WrestleMania has come and gone and so have the week-after shows of SmackDown and RAW. The couple weeks following WrestleMania are always interesting ones to say the least, but a lot of feuds are in limbo until the Superstar Shakeup is final. Some of the company’s top stars were held out of the programming after WrestleMania, but we will see if those superstars return next week, because some may be taking a little hiatus. One person that made a surprise appearance, but isn’t on the list is The Undertaker. When Elias mentioned the word Dead Man, I had a strange feeling the bells were going to toll, and they did. I assume this feud will lead to a match at the Saudi Arabia PPV coming up next month, but a lot of fans are upset that the Deadman didn’t appear at WrestleMania. Some newer faces made an impression on this week’s rankings and I could see them remaining on the list for a little while. It was challenging to make the list I wanted, because of the PPV and the start of a new year, but check out who I have in this week’s top 10.

- 10: Lars Sullivan (NR)

Lars Sullivan is officially a member of the main roster, but which brand he will be on isn’t clear. He made quite the impression this week with an attack on Kurt Angle Monday night, and the next night attacking The Hardy Boyz. I’m not sure who his first feud will be against, but expect to see something coming up within the next week or two. I’m going to be honest, he is a decent performer, but I just don’t see much in him. He is just another crazy big guy. I think his gimmick would’ve gotten over in the 80’s and the early 90’s, but in today’s WWE, I just don’t think he’ll be a big-time player. He reminds me a lot of Snitsky, who was a big disappointment in the mid-2000’s. I don’t hope he fails, but my first impressions of him on the main roster weren’t great ones, but with that being said, he played a part in both shows, so he is in the Top 10 this week.

- 9: The Bar (NR)

The Bar was a big part in both shows this week and even performed at WrestleMania. They lost their shot at the SmackDown Tag Team titles on Sunday and on Monday, they interrupted the match between Kofi Kingston and Seth Rollins in what was supposed to be the main event with both titles on the line. The match turned into a tag team bout with the champions earning the win. The next night they interrupted Kofi again and they faced The New Day in the main event. They also had Drew McIntyre teaming with them to make it a 6-man tag match. They took the loss again, but the fact that they were used in the main event of both shows is enough for them to be in the rankings this week.

- 8: Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins (NR)

The new RAW Tag Team Champs won the titles in the pre-show at WrestleMania and successfully defended their championships on RAW the next night. In both contests, they faced The Revival. It is good to see these guys getting a real shot on TV. These two guys are extremely talented, but they have just got lost in the shuffle of everything. I’m not sure how long these two will hang onto the titles, but it is a good sign that they beat the former champs two times in a row. Tag teams have lost a lot of attention in the last few years, so hopefully things are starting to look better for duos in the WWE.

- 7: The Hardy Boyz (NR)

Going from two tag teams to another, The Hardy Boyz were big on SmackDown this week. Both of the Hardy brothers were in the André The Giant Memorial Battle Royal on Sunday night and both were thrown out at the same time towards the end. I mentioned in my reaction article that I was wondering when the Hardy Brothers would get a shot at the Tag Team titles. They received their chance on Tuesday night and made the most of it. They won the championships and it is the 9th time for Jeff and 11th time that Matt has been Tag Team Champion in WWE. It’s good to see these guys still at the top of their game, but I wonder how much longer we will see them. We should just enjoy it while it lasts.

- 6: Finn Bálor (NR)

Bálor is back in the Top 10 for the first time in nearly two months. The Demon was present for WrestleMania and he took back the Intercontinental Championship for the second time in his career. He also successfully defended his title against Sami Zayn, who made his return on Monday night. Zayn turned heel after the match and he almost made my Top 10 this week. Hopefully Bálor has a better title reign than his last one. His first reign only lasted 22 days. My prediction for Bálor next week is that he will be a new member of SmackDown Live. I mentioned this a while back, but I think he has more potential to shine on SmackDown. We could see a massive overhaul within the week, but we will see. SmackDown is moving to FOX in October and we could see a loaded roster for the blue brand starting to form.

- 5: The IIconics (NR)

For the first time in 2019, The IIconics are in the Top 5 and this is only the second time that they have been in the Top 10. They won the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship at WrestleMania to become only the second title holders ever. On Tuesday night, they successfully defended their titles against The Brooklyn Belles, who are local talents making their debut. It obviously was intended to be a squash match, but the segment was perfectly suited for them. Paige was interviewed after the match and mentioned that she had some real competition lined up for The IIconics next week on SmackDown. She didn’t mention names though. This is a great build for a new team and now we are anxious to see who they will face. My first assumption is that it will be the Sky Pirates, Io Shirai and Kairi Sane, from NXT, but it could be a few possibilities, like Nia Jax and Tamina. Let them tell you how they feel about their next opponents.

- 4: Lacey Evans (NR)

Other than the Royal Rumble, this is the first time that Lacey Evans came in contact with another superstar since her main roster debut. For the last couple of months, she has walked down the ramp and walked back almost every week. She finally got her point across this week. She attacked the Double Women’s Champion on both shows this week. She calls herself the Lady of WWE and this storyline pretty much writes itself, although I expected it to be a little later than this. I don’t watch NXT every week, but I do try to keep an eye on what is going on. At the Royal Rumble, I wasn’t particularly impressed with Evans, but I understood that the Royal Rumble wasn’t a great indicator of how good of a performer you are. Since then, she has been making her way down the ramp, but not any further. I wanted to do a little bit of research about her character and see if Evans is what she is cracked up to be. I have to say, I really like her character and she is very athletic, great on the mic, and a solid in-ring performer. She is a former Marine and her background is eye-opening to say the least. I’m not expecting her to take the titles from Lynch, but their match(es) and promos will be great entertainment, I know that much.

- 3: Seth Rollins (4)

Rollins slayed The Beast! It finally happened. Nobody expected the match to be the first of the main card on Sunday, but Rollins beat Lesnar in under 3 minutes. The segment was much longer, because the match didn’t start until after a 10-minute beating from Brock Lesnar. Rollins is now the Universal Champion and on Monday night, he was supposed to have a match with the new WWE Champion, but was interrupted by The Bar. I am really shocked that he had a match on Monday night, but it shows how tough he is. He and Kingston won the match, but it wasn’t the match that people were anticipating. We will see what happens with the Universal title picture after the Superstar Shakeup, but it should be interesting. I don’t know if Lesnar is staying, because he didn’t appear on RAW, what a shocker right? Could we see the Universal Championship move to SmackDown? I guess we will find out on Monday or Tuesday.

- 2: Kofi Kingston (3)

Kofi could’ve easily been number one this week, but personally I think one more person deserves that honor. This has been the biggest week of his career, no doubt. He defeated Daniel Bryan to become WWE Champion. His match at WrestleMania was one of the best contests in the history of the show and we have to wonder what is next for the champ. I hope he gets a proper title reign, but I’m not honestly expecting it. He wasn’t supposed to be in this spot, but here he is. This spot was supposed to be Mustafa Ali’s, but I can guarantee you that he wouldn’t have received nearly the attention that Kofi has received. I think this week proved that they don’t need part-timers for the WWE to be successful. I don’t have an idea what they have planned for the WWE Championship, but I’ll be tuned in.

- 1: Becky Lynch (1)

Becky 2 Belts is what they call her now. The Man became the first superstar to hold both brands Women’s Championship and now she has declared that she will be on double-duty. I guess you can call her Becky 2 Shows as well. She made history on Monday morning, by winning the first ever women’s main event at WrestleMania. The reason why many people probably think Kofi should be number one is because there was controversy concerning the pin in the main event. Rousey’s shoulders clearly weren’t down for the whole 3-count, but Lynch was declared the winner anyway. When I saw it taking place, I immediately realized why the finish was the way it was. The rollup pin was a way to catch Ronda off-guard, because of her recent disrespectful comments about the wrestling business. I hear that the ref in the match was fined, because he wasn’t on the right side to see the pin, so he didn’t know if her shoulders were down or not. Other than on the WrestleMania broadcast, there has been nothing mentioned about the pin from WWE. Whether the pin was messed up or not, you can’t blame Becky for being put in that situation. I realize it would be a whole different story if Ronda won the match that way, or Charlotte for that matter, but the controversial pin opens the door for Ronda if and when she decides to return.

Yacs

WWE Power Rankings: Week of April 11th