WWE Superstar Power Rankings for Week of Jan. 19

With Royal Rumble 2017 in San Antonio on the horizon on Jan. 29, the WWE Superstar power rankings will be an ever-changing organism as WWE presents a handful of wrestlers as legit candidates to win the pay-per-view's namesake match.

Thus far, names like Baron Corbin and Braun Strowman have been made to look strong, while Roman Reigns has received the short end of the stick in recent weeks of feuding with Kevin Owens. Though Undertaker stands out as a strong favorite, it's anybody's guess who will win the Rumble this year with such a star-studded field.

To be honest, there's a good chance the winner isn't any of the WWE Superstars ranked in this week's top 10.

10. Roman Reigns

Roman Reigns barely hangs on this week after taking an F-5 in the first segment of Raw and going through a table in the final one.

WWE is taking preemptive measures to make Reigns appear vulnerable so that its hardcore fanbase doesn't lash out as aggressively if and when he does capture the Universal Championship at Royal Rumble.

Reigns could be in store for a dream match in what is a pivotal WrestleMania season.

Reigns has had in-ring confrontations or staredowns with both Brock Lesnar and Goldberg in the past month, which hardly seems like a coincidence. For now, however, he remains at the back end of the Superstar rankings after a tough week.

9. John Cena

John Cena got the better of AJ Styles Tuesday on SmackDown following a peculiar match where Styles took on The Miz. Styles and Cena have taken somewhat of a back seat to Royal Rumble hype and SmackDown's budding women's division in the weeks since their magnificent promo exchange during a contract signing.

This is simply the calm before the storm; we can expect Cena vs. Styles to be the match of the night in the Alamodome on Jan. 29.

8. Kevin Owens

Through his pairing with Chris Jericho, Kevin Owens has had both a good week and a good month. Owens stood tall against Goldberg, playing more of a hard-nosed brawler than his default cowardly heel.

Owens was instrumental in costing Roman Reigns the United States Championship and followed that up by putting his foe through a table on Raw.

Owens has all the momentum in the world right now, and while this does not bode well for his chances of retaining the Universal Championship, Jericho's entry in the Royal Rumble match makes it seem much more possible.

7. Chris Jericho

Chris Jericho is such a fixture on Raw that the shark cage he will be locked in come Royal Rumble is being used as a set piece.

Jericho recently won the United States Championship and is in a small pool of WWE Superstars who have real shots of winning the Royal Rumble match.

It'll be interesting to see how Jericho is booked inside a shark cage when Roman Reigns takes on Kevin Owens. If and when he drops a foreign object into the ring, will Reigns intercept it, or will Owens use it to retain the Universal Championship, thereby opening the door for a Jericho Royal Rumble win?

6. AJ Styles

Like John Cena, AJ Styles is in "calm before the storm" mode heading into what is shaping up to be an instant classic match against The Face That Runs the Place.

Styles' week, while fine, was somewhat quiet in an awkward heel vs. heel matchup against The Miz. While the current WWE champion seems to be in position for a strong WrestleMania run, a potential loss to Cena could demote him to a vaunted group ladder match come April.

5. Alexa Bliss

Alexa Bliss has taken to her role as a heel champion on SmackDown. Alongside Becky Lynch, Bliss made history by main-eventing the show in a Steel Cage match and retaining her championship with help from Mickie James.

Bliss' stock figures to sore as she gets a rub from a future WWE Hall of Famer, but the company needs to be careful that the budding feud between James and Lynch does not overshadow the current SmackDown women's champion.

4. Braun Strowman

No matter what the situation, every time one of those "I'm going to win the Royal Rumble" string of promos occurs on Raw, Braun Strowman plays a starring role.

When the dust cleared on Monday night's Raw in a crowded opening segment, it was Strowman who was face-to-face with Brock Lesnar in a teased matchup the crowd was excited to see. There are a lot of uncertainties in the 2017 Royal Rumble match, but it's guaranteed that this match will be a vehicle to take Strowman to the next level.

Like Diesel, Kane and even Roman Reigns before him, Strowman will put the wrestling world on notice at the Royal Rumble, and he should be considered a favorite to lead the entire field in eliminations.

3. Dolph Ziggler

With the momentum of a long-awaited heel turn behind him, Dolph Ziggler has hit the ground running as an embittered villain.

Ziggler's segment opposite Jerry Lawler was the perfect interaction to avoid those pesky cool-heel cheers, and Ziggler's slow evolution of his newer, more serious character figures to take him far in 2017.

Since losing big matches as a babyace was the impetus for Ziggler's change in attitude, perhaps a few big wins are in his future to justify his new outlook. Call me crazy, but Ziggler stands out as a dark horse to win the Royal Rumble.

2. Brock Lesnar

Brock Lesnar exploded back onto the scene Monday on Raw like only he can.

This time around, there was no standing around while Paul Heyman spoke. Lesnar simply arrived, suplexed everything that moved and left. Lesnar's dominance of Royal Rumble favorites almost made fans forget the name Goldberg.

Almost.

And as Goldberg chants filled the arena in Little Rock, Arkansas, not only did Lesnar get his mojo back, but WWE's biggest current program was still going strong.

1. Charlotte Flair

Few WWE Superstars on either roster are trusted to walk out and deliver a slow-burning heel promo like Charlotte Flair. And nobody on either roster can diffuse pesky "what" chants and cultivate them into legitimate anger like the current Raw women's champion.

Flair's takedown of Bayley this past Monday on Raw was the stuff of legend. She took an otherwise banal premise ("this Plain Jane babyface is no better than you people") and used specific details to badmouth a popular wrestler in her most vulnerable state. Fans went from heckling to outrage as they chanted "We want Bayley!" the more Flair dug into her current foe. This was Miz-esque.

Flair understands the science behind being a heel, as she always makes her opponent into more of a hero just by standing up to her.

Forget this forced Daniel Bryan rehash that involves Stephanie McMahon. Flair and Bayley are all this feud needs. 

Alfred Konuwa is a Featured Columnist and on-air host for Bleacher Report and Forbes. Like him on Facebook.