The road to WrestleMania has been a bit bumpy and disjointed as far as the booking has been in the WWE, but the company continued to chug along in the build to the biggest show of the year on Monday Night RAW this week from Pittsburgh.
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The WWE continued to buildup its bigger matches on the card including Triple H vs. Sting, Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and Bray Wyatt vs. The Undertaker.
The midcard has been in a bit of disarray with the Intercontinental Championship and Tag Team Championship pictures being very jumbled heading out of RAW.
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Here is a look at Sports World News Top 10 power rankings coming out of the March 9 edition of the WWE's flagship show:
10) Seth Rollins (Last week, 1): It was a rough Monday for "Mr. Money in the Bank" just one week after claiming the top spot by cutting some great promos and defeating Roman Reigns in the main event. This week, Rollins was booked to look like a gullible fool in his opening segment with Randy Orton and he was then dominated by "The Viper" in the closing minutes, getting stretchered off at the end of the show. The build to their match has been odd, but it looks like these two will clash at WrestleMania 31.
9) Rusev (5): It was an up-and-down evening for the mighty Russian on RAW as he squashed Curtis Axel in seconds, but then was attacked by John Cena and passed out to the STF. For the first time ever, Rusev showed a vulnerable side as he passed out the STF and was brought back to consciousness, and Lana was forced to grant Cena a match at WrestleMania. Axel had built some nice momentum with his never being eliminated from the Royal Rumble Match gimmick, but he was unfortunately just used as bait for the U.S. title scene here.
8) AJ Lee (3): Lee had her first match on RAW since returning last week and looked good as she defeated Summer Rae with the Black Widow. Lee and Paige picked up some momentum heading into their clash with The Bella Twins at WrestleMania 31.
7) The New Day (N/A): The WWE has had this weird booking habit as of late where its champions constantly lose non-title matches and while it does wonders for their opponents, it hurts the belts and the champions. That was the case Monday night when The New Day defeated reigning Tag Team Champions Tyson Kidd and Cesaro after an incidental distraction from Natalya on the apron. With Kidd/Cesaro just recently winning the gold, they shouldn't be losing regularly if they are to be taken seriously. The WWE seems to be trying to make it look like the tag division has several equal teams as Los Matadors also defeated The Usos on the program. This is likely building to a multi-man match at WrestleMania 31.
6) Daniel Bryan (6): Much like The New Day, Bryan won a non-title match against a champion when he took out Bad News Barrett by hitting the running knees to defeat him. Barrett has been booked to look incredibly weak which either means he'll go over as a fluke winner in the Ladder Match in three weeks or he doesn't stand a chance.
5) Roman Reigns (9): It was a better week for the leader of the Roman Empire, but he still hasn't sold himself as the man who should be beating Brock Lesnar for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in California. Reigns used a distraction from Orton to spear Seth Rollins and win the handicap match against the two of them, but with just three weeks until the biggest match of his life it's a bit odd that his storyline with Lesnar played second fiddle to the Orton/Rollins struggle in a week that "The Beast" was actually in the arena.
4) John Cena (8): The "Cenation" leader enjoyed a better outing this week on RAW, cutting a passionate patriotic promo on the show and then looking strong against Rusev when he made him pass out to the STF and coerced Lana into accepting a United States Championship match at WrestleMania on behalf of Rusev. It's still uncertain why Cena wants the U.S. Championship after 15 World Championship reigns, but as a national pride storyline I suppose it's buyable.
3) Randy Orton (N/A): "The Viper" got a lot of face time this week, insulting his Authority teammates to open the show and then finally turning on Rollins at the end of it. Orton stood tall after battering Rollins throughout the arena and his babyface turn is in full swing.
2) Bray Wyatt (4): "The Eater of Worlds" once again delivered the goods in his promo as he talked down The Undertaker and opened up his urn. Wyatt's promo was right on the money again and he told The Undertaker his final resting place will be at WrestleMania. When 'Taker responded via graphics, lightning, fire and a voiceover saying Wyatt will Rest in Peace at 'Mania, Wyatt's maniacal reaction of fear and laughter was perfect. Wyatt is single-handedly carrying this feud and it is one of the most compelling things going on in the WWE right now.
1) Paul Heyman/Brock Lesnar (N/A): Lesnar just sort of stood there (at least he didn't walk out), but him being in the arena at least feels like a big deal. Heyman was once again absolute money on the microphone and he is the driving force behind the main event for WrestleMania so far, not the two combatants in Reigns and Lesnar. Heyman alluding to The Authority possibly using Montreal Screwjob techniques to get the belt off of Lesnar hinted at the real-life issues between Lesnar and WWE management that led to "The Beast" walking out two weeks ago on Monday Night RAW. Heyman threatening that Lesnar will spend the summer unifying the WWE and UFC titles was also gold and once again blurred the lines between real life and the storylines in the WWE.
With just 19 days left until WrestleMania 31, here is the updated card coming out of RAW:
WWE World Heavyweight Championship:
Brock Lesnar (c) w/ Paul Heyman vs. Roman Reigns
Icon vs. Icon:
Sting vs. Triple H
Singles Match:
The Undertaker vs. Bray Wyatt
WWE United States Championship:
Rusev w/ Lana (c) vs. John Cena
2nd Annual Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal:
Participants: The Miz, Curtis Axel, Ryback, Fandango, Adam Rose, Zack Ryder, Jack Swagger, Titus O'Neil, Darren Young, Big Show, Kane, Erick Rowan, Damien Mizdow, Sin Cara and TBD
WWE Intercontinental Championship Six-man Ladder Match:
Bad News Barrett (c) vs. R-Truth vs. Luke Harper vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Dean Ambrose vs. TBD (Likely Daniel Bryan, but not made official yet)
Tag Team Match:
The Bella Twins (Nikki & Brie) vs. AJ Lee and Paige
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