WWE Power Rankings, RAW 1/20/2014

Coming at you from Dayton, and with just six days from The Royal Rumble, I couldn’t be more excited.  The Rumble has to be my favorite show of the year.  Obviously WrestleMania is a spectacle and usually has the most star power and is when all the various story lines culminate but the Rumble is the most fun and incorporates so many things.  You usually have a solid championship match, which we have in Cena vs RKO for the umpteenth time, one or two solid mid-card matches, a Divas match and then the best single event of the year…the Rumble match itself!  A good Rumble match will incorporate a few current story lines (mostly involving partnerships breaking up and/or coming together), a breakout star that will get the big push, a wrestler who will do something memorable in regards to not getting eliminated, a wrestler who will last the longest, a wrestler who will take out the most opponents, a surprise wrestler that is making their return from injury or is newly signed, an old school wrestler who’s making a small return run (i.e. Kevin Nash a few years ago), to see who the final four are is always interesting, even the order to which the wrestlers come out is fun to watch and of course the winner (who’ll go on to be in the championship match at WM30).  The Road to WrestleMania will have officially started!  Whew!!  And you wonder why I get so excited?  Lastly, the best part of the Rumble is that IT’S THE ONE TIME A YEAR YOU CAN GAMBLE ON WRESTLING!!!  See the “side notes” for a basic RR pool that my crew uses.  Later this week, I’m doing a special “Dream Rumble” lineup.  If you’d like to throw your suggestions at me, tweet them @wkbear.  It’s also ingenious by the WWE to put RR on the dead Sunday between the NFL championship games and the Superbowl (free gambling winner: take Denver and the Over).  Sports and entertainment don’t get much better than this.  So with that, let’s get to the rankings as of this week’s RAW on 1/20/2014…

On the plus side, this “go home show” did a much better job of setting up the PPV than previous ones have done.  The negative, compared to such a fantastic RAW last week this one was a bit lacking on story and was sort of a let down but again, there was a lot of hype for Sunday’s big PPV.

Lastly, before we get to the rankings, and maybe this should be in the Side Notes section but it’s too important to not be noted, it will be extremely interesting to see who participates in the Royal Rumble match this year.  This is probably the thinest the WWE roster has ever been.  Frankly, some weeks it’s hard to come up with a top 20 performers.  Out of the WWE’s regular 20-25 regular performers, 2 to 6 of them are not planned to be in the Rumble (RKO, Cena, Bryan, Bray Wyatt, etc.).  Even with the occasional returning and new wrestlers, it’s going to be hard to fill up 30 slots.  With the struggles of TNA there’s just as much chance of having a gag entrant such as the Brooklyn Brawler as maybe an AJ Styles?  You just don’t know.  Have I said that I love the Royal Rumble?!

1. The Shield (5) – What a matchup!  With the way the Rhodes brothers and Big E have been wrestling of late, was there any doubt this match was going to steal the show?  Match of the night, right?  The dominance of The Shield almost certainly makes whatever they’re involved in a top 1 or 2 segment / match of the night, each week.  Rollins was back with in his long sleeves, which I pointed out how much I loved last week, and again showed that every member of The Shield is a superstar in the waiting.  Just as Reigns has been allowed to grow and develop his persona / moves inside the safety of The Shield.  We should all be grateful the WWE played the long game with The Shield and its members because six months ago when Reigns was rumored as the next breakout heavyweight contender, he was nowhere near ready like he will by the time The Shield actually breaks up.  He now has this “Superman punch” paired with that new kick maneuver from last week to add to his repertoire and isn’t just a “spear machine.”   Over these past few months all the members of The Shield have been finding what works for them as individuals.  Rollins has been showing that he’s not a third wheel and is able to put on a great match and put over his fellow wrestler.  I hadn’t seen that “stomp-face” finisher by Rollins before but it was solid.  I’m starting to run out of accolades for each member of The Shield.  Every week, even if they aren’t the focus of the match or story, they’re the best part of the show.  Let’s hope this isn’t the last time we see The Shield smiling together.
   
2. Goldust and Cody Rhodes / Big E Langston (9) – These three continue to roll.  As tag champs, the Rhodes brothers have been great.  I can’t say this enough but Goldust is wrestling better than he ever has.  Goldust even performed a great flip off the ring apron onto the floor.  He never did anything like that 10-15 years ago.  Cody keeps improving.  He pulled off a second rope leap onto the top rope into a springboard launch that took out Rollins on the floor outside the ring.  It was awesome.  Lastly, Big E was devastating.  With his heavyweight frame, can anyone say they thought he would be as dynamic as he’s shown.  He might never be a high-flyer but he’s quick, nimble and flies around the ring.  Great match with The Shield.
3. The Usos (3) – This was the Usos’s biggest challenge yet.  It’s one thing to go against The Shield or Daniel Bryan / Bray Wyatt and put on a good show.  It’s another thing when you’re expected to carry the match.  Could the Usos continue their recent success against the Rowan and Harper Wyatt?  If the Usos could pull a top tier match out of the two Wyatt enforcers, it would prove how good the Usos’s in-ring match ability really is.  BTW, the Usos throw some of the best punches I’ve ever seen.  What eventually spanned two commercial breaks and then ended with Bryan attacking Bray, I’d say the Usos were successful in their match against the bigger / stiffer Wyatts.  Congrats Usos, you’re the real deal.  Now dance like no one is watching.
   
   
   
   
4. Brock Lesnar w/ Heyman (N/A&8) – For a guy who only wrestles part-time, he’s still very good at taking bumps.  Speaking of bumps, I’d never say what Brock has on the back of his neck are fat rolls.  He’s so fucking huge that even his neck has muscles.  You want to talk about Batista coming back and being a “beast?” Every time I watch Lesnar my butt-hole clenches up.  The Big Show and Andre the Giant were always wrestlers to me and I was never scared of them, no matter their size.  Lesnar on the other hand scares me.  As I write this, I know he’s about 2,000 miles away in Ohio and from all accounts Lesnar is a nice person when you meet him, but I would shit my pants, pack my bags and move tonight if Lesnar looked into the camera and said, “Bear, I’m coming to get you.”  It’s a shame to waste one of the handful of matches he has on The Big Show.  Assuming Lesnar wins the match against Show, who’s next?  If this wrestling / MMA routine doesn’t work out for these guys, they could always start a good Shylock and collection agency… 
   
5. Daniel Bryan (1) – This was the first time in a while that Bryan got to have a prolonged solo mic segment.  This is the one aspect that I worry Bryan isn’t his strongest at.  But he pulled off his promo.  Even throwing a shot at Vince with, “And some people say I shouldn’t be the Face of this company.”  While the crowd is going crazy for him, chanting YES YES YES.  Bryan confirmed that it was all a ruse, joining the Wyatt Family, just to get revenge against Bray.  OK Bryan, you sold me.  You’ve got the mic skills to go with your incredible in-ring work.  I can’t wait for what should be an epic fight between Bryan and Bray Wyatt at RR.
6. Bray and The Wyatt Family (2) – I’m sorry, I don’t speak gator.  What the fuck was Bray saying?  Who knows, who cares.  I get the gist, Bray is going to beat down Daniel Bryan for his treachery.  One odd thing I picked up was that in the middle of the Wyatt / Usos tag match something funny happened.  Bray started talking and channeled Russell Crowe to become a mixture of Gladiator / Swamp Thing.  Rowan and Harper put on a solid match with the Usos, mainly because of the Usos.  The real anticipation is for this Sunday’s Bray vs Bryan matchup.
7. Batista (N/A) – First thought, he looks to be in great shape.  Second thought, he’s going to rip those jeggings in about two seconds.  It looked like someone painted jeans on Batista like when Sports Illustrated paints bikinis on their models and we’re supposed to pretend like they’re not nude.  (One day, it’s my dream to shake the hand of the person who thought of that little trick for providing years of masterbatorial material.  Yeah, it’s “artistic” wink-wink.  The most fantastically elaborate way of getting the top models on earth to pose naked.  A true pioneer.  My carpal tunnel riddled wrist and arm tips my cap to you.)  The announce crew kept stating all the reasons Batista came back but all I could think was, he’s back to up his profile and make sure the WWE Universe supports his cinematic endeavors (like The Rock did) and come WM30 guess what’s due out in the cineplexes?  The Guardians of the Galaxy!  With all the new tattoos and since he really doesn’t have gimmick to bank on, he should embrace the Drax the Destroyer role and see how quickly he can turn those homecoming cheers into villainous boos.  Maybe it was lost by the telecast but it already seemed like Batista’s face heat was subsiding by the time he destroyed ADR.  Regardless, he’s back.  I wish him well the next few months.  On a physical / homoerotic side note, my girlfriend -REPEAT- my girlfriend wants to know how someone can have such huge shoulders and trap’s but no lat’s and a smallish chest?  It must be hard to find him a masseuse strong enough to work the knots out of those shoulders.  (Another life tip to all you young-in’s: “shoulder’s make the man” so don’t neglect those when you first start working out.  Any professional weightlifter will tell you this.) 
   
   
   
   
   
8. HHH and Stephanie (N/A) – The Authority makes their return.  It feels like forever since these maniacal lovebirds have been on RAW together.  I’ve missed them.  Vince must have been smiling when Stephanie busted out a fantastic promo that not only laid out the championship story but also fit in advertising for the newly announce WWE Network.  She was brilliant.  Not to be outdone, HHH basically touched on every major storyline going on in the WWE.  The only thing that HHH steered away from was any mention of his involvement in recent incidents involving CM Punk.  Even a blind man can see that every one with a connection to HHH is in someway affecting Punk.  I expect some sort of interaction between the two during the Rumble to help push this rumored feud along.  I mean, c’mon.  They made Punk the first wrestler in the rumble.  That always means something.
   
9. Randy Orton (10) – RKO came out on fire and was fantastic.  This is why RKO is worthy of a top slot in the WWE.  HHH and Stephanie are naturally heels as the Authority but only RKO can land further down the heel-scale and make HHH / Stephanie come off looking like faces, if only for a few minutes.  When it was time for his rematch with Kofi from last week, it was a nice touch to have him come out to the ring paranoid.  Constantly looking over his shoulder.  Even with the anticipation of Cena arriving to take vengeance for what RKO did to Cena’s father last week, RKO and Kofi put on a much better match this time around.  When Cena did finally arrive, the bit went Old School.  RKO and Cena took the fight into crowd and up to the arena’s suites.  RKO was able to escape outside the arena.  That’s right, RKO left the building and miraculously jumped into the passenger side of a renal SUV.  While it was preposterous for the announcers to allege that RKO “stole” someone’s car, it was clearly waiting there, I do wonder if RKO didn’t take it upon himself to have someone HE could trust waiting outside for him?  Or he just jumped into a random car and said drive.  Lord know, a greased up RKO jumps into my car and says go, I go.  RKO has some really interesting possibilities coming up.  He’s got trust issues.  He’s got issues with wanting to prove he is the Face of the WWE.  He’s got paranoia issue about everyone coming after his title.  He’s got issues with his employer.  The only problem is that all of his “issues” are intricate and if not handled properly could fail miserably.  RKO suddenly became really interesting. 
   
10. CM Punk (4) – I wish there was more but it seems that there is going to be a Punk / HHH feud but it won’t really pic up steam until or right after the Royal Rumble.  Thanks to Kane, Punk was bestowed the first entry into the Rumble.  Not necessarily a bad thing because the first entrant is usually the guy getting the big push, the one who eventually wins or the one who’s involved in the biggest storyline going in and coming out of the Rumble match.  If anyone has the endurance, ability and guts to go wire-to-wire at the Rumble, it’s Punk.  I’m not so much excited for where Punk has been for the last few weeks but pumped for where he might be going if it’s truly to feud with HHH at WM30.
11. New Age Outlaws (13) – In today’s WWE, where one man will fight the singles match and the partner will be at the announce table, was there any question Road Dogg would be on mic and Mr. Ass Billy Gunn would be in-ring to take on Punk?  The return of the NAO was fun but I’m ready to move onto the main course of Punk / HHH.  I’m Shocked that the NAO are taking on the Rhodes boys for the tag team champs.  With all the great tag talent available, such as the Primetime Players, why is it necessary to bring back the NAO for a tag match.  I understand the quick run they’re having against Punk in service to the bigger HHH story but why keep them around?  Remember when Billy Gunn used to be the powerhouse of the NAO?  Let’s just say time is undefeated.  Although I challenge you to find someone at Gunn’s age to get up that high on those dropkicks like he does.
    
    
12. Korporate Kane / Brad Maddox (12) – I have a feeling it’s about time to “break glass in case of emergency” and free the monster.  Stemming from an incident on Smackdown, Kane is embroiled with CM Punk but it all feels orchestrated to add to the Punk / HHH feud.  It makes more sense for Kane to finally snap and help out Bryan if the rest of the Wyatt Family tries to interfere with the Bryan / Bray match.  The Kane / Maddox relationship is interesting.  If Kane isn’t thrusted back into the ring, I’m interested in where their relationship could go.
    
    
13. John Cena (7) – Even though he’s the Face of the WWE, this is the first time in years that Cena isn’t part of any of the top story lines.  Sure, he’s fighting for the championship vs RKO at the Rumble but isn’t RKO the more interesting character.  They had to bring back RKO vs Cena’s dad just to give any sort of motivation for Cena.  The WWE set up a “Cena-cam” to watch for when Cena was going enter the building?  It seemed like he either wanted a light work night or maybe his flight was late to the show.  It was odd that he came to the arena fully dressed and charging down the utility entrance and into the ring.  Then RKO and Cena battled “old school” up through the crowd and … into at suite?  I must say, I’ve never seen that before.  From there, it just got weirder.  Cena again seemed overly concerned with the people in the crowd.  Asking if “Is everyone OK?” in the suite because maybe RKO ran them over during his escape.  Hello!  These are wrestling fans.  If RKO body slammed or clotheslined a patron, they would be more than thrilled.  I couldn’t tell you what’s going on with Cena.  Then, during the last few minutes of the show, Cena’s glad-handing the fans as he makes his way back to the ring?  The bad news is Cena’s character seems lost.  The good news is that the rest of the roster seems to be picking up the slack.
14. Kofi Kingston (11) – Kofi gets a rematch and a chance to wash away the bad taste of last week’s match out of our mouths.  RKO had that special spark from the beginning of the show which definitely came through when it was time for their rematch.  RKO and Kofi are two of the most naturally gifted athletes the WWE has.  Every match should be a classic.  A win last week and a muddled ending where Cena attacks RKO this week should be good for Kofi but I don’t see the end game.  If past performances mean anything, Kofi is odds on favorite to have the spot of the night at the Rumble.
15. Rey Mysterio (15) – For the past few weeks, it seems like Rey needs about 5 minutes before his pain meds kick in and he’s fully lubricated.  Until then, it’s like watching the tin man trying to move around before Dorothy pumps him full of WD-40.  After he’s loose, we get glimpses of old school Rey which is amazing.  I still say we’re looking at Rey’s goodbye tour this year.  Baring a serious injury, I’m hoping he can have one or two good feuds left and give us a handful of memorable matches because like Ray Allen, when he’s in rhythm he can still stroke the money shot all night.
16. Alberto Del Rio (14) – In his last few matches against Rey, he’s been carrying Rey until he gets warmed up.  Rey still has enough skill to work well with ADR.  How about that killer leg stomp when ADR caught Rey in the corner?  Fred “The Oracle” called it; these matches are just to set up ADR to eventually fall and job to Batista.  It makes sense.  ADR is getting built up but with a string of wins of late, albeit to a hobbled Rey Mysterio and seldom used Sin Cara.  ADR got blasted by Batista and don’t expect this to be the last time.
17. The Big Show (16) – They show us tape of the good Big Show (the mad giant) and then we get the bad Big Show on the mic (the comedian).  Outside of the WWE world, and with the right script / setting, Big Show has the most charisma of almost anyone who walks down the ramp.  The problem is, in the squared circle, angry and limited time Big Show is the better draw than charismatic Big Show.  Luckily for us, the Big Show got through with his act quickly and Heyman / Lesnar made their way to the ring to put an end to Big Show’s nonsense.  I’m really worried for their match.  Lesnar is solid when he’s got a skillful opponent like HHH or Punk but what’s going to happen when Lesnar has to carry the match?  We’ll find out Sunday. 
    
18. AJ Lee and Tamina vs Cameron and Naomi (18) – With a record setting Divas championship title reign, you’d think this would be a joyous occasion for AJ but the writers seem fit to bring back crazy AJ instead of expanding on Harley Quinn AJ (which you might think is the same, but I assure you it’s not).  The AJ that has become a fan favorite is the smart cerebral AJ who’s pissed at the Total Divas, shoots pipe bomb promos and wrestles her ass off in the ring.  Not the cake throwing, table smashing AJ from two years ago.  Hopefully this was a one time flashback.  On the positive side, Naomi has shown the most potential of the new Divas.  Is it a coincidence that the best Divas are the ones dating / married to wrestlers.  Naomi is with one of the Usos, B-cup-Bella is with Daniel Bryan and AJ is with Punk.  Natalya comes from wrestling royalty but she too is married to a very good in-ring performer in Tyson “TeeJaaay” Kidd.  Tamina is a Snuka and has the size to dominate but not yet the skill.  I would never admit this out loud but I would be apposed to watching a fatal 4-way between Naomi, Bella, Natalya and AJ for the championship.  You’ve got one chance Divas, don’t make me regret it…
19. Fan-dan-go w/ Summer Rae (N/A) – Back from the abyss of the unused.  Fandango was thrown into a match with Xavier Woods.  This had to be the WTF match of the night.  It came out of nowhere.  Fandango go the win but I couldn’t tell you why?  Fandango is still getting a solid push and I wonder how he’ll fare in the RR match?  Is he just another contestant or will he continue to receive a push and get one of the prime slots or assignments? 
20. Xavier Woods w/ R-Truth on the mic (N/A) – R-Truth at the announce table is always interesting.  The biggest news is that he’s set to face Damien Sandow on a show called Main Even on a channel called ION.  I will not be hunting this down, which is unfortunate because I pumped up Sandow so much last week that I really wanted to see him capitalize on his fantastic match with Cena.  Why is Xavier Woods even fighting Fandago?  I thought he was in a feud with the newly turned heel, Brodus Clay?  What happened to that?  Is Clay hurt?  Yet another thread that can be built upon during the Rumble match.  This match with Fandango was pointless.  Even though for a spit second, didn’t it seem like R-Truth had grown irritated by Xavier and his loss may have caused some friction between the two? 

Honorable Mentions

Mae Young – RIP.  Say what you will about the nonagenarian, she was down for everything and anything.  She was Bubba-bombed off the stage and through a table.  She gave birth to a hand.  A fucking HAND!  This at a time in her life when most people her age are slurping up dinner and loosing their minds in old age homes.  All in the name of the wrestling business.  We take it for granted that not only was she in the wrestling business for over 70 years and even today women have to work much harder to be respected as something more than just arm candy to the male wrestlers.  Mae was doing that during WWII.  I won’t pretend that I knew any more about Mae Young than the few times I saw her on TV.  Most of the time it involved ridiculous stunts and her old age.  I feel for her family and hope that they take solace that very few people are remembered in this world.  Mae will live on forever in the archives of wrestling and the WWE.

#EMMAtaining – I don’t know who or what she’s all about but it’s the second week in a row that RAW cameras went out of their way to show her in the crowd.  Let’s not gloss over the fact it’s the second week in a row that she’s been IN the crowd.  No doubt this EMMA-person will be a factor in something soon.

Richard Sherman – Off a game winning performance in the NFC Championship win, Sherman gave quite a remarkable heel interview seen here.

Side Note(s)

Royal Rumble gambling pool –

-30 pieces of paper numbered 1-30 placed into a hat or large bowl.

-Divide 30 by the number of people in your crew, that’s how many picks you get (i.e. 10 people, 3 picks each).

-Each person puts in $5 (in this example the pot would be $50)

-The number(s) you have correspond with each wrestler’s entrance slot.  Whichever wrestler comes out at your slot is now your wrestler.

-If your wrestler wins the Rumble, you win the pot ($50 winner takes all).

Done.  Have fun.  It’s a lot of fun for everyone no matter if you’re a die-hard mark or someone who knows nothing about wrestling.  Last year my girlfriend won because she lucked out and got Cena as one of her pics.  Proving ANYONE can win.  Enjoy.

**any odd number of picks can be purchased by someone as bonus chances or put back in as “house picks” where the funds go to pay for the food, beer, PPV, etc.**

I had to include this series of pics.  The three faces of Heyman:

Until next week…