Wrestling Power Rankings 9/22/18

I'm almost two months behind, I don't have time for an intro. Let's get started.

But... I do want to talk about the Mae Young Classic really quickly. This week was Episode 3. I'm a huge fan of Jinny, so it was a little disappointing to see her do very little in her WWE programming debut. She and Toni Storm barely scratched the surface here. Xia Li, on the other hand, got a lot of time to shine in her match against Karen Q. She's got a very bright future.

Raw 5:

10. Dean Ambrose (Last Week: 9, Weeks in Rankings: 6, Peak: 9)

9. Authors of Pain (Last Week: 10, Weeks in Rankings: 3, Peak: 9)

8. Bobby Lashley (Last Week: 8, Weeks in Rankings: 14, Peak: 6)

7. Finn Balor (Last Week: 6, Weeks in Rankings: 61, Peak: 2)

6. Ronda Rousey (Last Week: 7, Weeks in Rankings: 7, Peak: 6)

5. Seth Rollins 3 (Last Week: 5, Weeks in Rankings: 75, Peak: 1)- Rollins has such a beautiful frog splash. 

4. Dolph Ziggler 1 & Drew McIntyre 1 (Last Week: 4, Weeks in Rankings: 16, Peak: 4)- The Raw Tag Team Championship match at Hell in a Cell was one of WWE's best matches of the year. Kudos to all four men involved. An extra bonus to Ziggler for this great character work on Raw as well as the IC title match with Rollins on Raw. 

3. Braun Strowman (Last Week: 2, Weeks in Rankings: 64, Peak: 1)

2. Brock Lesnar (Last Week: 3, Weeks in Rankings: 75, Peak: 1)- Lesnar's surprise return at HIAC was a ton of fun and completely unexpected. 

1. Roman Reigns (Last Week: 1, Weeks in Rankings: 75, Peak: 1)

SD 5: 

10. Randy Orton (Last Week: NR, Weeks in Rankings: 1, Peak: 10)- The HIAC match with Jeff Hardy over delivered. That spot with a screwdriver was utterly sickening. 

9. Samoa Joe 1 (Last Week: 9, Weeks in Rankings: 5, Peak: 9)

8. Charlotte Flair (Last Week: 8, Weeks in Rankings: 5, Peak: 8)

7. Daniel Bryan (Last Week: 7, Weeks in Rankings: 28, Peak: 1)

6. Andrade "Cien" Almas (Last Week: 5, Weeks in Rankings: 11, Peak: 5)- Almas and Styles had an excellent match on Smackdown. I'd love to see them tangle at a PPV at some point in 2019. 

5. New Day (Last Week: 6, Weeks in Rankings: 9, Peak: 5)

4. The Miz (Last Week: 4, Weeks in Rankings: 20, Peak: 3)

3. Shinsuke Nakamura (Last Week: 3, Weeks in Rankings: 75, Peak: 1)

2. Becky Lynch 2 (Last Week: 2, Weeks in Rankings: 4, Peak: 2)- The crowd at HIAC was absolutely in love with Lynch and lost it when she won the title. Lynch looked very smooth in that match and followed it up with some great promo work two nights later on Smackdown. 

1. AJ Styles 1 (Last Week: 1, Weeks in Rankings: 75, Peak: 1)- While the World title match with Samoa Joe was really good, it wasn't quite on the level with their match at Summerslam. Add the TV match with Almas, and you have the making of a Wrestler of the Week.

205 Live 1: 

10. TJP (Last Week: NR, Weeks in Rankings: 1, Peak: 10)- I've said this before, I'll say it again. TJP is one of the most underrated heels in WWE. He carries himself so well and makes it easy to hate him. Against Lince Dorado, TJP turned the heel up yet again by targeting his opponent's mask. 

9. Gran Metalik 1 (Last Week: 9, Weeks in Rankings: 36, Peak: 5)

8. Buddy Murphy (Last Week: 8, Weeks in Rankings: 4, Peak: 8)

7. Noam Dar (Last Week: 7, Weeks in Rankings: 12, Peak: 6)

6. Mustafa Ali (Last Week: 6, Weeks in Rankings: 75, Peak: 1)

5. Lince Dorado (Last Week: 4, Weeks in Rankings: 34, Peak: 2)

4. Kalisto (Last Week: 5, Weeks in Rankings: 50, Peak: 1)

3. Hideo Itami (Last Week: 3, Weeks in Rankings: 43, Peak: 2)

2. Drew Gulak (Last Week: 1, Weeks in Rankings: 23, Peak: 1)

1. Cedric Alexander (Last Week: 2, Weeks in Rankings: 69, Peak: 1)- Alexander and Gulak had a great match for the Cruiserweight title. 

NXT 4:  

10. The Forgotten Sons (Last Week: NR, Weeks in Rankings: 1, Peak: 10)- This trio looks good in NXT but it's hard to picture them making much of an impact on the main roster. 

9. War Raiders (Last Week: 9, Weeks in Rankings: 15, Peak: 8)

8. Velveteen Dream (Last Week: 8, Weeks in Rankings: 6, Peak: 8)

7. Pete Dunne 1 (Last Week: 7, Weeks in Rankings: 39, Peak: 4)- Dunne and Ricochet had to my knowledge, the first ever Champion vs. Champion match in NXT history. As you would expect with two guys like Dunne and Ricochet, they put on one of the best matches in NXT TV history. It was all action and looked like any man could win. The cop-out ending with Undisputed Era interfering was a little cheap, but it made sense.

6. Shayna Baszler (Last Week: 6, Weeks in Rankings: 38, Peak: 2)

5. Johnny Gargano 1 (Last Week: 5, Weeks in Rankings: 42, Peak: 1)

4. The Undisputed Era (Last Week: 4, Weeks in Rankings: 58, Peak: 1)

3. Ricochet 1 (Last Week: 3, Weeks in Rankings: 25, Peak: 2)- Sometimes it feels like we take Ricochet for granted. The man is genuinely one of the best high-flyers in the entire world, and that was on full display this week.

2. Tommaso Ciampa (Last Week: 2, Weeks in Rankings: 25, Peak: 1)

1. Kairi Sane (Last Week: 1, Weeks in Rankings: 10, Peak: 1)

Impact 2: 

10. Rich Swann (Last Week: 9, Weeks in Rankings: 4, Peak: 9)

9. Johnny Impact (Last Week: NR, Weeks in Rankings: 1, Peak: 9)- Impact's attack of Austin Aries after the main event was clever and well-done. 

8. LAX (Last Week: 8, Weeks in Rankings: 9, Peak: 7)

7. Tessa Blanchard 1 (Last Week: 7, Weeks in Rankings: 10, Peak: 5)

6. oVe (Last Week: 6, Weeks in Rankings: 57, Peak: 2)

5. Moose (Last Week: 5, Weeks in Rankings: 17, Peak: 3)

4. Pentagon 1 (Last Week: 4, Weeks in Rankings: 23, Peak: 1)

3. Eli Drake (Last Week: 3, Weeks in Rankings: 58, Peak: 1)

2. Brian Cage (Last Week: 2, Weeks in Rankings: 31, Peak: 1)

1. Austin Aries 1 (Last Week: 1, Weeks in Rankings: 34, Peak: 1)

ROH 4: 

10. So Cal Uncensored (Last Week: 9, Weeks in Rankings: 4, Peak: 8)

9. Sumie Sakai (Last Week: NR, Weeks in Rankings: 1, Peak: 9)

8. Marty Scurll (Last Week: 7, Weeks in Rankings: 75, Peak: 2)

7. Punishment Martinez (Last Week: 8, Weeks in Rankings: 13, Peak: 6)

6. The Kingdom (Last Week: 6, Weeks in Rankings: 13, Peak: 5)

5. Adam Page (Last Week: 5, Weeks in Rankings: 75, Peak: 1)

4. Young Bucks 1 (Last Week: 3, Weeks in Rankings: 75, Peak: 1)

3. The Briscoes (Last Week: 4, Weeks in Rankings: 72, Peak: 1)

2. Cody 1 (Last Week: 2, Weeks in Rankings: 65, Peak: 1)

1. Jay Lethal 2 (Last Week: 1, Weeks in Rankings: 75, Peak: 1)

NJPW 2: 

10. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado (Last Week: 9, Weeks in Rankings: 25, Peak: 5)

9. Taichi (Last Week: NR, Weeks in Rankings: 1, Peak: 9)- Taichi's NEVER Openweight title win was well-deserved. The man has been a revelation as a heavyweight and he should have a fun reign with the belt.

8. Jay White (Last Week: 8, Weeks in Rankings: 10, Peak: 9)

7. Minoru Suzuki (Last Week: 7, Weeks in Rankings: 35, Peak: 2)

6. Hirooki Goto (Last Week: 6, Weeks in Rankings: 14, Peak: 3)

5. Kazuchika Okada (Last Week: 5, Weeks in Rankings: 75, Peak: 1)

4. Guerillas of Destiny (Last Week: 3, Weeks in Rankings: 10, Peak: 3)

3. Hiroshi Tanahashi (Last Week: 4, Weeks in Rankings: 7, Peak: 3)

2. Kenny Omega 2 (Last Week: 2, Weeks in Rankings: 75, Peak: 1)

1. Tetsuya Naito (Last Week: 1, Weeks in Rankings: 75, Peak: 1)

Thanks for reading everyone.