Power Rankings: Smackdown Live!

WWE’s blue brand rankings as Smackdown prepares for SummerSlam!

Andrew Balaz
Jul 27, 2017 · 4 min read

This last show after Battleground really shook up Smackdown quite nicely. With Chris Jericho’s return, Jinder Mahal’s declaration for a new opponent and the magical hot potato that is the US Championship…we’ve got plenty to look at. As I stated with the RAW Power Rankings, this will take more into account than just strongest or best wrestler. The most over according to booking, top merchandise sellers and overall most spoken about wrestlers on a daily basis — that’s also part of the equation.

  1. AJ Styles — The new United States Champion and main draw to the Smackdown brand after the brand split. He may not be the primary champion, but he is the most over from every other conceivable angle. He’s a top 5 merchandise seller, he’s in the top 5 for YouTube views and everyone pops for the Phenomenal One. His reputation precedes him, and for that, he remains the Face that Runs the Place.

2. Jinder Mahal — Now many people don’t like the fact that he got the title in the first place, much less the fact he’s still champion. Due to these facts though, he’s getting very easy heel heat. Some people support him just to be contrarian, others are just happy to see a new face at the top, and then there’s others who keep watching in hopes that he loses. He’s been booked strongly and been proving himself every week. Even if he is just a PR stunt for India, it’s actually starting to stick on a larger scale.

3. Kevin Owens — It may seem like he fell down a notch when he went from the longest reigning Universal Champion to on and off United States Champion (currently off), but, that’s not really fair. His feuds with Chris Jericho and AJ Styles have elevated the United States title to actually seeming like something to be cherished. An elite wrestler, a great talker and one of the best heels in the business. With or without a title, he’s a man that can’t be taken lightly.

4. Randy Orton — After four pay per view loses in a row (starting with the god awful House of Horrors match), he’s finally managed to fall out of the main event picture for a short while. Given the fact that Jinder needed to cheat, create distractions, and have tons of help…it helped protect Orton. His losses never made him look weak, perhaps a little dumb and short sighted, but, never weak.

5. Shinsuke Nakamura — The Youngest IWGP Heavyweight Champion in history, the King of Strong Style, the man who everyone on the internet wanted to see succeed but, it’s been… slow so far. In a less than stellar debut match against Dolph Ziggler, followed by awkward booking just to make him appear strong and not eat losses; he’s languished in main card obscurity. With two straight wins over the current MITB holder and a match to crown number one contender against John Cena next week, we may finally be seeing the start of what so many of us wanted. If WWE allows him to be just a little more of what he was in New Japan, we’ll be watching strikes and skill that can take a man’s head off, and look good while doing it.

Before any complaints pop up, John Cena is a “free agent”, so I can’t add him to any Power Rankings when he’s technically not on a brand. Chris Jericho just returned, so until we see how long he’s sticking around, I’m not adding him either. Since RAW is unfortunately bottle necked at the top, it doesn’t make sense to do Smackdown weekly. So the next Smackdown Live Power Rankings will be after the Smackdown after SummerSlam.

Read more at YesWrestling.com

Andrew Balaz

Written by

Opinionated Sports & Entertainment enthusiast.

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