WWE Power Rankings - Week of February 14th - 19th
Happy Valentine’s Day Chief Nation! In the week of the go-home episodes of SmackDown Live and RAW, things are starting to heat up for the upcoming Elimination Chamber PPV. The buildup for the upcoming matches have been sufficient and now we play the waiting game for the results. Once again, RAW was the Becky Lynch show, as she was featured in multiple segments of the show. For those of you who stuck around until the end, we found out that The Man apologized, but the man in charge upheld the suspension and set it to be 60 days, which is 5 days after WrestleMania 35. He also announced that Charlotte Flair will be taking Lynch’s place in her match with Ronda Rousey, if Rousey retains at Elimination Chamber. Something like this was to be expected as most of us thought that Flair would be in the match somehow. There is no way Becky Lynch is missing WrestleMania, so don’t be too upset. Seth Rollins came back after missing last week’s episode calling out Brock Lesnar and was interrupted by Paul Heyman. After their confrontation, Dean Ambrose came out and simply told Seth Rollins to “Slay the Beast”. We saw new RAW Tag Team Champions crowned and the Bobby Lashley and Finn Bálor feud is heating up. Other than that, nothing happened with serious implications to the future of the brand.
SmackDown Live had another good week and they have some really good matches coming up on the PPV. Charlotte Flair opened the show and embraced the hate. She did an excellent job to gain quick heat and become the company’s biggest villain overnight. She wasn’t interrupted and the segment was quick and to the point. Next on the card was a triple threat women’s tag match with the team of Naomi and Carmella winning the match. The IIconics were never tagged in, but at the end they were standing tall as they attacked the winners of the match. McMiz TV was a successful segment and provided a sufficient amount of heat leading into the PPV. The next match was the main event, which was a 6-man gauntlet match with the superstars of the upcoming Elimination Chamber match for the WWE Championship. It’s always fun to see a good gauntlet match and this one didn’t disappoint. Kofi Kingston was chosen as the replacement of Mustafa Ali, who had a concussion on a house show and it turned out that Kofi was SmackDown’s star of the night. He reaffirmed that he can still put on great matches and is rightfully in the Elimination Chamber match for the WWE title. He and the Champion started the match and Kofi pinned Daniel Bryan, Samoa Joe, and Jeff Hardy before taking the fall against AJ Styles. He lasted over an hour in the ring and it was one of the best performances that I’ve ever seen on a SmackDown episode. Randy Orton then sealed the victory by hitting Styles with an RKO. I don’t see any of these superstars taking the title at the Chamber, but there was a great build for the match and I wouldn’t mind seeing a new champion. This week’s power rankings aren’t without debate and if it were a normal week-to-week power ranking based only on weekly shows, then I would have ordered them differently, but here they are.
- 10: Ruby Riott (NR)
Credit: WWE
This is her first appearance on the Power Rankings and she looks primed and ready to go against the RAW Women’s Champion on Sunday night. She turned in a decent match on RAW Monday night against Nikki Cross, but the only reason she is on the list this week is because of her PPV match. Nobody is expecting her to take the title, but honestly, I think they’re playing this match a little coy going into Sunday night. I think it is a match that will be overlooked for obvious reason, but nonetheless, I think both superstars will put on a great performance.
- 9: Seth Rollins (NR)
Seth Rollins is back on the Power Rankings after missing last week’s cut. He delivered a decent promo and will look to be in a similar boat for the next few weeks. He is currently injured, but should be ready to go for WrestleMania. Although we aren’t likely to see his WrestleMania opponent too often from here until April, I expect Rollins to have a role in most RAW episodes, if not all of them moving forward. At this point, I would be shocked to see Rollins and Lesnar featured in the main event of WrestleMania, but it definitely should be later on the card.
- 8: Daniel Bryan (3)
Credit: WWE
The Champ fell quite a bit in this week’s rankings, but he put in a lengthy performance against Kofi Kingston in the gauntlet opener. The champ getting pinned is not a good look, but it wasn’t worthy of dropping out of the Top 10. As I mentioned earlier, I don’t think Bryan is going to lose the title at the PPV, but they’ve done an excellent job to build the matchup. With the star power included in this match, I expect it to close the show on Sunday night, but it could end up being Rousey and Ruby Riott ending it. Bryan has been a solid champion and if it comes to an end on Sunday, I think it would be a sufficient reign for his character.
- 7: Bayley and Sasha Banks (7)
Back at number 7 again this week is the team of Bayley and Sasha Banks. Banks was cleared for action, but is still playing the injury angle heading into Elimination Chamber. In the meantime, Bayley is looking very strong in their matches and has carried her team to victory the past few weeks. There wasn’t anything spectacular about their performance, but the fact that they are the favorites to become the first WWE Women’s Tag Team Champs is enough for them to maintain their ranking this week. Tamina and Nia Jax will likely be strong competitors in the Chamber, but don’t expect anything other than a Bayley and Sasha victory Sunday night.
- 6: Randy Orton (8)
Randy Orton moved up two spots this week and he was only on TV for literally about a minute on Tuesday night. He hit AJ Styles with an RKO and secured a pinfall victory. It appears he will be a big factor in the match Sunday and will look to gain his 14th World Title Reign. The Apex Predator is always a superstar that finds himself in the title picture and he has earned that right. He is the prime example of a superstar talent and his presence on Tuesday showed that in vivid colors. The night closed with Orton standing victorious and is a strong look going into the PPV, pay attention to his degree of involvement in Sunday’s Chamber match.
*RKO out of nowhere at 2:06
- 5: The Revival (NR)
Credit: WWE
Say Yeah! The new RAW Tag Team Champions are making their first appearance on the Power Rankings and looking strong at number 5 this week. This was the first time in a long time that the Tag Team division has been relevant and it was a refreshing sight. There was a lot of speculation that they were on their way out after hearing that they were unhappy about their place on the red brand, but we may see them hang around. It’s good to see a talented tag team get their hands on the titles and hopefully this will spark a new interest in the once coveted tag team division. If the WWE is serious about making tag teams relevant again, I think we will see The Revival on the Power Rankings pretty often in the near future.
- 4: Kofi Kingston (NR)
Credit: WWE
There wasn’t a superstar on the SmackDown and RAW rosters that had a better week than Kofi Kingston. He lasted over an hour in the SmackDown gauntlet match before getting pinned by AJ Styles. He looked very strong on Tuesday night and he hasn’t been featured like that in a long time. I know you are wondering, if he had the best week of any superstar, then why is he number 4? My reasoning behind this is simply due to storylines. If this wasn’t the go-home episode, then I would’ve considered it , but as of now, there are bigger stories than the WWE Championship match. He was well deserving of the spotlight and I’m glad they made him look like a key player. The New Day member took the place of Mustafa Ali who wasn’t cleared for action and it will be an interesting twist with him in the match now. The New Day has mentioned that they would defend the championship using the Freebird Rule. This would mean that each member of the stable could defend the title. I would love to see that in action, but at the moment, Kofi Kingston looks like the contender with the lowest chance to take the title, with the exception of maybe Jeff Hardy.
- 3: Charlotte Flair (4)
After the announcement of Becky Lynch’s suspension, The Queen was immediately put into the RAW Women’s title picture. She arguably had the most meaningful week of any superstar this week, but is at number 3. She clearly is on the good side of The Authority and will be a thorn in Lynch and Rousey’s side until April. It was not a shock to see her inserted into the title picture, but I think they could’ve done a better job with the execution of the situation. She is currently the most hated superstar on both shows and will look to continue to her reign as the company’s top heel. She isn’t the best mic performer, but she doesn’t have to be. Her skill in the ring speaks for itself and her actions will resonate much louder than her words.
- 2: Becky Lynch (1)
I had a tough time putting Lynch at number 2, but it had to be done. She is clearly the main focus going into WrestleMania and it was announced on Monday by Mr. McMahon that Lynch will be suspended for 60 days. The suspension is set to end 5 days after the big event in April, which means she will not be in the main event at the moment. The star clearly isn’t going to miss the biggest stage of the year, but it does buy a little time between now and April. Charlotte Flair was clearly in their plans prior to Lynch’s rise to superstardom, so this is a way to make everyone look good in the next few weeks. I debated putting Lynch lower in the ranking, because she simply looked weak Monday night. She gave in to The Authority and apologized for her actions last week, which is something that someone with her momentum and character development certainly shouldn’t be doing. I don’t expect her to miss much time on TV, but if she doesn’t look stronger moving forward, she will lose the audience and the WWE will ruin the best opportunity to make her a legendary superstar. Lynch needs to be booked as a take no prisoner, chaos causing, unstoppable force, but this week shows that she isn’t at that point yet. She is the star that the WWE is in dire need of.
- 1: Ronda Rousey (2)
Rousey has reached number one for the first time in the history of The Sports Chief’s Power Rankings. She didn’t have a particularly strong week, but at the moment, she is the strongest force in her own storyline, which means she is at the top of the WWE class at the moment. Nobody is giving any thought to the possibility that she may lose her title at Elimination Chamber and the way they have booked things, it clearly isn’t going to happen. She is playing the role of hero siding with the suspended Lynch and going against The Authority. Rousey is literally trying to help her biggest rival so they can have their dream match at WrestleMania, which is an odd approach, but it is what it is. She even mentioned that the Women’s Division was robbed because of the Lynch suspension. The thought behind this approach is to get Flair booed, Lynch cheered, and keep Ronda one of WWE’s top faces even if she leaves after WrestleMania. I don’t know if this will work out as planned, but right now, Rousey is poised to be the featured performer for the next few weeks.
Yacs