going to be bright.”
On wanting to be a WWE ambassador over a traveling producer when he retires: “I don’t want to be on the road like that because I have small kids. I would like to do more international marketing and urban outreach community involvement. I want to try to develop the brand internationally whenever we open new places abroad. I think that would be more where my skill set would be used better.”
Check out the complete interview at MiamiHerald.com.
The following are highlights of the latest Jim Ross blog:
On The Rock at WrestleMania 31: “Does it automatically mean because Rock was in NYC Monday on business and he did a promo segment with Rusev that the Great One is automatically ‘booked’ for WM31 in Santa Clara, California? The next reason the Rock will be booked at WM31 is because his grandfather, the great, High Chief Peter Maivia, wrestled in that territory for years for Roy Shire. Rock delivered the magic that I assume Brian Gewirtz wrote for him. Don’t get me wrong, the WWE could drastically use @TheRock at WM31 but only if there was a valid story behind the match/return and if he could make enough RAW TV’s to engage the audience in his rivalry even considering the ‘pop’ he received Monday night in Brooklyn. The surprise visit by Dwayne Johnson Monday night was by far the highlight of the broadcast. By far….”
On Rusev: “Many old school bookers would have never allowed Rusev to be bounced around as he was Monday night but instead would have had Lana step between the two men and ‘forced’ Rusev to exit the ring.”
On Brock Lesnar: “Been reading where Brock Lesnar is not expected back on WWE TV until January which I find extremely hard to believe. Can that be true? If it is, I’m astonished.”
Check out the complete blog at JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.
At one point, WWE was planning on having Brock Lesnar return for a brief feud over the WWE World Heavyweight Championship with Big Show. Apparently, that is no longer in the plans and will not be happening.
Lesnar is not scheduled to make his return to WWE until January to begin promoting his Royal Rumble title defense, which is expected to be against John Cena.
It’s been reported that Cena may face Rusev at WrestleMania 31 next year, so the belief is that if they wanted to, WWE could have Rusev cost Cena his match with Lesnar at the Rumble, setting up Cena-Rusev at WrestleMania.
The storyline with Big Show and the Russian flag, including the company’s apology, was all simply part of a planned angle. WWE does have television shows in Russia, so they may have wanted to soften the blow, however it’s said that the entire thing was all planned out in advance.
The incident actually made the news in some Russian outlets, although it wasn’t treated as a major story or anything like that.
The part of the angle where Big Show pulled down the Russian flag ended up being edited off WWE’s Russian version of RAW, as the show airs on a five-day delay.
On a somewhat related note, Rusev and Lana are apparently put over strong by the Russian announcers as national heroes and babyfaces.
As seen on Monday’s RAW, The Rock made a surprise return during an in-ring promo segment with Rusev and Lana, which led to The Rock attacking Rusev and knocking him out of the ring.
WWE officials reportedly did not want Rock to do anything more physically than what he did to Rusev. They did not want a Rock Bottom, People’s Elbow or anything of that nature, likely to keep Rusev strong going forward.
The feeling among those backstage at the show on Monday is that a match between Rock and Rusev is doubtful, although a possibility when WrestleMania 31 season rolls around.
On Monday’s edition of RAW, WWE legend The Rock made a shocking surprise return during an in-ring segment with Rusev and Lana.
As luck would have it, The Rock was already in New York City for non-WWE business reasons, as he was meeting with Time Warner executives. It appears as though WWE did not bring Rock in to NYC, so he legitimately was only there for his own business.
Additionally, The Rock was not listed in any early version of the script for Monday’s RAW, so it’s highly likely that his return just happened to be a case of perfect timing as far as WWE is concerned.
For those who missed the show, you can read a detailed recap of The Rock’s segment on the show by clicking here, and/or you can read a full, detailed report of the entire show by clicking here.
There continues to be discussions within WWE creative regarding the idea of having Rusev feud with Sheamus over the WWE United States Championship once he is done with his current program with Big Show.
The main idea behind the Rusev-Sheamus feud is that Rusev would defeat Sheamus for the title, and then brag about how he is the “United States Champion” to get heat based on his Russian character.
WWE issued the following statement regarding the angle that saw Big Show pull down the Russian flag during his segment with Rusev and Lana on Monday’s edition of RAW.
“We at WWE would like to apologize to the Russian people for the incident on Monday Night Raw that could have been construed as disrespect for their nation’s flag.”