WWE Power Rankings, RAW 10/27/2014

Coming at you from San Antonio,

Well, Hell in a Cell happened.  I took away two things; 1) I’m done with Cena vs Orton, and 2) the WWE are truly magicians.  It’s not just “ghost-of-2PAC-Wyatt” (which we’ll get to) but by the end of Hell in a Cell, I was very pleased with the PPV in multiple ways yet as time goes by I look back and feel more and more disappointed with the PPV.  

As previously discussed on the BEARcast - WrestleCast podcast (www.worldofbear.com and on iTunes) this WWE roster is as thin as one of the plastic surgery rejects on Botched who’ve had their ribs removed and their gunts suctioned out.  ALL of their characters were used at the PPV.  If they were to attempt one more match, the WWE would have been pulling bums out of the audience, giving them chairs and letting them loose inside the Cell for some sort of Thunderdome, “two men enter / one man leave” shit.  

Here’s where it gets tricky evaluating the PPV, the matches were solid.  There wasn’t one match (except for the Bella bullshit) that wasn’t enjoyable or of high quality.  Let’s just list a few issues that I had once I looked back at the PPV and then we’ll start with RAW’s countdown:

• Ziggler / Cesaro should have gone 3 rounds.  1st round goes to Ziggler for technical wrestling.  2nd round should have gone to Cesaro for power wrestling.  Then we could have had an epic final sequence for the 3rd pin.
• AJ Lee / Paige was just way too short and more concerned about promoting Paige and Alicia Fox as a new feud and that they’ll be on Total Divas next go-around.
• If I had never seen a RKO / Cena match, theirs would have been great BUT I’ve seen it a million times and got nothing out of it.  Unless they're tagging up in a storyline where one of them turns, I don’t need to see them in a ring again for at least a year.
• Ambrose / Rollins was set to be an awesome main event.  The started with a tribute to Foley and then the match got started and everything was moving along well until the WWE decided it was Best for Business to not have a clean win before the return of Bray Wyatt.  Could they not wait 5 minutes to let the match have a great clean finish then have Bray come out?
• Without having a main event involving some sort or larger goal only made the lack of WHC present more glaring.

Read between the lines.  These are all Booking issues.  The performers were great and did the most with what they were told to do.  

Due to a late illness (not late as in dead, obviously I’m still alive…for now) I didn’t expand fully on the rankings.  Check out the WrestleCast this week as Fred and I discuss these rankings more in-depth.  Thanks.

So with that, let’s get to the rankings as of this week’s RAW on 10/27/2014...

1. Dolph Ziggler
2. Miz and Damien Miz-dow
3. Seth Rollins w/ Mercury and Noble
4. Randy Orton
5. Dean Ambrose
6. John Cena
7. Stephanie McMahon
8. HHH
9. Cesaro
10. Kane
11. Dust Brothers
12. The Usos
13. Bray Wyatt
14. AJ Lee
15. Paige and Alicia Fox
16. Mark Henry
17. The Big Show
18. Bo Dallas
19. Ryback
20. Bella sisters

Honorable Mentions

Roman Reigns – Quick bit to keep Reigns on TV.  Also, can we assume this means he’s closer to returning due to a massive PED cycle to help him heal faster than humanly possible. 

Hulk Hogan – At least he got the city correct.  

Side Note(s)

One problem is that EVERY relationship between Divas always seems to be a devolution of a female friendship.  what does the WWE think or is saying about the interactions of women?  I’m a dumb guy so I don’t really care but I find it interesting that Stephanie McMahon is so pro woman but she allows every Diva gimmick to be the same tired trope.  The WWE has “Trust No Bitch” tattooed on its neck.

Cena beats RKO in a HiaC match.  How can they do more / bigger / better down the line?  It’s not an issue for today but it will be in the future.  

Until next time…