Both RAW and SmackDown were good this week and we got a good taste of the kickoff to WrestleMania. With just a little more than three weeks to go, WrestleMania will be here before you know it. RAW kicked off its program with The Shield in what appeared to be their final time together in a WWE ring, for now anyway. Paul Heyman interrupted Seth Rollins and Rollins was hit with a surprise attack by Shelton Benjamin. The two had a match and Rollins ended up winning. Ronda Rousey addressed the WWE Universe after her decision to interfere with Charlotte and Becky’s match at Fastlane and was confronted by Dana Brooke, which ended horribly for Brooke. Alexa Bliss announced that she is going to be the WrestleMania host and Harlem Heat was introduced as the newest inductees to the WWE Hall of Fame. Beth Phoenix appeared ringside for Natalya as she faced Nia Jax and after that, Triple H called out Batista in one of the most anticipated moments of the night. Kurt Angle announced that his last match would be at WrestleMania, but his opponent is undetermined. Rumors are that it will be John Cena. Since RAW was in Pittsburgh, which is Angle’s hometown. He wrestled in a match against Apollo Crews and won. The main event was Drew McIntyre vs. Dean Ambrose in a falls count anywhere match.

Other than one bad segment, SmackDown was a very, very good show on Tuesday night. Shane McMahon kicked off the show by addressing his actions at Fastlane, then there was an 8-man tag match involving Ricochet and Aleister Black, The Hardy Boyz vs. The Bar and Nakamura and Rusev. After the match, Randy Orton and AJ Styles finally had a segment in the ring and it was absolutely amazing. The one segment that was bad involved a match between Asuka and Sonya Deville. Asuka won the match and it appears that Deville and Mandy Rose are on the brink of a split up. Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair exchanged words and after that there was a tag team match involving Samoa Joe and Andrade vs. Rey Mysterio and R-Truth. Mysterio and Truth took the win and it looks like there is more of a story to tell with these four competitors. Mustafa Ali teamed up with Kevin Owens to take on the team of Daniel Bryan and Rowan and the champ and his counterpart won the match. The last segment was dedicated to Kofi Kingston and it was concerning his personal road to WrestleMania, the promo with he and New Day was unbelievably good. Mr. McMahon offered Kofi a way to be in the match, but it will not be easy. Here are my rankings for this week.

- 10: Bobby Lashley (10)

I felt like I had to put Bobby Lashley on the list after regaining the Intercontinental Championship this week on RAW. He had a little help from Lio Rush, but Lashley took his title back. I wonder why Bálor had such a short reign as champion, but it is what it is. Lashley is the champ and I’m interested to see which direction they go with him. I can see some more back and forth with Bálor and I can see a multi-man match at WrestleMania with him putting his title on the line. I’ve always thought that they could do more with Bobby Lashley, but through the years, they haven’t utilized him properly. I hope we are seeing the start of a proper booking.

- 9: Shane McMahon (NR)

For the first time, Shane O’ Mac is on the WWE Power Rankings. I think he did enough this week to gain entry onto the list. On Sunday, he was the tag team partner of The Miz, but he turned on him and now he is engaged in a storyline against him. This was something that we were all anticipating, but seeing everything in action is making sense. Shane is doing a good job as a heel so far, but I think he honestly could go a little further. I don’t anticipate him being on the list that often, but I think the match at WrestleMania will be entertaining.

- 8: Drew McIntyre (10)

Drew McIntyre looks poised for a WrestleMania matchup coming up. Although he doesn’t have an official match yet, I can almost guarantee that he won’t be missing on the card. He made a big impact on Monday night. He and his team lost against The Shield on Sunday night, but towards the end of RAW, he attacked Roman Reigns just before his match and faced off with Dean Ambrose in the main event. The match was a falls count anywhere match and McIntyre prevailed. If I had to guess, I’d say McIntyre will face Roman Reigns, which is a match that I would love to see the two of them could honestly steal the show, but I guess we will find out where he will fit in during the next couple weeks.

- 7: Triple H (7)

Remaining in the seven spot is The Game, Triple H. I contemplated putting Batista in the Top 10 as well, but I just don’t think he is there yet. Triple H is clearly getting the upper hand between the two and personally, I don’t think it’s close. He delivered another great promo and the match is official for WrestleMania. Now all that is left to do is wait until the big day.

- 6: Randy Orton/AJ Styles (NR, NR)

This is the first time that I have a tied entry on the WWE Power Rankings. I couldn’t decide which had a better week in this feud so they tied. This rivalry has gained a lot of heat in a very short span and it is honestly one of the matchups that I am most looking forward to at WrestleMania. These two have nothing left to prove in the wrestling business, but a matchup between the two should not disappoint. There wasn’t a clear-cut winner from last week’s promo and I expect more of the same in the coming weeks.

- 5: Samoa Joe (6)

Samoa Joe had a big week and moved up one spot as a result. Last Tuesday, he won the United States Championship in a Fatal 4-Way match and in a surprise match at Fastlane, he defended the title in Fatal 4-Way rematch. He is still the champion, but the biggest question moving forward is who his opponent will be at WrestleMania. Last week, I would’ve said John Cena, but now that Kurt Angle announced that his last match will be at WrestleMania, I’m not quite sure. I think it is all but a given at this point that it will be a Cena/Angle matchup in a few weeks. R-Truth didn’t get a proper rematch, so it could be him. We’ll see, but I think it will be interesting whoever he will face.

- 4: Becky Lynch (2)

This the first time in 10 weeks that Becky Lynch fell out of the Top 3. She has maintained her status as a top-billing in the WWE for a few months now and look for her to keep it up at least until WrestleMania. I hated the direction that they went in at Fastlane with her, but whether you like the circumstance or not, she is in the main event of WrestleMania. I mentioned last week about hoping that this rivalry isn’t becoming stale and I think it still applies. What they do in the next week or two will indicate where the feud stands and I think there is still more to tell in the story.

- 3: Ronda Rousey (1)

Ronda dropped two spots this week, but she did have an impactful week. She interfered in Charlotte and Becky’s match to get Lynch in the main event of WrestleMania and demolished Dana Brooke in what looked like a burial for Brooke. Rousey has made quite a name for herself in the past week and it looks like the WWE is giving the green light on social media. This week the feud fell off a little bit in what I considered a pointless PPV match at Fastlane, so that is largely the reason that Ronda and Becky fell this week. Do I think they will build things back up? Absolutely, but this week they take a back seat and they may do it for another week, but expect them to regain the top spots in the Rankings fairly soon.

- 2: Kofi Kingston (NR)

After missing last week’s Power Rankings, Kofi Kingston is back in the Top 5. I contemplated putting The New Day instead of just Kofi, because they delivered possibly the best promo I’ve ever seen from them, but at the moment Kofi is reaping the benefits. Kofi lost to The Bar in a surprise match on Sunday night and it proved to be Mr. McMahon test for Kofi Kingston. Obviously, this is all just a part of storyline, so next week he will face Randy Orton, Samoa Joe, The Bar, and Rowan in a gauntlet match to stake his claim for the WWE Championship match at WrestleMania. This obviously will consume a large portion of SmackDown next Tuesday, so this is another great sign for Kofi. At this point, it seems obvious that he will be in the match, but will he become WWE Champion? I hope so.

- 1: The Shield (4)

The Shield claims the number one spot in this week’s Power Rankings. This was a tough week for raking, but I don’t think anyone had a bigger impact on this week’s events. They reunited at Sunday’s Fastlane PPV and beat the team of Drew McIntyre, Bobby Lashley, and Baron Corbin in the show’s main event. The kicked off RAW on Monday night and basically said that they have their own business to take care of. I personally thought that Dean may turn on Roman, but that didn’t happen and I’m kinda glad they didn’t go that route. Drew McIntyre attacked Roman Reigns, prior to his match with Baron Corbin, so expect them to face off at WrestleMania. Dean Ambrose faced McIntyre in the main event in a falls count anywhere match, but the Scottish Psychopath prevailed. I don’t expect to see The Shield to be in the Power Rankings ever again, because I legitimately think they meant for Sunday night to be their farewell match. We’ll see what takes place in the near future, but I think that’s the end of the line for The Shield.

Yacs

WWE Power Rankings: Week of March 14th - 19th