WWE Power Rankings, RAW 4/07/2014

Coming at you from New Orleans, while my brain tells me that the RAW after WrestleMania is usually the best RAW of the year, I don’t know if after last night’s WM30 events, my heart will have the strength to watch.  All you need to know about WM30 can be summed up with this one picture that was trending Sunday night…

If you’re a regular reader of the World’s BEST Power Rankings, you know that the opening monologue have very little to do with the current night’s show.  There’s two reasons; 1) I usually write it before I watch the show and 2) It’s to get us all on the same page before getting into the night’s events.  Having said this, let’s get a few things out of the way from last night’s WM30.

By now you’ll have seen and read about all the events that took place at WM30.  Check out the BEARcast on this week for a very interesting WrestleCast.  We tried a little experiment to see if we could capture some of the fun of my crew’s live event parties.  We recorded about 20 minutes of a pre-show / prediction / WM30 match rundown.  It’s very interesting to see how we all felt going into WM30 and then our discussion on the events of WM30.  “They aren’t what we thought they were.  I was wrong.  We were so wrong.” - Elizabeth Shaw from Prometheus.

First off, we need to acknowledge AJ’s win.  It was buried after the shocking end of not just the Undertaker / Lesnar match but also the Bray Wyatt loss to SuperCena.  I understand the booking, to give the show a breather before the main event after the shock of Undertaker losing.  If they would have booked this before the Bray / Cena match, we might all be talking about AJ’s place in not just the Divas division but in the WWE.

Next tip of the cap goes to Cesaro.  No need to delve deep into this one but he’s clearly the wrestler to watch in 2014 and should be headlining multiple PPVs soon.

Ok, let’s get into it.

There was a point in time that we all thought this was going to be the worst WrestleMania of all time, as far as booked matches.  Now, I’ll guarantee that you’ll never forget where you saw and how you felt about WM30.  

Like “The Red Wedding” in Game of Thrones (don’t worry, no spoilers here), it cleared the deck and devastated you.  It didn’t matter what came before or after, for good and / or bad, “The Red Wedding” will be seared in your head.  After the one-two punch of Bray’s loss and then The Undertaker’s loss, everyone was shell shocked.  Up until then, WM30 was “status quo.”  In that sense, at least the WWE creative made you “feel something,” which is the most you can ask for out of entertainment.  

Let’s just be happy Daniel Bryan won because if HHH had somehow “Kliq’d” his way to the WWE championship after Bray and Undertaker loss, there would have been a riot in the Superdome (or Silverdome for all you Hulk-a-maniacs).

The biggest notes that my crew and I took away from the stunning Undertaker loss were as follows (in no particular order):

• This was how the Undertaker wanted the streak to end.  No one was telling the Undertaker that he had to drop the streak to Brock Lesnar.  The Undertaker has so much pull in the WWE that if he didn’t want something to happen with his character, he has the power to veto it OR just walk.  He was down to only wrestling one match per year.  Maybe throw in a handful of pre and post WrestleMania events but other than that, this is what The Undertaker does.  The Streak is all he has.  The Undertaker signed off on this.  If CM Punk left the WWE because he didn’t like something (which give me two-seconds before I get to that) than surely Undertaker could have simply retired if he didn’t want to loose his streak or drop it to Brock Lesnar.  

• Who at the WWE thought this is the way the Undertaker’s streak should have ended?  Sure, Brock is a beast and maybe 10 - 15 years ago, someone like Lesnar would have been a great candidate to beat Undertaker and stop the streak.  But Lesnar is a part-timer and after this current stint we may never see him wrestle again if he so choose to.  At least giving this honor to someone like Ziggler or Miz or Big E or Cesaro or ANYONE who you know will be in your company for a long period of time would make sense.  That’s why when we assumed that Undertaker would beat Lesnar, Fred “The Oracle” stated that next year it should be John Cena to be the one to end the streak.  Love him or hate him, Cena could have made use of the honor for years to come.  If Lesnar wrestles one more year and that it?  You might as well have Undertaker retire with the streak.  

• My guess in The Undertaker is gone.  Retired.  This is the last we’ll see of him.  What does he have to come back for?  Since he never wrestled anymore, all he had to come back for each year was the streak.  Another WM match next year seems like a waste of time.  What’s he going to come back for, to be 22-1?  He’s not involved in any other story lines.  There’s nothing left for him to do.  If this was his retirement, #ThankYouTaker is all that needs to be said.  

• He looked done throughout the whole match.  He’s never looked more out of shape or should I say, never looked more like an old man that he did on Sunday night.  He’s into his 50’s and I would assume he’s financially secure if he’s only wrestling once a year.  If he needs cash, you can’t tell me that he wouldn’t earn 100k per year working the convention scene and doing appearances once or twice a month?  It looked like halfway through the match, he realized he wasn’t into this anymore and decided to quit.  If he whispered in Lesnar’s ear, “Just pin me and put me out of my misery,” I wouldn’t be shocked.  The great ones never know when to retire until it’s too late.  That’s how you get Michael Jordan playing in a Washington Wizards uniform for two years.

• Here’s the biggest question; Did the lack of buildup to the match help or hurt the result?  We all admit that this ‘Taker / Brock match had a terribly small amount of buildup.  So small that we talked about this on the BEARcast and whether it was just due to two part-time wrestlers or poor writing.  Now that we’ve seen the result, would a bigger buildup have made for a better match?  Frankly, I fell asleep during the match because it was slow and I figured Undertaker was going to win regardless.  Luckily my brother-in-law texted me and woke me up just in time.  In the past few years, the WWE has made it seem like there was at least a possibility that Undertaker was going to loose to HBK (x2), HHH and CM Punk.  We were all on the edge of our seats to see if this was the year the streak would end.  This year, it seemed to be a foregone conclusion ‘Taker was winning.  Was the shock a better ending or would the crowd be better served with a more anticipated match and ending?

• Finally, THIS IS WHY CM PUNK LEFT!  There’s been a million speculations to why CM Punk left the WWE but no one really knows for sure.  It may come out in time but we may never know (or believe) the reasons that are given to us.  What I’ll believe, until further corroboration for or against, is that CM Punk wasn’t upset with his current storyline / feud with HHH but rather that the year prior he lost the chance to break Undertaker’s streak and the WWE was going to give it to Brock Lesnar.  It never made sense that Punk would be upset with having to feud with HHH in a SCSA-like feud.  That would put him in the top 3 matches of WM at the very least.  For god’s sake, he just feuded with Ryb-Axel!  If he’s willing to do that, a feud with HHH isn’t what sent him over the edge.  I believe he was pissed that after doing such a great sales job for the Undertaker match and if he was going to be one of the faces of the WWE then he had earned the right to end ‘Taker’s Streak.  After being told “No, you’re not the one to break the streak,” and then to learn that a part-timer in Lesnar was going to get the highest honor / accomplishment that can be bestowed, that’s when Punk felt he’d been passed over again (watch his DVD) and was being misused by the powers-that-be but only this time it was after already establishing that he’s a top guy in the company.

That a lot about one match.  There will definitely be more on WM30 and its fallout so check out the BEARcast - WrestleCast later this week.  In the meantime, as with all things, we must move forward.  There were other matches and plenty of other story lines to address.  Also, as we’ve talked about, this is the beginning of the new wrestling year.  There are very few RAWs that I’m more excited to see than the one after WrestleMania.  All the smart wrestling fans that have travelled from around the world to be at WM usually stay to attend the next night’s RAW.  Nothing makes for a great wrestling show like a great crowd.  

So with that, let’s get to the rankings as of this week’s RAW on 4/07/2014…

1. Daniel Bryan (12) – Congrats to the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion.  You can’t say it was a surprise that Bryan won the belt but if you’re “giving the fans what they want” then the WWE can’t do better than closing out WM30 with 80,000 people chanting YES! YES! YES!  It’s good to be Daniel Bryan these days.  You’re the people’s champ, you’ve just won the WWE belt at WM and you’re off to get married to one of the Bellas.  It’s good to be the king and Bryan earned the “you deserved it” chant.  But as we’ve learned from Game of Thrones, staying the king is even harder.  It will be interesting to see how the WWE treats their new champ in 2014.  How long can HHH pull off this whole, “you’re not worthy” gimmick?  How long can the underdog face reign as champ?  While the main event on RAW was technically HHH vs Bryan, what really got the crowd on their feet was the potential Shield vs Kane / RKO / Batista battle.  Bryan is a GREAT wrestler.  His greatest opponent isn’t going to be anyone in the ring, it’s going to be how does he keep his face heat.
   
2. Brock Lesnar w/ his advocate Heyman (5&3) – What can you say about the man who broke The Streak?  Obviously a lot if you have Paul Heyman as your advocate.  Is there any type of shoot that Heyman can’t do?  Watching him work the crowd.  Floating, almost lyrically, from mean shoot / gloating shoot / attacking the crowd shoot / superiority shoot / etc. is an art to itself.  I turned to my girlfriend, who never sits and watches RAW (except for Cena segments) was mesmerized and totally engaged watching Heyman do his thing.  I turned to her and proclaimed, this is who I want to be in wrestling if given the chance.  It was never to be Hogan or Sting or HBK (maybe Flair because it’s Flair) but to be the mouthpiece is what I want to do.  I love the artistry of great wrestling but I’m jealous of the men who can conduct an arena of 15,000 to 80,000 with just their voice.  Being able to work the crowd, stick to an overall script and also being able to ad-lib, there is no one better than Heyman.  Then to know Heymans history, was there anything that must have been sweeter than to throw barbs at Hogan and the Mr. McMahon.  Nothing gets Heyman harder than when he’s shooting on Vincent Kennedy McMahon.  It’s his own personal horny goat weed (don’t know what that is? stay up until 5 am watching infomercials and you’ll find out).  With a shoot like that, maybe I should list them as Heyman, the advocate for Brock Lesnar.
   
3. Bray and The Wyatt Family (9) – No one is more over with the marks than Bray Wyatt.  Again, why did he have to loose to John Cena?  Let’s tackle Bray Wyatt’s loss real quick because this can be and needs to be fixed ASAP.  The last thing that I joked about regarding the Bray / Cena match was that Cena had nothing to gain, Bray and his gimmick has everything to loose, it would take SuperCena to take out the whole Wyatt Family and it just didn’t make sense for Cena to win; so of course all this would lead to a Cena victory.  Karma has a cruel way of messing with you.  I played with fire and got burnt.  Cena won.  Luckily, with such a great crowd at RAW, no one cared about the previous night’s loss.  The crow was still hot for the Wyatt Family and cheered for anything they did especially when it came at Cena’s expense.  It’s not often that you get a crowd to sing You Got the Whole World and chant “Bray’s gonna kill you” in the same match.  I have a feeling that Bray and Cena are far from over.  1) Because Cena seemed to have too much fun with doing something different, so he’s going to pull rank and continue this run.  2) Bray isn’t in need of a title right now which puts him in that rare “island” area that allows him to do anything he wants (i.e. CM Punk, Undertaker, HBK, etc.) and Cena has that same luxury.  3) Who else is he going to feud with?  He’s hot enough to run WITH a top tier guy but hasn’t been around long enough to BE a top tier guy.  Unless said opponent is going to join The Wyatt Family, is the WWE going to waste good heat to have Bray feud with Miz or Sandow?
   
4. The Shield (7) – Almost seemed like they weren’t going to make it on the show but as usual, it only takes a minute for them to tear down the house.  You knew once Kane spilled the beans about HHH being behind their feud, the “Hounds of Justice” were going to turn rogue on The Authority.  It sucked that they had a lackluster match at WM but now that it seems they’re sticking together, I’m guessing they’re going to be involved in ton of high profile matches.  It’s hard to say exactly what they’re going to do because they can do it all, from singles to tag to group (this whole post has a subtle porn primer coat, sorry it wasn’t intentional…or was it ;)).  It’s a sign of their popularity that I’ll be checking out Main Event for the Shield / Wyatt match.  THAT’S how great The Shield is.  I’m watching Main Event just to see them.
   
5. HHH and Stephanie (1&2) – I’d be remiss not to thank HHH and Steph for putting on a memorable WM, a great entrance by HHH (by the way, both times HHH has gone full regalia on his entrance, he’s lost) and Stephanie McMahon looked great and played the “cheerleader” to perfection at WM.  What doesn’t make sense is that HHH is still going after Bryan.  If he was going to beat him, he should have done it last at WM.  I hate to be a Debbie-downer but was I the only one that felt cheated by how quick / easily Bryan beat HHH at WM30?  The only reason I’m not completely turned off by a HHH / Bryan rematch would be that a full “PPV main event” match between the two could be very good, even if the purpose of the match would be redundant.  
   
6. John Cena (8) – The small contingent of Cena fans were vastly outnumbered by “Cena Sucks” fans.  But this is a man who if not loves being boo’d, he’s accepted it and understands his relationship with the crowd and that heat is heat (as long as it’s not X-pac heat).  Again, welcome to the “night after WM mark RAW.”  There was no purpose for Cena to beat Bray except that Cena wasn’t going to loose to a relatively unknown heel at WM, no matter how hot that heel is with the smart fans.  Because I can’t think of anyone else Cena could feud with and because his work with Bray has been really good, why not let them keep going.  Besides, Cena needs to loose to Bray and put him over.
   
7. Randy Orton (10) – I love the idea of RKO tag teaming with Batista, if only for a short time.  They seem to have a friendship off camera that bleeds over on-screen.  RKO has embraced being the top heel so who better to help drag Batista over to the dark side?  RKO seems like he’s been saddled with the same opponents and same stories for the past 10 years.  RKO and Batista would be a devastating tag team on paper.  Just watching them team up with Kane to take on The Shield was a fresh idea for everyone involved.  If the WWE is going to keep him as a solo act, Cesaro would be my first choice for RKO’s next feud.  Cesaro needs a top tier opponent and it would allow RKO to finally have someone with similar size and in-ring ability to show what he can do.
   
8. Batista (11) – If they’re going to finally turn Batista heel, let him work with RKO so he can see what embracing being a heel means.  It’s not like Batista hasn’t been a heel before but just like anything else, if you haven’t done it for a while, you need practice.  Let RKO remind you that it’s ok to have people boo you.  Stick with the “deal with it” line and just become a douche-bag.  
   
9. Cesaro (18) They couldn’t keep him with the Real Americans if they’re going to call him the Swiss Superman so that was your first clue.  The other was that there was no way he could ascend being shackled to Swagger.  The twist that he’s swapped Zeb for Heyman was unexpected and fantastic.  That’s how you bring down the house of a crowd of marks, “I’m a Paul Heyman guy!”  Now there’s no question that he’ll get a run at the top tier in the next few months.
   
   
   
   
10. Big E (16) – This boy can wrestle.  Clearly the most impressive wrestler between the Big E / Sheamus / Cena trio.  Big E was the only fan favorite from the face triad.  Bray vs Big E had a good run in the middle of the match.  IF you could pull Bray away from the Cena Feud and take Big E out of the IC belt contingent then I’d love to see the two of them go on a run but neither seems likely to happen.  Rumor was for a possible IC / US title unification but that too seems unlikely with Ambrose and the rest of The Shield busy doing their own thing.  I’ll still keep my fingers crossed for a Big E vs Ziggler feud.  
11. The Usos (6) – Regardless of how the Usos retained their tag straps, to see them square off against two top tier opponents in RKO and Batista was pretty exciting.  I could have seen this going very poorly for the Usos.  They’ve had a nice month long run and it would be an interesting dynamic for RKO and Batista to be tag champs but luckily the Usos prevailed or should I say, retained.  The question still remains for them, who’s next?  If you’re not going to break up the Rhodes brothers, throw those two teams together.
12. #BadNewsBarrett (N/A) – Finally!  It’s about time.  After what seems like a year long absence, Barrett is back.  You forget he had the potential of being the next big thing.  He looks great and he was lucky to have a hot / favorable crowd for his new “Bad News” gimmick AND a willing rag doll in Mysterio to throw around (and who can only put on a quick three minute match).  
    
13. AJ Lee w/ Tamina (19) – It’s about time she gets back on the mic.  AJ’s better then 75% of any of the other Superstars, male or female.  She came off an amazing win at WM.  If not for Undertaker and Bray loosing, AJ’s win might have been the shock of the night.  Then she came out and killed it on RAW… until it was time to start introducing this years NXT arrivals.  I’m all for a stronger Divas (and mens) division.  I’ve caught a few of the NXT matches on the Network and the young talent is really good.  But did they have to have AJ drop the title on night one?  Is this the beginning of the burying of AJ Lee??  
    
14. Paige (N/A) – Look what we’ve found here… New Divas champion  Pasty white goth female wrestler from England?  I think we found, friend of the show, Ethan’s new girlfriend.  She better bring more than a botched finisher otherwise that belt will be on someone else real quick, or instead of the “paige turner” we’ll be turning the paige on her… (see, I can be a WWE writer too)
    
15. Rob Van Dam (N/A) – I’ll never be mad at an RVD sighting.  For his first match back, RVD looked good.  Needs a few more matches to work off those Girl Scout cookies but other than that, RVD is back.  The world is a better place.
16. Alexander Rusev w/ Lana (N/A) – I’m all for Rusev winning as long at it keeps Lana coming out to the ring.  I’m sure I could have my very own Lana if I just find the right Russian mail order bride catalog.  Until my eastern european bride comes in the mail, I’ll make due with Lana.  Oh yeah, Rusev is a beast too but who cares, let’s get back to Lana.
    
17. Rey Mysterio (29) – At this point, I watch Mysterio matches the same way I play a Street Figher game.  I imagine there’s a health meter in the upper corner and when it runs out, that’s when the match is over.  He can still move, it’s just that the meter is depleted faster and faster.
    
18. SAN-TIN-OOOOO and Emma (N/A) – Yes, I’m favoring Santino over the likes of Swagger and Kane.  Again, this is my list and as long as Santino shows up on RAW, he’s on this list.  Santino is a GOD with a magnificent beard to match.  Emma is really getting a chance to show off her skills.  My question is the same as JBL, Lawler and Cole’s “what’s the deal with Emma and Santino?  How far does the WWE take this with an improving Divas division?
19. Fandango and Summer Rae (23&22) – One year after his introduction at last year’s WM, he’s in full peacock mode (which is where you need to take the character if you’re going to keep this gimmick).  Out of nowhere, Summer Rae has shown some quality in-ring talent.  Oddly, Summer Rae has a higher ceiling at the moment.  Summer is on Total Divas and has a bevy of opponents that she could jump into a feud with.  What’s Fandango doing?  Who’s looking to fight him?  Based on Fandango’s new ring attire, are we sure that we don’t have a Black Swan situation brewing?  Luckily we have cameras on Summer Rae for the Total Divas show but what happens when the lights are turned off??? Run Summer, Run!
    
20. Sheamus (31) – Stuck in limbo.  The fans boo him.  The WWE wants him to be a face.  He doesn’t have an opponent now that it seems that Christian is injured.  He’s fighting with Big E when he should be fighting against him.  He’s on our long list of guys who we’ll have to see what the new WWE season has in store for him.

Honorable Mentions

Kane – Couldn’t crack the top 20 but was 21st runner-up (aka Hogan math).  He didn’t really do anything but he was key to getting all the parties together at the end.  His match with the New Age Outlaws vs The Shield at WM30 was forgettable.  Sorry Kane, you were this close.  It was a busy week.  

Swagger w/ Zeb – Swagger smashed the Andre the Giant trophy like it was the Spanish Announce table.  Bullshit count-out.  This is why Cesaro is trending up and Swagger is a penny-stock.  Buy shares of Cesaro stock now before they are overpriced.  

Damien Sandow ( ) – Finally Sandow gets a real opponent that he can put a good match on with.  I’ll rely on Fred “The Oracle’s” assessment that it’s better to be on screen than hidden.  If you’re on screen, you’re always one match away from relevancy.  Who would you have rather been last night, Sandow or Kofi? 

Zack Ryder – Hey, a Broski sighting.  Good work sneaking on a top RAW show.  His prize?  To job to Rusev but at least we know Ryder is still alive.  I’m trying to be positive this year.

Bo-lieve – Bo Dallas.  I’ve seen his work on NXT.  He deserves at your attention for at least a match or two.  

Adam Rose – The parade of new cast members continues.  They’re passing on Sami Zayn for this guy?  The exotic express?  Why do I have a feeling this is going to be the first gay wrestler gimmick or at least bi?  Those “girlfriends” aren’t fooling me buddy.  I’ve been tricked one to many times with an invite to a windowless party bus, I will not be fooled again.

Ultimate Warrior – You should check out the full Hall of Fame show if you have the time or need help falling asleep.  If you want to learn how Lita traveled by bus across Mexico with just a handful of pesos or how she magically made her way up to a wrestler’s hotel room just because she was a big fan or listen to the oral history of Mr. T’s mother or see Linda McMahon try with all her powers to squeeze something nice out about Warrior, check out the HoF show.  It’s an interesting train wreck.  More entertaining was having Warrior come out to the ring.  I know he’s 100 years old but wouldn’t it have been more funny to see him riding a supercharged rascal down to the ring at top speed.  Warrior matches were shorter than it took him to enter the ring.  All was saved once Warrior put on the Warrior mask and got into character.  That’s when the magic happened!  It was amazing to see how a man transforms from slightly crazed old man to becoming the Warrior.  You just can’t get it out of their blood and these old wrestlers can flip a switch and turn on the old gimmick.

Hulk Hogan – What the hell was he talking about with 30 became 31?  At least he’s able to laugh at himself and poke fun about how he screwed up the area the night before.  Keep cashing those old man checks from Vince.

Side Note(s)

They couldn’t put Shield vs Wyatts on RAW or WM?  Shield was barely on RAW.  I know it was a packed show but The Shield are three of your top guys.  I guess if you want to hear complaining about not being used, ask the Rhodes brothers.  Putting a Shield / Wyatt match on the Network is one way to get people to check out Main Event online.  At this point, all you have to do is say Shield vs Wyatts and you’ll have people checking it out.

Fan of the night has to go to these girls.  Especially the one with glasses that looks like she’s been dragged to a week of WWE events and is ready to get the fuck home.

Until next time…