Wrestling Power Rankings 9/29/18

Just like I did last week, I want to use the intro to talk about this week's episode of the Mae Young Classic. I really enjoyed the opening match as well as the next match between Taynara Conti and Jessie Elaban. This was Conti's best showing and Elaban has a bright future. Isla Dawn also has a bright future and is full of potential. She's going to be a big part of NXT UK. I was a little disappointed with her loss to Nicole Matthews, as Matthews was pretty meh and did nothing to stand out.

Let's get started.

Raw 5:

10. Authors of Pain (Last Week: 9, Weeks in Rankings: 4, Peak: 9)

9. Dean Ambrose (Last Week: 10, Weeks in Rankings: 7, Peak: 9)

8. Bobby Lashley (Last Week: 8, Weeks in Rankings: 15, Peak: 6)- Joining up with Lio Rush has made Lashley infinitely more interesting. He's been a major disappointment since returning in April, hopefully, this new partnership can salvage him. 

7. Ronda Rousey (Last Week: 6, Weeks in Rankings: 8, Peak: 6)

6. Finn Balor (Last Week: 7, Weeks in Rankings: 62, Peak: 2)

5. Seth Rollins 3 (Last Week: 5, Weeks in Rankings: 76, Peak: 1)

4. Braun Strowman (Last Week: 3, Weeks in Rankings: 65, Peak: 1)

3. Dolph Ziggler 1 & Drew McIntyre 1 (Last Week: 4, Weeks in Rankings: 17, Peak: 3)- Incredible Raw tag title match between these two and The Revival. The Raw tag division has been a little stagnant recently but this was a lot of fun. I hope to see a real sequel soon. 

2. Brock Lesnar (Last Week: 2, Weeks in Rankings: 76, Peak: 1)

1. Roman Reigns (Last Week: 1, Weeks in Rankings: 76, Peak: 1)

SD 5: 

10. Randy Orton (Last Week: NR, Weeks in Rankings: 1, Peak: 10)

9. Charlotte Flair (Last Week: 8, Weeks in Rankings: 6, Peak: 8)

8. Samoa Joe 1 (Last Week: 9, Weeks in Rankings: 6, Peak: 8)- How good was that ending to Smackdown? Joe looked like a creepy stalker while AJ played the part of a man worried about his family very well. 

7. Daniel Bryan (Last Week: 7, Weeks in Rankings: 29, Peak: 1)

6. Andrade "Cien" Almas (Last Week: 6, Weeks in Rankings: 12, Peak: 5)

5. New Day (Last Week: 5, Weeks in Rankings: 10, Peak: 5)

4. Shinsuke Nakamura (Last Week: 3, Weeks in Rankings: 76, Peak: 1)

3. The Miz (Last Week: 3, Weeks in Rankings: 21, Peak: 3)- The Truth TV segment was genuinely one of the best TV segments WWE has done all year. All four players involved were excellent and deserve praise. 

2. AJ Styles 1 (Last Week: 1, Weeks in Rankings: 76, Peak: 1)

1. Becky Lynch 2 (Last Week: 2, Weeks in Rankings: 5, Peak: 1)

205 Live 2: 

10. TJP (Last Week: 10, Weeks in Rankings: 2, Peak: 10)

9. Lio Rush (Last Week: NR, Weeks in Rankings: 1, Peak: 9)

8. Noam Dar (Last Week: 7, Weeks in Rankings: 13, Peak: 6)

7. Buddy Murphy (Last Week: 8, Weeks in Rankings: 5, Peak: 7)

6. Mustafa Ali 1(Last Week: 6, Weeks in Rankings: 76, Peak: 1)- Ali had a great 450 splash off the ring apron and sold beautifully in his match against Hideo Itami. 

5. Lince Dorado (Last Week: 5, Weeks in Rankings: 35, Peak: 2)

4. Kalisto (Last Week: 4, Weeks in Rankings: 51, Peak: 1)

3. Hideo Itami (Last Week: 3, Weeks in Rankings: 44, Peak: 2)

2. Drew Gulak (Last Week: 2, Weeks in Rankings: 24, Peak: 1)

1. Cedric Alexander (Last Week: 1, Weeks in Rankings: 70, Peak: 1)

NXT 4:  

10. The Forgotten Sons (Last Week: 10, Weeks in Rankings: 2, Peak: 10)

9. War Raiders (Last Week: 9, Weeks in Rankings: 16, Peak: 8)

8. Velveteen Dream (Last Week: 8, Weeks in Rankings: 7, Peak: 8)

7. Pete Dunne 1 (Last Week: 7, Weeks in Rankings: 40, Peak: 4)

6. Shayna Baszler (Last Week: 6, Weeks in Rankings: 39, Peak: 2)

5. Johnny Gargano 1 (Last Week: 5, Weeks in Rankings: 43, Peak: 1)

4. The Undisputed Era (Last Week: 4, Weeks in Rankings: 59, Peak: 1)

3. Ricochet 1 (Last Week: 3, Weeks in Rankings: 26, Peak: 2)

2. Tommaso Ciampa (Last Week: 2, Weeks in Rankings: 26, Peak: 1)- Ciampa and Otis Dozovic had a better-than-expected main event match. Ciampa made Otis look great and picked up a nice win.

1. Kairi Sane (Last Week: 1, Weeks in Rankings: 11, Peak: 1)

Impact 2: 

10. Rich Swann (Last Week: 10, Weeks in Rankings: 5, Peak: 9)

9. Johnny Impact (Last Week: 9, Weeks in Rankings: 2, Peak: 9)

8. LAX (Last Week: 8, Weeks in Rankings: 10, Peak: 7)

7. oVe (Last Week: 6, Weeks in Rankings: 58, Peak: 2)

6. Tessa Blanchard 1 (Last Week: 7, Weeks in Rankings: 11, Peak: 5)

5. Moose (Last Week: 5, Weeks in Rankings: 18, Peak: 3)

4. Pentagon 1 (Last Week: 4, Weeks in Rankings: 24, Peak: 1)

3. Eli Drake (Last Week: 3, Weeks in Rankings: 59, Peak: 1)

2. Austin Aries 1 (Last Week: 1, Weeks in Rankings: 35, Peak: 1)

1. Brian Cage (Last Week: 2, Weeks in Rankings: 32, Peak: 1)

ROH 5: Overall, Death Before Dishonor was a really enjoyable show. Kenny King's slow descent into villainy continued here and the big BC vs. CHAOS match was pretty enjoyable. The only real negative was the tag team elimination match, which was pretty dull and had a completely unnecessary ref bump.

10. Jeff Cobb (Last Week: NR, Weeks in Rankings: 1, Peak: 10)- ROH's early booking with Cobb has been excellent and resembles his previous work as Matanza Cueto.

9. Marty Scurll (Last Week: 8, Weeks in Rankings: 76, Peak: 2)

8. Sumie Sakai (Last Week: 9, Weeks in Rankings: 2, Peak: 8)- Sakai's run as the first ever Women of Honor Champion hasn't been very strong but at least she got a statement win over Tenille Dashwood at the PPV.

7. Punishment Martinez (Last Week: 7, Weeks in Rankings: 14, Peak: 6)

6. Adam Page (Last Week: 5, Weeks in Rankings: 76, Peak: 1)

5. The Kingdom (Last Week: 6, Weeks in Rankings: 14, Peak: 5)- This dastardly trio had an enjoyable run-in after the main event of Death Before Dishonor

4. Young Bucks 1 (Last Week: 4, Weeks in Rankings: 76, Peak: 1)

3. The Briscoes (Last Week: 3, Weeks in Rankings: 73, Peak: 1)

2. Cody 1 (Last Week: 2, Weeks in Rankings: 66, Peak: 1)

1. Jay Lethal 3 (Last Week: 1, Weeks in Rankings: 76, Peak: 1)- Lethal and Ospreay had one of ROH's best matches of the year out of nowhere. There was zero story build up to his match and you get the feeling that these two could have built up to an excellent Final Battle encounter.

NJPW 5: 

10. KUSHIDA (Last Week: NR, Weeks in Rankings: 1, Peak: 10)- KUSHIDA reminded us why he's one of the best junior heavyweights in the world with this stellar performance against BUSHI.

9. Taichi (Last Week: 9, Weeks in Rankings: 2, Peak: 9)

8. Minoru Suzuki (Last Week: 7, Weeks in Rankings: 36, Peak: 2)

7. Jay White 1 (Last Week: 8, Weeks in Rankings: 11, Peak: 9)- How great was the postmatch angle after the Destruction in Kobe main event? White looked like a genuine megastar and New Japan did a tremendous job of making this feel like a huge deal. Everyone who saw this got hyped to see the followup.

6. Kazuchika Okada 1 (Last Week: 5, Weeks in Rankings: 76, Peak: 1)- Okada may have lost to The Ace but he was excellent in the match and just as brilliant in the postmatch angle. 

5. Hirooki Goto (Last Week: 6, Weeks in Rankings: 15, Peak: 3)

4. Guerillas of Destiny (Last Week: 4, Weeks in Rankings: 11, Peak: 3)

3. Kenny Omega 2 (Last Week: 2, Weeks in Rankings: 76, Peak: 1)

3. Hiroshi Tanahashi 1 (Last Week: 2, Weeks in Rankings: 8, Peak: 2)- Another show, another brilliant match between Tana and Okada.

1. Tetsuya Naito (Last Week: 1, Weeks in Rankings: 76, Peak: 1)

Thanks for reading everyone.