We don’t definitively know what “White Rabbit” means just yet, so it doesn’t exactly qualify for our Top 20 Superstar Power Rankings, but it’s the most buzzed-about thing happening in WWE these days. And that’s saying a lot given the quality of the product and the exciting card that awaits us at Extreme Rules on October 8.
We received our latest hint about the “White Rabbit” on Monday in the form of a QR code which led to a compilation video of various WWE stars past and present combining to say the message, “Who killed the world? You did. You did. Feed your head. Feed your head.” That was followed by the numbers “40701,” which many have speculated as a possible zip code (that would be in Corbin, Kentucky, by the way). For the record, that was the location of Bray Wyatt’s last match (against Baron Corbin, coincidentally) before becoming The Fiend. The URL of the video included “930YWG,” which is presumably code for Friday’s episode of SmackDown which will take place in Winnipeg, Manitoba in Canada. That’s where we’ll likely get our next clue.
The whole thing feels reminiscent of how fans of the television show “LOST” would look for Easter eggs in every little detail about the show to try to find out what the island means. Let’s hope this leads somewhere much more fruitful.
While we continue to go down rabbit holes (pun totally intended), check out our rankings for this week. And for a further breakdown, make sure to read on beyond the table.
Change Key:
NC = No Change from last week
NR = Not Ranked last week
Plus = Moved up from last week
Minus = Moved down from last week
| Rank | Superstar | Brand | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bobby Lashley – United States Champion | Raw | NC |
| 2 | Roman Reigns – Undisputed WWE Universal Champion | SmackDown | NC |
| 3 | Bianca Belair – Raw Women’s Champion | Raw | +1 |
| 4 | The Bloodline | SmackDown | +2 |
| 5 | Imperium Damage CTRL | SmackDown | -2 |
| 6 | Damage CTRL | Raw | -1 |
| 7 | Kevin Owens | Raw | NC |
| 8 | Liv Morgan – SmackDown Women’s Champion | SmackDown | +1 |
| 9 | Seth “Freakin’” Rollins | Raw | -1 |
| 10 | The Judgement Day | Raw | NC |
| 11 | Karrion Kross w/ Scarlett | SmackDown | NC |
| 12 | Ronda Rousey | SmackDown | NC |
| 13 | Braun Strowman | SmackDown | +2 |
| 14 | Drew McIntyre | SmackDown | -1 |
| 15 | Matt Riddle | Raw | +2 |
| 16 | The Brawling Brutes | SmackDown | -2 |
| 17 | Johnny Gargano | Raw | NC |
| 18 | Alpha Academy | Raw | NR |
| 19 | Edge | Raw | NR |
| 20 | Logan Paul | N/A | -2 |
1. Bobby Lashley – United States Champion (NC)
The United States Champion was absent from TV this week after successfully defending his championship against Seth “Freakin’” Rollins the week prior. This would have put him at risk of losing the No. 1 spot, but his dominant run over the last three months combined with Roman Reigns not doing much on SmackDown stays our hand.
2. Roman Reigns – Undisputed WWE Universal Champion (NC)
The Tribal Chief was part of one of the best promos of the year on SmackDown, making it difficult not to bump him back to the No. 1 spot given Bobby Lashley’s absence this week. Roman Reigns sold hard that he was about to kick Sami Zayn out of The Bloodline and leave him as a battered pulp in the ring, but it was just a clever rib by The Head of the Table. Reigns instead gifted a new “Honorary Uce” Sami Zayn t-shirt to Zayn and embraced his jubilant cohort. With that performance, we’re hoping Reigns does more in film than cameo in one of his cousin’s pictures.
But all of that said, we need more than a single promo to fully justify bumping Roman back to No. 1 after just putting Lashley back on the throne. Perhaps if Reigns graces our screens again this week with another Lashley absence, that’ll change.
3. Bianca Belair – Raw Women’s Champion (+1)
It was a good Raw for The EST of WWE. After schooling Bayley on the mic and accepting her Extreme Rules challenge of a Ladder Match for her Raw Women’s Title, she then took IO SKY to school in the ring with a solid victory via KOD. It would seem that Bianca Belair has put the setback of eating the pin from Bayley at Clash of the Castle behind her. She just needs to keep that momentum going for one more week before she and Bayley square off.
4. The Bloodline (+2)
Here’s where we really saw a bump was justified for that amazing SmackDown promo. The Bloodline (Roman excluded in our rankings) has increased in number, solidified Sami Zayn as a member, put on one of the best segments of wrestling television in recent memory and continue to dominate anyone who gets in their way.
The Usos’ championship reign is slowly closing in on Demolition’s and The New Day’s for longest of all time; Sami Zayn has been phenomenal with a microphone in his hand and continues to show why he’s a former Intercontinental and NXT Champion in the ring; and Solo Sikoa has looked incredible as the new and intimidating enforcer of the group. We put our fingers in the air for The Ones and The Honorary Uce and acknowledge their presence in the Top 5.
5. Imperium (-2)
Imperium reminded The Brawling Brutes to never take their eyes of the trio, even when they’re competing against someone else. Their crucial distraction and leveling of Sheamus allowed The Usos to defeat Butch and Ridge Holland in SmackDown’s main event. However, funny enough, that allowed The Bloodline to leapfrog them this week in our Power Rankings. It was yet another instance of not so much the person or group having a bad week, but those moving up having better weeks.
6. Damage CTRL (-1)
After a steady rise in the ranks, Damage CTRL sees a slight drop this week. It’s a necessary move after Raquel Rodriguez (with the assistance of Shotzi) knocked off her former NXT tag team partner Dakota Kai on SmackDown last Friday and Bianca Belair pinned IYO SKY on Raw. Still, the trio is in an enviable position with SKY and Kai as Women’s Tag Team champions and Bayley set to challenge Belair for the Raw Women’s Championship at Extreme Rules.
To kick off Monday’s show, Bayley challenged Belair to a ladder match for Extreme Rules, adding an interesting wrinkle to what has a chance to be a show stealer. We also saw Candice LeRae’s surprise return and an apparent alignment with Belair, Alexa Bliss and Asuka, potentially setting the table for one of the War Games matches at the upcoming Survivor Series. The question here is who the fourth member of Damage CTRL could be for such a match. It’s interesting to speculate about, though SKY & Kai feuding with Shotzi & Rodriguez for the tag team belts doesn’t exactly excite us right now.
7. Kevin Owens (NC)
Kevin Owens continues to be at the top of his game. The latest example was on Raw this week, as Owens teamed with old friend Johnny Gargano to take on Alpha Academy. It was the best match on a show which was full of good ones, so this is the highest of compliments. These guys had great chemistry with a lot of back-and-forth action. As far as Owens, the highlight came when “The Prizefighter” superkicked Otis onto the announce desk before putting him through the table with an elbow drop off the barricade. This cleared the way for Johnny Gargano to take care of Chad Gable despite the efforts of Austin Theory.
It’s unclear if this tag team will continue, but Owens is killing it week-in, week-out. Hopefully he gets the chance to chase some gold soon.
8. Liv Morgan – SmackDown Women’s Champion (+1)
Liv Morgan‘s reign as champion hasn’t exactly been a smooth ride, but she finally had a signature moment on SmackDown last Friday. While her non-tile match against Lacey Evans wasn’t exactly a classic, she won in convincing fashion by ducking a kendo stick and hitting a Codebreaker. The highlight came at the conclusion of the match after announcer Corey Graves questioned Morgan’s ability to “get extreme” in advance of her title defense against Ronda Rousey at Extreme Rules. Morgan hit Evans with the kendo stick and eventually set her up a table before crashing through it with a senton from the top turnbuckle.
The camerawork was extraordinary, and probably something we’ll see in highlight reels for a long time. Can Morgan continue to silence her doubters?
9. Seth “Freakin’” Rollins (-1)
Seth Rollins moves down a spot despite getting a victory over his old rival Rey Mysterio on Monday. How does that work? Well, it’s complicated.
The fact is that some other names had a good week while Rollins needed some assistance from Dominik Mysterio and Rhea Ripley of The Judgment Day to get the win over Mysterio. It’s nitpicking, we’ll admit, as Rollins is firing on all cylinders leading into his Fight Pit Match against Matt Riddle at Extreme Rules. In fact, Rollins has vowed that his “Einstein-like” acumen in the ring will lead to him being known as “The King of the Fight Pit.” It’s worth noting that Rollins used a Peruvian Necktie submission in the victory over Mysterio, so he’s clearly thinking ahead to his collision with Riddle.
10. The Judgment Day (NC)
As noted above, The Judgment Day once again found themselves all over Raw this past Monday. After their involvement in the Rollins/Mysterio match, Finn Bálor continued his recruitment of A.J. Styles for the group. When “The Phenomenal One” turned them down following his loss to Sami Zayn, The Judgment Day unleashed a brutal attack. Interestingly, Bálor spared Styles after he was set up to crush his neck with a chair. Will Bálor’s message prove successful?
Later in the night, Damian Priest found himself in the main event against Matt Riddle, though he came out on the losing side after “The Original Bro” was able to reverse a move into an inside cradle. The Judgment Day followed with an attack, which led to the surprise return of Edge, who challenged Bálor to an “I Quit” match at Extreme Rules. This rivalry isn’t done just yet, for better or worse. Still, The Judgment Day have been the unsung heroes of Raw in recent weeks, so they deserve to keep their spot.
11. Karrion Kross w/ Scarlett (NC)
While Karrion Kross has definitely come back to the main roster in a much bigger way under the Triple H regime, this didn’t appear to be his strongest week. Yes, his segment on SmackDown ended with him making Drew McIntyre go to sleep with the Kross Jacket, but things weren’t going great right before that. After Scarlett initially came out to interrupt McIntyre’s challenge for Extreme Rules, the Scotsman thwarted Kross’ attempted sneak attack. He then dominated Kross from pillar to post – it was the weakest Kross has looked since returning and made him look at least a level below McIntyre. Scarlett swooped in as McIntyre let up in his attack, but then her attempt at shooting a fireball went awry and completely missed her target.
McIntyre was a true pro, though, and didn’t sell it, resuming his attack. Scarlett also showed nice composure and rallied with a low blow before Kross locked in his submission. So, in the end, Kross stood tall, but the segment did not paint him in the best overall light.
12. Ronda Rousey (NC)
There isn’t much to update here with “The Baddest Woman on the Planet” as Rousey essentially had the week off. Her opponent for Extreme Rules put in a nice showing though as Liv Morgan showed she does indeed have some “extreme” in her as she laid into Lacey Evans with a kendo stick before polishing her off with a picturesque jump off the steel post and through a table. Hopefully Rousey returns this week to inject a little more juice into this program.
13. Braun Strowman (+2)
“The Monster Among Men” is quickly working his way up these Power Rankings. In the best shape of his career, Braun Strowman had an impressive victory over Otis of the Alpha Academy on SmackDown last week. Otis got in some impressive offense of his own, including a World’s Strongest Slam, but it wasn’t enough to keep Strowman down. In fact, Braun one-upped him by delivering a thunderous powerbomb for the victory. It was also a nice touch that they actually showed officials “reinforcing the ring” before the match – a cliché that is often cited before two superheavyweights clash.
What’s next for Strowman? Well, following a handicap match victory for Omos, MVP seemed to call him out stating that Braun may be “The Monster of all Monsters” (whoops), but there’s only one giant in WWE. If those two behemoths square off, they may need to do more than just reinforce the ring.
14. Drew McIntyre (-1)
You can look above at the Karrion Kross write-up to see much of what happened with McIntyre this week. But what might not have been public knowledge was the fact that Drew McIntyre was dealing with a serious bout of food poisoning last week. In fact, he was on IVs just to get him out to the ring last week on SmackDown. The consummate pro, you never would have known it from watching him on your TV, though. And again, while he was left laying at the end of his segment with Kross, you could easily argue he was the more impressive Superstar on the night. He definitely seems to have lost a lot of steam coming out of Clash at the Castle, and the only way to get back on track would be to derail Kross, which might not be likely either. It’s a tough position to be in right now.
15. Matt Riddle (+2)
Riddle is finally starting to get some momentum going. A week after getting his arch nemesis Seth “Freakin’” Rollins to accept his challenge to meet in the Fight Pit Match at Extreme Rules, “The Original Bro” followed it up with a victory over Damien Priest in the main event of Raw. Matt Riddle was immediately swarmed by the rest of Judgment Day, but a returning Edge came to the rescue amidst a huge pop from the Edmonton crowd.
Extreme Rules will really tell the tale, though. A win over Rollins could really propel Riddle to another level. But if he suffers another loss, it will be hard for him to advance much further past this area of the rankings. Riddle should be one of WWE’s new building blocks under the Triple H regime, so we’ll keep the faith for now.
16. The Brawling Brutes (-2)
While Butch & Ridge Holland had an impressive showing against The Usos for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships, they ultimately came up short in their quest to obtain gold due to a ringside attack from Imperium.
You have to know that the Brutes will not take this lightly. We also know that in two weeks Sheamus will get another opportunity to capture the WWE Intercontinental Championship when he faces Gunther. If that is anything like their hard-hitting classic at Clash at the Castle then everyone will be in for a treat. The thing to keep an eye on will be any potential involvement from the other members of their respective teams.
17. Johnny Gargano (NC)
We know that “Johnny Wrestling” can be a workhorse and since his return to WWE he has been just that. Whether he is doing a promo segment, or in the ring anytime Gargano has been on TV it feels like a big moment.
This week teaming up with Kevin Owens to take on the Alpha Academy in a solid back-and-forth match. Gargano got the victory for his team after turning out Austin Theory’s lights with a superkick when he tried to blindside Gargano.
Eventually, Theory and Gargano will have to settle their differences one on one. Can “The Rebel Heart” come out on top over his former protégé? Or will Mr. Money in the Bank continue to rise to the occasion and show he is the future?
18. Alpha Academy (NR)
While Alpha Academy may have come out on the losing end against Gargano & Owens. There is a path towards redemption for the duo. “The Master” has a date with “The Monsters of all Monsters” next week one on one. Meanwhile, the “Tree Trunk” Otis will look to take out Gargano.
Now things may not be going the way they have wanted the last month or so but between pulling double duty being on both shows, putting on entertaining matches, and always having captivating segments it was time for the Academy to arrive on the rankings. If there’s any problem with that well SHOOOOOSH!
19. Edge (NR)
In an unexpected turn of events “The Rated-R Superstar” returned on Monday. It seemed that after the heinous attack from The Judgment Day we weren’t going to be seeing Edge for a little while.
After Riddle seemed destined to receive a similar fate as Edge at the hands of The Judgement day, Edge’s music hit and he came down to the ring spearing anything moving. Where he laid down the challenge at Extreme Rules Edge vs. Finn Balor for the first time ever and it’s going to be an “I Quit” Match.
If there was any match on the card that has the potential to be a show stealer, this would be my pick.
20. Logan Paul (-2)
While we didn’t see the Impaulsive podcast host this week on Smackdown, we know that things will be picking up quickly as we head towards the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship match between Paul and Roman Reigns at Crown Jewel.
As mentioned, we know Paul has the crossover appeal and he has shown his natural athleticism in his few matches within WWE. He certainly doesn’t have the full backing of the WWE Universe yet and this may be a very brief crash landing on the “Island of Relevancy.”
One thing will certainly be true all eyes will be on whether Paul can truly go toe to toe with “The Tribal Chief” come November 5.
On the cusp: Austin Theory, A.J. Styles, Ricochet, Omos, The Street Profits, The New Day, The Miz, Dexter Lumis, Candice LeRae
Who’s NXT: Bron Breakker, Toxic Attraction, JD McDonough, Ilja Dragunov, Pretty Deadly, Creed Brothers, Alba Fyre, Cora Jade, Carmelo Hayes, Tyler Bate
