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 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, we rank who is at the top of the food chain and who needs to make up some ground next week.

Note for this week: We have taken a deeper look at our rankings over the last two weeks and have decided to revamp the rankings following SummerSlam and its fallout. This week's Power Rankings are a completely fresh take and will now be limited to 10 stars instead of 25. We want to focus more deeply on the superstars making a significant impact on weekly television.

Here is the key code for the rankings shorthand when referencing their position in relation to the previous week:




We're starting out with Roman Reigns this week, who finally vanquished Brock Lesnar for the WWE Universal title. Why #10 and not #1? Well, for one he benefitted significantly from the Braun Strowman distraction which takes away a bit from the strength of Roman's win. It was also a highly expected victory. His inclusion on this ranking is for two reasons. One because he's champ and two because he's actively defending or attempting to defend each week since SummerSlam.


The Phenomenal One is still champ...through disqualification. AJ Styles remains a strong promo and a heavy crowd favorite, but Samoa Joe is exposing cracks in Styles focus. He's succumbing to Joe's mind games and the crowd really likes Joe as well. Styles gets on this list for now by being champ, but he's not as strong as Joe is right now.


Round one of The Miz and Daniel Bryan goes to the A-lister. As much as the crowd absolutely loves and adores Bryan, this is a feud because The Miz's firey promos make this the most compelling personal rivalry on the main roster. The Miz won in the way he knows best, being a slimy, cheating heel and no one does it better. So far, Miz is in the driver's seat.


The lone NXT superstar in the rankings this week, the new NXT North American Champion is set the fly, almost literally, over the rest of the NXT roster. He stole the show with Adam Cole and NXT TakeOver Brooklyn: 4. It's no small feat to take a title away from the Undisputed Era, and Ricochet did just that and in major style.


Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre were already a formidable duo, recently reeking havoc on the life of Seth Rollins and a number of others on roster during their time together. This week they may have added Braun Strowman to their ranks and together decimated The Shield to close out Monday Night Raw. The Shield and the rest of the roster should be very worried if this is the new normal on Monday nights.


Five time, five time, five time, five time, FIVE TIME, WWE World Tag Team Champions! Can you dig it, sucka?! Booker T sure digs it, opening SmackDown Live this week with the newly crowned champions. It was a fun way to celebrate the accomplishment in Toronto. WWE clearly trusts The New Day enough to have them open SmackDown with what was essentially a quick nostalgia and comedy act. They've done this a million times, but to open the show and get the crowd hot with that promo says a lot about the faction and their position in the tag team division. Plus, they beat the Bludgeon Brothers for those titles in a no disqualification match.


When you're inside the WWE Champion's head and can push him to the point of disqualifying himself, you're onto something. When that champion is AJ Styles you're really cooking. Samoa Joe is a legitimate in-ring threat to styles and is awfully close to getting Styles so wound up he does something irrational enough to lose the title. Joe's promos involving Styles family, particularly his wife Wendy, are brutal and convincing. Grabbing the mic in the middle of the SummerSlam match was wonderful storytelling and really sold this as a deeply personal feud. Joe is really close to getting one over on Styles and taking that championship at Hell in a Cell.


Has anyone ever made such a strong champion look so, so weak? Has anyone ever done so as a heel with the crowd wildly hot for them? That's what Becky Lynch is doing right now and it is truly incredible. Charlotte is already arguably the best woman to ever get in a WWE ring, and Lynch is making her look chump. Her promos have been incredibly strong and her anger is truly convincing. Since SummerSlam she has had the crowd firmly behind her, and she has used that to fuel everything she is doing right now.


Ronda Rousey is now in complete control of the women's division on Raw. She took out Stephanie McMahon once again on Raw and is the leader of a side in what looks like a split right down the middle of the women's locker room. She's the Raw women's champion and will be spending the next two months leading the charge into the first ever all-women's WWE PPV.


Braun Strohmann is at the top of the totem pole right now, despite his unsuccessful attempts to get the bell rung to start his cash-in. His new apparent partnership with Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre makes him an even scarier monster than before. It's been a very long time since Strowman has had friends, and he's never had them while being this over and this dominant. Nevermind the backlash over his heel turn and decision to join forces with others. This is the definition of a power move, and standing tall, really tall, over the Universal and Intercontinental champions who happen to be The Shield is as high as you can get.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Andrade "Cien" Almas continues to put on really good matches with top stars following a match with Daniel Bryan.

Carmella is gaining respect and confidence in her in-ring ability despite dropping the title at SummerSlam.

Tommaso Ciampa vanquishes Johnny Gargano once again, but this time for the NXT title.

B-Team are still the Raw tag team champions, with a phenomenal record as team.

Triple H cut a really strong promo on The Undertaker, and their upcoming match at Super Show-Down has a genuine big fight feel.