This week’s slate of WWE TV shows are done, but all programming isn’t done yet. Hell in a Cell is on Sunday and it should be an interesting PPV. On Monday, we had the season premiere of RAW, Wednesday was the first Wednesday Night Wars matchup, and Friday was SmackDown’s debut on FOX and the WWE didn’t really disappoint on any show. The weakest show this week was probably RAW, but it was still a solid show. We saw a lot of returning legends and the ones that were used in segments were used correctly in my opinion and SmackDown had some famous fighters make appearances on the show which was pretty cool. Since I’m not going to talk about him in the main part of the article, I want to mention Tyson Fury here. He was involved in a segment of SmackDown in a confrontation with Braun Strowman. I’ll admit, I don’t watch a lot of boxing, but I knew who Fury was. What I didn’t realize is how huge he is. He literally looks like he is the same size as Strowman. There are rumors swirling that they may face off in Saudi Arabia, but I guess we’ll find out soon enough. This is my first article since incorporating NXT, because I haven’t been feeling well over the last couple weeks, but here on out I should be good to go. Here are my Power Rankings this week. There is only one returning superstar from last week and I think my rankings look kind of weird this week, but I think it will straighten out within a couple weeks.

- 10: Bobby Lashley and Lana (NR)

I’m not going to spend too much time with this entry. It was just a buzzworthy moment that was just more shocking than anything. Rusev had a match with Seth Rollins for the Universal Championship in the main event of RAW after Rey Mysterio was attacked by Brock Lesnar earlier in the show. Rusev was asked about Lana earlier in the show, but he didn’t have anything to say about, but after his match, it turns out Lana is, or what appears to be, in a relationship with Bobby Lashley. Weird, but it should provide an angle for Rusev and Lashley moving forward.

- 9: Adam Cole (NR)

Adam Cole successfully retained his NXT Championship against Matt Riddle in the show’s opener on Wednesday night. This was obviously a big deal because this was the first moment of head-to-head competition against AEW. The biggest moment of the segment wasn’t the match, but what happened after the match. Finn Bálor made a shocking appearance and revealed that he is going to be a member of NXT moving forward. This is huge for the brand and I’m excited to see this matchup in the near future.

- 8: Io Shirai (NR)

In what was possibly the best match of the show, Io Shirai picked up a win against a very talented Mia Yim. The match was exciting and one has to think that these ladies are favorites to take on Shayna Baszler for the Women’s title. Io Shirai has already had a lengthy rivalry with Baszler, but I think one more match is all she needs to take the title.

- 7: Seth Rollins (NR)

089_RAW_09302019hm_2084--eca388e1d78af1090b7257e024f02b40.jpg

Seth Rollins was probably used more than any superstar this week and for good reason I suppose. I was puzzled as to why he didn’t help Rey Mysterio and Dominic, but the reason became a little clearer on Friday night. Rollins was used on both shows, but was either attacked or tormented by Bray Wyatt in some way. This may be the final week of Rollins’ 2ndUniversal title reign, but we’ll see what unfolds on Sunday.

- 6: Roman Reigns (NR)

Roman Reigns is clearly a big superstar in the eyes of those in charge of SmackDown as he should be. Although he wasn’t used on RAW, he was on SmackDown last night and defeated Rowan. It looks like he will form a temporary alliance with Daniel Bryan and it is an interesting pairing. They should be huge favorites on Sunday and it will be cool to see Daniel Bryan working as a face again.

- 5: Becky Lynch (NR)

Much like Roman, Becky Lynch is a big name moving forward for SmackDown at it was clear on last night. On Monday night, she provided an interesting angle to what was really a disappointing match between Alexa Bliss and Sasha Banks, but on SmackDown, she was a huge part of the show. She was in the opening segment with Baron Corbin and The Rock and it was just what was needed to kick off a new era of wrestling. She was also on the winning end of a tag team match after the huge segment. She has a big match on Sunday and I haven’t looked at odds yet, but I think she will drop the title if she is indeed moving back to SmackDown.

- 4: Shayna Baszler (NR)

Baszler picked up another successful title defense on Wednesday against Candice LeRae. Baszler had been one of the most dominant champions in quite a while and I think she will be for quite a while longer. Baszler is not your conventional WWE superstar and that is just what they need at the moment. It was cool seeing LeRae getting a shot at the championship, because I think she is one the most underrated and underutilized talents in the company. I don’t know who is next for Baszler, but whoever it is, it should be a great match.

- 3: Kevin Owens (NR)

Owens had a match of high implications on SmackDown and delivered for the fans. His job was on the line in a ladder match against Shane McMahon and grabbed the briefcase to keep his job. I had a feeling he was going to lose and move to NXT like Bálor, but he won and it looks like he will continue to be a big factor moving forward.

- 2: Bray Wyatt (1)

Bray Wyatt continues to be the biggest star in the company and it really is awesome to see. It looks like he will be in the main event on Sunday and I’m not sure about odds, but I’d say he has a really good shot on Sunday. He has been tormenting the champ for the last few weeks and this week was no different. He also had some really cool segments on Sacramento news shows this week.

- 1: Brock Lesnar (NR)

This week, Lesnar probably hasn’t been utilized this much since the last time he had a match on SmackDown 15 years ago. Don’t expect this a lot moving forward, but his impact was felt this week. Lesnar attacked Rey Mysterio and Dominic on Monday and on Friday, he picked up a 9-second victory against the WWE Champion. I really wanted to see an actual match last night, but we got a squash. After a very successful 180-day title reign, Kofi Kingston deserved a lot better on SmackDown and it was very disappointing to see it end that way, but with that being said, what happened after the match created all of the buzz. Rey Mysterio showed up with some help in the form of former UFC fighter Cain Velasquez. He took down the new WWE champ and started throwing punches, but Lesnar quickly escaped. I don’t know if I ever seen what appeared to be fear on the face of Brock Lesnar, but that is what we saw last night. Lesnar was defeated by Velasquez in the first round at UFC 121, nearly 9 years ago. It looks like they could get at least one match in the WWE. There are rumors going around that Velasquez hasn’t actually signed a deal with WWE, but I can’t see them bringing him out there to just get buzz for a Friday night show. Velasquez has been training to be a wrestler for a couple years and he even made an appearance at a AAA show a few weeks ago. We’ll see what happens here, but it is pretty cool to see another fighter like Velasquez interested in wrestling.

Yacs

WWE Power Rankings: Week of October 5th