Back in the 80’s and 90’s one of my favourite things as a wrestling fan was getting the Pro Wrestling Illustrated magazine. The first thing I would do upon receiving the magazine would be to flip to the back page and look at the ratings Where were my favourites this issue, and how did everybody stack up to each other?
Each month I will compile the records of everyone appearing for the WWE and make top ten lists for tag teams, women, and men. The results are gathered from Raw, SmackDown, Superstars, Main Event, NXT, the Cruiserweight Classic, and any special events shown on the WWE Network. Those records start the basis for the lists, but quality of opponent, performance in mutli-person, and titles won will also play into the determination of a wrestler’s rank. With that out of the way, let’s get to the WWE Rankings for September 2016.
Previous Rankings:
July 2016
August 2016
TAG TEAM RANKINGS
Before we get into the rankings, let’s look at who fell off the list from last month.
The Hype Bros were number two in August and went 4-0, but followed that up with a 0-3 record to fall off the list.
10 – Kevin Owens & Chris Jericho
Tag Team Record: 1-0
Biggest Win: Big Cass & Enzo
Brand: Raw
August Ranking: 9
Owens & Jericho remain on the list, even though Owens is the Universal Champion and these two seem headed into battle against each other. However, getting a big win over Enzo & Cass was enough to gain the number ten spot.
9 – DIY
Tag Team Record: 1-0
Biggest Win: Cedric Alexander & Noam Darr
Brand: NXT
August Ranking: 10
Moving up one spot from August’s rankings, DIY still remain a top tag team in NXT and look to be among the favourties to win the October Dusty Rhodes Classic tournament.
8 – The Club
Tag Team Record: 1-2
Biggest Win: The New Day
Brand: Raw
August Ranking: 5
Falling a few slots from August, The Club still look like a top team on Raw. They had a victory over the Raw Tag Team Champions, and their two loses came to the champs.
7 – The Shining Stars
Tag Team Record: 2-0
Biggest Win: Big Cass & Enzo
Brand: Raw
August Ranking: 6
The Shining Stars keep their spot and their winning ways with wins over Cass/Enzo as well as The Golden Truth. They just missed out on the number six spot, due to their loss in a ten-man tag on the Raw on September 19th.
6 – Authors of Pain
Tag Team Record: 2-0
Brand: NXT
August Ranking: 7
This undefeated team keep getting stronger and stronger each month.
5 – American Alpha
Tag Team Record: 2-1
Biggest Win: The Usos
Brand: SmackDown
August Ranking: 4
Even though they had the incredibly impressive win over The Usos in the tag titles tournament on SmackDown, they didn’t manage to win the tournament thanks to The Usos injuring them. The Usos also revenged their loss a few weeks later.
4 – The Revival
(NXT Tag Team Champions)
Tag Team Record: 0-0
Brand: NXT
August Ranking: 1
No matches for The Revival dropped them from number one, but they are still the NXT champions.
3 – The Usos
Tag Team Record: 3-2
Biggest Win: American Alpha
Brand: SmackDown
August Ranking: 8
A big three wins for The Usos in September, push The Usos into the number three spot on the rankings. Not only did they avenge their loss to American Alpha, but they injured them to boot.
2 – The New Day
(Raw Tag Team Champions)
Tag Team Record: 2-1
Biggest Win: The Club
Brand: Raw
August Ranking: 3
Two wins over The Club and one loss to them pushes the Raw Tag Team Champions up one spot from August. They are still the top team on Raw and they may have no equal on that show.
1 – Heath Slater & Rhyno
(SmackDown Tag Team Champions)
Tag Team Record: 4-0
Biggest Win: The Usos
Brand: SmackDown
August Ranking: unranked
A team thrown together for the SmackDown Tag Team Titles Tournament has proven their worth. Not only did they win the tournament and the titles, but they won Heath Slater a SmackDown contract. A very impressive month for this team, which seem to be finding their groove.
WOMEN RANKINGS
These rankings contain the same ten women, just in a different order from last month.
10 – Carmella
Record: 0-0
Biggest Win: with Natalya over Nikki Bella and Naomi
Brand: SmackDown
August Ranking: 9
No singles victories, but Carmella changed her attitude in September taking her vengeance out on Nikki Bella. She was the final one eliminated in the Six-Pack Elimination Challenge and was seconds from winning the title.
9 – Billie Kay
Record: 1-0
Biggest Win: Aliyah
Brand: NXT
August Ranking: 10
Billie Kay moved up a spot as she continues to be focused on in NXT. A nice showcase match for her in September, in a month where there was a lack of singles women matches.
8 – Nia Jax
Record: 2-0-1
Biggest Win: Alicia Fox
Brand: Raw
August Ranking: 3
Going to a no contest with Alicia Fox on her first real challenge since joining Raw dropped Jax down the rankings to the bottom half. Luckily she avenged that loss to stay on the list.
7 – Sasha Banks
Record: 0-0
Biggest Win: Three-Way Match
Brand: Raw
August Ranking: 7
Banks was unable to regain her title from Charlotte, but she did defeat Dana Brooke and Bayley in a three-way match on Raw. That is a big win, even if it isn’t the win she wanted.
6 – Alexa Bliss
Record: 0-0
Biggest Win: Fatal Five-Way
Brand: SmackDown
August Ranking:6
A new look for Bliss to go with a new attitude. Although she did not capture the Women’s Title at Backlash, she did win a fatal five-way two nights later to get another shot at No Mercy. She did get another win in a trios match on SmackDown.
5 – Ember Moon
Record: 2-0
Biggest Win: Mandy Rose
Brand: NXT
August Ranking: 8
Ember Moon has been impressive since she debuted in NXT. Although she doesn’t have the two biggest wins this month, she was the only women with two wins, who did not suffer any other loses.
4 – Charlotte
(Raw Women’s Champion)
Record: 1-1
Biggest Win: Bayley & Sasha Banks
Brand: Raw
August Ranking: 1
The Raw Women’s Champion is dominant on special events and near perfect in title matches, but she did lose a non-title match on Raw to drop her down this month.
3 – Bayley
Record: 2-0
Biggest Win: Charlotte
Brand: Raw
August Ranking: 4
Bayley continues to impress since joining Raw, this month picking up a big win over Charlotte in a singles match. She didn’t have much access in three way matches, losing in two of those though.
2 – Asuka
(NXT Women’s Champion)
Record:1-0
Biggest Win: Liv Morgan
Brand: NXT
August Ranking: 2
The NXT Women’s Champion is still dominate, even if she just beat Liv Morgan this month.
1 – Becky Lynch
(SmackDown Women’s Champion)
Record: 0-0
Biggest Win: Six-Pack Elimination Challenge
Brand: SmackDown
August Ranking: 5
With the women on both show’s being put into many mutli-person matches, there isn’t a lot of straight up women’s matches in October. With that said, Becky Lynch beat out five other women in one night at Backlash to win the title.
MEN RANKINGS
The number five from last month, Jack Swagger fell off as he dropped to 1-3 in September. Hopefully the switch to SmackDown helps him out in October. The most shocking drop off is former WWE World Champion Seth Rollins as he was only 1-1-1. Rounding out the drop offs are two Cruiserweight Classic competitors in Kota Ibushi and Gran Metalik.
10 – Shinsuke Nakamura
(NXT Champion)
Record: 1-0
Biggest Win: Steve Cutler
Brand: NXT
August Ranking: 9
Nakamura remains the NXT Champion, but only had one match which was a victory over the unknown Steve Cutler.
9 – Kane
Record: 3-0
Biggest Win: Bray Wyatt
Brand: SmackDown
August Ranking: unranked
Kane has become the 911 of SmackDown and it seems to have helped him. Although the win over Baron Corbin was via DQ and the win over Wyatt came after Randy Orton interfered, Kane still did pick up three victories with zero loses.
8 – Cesaro
Record: 2-1-1
Biggest Win: Sheamus
Brand: Raw
August Ranking: unranked
Cesaro went to a no contest in the final match of the best of seven series with Sheamus at Clash of Champions, but he did gain two wins in September in that series. Forming a tag team with Sheamus may propel him onto the rankings in a different section next month.
7 – Braun Strowman
Record: 3-0
Biggest Win: Sin Cara
Brand: Raw
August Ranking: 3
Three wins over Sin Cara keeps Braun’s dominate streak going.
6 – Dean Ambrose
Record: 1-2
Biggest Win: John Cena
Brand: SmackDown
August Ranking: 2
Although Dean Ambrose loss the WWE World Title to AJ Styles and failed to regain the title in the rematch, Dean was able to defeat John Cena cleanly on SmackDown. A tag match win also bolsters his September resume.
5 – The Miz
(WWE Intercontinental Champion)
Record: 3-0
Biggest Win: Dolph Ziggler
Brand: SmackDown
August Ranking: unranked
The Miz has really cemented himself since being drafted to SmackDown. The Intercontinental Champion defeated Dolph Ziggler twice and had a victory over Apollo Crews as well. His only blemish was in a tag match where he loss to John Cena and Dean Ambrose, while teaming with AJ Styles which is pretty elite company.
4 – Roman Reigns
(WWE United States Champion)
Record: 2-1-1
Biggest Win: Kevin Owens
Brand: Raw
August Ranking: 8
What a great month by Roman as he defeated the Universal Champion and won the United States Title from Rusev.
3 – TJ Perkins
(WWE Cruiserweight Champion)
Record: 5-0
Biggest Win: Gran Metalik
Brand: Raw
August Ranking: unranked
This was TJ’s month. He won the Cruiserweight Classic tournament producing great match after great match. Upon winning the tournament he was awarded the Cruiserweight Title and then debuted as the ace of the division on Raw and won a match on Clash of Champions over Brian Kendrick. Plus, Perkins is the first wrestler to win five times in a single month since these rankings started.
2 – AJ Styles
(WWE World Champion)
Record: 2-0
Biggest Win: Dean Ambrose
Brand: SmackDown
August Ranking: 1
The only reason AJ dropped down on spot was his lack of matches. In Septmeber AJ won the World Title by beating Dean Ambrose and then retained it in the rematch. He did lose a tag match though, which might had been the deciding factor.
1 – Kevin Owens
(WWE Universal Champion)
Record: 3-1
Biggest Win: Seth Rollins
Brand: Raw
August Ranking: 4
Owens successfully defended his title against Seth Rollins and avenged his only loss against Roman Reigns in a great month for the Champion. Another win over his long time rival Sami Zayn and a tag team victory with Chris Jericho, which put him onto the tag team rankings, makes Owens a candidate to remain on this list for a long long time.
