Smark Out Moment

Welcome to another edition of Power Rankings from Smark Out Moment!

Each week, we will break down the current roster and examine who has gone up the WWE hierarchy and who has unfortunately taken a step down the ladder. Factoring in things such as wins and losses, suspensions, injuries, making a name for one's self, being humiliated, and more, who is at the top of the food chain and who needs to make up some ground next week?

This week, we are fresh off the heels of a Night of Champions PPV, and on a night where all the gold is on the line, being on top was more valuable than ever. I'm filling in for Oliver Court for this edition, and if any superstars reading this are upset about their rankings, they can take it up with him. Also, the Power Poll will return next week with Oliver.


How times have changed for the former Intercontinental Champion, as these days even getting on television is an achievement. But, he showed WWE officials and the fans what he can provide the company when he had a great match against Seth Rollins on Main Event. The two evoked the same ability that made them the first two NXT Champions, but Big E on this occasion ended up second best.


All Bolievers avert your eyes, as it was another substandard week for their inspirational leader. After a hard-fought defeat on RAW to current rival Jack Swagger, Dallas responded with a cheap victory on SmackDown. His win was proceeded by another repetitive promo about how you need to Bolieve to have success, as he is under threat of falling off the radar.


The Real American was the other half to the Bo Dallas this week, as their feud fell short of appearing on an already dire Night of Champions card. Swagger gets the nod over his younger rival due to people actually watching RAW to see his victory.


There is a current fascination with ringside lackeys in WWE, with Damien Miz-dow and R-Ziggler taking up a significant portion of television time. However, the champion in this field this week is the Easter Bunny, simply for being more over than Adam Rose, Heath Slater and Titus O’Neil in their misguided feud.


Though Los Matadores joined Big Show in defeat at the hands of the Wyatt Family on SmackDown, their impressive performance earns them a place on this list. In spite of their ridiculous gimmick, they have shown a clear devotion to make it as compelling as possible. Their speed and agility made for an interesting contrast to the brute strength of the Wyatts.


Big Show was also a part of the defeat to the Wyatt Family on SmackDown, but was saved the indignity of taking the pinfall. This was balanced by a victory over Bray Wyatt on RAW by disqualification when Luke Harper and Erick Rowan interfered, only to both be chokeslammed by the dominant giant.


Whilst his devout followers suffered at the hands of the Big Show, Wyatt escaped relatively unharmed from the giant on RAW, but still had to take the loss. But, he was able to remedy this loss by getting the victory for his family by pinning Diego on SmackDown. Wyatt was also absent from Night of Champions, the culmination of a dramatic decline for the Eater of Worlds.


It’s funny to think how Cesaro was able to lift the Big Show over the top rope at WrestleMania 30, considering how long he spent pinned to the mat this week. He suffered the pin in a six-man tag on RAW against rival Sheamus and the Usos, whilst the Celtic Warrior also inflicted on him another loss when Cesaro teamed with the Miz against him and Dolph Ziggler. His ginger nemesis capped of his difficult week with a victory at Night of Champions over Cesaro, the Swiss Superman’s only saving grace being the brutal quality of the match.


A mixed week for the diabolical half of the Bella Twins, Nikki Bella. Her team with Paige picked up a victory over AJ Lee and her sister Brie on RAW, despite Nikki never tagging in. On SmackDown, she suffered a loss to the Divas Champion Paige, but took out both her and AJ post match prior their championship bout. However, at Night of Champions she fell short, ending on the outside as AJ made Paige tap to win the belt.


The next great hope of the American people falls short once again. Mark Henry had been having a decent week, capping off RAW with his dismal Pledge of Allegiance, and then getting the better of Rusev to close SmackDown. Yet, in a grim display that many likely missed due to sudden onset sleeping, Henry became the latest man to fall to the might of the Bulgarian Brute and the Accolade.


For a man who was rocketing to the top of the WWE at break-neck speed, this week couldn’t have ended worse for Roman Reigns. A victory over Seth Rollins on RAW in a throwaway match before their intended Night of Champions clash was followed by defeat to Rusev by disqualification due to Rollins’ interference. But, days before the PPV, he suffered an incarcerated hernia, and now only has months on the sidelines to look forward to.


The Samoan brothers have been two of the most reliable members of the WWE roster in providing quality matches. This week was little different, as they helped beat Cesaro and their rivals Gold/Stardust on RAW, whilst Jimmy defeated Stardust on SmackDown. Nevertheless, their impressively long time as Tag Team Champions came to a sad ending on Night of Champions to their bizarre opponents, Jey being rolled up by Stardust.


Chris Jericho has come alive in the last few weeks, living up to his Highlight of the Night status. Yet, WWE did their best to derail that by tossing him Kane on RAW which led to a drab encounter that Y2J desperately tried to recover with a victory. Following this, the recent aggression between Jericho and Randy Orton came to a head at Night of Champions, and the Viper got the win in an impressive encounter.


The bizarre coupling of Goldust and Stardust finally have their hands on the ‘cosmic key’, as at Night of Champions they dethroned the Usos after their six-month reign. This was an excellent way to recover from what started a poor week, suffering defeats to their Samoan counterparts. But they will be taking tag team gold back to their starry backstage set after Stardust rolled up Jey Uso for the victory.


The vicious and manipulative Brit suffered a disastrous end to what was becoming a strong week. She and Nikki Bella defeated Brie Bella and her best frienemy AJ Lee on RAW, before defeating her partner Nikki the following SmackDown. But, at Night of Champions, she became a former Divas Champion as she was forced to tap out to AJ’s Black Widow, as the deranged rivals continue to trade the coveted butterfly belt.


Another person who went from a solid week to utter despondence at the PPV, Dolph Ziggler had been getting the better of the Miz leading into his Intercontinental Championship defense. Ziggler picked up tag team wins over his Hollywood rival alongside R-Ziggler and Sheamus on RAW and SmackDown respectively. But, at Night of Champions, his one-month reign with the IC title came to a conclusion as Miz stole the cheap victory.


The Hollywood sensation was having a poor week. A tag team victory on Main Event the only saving grace from defeats to Dolph Ziggler on RAW and SmackDown, the latter show seeing him to the receiving end of a Brogue Kick. But, any hardships disappeared at Night of Champions when he grabbed a handful of tights and rolled-up Ziggler to win the Intercontinental Championship for the fourth time.


Randy Orton was conspicuously absent for the majority of this week. Whilst his rival Chris Jericho had to endure a battle against Kane on RAW, Orton was taking the night off, which actually improved his ranking by not being a part of Monday night’s travesty. At Night of Champions he participated in one of the PPV’s better matches with Jericho, and picked up a victory when he caught a flying Y2J in an RKO.


The Russian erased any memories of Mark Henry’s dominance on television by picking up the victory when it really counted. His failures at the hands of the World’s Strongest Man on both RAW and SmackDown pale into insignificance compared to the match at Night of Champions. Don’t get me wrong, it certainly was not a classic encounter by any stretch of the imagination, but forcing another ‘American hero’ to submit builds his compendium of heat from fans.


Mr. Money in the Bank is often a dangerous title to hold in terms of your in-ring form. This seemed the case when Seth Rollins lost clean to Roman Reigns on RAW, and may have been likely to fall to his former Shield brethren at Night of Champions. But, a hard-fought victory of Big E on Main Event was followed by his second victory by forfeit in three months when he defeated an injured Reigns. But, with Dean Ambrose back on the scene, he should watch his standing on this leaderboard.


It’s not often the WWE World Heavyweight Champion finds himself this low on the list, especially considering how he retained his championship at Night of Champions. However, after brawling with John Cena on the go-home edition of RAW, he only kept his grasp on the belt on a technicality. Despite controlling most of the match at the PPV, Lesnar was on the receiving end of four AAs, and only stayed champion when Seth Rollins interfered looking to cash in his briefcase.


There is a new Divas Champion, and she is as crazy as ever. Following a disappointing outing on RAW when she never even entered the tag team match against Paige and Nikki Bella, she faced both of them at Night of Champions. In an excellent triple threat match between the feisty divas, AJ forced Paige to tap to the Black Widow, and claimed her third reign as champion of her divas division.


It takes a special kind of talent to return after almost a month and find yourself the most over guy on the roster the second you return. After getting very well acquainted with a pile of cinder blocks on a previous RAW, Dean Ambrose rolled up in a yellow cab to rejuvenate his rivalry with Seth Rollins when the latter issued an open challenge at Night of Champions. Although he was roughly escorted out of the building by security, he had made his presence felt once more, and his ‘injuries’ meant he hasn't been hurt by the last few weeks of substandard programming.


The United States Championship may feel like little more than a prop to the WWE creative team, but Sheamus and Cesaro have tried their best to make it matter this last week. Sheamus got the better of his rival on both RAW and SmackDown in tag team affairs, and then he successfully defended his title at Night of Champions in a brutal encounter. It took a while to peak the interests of fans, but the Celtic Warrior gave his all to provide a great match for the paying fans.


Some may begrudge the fact that John Cena is on top, but he once more overcame the odds and made himself look a legitimate threat this past week. It’s dull and uninspired, but it keeps him on top, which is all the WWE cares about. Cena took it to Brock Lesnar on the latest edition of RAW, and at Night of Champions came away with the desired victory, but not the championship that he craved. Despite a far more even contest, Cena was prevented from securing his 16th title when Seth Rollins interfered, and he ended the night on the canvas following an F-5.