The shows this week were decent, not great, but I do like that more talent was featured on both shows this week. I think that they have had a huge problem utilizing talent on the main roster for quite a while. There is 5 hours of weekly content, but it only seems like a handful of superstars are getting called on each week. Hopefully we start to see more talent getting on TV. I thought selecting this week’s Top 10 was fairly simple. The way storylines are matching up and the culmination of Sunday’s Extreme Rules PPV made it easier to determine who I should put on the list. Here are my selections and as always, they are up for discussion, so if you like or maybe dislike my rankings, hit us up on Twitter.

- 10: Cedric Alexander (NR)

Cedric Alexander is making his first appearance of the year on my Power Rankings. He had a match against Drew McIntyre this week and won by rolling up McIntyre. Last week, he was in the RAW main event disguised as Gary Garbutt and even came out on the winning side. This looks like this may be the start of something good for Alexander. I was concerned about how much he would be featured and I’m glad to see that creative is looking his way.

- 9: Aleister Black (NR)

Black’s opponent on SmackDown and Extreme Rules was number 10 last week, but Black is on the list this week at 9. He picked up wins on both shows and it looks like he is getting featured a lot more as well. Black has mega-star potential and I hope we can see him in the WWE Championship title picture in the near future.

- 8: Natalya (NR)

Making her first singles appearance on the Power Rankings this year is Natalya at number 8. She came up big with a victory in a Fatal 4-Way against Alexa Bliss, Naomi, and Carmella on RAW. The crowd absolutely hated this match, but I don’t really know why. I thought it was an excellent match and we are seeing something different for the title picture. Natalya will face Becky Lynch at SummerSlam and I’m excited for the matchup. I heard something interesting about a possibility for the match today and it involves a possible interference from someone with a “bad reputation”. Cue Joan Jett.

- 7: Drake Maverick/R-Truth (NR)

Since introducing the 24/7 Championship, these two superstars have been the focal point of the championship chase. This feud has been very entertaining. They are the only two superstars to hold the title for more than a day. I knew if they did it right, that this title concept would be a success and it manages to get underutilized talent a chance to get TV time.

- 6: Bray Wyatt (NR)

The Fiend is here!!! If I know what I think they are doing for SummerSlam with Bray Wyatt, then I think that could send him on a different level. Finn Bálor had a match with Samoa Joe and lost on Monday night. After the match, the lights went out and Bálor was attacked by The Fiend. It was reported that Bálor is taking some time off after SummerSlam, so it appears that he will use SummerSlam to get active talent over, but what if Bálor came to the ring as The Demon and lost? Is this what they have in the cards? If so, that would propel Wyatt’s new persona to unbelievable heights. Not that I really want to see them do this though.

- 5: Seth Rollins (3)

I didn’t really want to put Rollins in the Top 5, but I felt like I had to. He won the main event battle royal on RAW by eliminating Randy Orton to secure the victory. The match wasn’t good and it gave the WWE Universe false hope for another possibility. There was so much potential with what could’ve been at SummerSlam, but it was another time slot wasted to try and secure Rollins as the top contender. They literally could’ve saved us a combined 15 minutes and told us that Rollins was going to challenge Lesnar to a rematch. It made absolutely no sense, but it is important moving forward, so Rollins is in the Top 5 this week.

- 4: Randy Orton (NR)

After coming up short in the battle royal on RAW, Orton redeemed himself on Tuesday night. He pinned the WWE Champion in a 6-man tag match. Although not official yet, mark Orton down as an opponent for Kofi Kingston at SummerSlam. Orton is still a big-time competitor and he currently sits with 13 World title reigns. With one more, he would tie his Evolution counterpart, Triple H. This is a possibility, so keep an eye on what is going to happen in the next few weeks.

- 3: Brock Lesnar (NR)

Brock Lesnar makes his way back into the Top 5 this week after winning back his Universal Championship at Extreme Rules. Like I said in another article, I thought he was going to hold off on his cash-in for a little while, but it worked. Although I’m not expecting him to be a weekly superstar, I think he will be around more now that UFC is out of the picture. He will always have people that hate him, but I think once Lesnar retires, he will be appreciated a lot more.

- 2: The New Day (NR)

The trio is making an appearance this week. On Sunday, every single member of The New Day became champions. Xavier and Big E won the SmackDown Tag Team Championship and Kofi had another successful title defense. On Tuesday however, they didn’t have such a sweet moment. The had a match against Randy Orton, Elias and Samoa Joe and lost. This is the main reason I didn’t rank them number one. I don’t know how long the New Day will hold onto all of their belts, but it looks like the road ahead is getting shorter each day.

- 1: Kevin Owens (1)

It appears that Kevin Owens has a great possibility of being the star of the 2ndHalf. KO is clearly being groomed as the top face heading in to SmackDown’s move to FOX. He has gotten the better of Shane McMahon over the last little while, despite Shane’s best efforts to keep him contained. I’m glad that they are doing something different for a change and Owens is the type of performer that can make the most out of any situation. I’m a big fan of KO and I hope he can become a huge star from all of this, because if anyone deserves it, it’s him.

Yacs.

WWE Power Rankings: Week of July 18th