WWE Power Rankings: Counting Down the Top 15 Superstars in the Company

Welcome, Bleachers to the WWE blog, hosted by yours truly.

Each and every week, you'll be able to find all types of WWE-related articles right here in this spot on B/R, with a selection ranging from backstage news to slideshows to previews to opinion pieces.

This will be your one-stop shop for anything WWE, and we're going to kick things off with the inaugural edition of the WWE Power Rankings. This is similar to what's done on WWE.com, only we're sticking with 15 superstars instead of 25.

With WrestleMania right around the corner and a general lack of emphasis on the mid and lower-card to begin with, I think it's better to focus more on the top superstars in all of the WWE.

So, without further ado, here is the March 19 edition of the WWE Power Rankings.

Note: These rankings are based primarily on what happened on last week's Raw (March 12) and Smackdown (March 16), though other occurrences will be considered.

15. Christian

Although Christian hadn't been around since November 2011, he made a huge splash during his return on last Friday's Smackdown.

Captain Charisma hosted a special edition of "The Peep Show" and eventually decided to join John Laurinaitis' team for the 12-on-12 match at WrestleMania 28. He ripped Teddy Long during the show and clearly established himself as one of Smackdown's top heels, picking up right where he left off several months ago. 

Christian's decision to join Team Laurinaitis was big in itself, but what made matters a lot more interesting is when the interim Raw general manager promised Christian "one more match" for the World Heavyweight Championship if he helped lead the team to victory at WrestleMania.

With the heel sides projected by many to win this match, Christian may have all but earned himself the No. 1 contender's spot for the World Heavyweight title and a post-WrestleMania feud with either Daniel Bryan or (likely) Sheamus.

Not a bad way to come back, Christian. Not bad at all.

14. The Undertaker

It's hard to rate The Undertaker on the same scale as most others on this list because his appearances on WWE TV are relegated exclusively to his five-minute entrance and his promos with Triple H and Shawn Michaels.

Undertaker has never been the best promo guy, and he's gotten a lot of criticism over the last week for saying that WrestleMania was on April 21 instead of April 1. But all in all, I'd say he's done a great job building up his feud with Triple H and including HBK in it as well.

These three had some great promos between each other last year, and it was no different on last Monday's Raw, when the idea was Michaels teasing that he could affect the outcome of this year's Mania match between Triple H and Taker because he was the special guest referee.

Despite the outrageously annoying "What?" chants from the crowd and the minor slip-up, Undertaker was able to hold his own on the mic and is doing a great job of building up anticipation for his rematch with Triple H.

I didn't think my interest in this feud would be very high, but Undertaker's played a part in changing my mind.

13. Triple H

Speaking of Triple H, the only thing we got out of him last week was a crotch chop directed towards The Undertaker, but that's OK because the bigger story that night was Shawn Michaels hinting that he could screw over The Undertaker.

Although Triple H's TV time was only about 30 seconds last week, he has (at least in my view) been the star of this feud with stellar mic work.

Say what you want about Triple H, but it's hard to argue against his excellent promos over the last several weeks, which are arguably some of the best of his entire WWE career. Triple H has always been a fantastic mic worker, but he's taken it to another level during this feud.

Triple H has cut some really long promos that show some great range and emotions, and he's carried The Undertaker, who tends to be very hit-or-miss when it comes to cutting promos.

12. Kane

I'm really not crazy about the ongoing feud between Randy Orton and Kane, but at least the WWE is trying to erase some of the damage that was done to Kane during his feud with John Cena.

Although the Big Red Monster hasn't had an actual match since his Ambulance Match with Cena at Elimination Chamber, at least he's not getting owned by Orton. This rivalry has been back-and-forth, which each guy getting the leg up on the other at different times.

While I'm not sure if Kane's even going to step in the ring before WrestleMania, he delivered a pretty great promo on Friday's Smackdown in which he laid down the challenge to Orton.

Though Kane's promos can be a bit over-the-top at times, I've always felt like he was underrated in that department, and last week, he proved that he can work a mic better than just about anyone in the WWE.

If Kane isn't going to compete in an actual match prior to his WrestleMania bout with Orton, he'll want to make sure to continue cutting some very good promos to generate interest in this rivalry.

11. Kofi Kingston

While plenty (including me) will argue that Kofi Kingston deserves a better position on the card, he's been booked very well as of late.

In particular, last week was a big week for him. He and R-Truth got a win over Tyler Reks and Curt Hawkins on Superstars, he defeated Team Laurinaitis captain David Otunga on Smackdown and then capped everything off by being announced as a member of Team Long for the match at WrestleMania 28.

Kingston may not be getting pushed to the World title scene right now, but he's definitely getting highlighted as one of the WWE's top mid-carders and figures to have a big role in Team Long vs. Team Laurinaitis.

The high-flying superstars continues to be one of the most reliable superstars in the WWE, and he should be rewarded for that in the coming weeks. If not, at least he had a couple of good showings last week, right?

10. Santino Marella

I'm still trying to wrap my mind around Santino Marella being ahead of The Undertaker and Triple H on these rankings, but hey, crazier things have happened, I guess.

Although Santino was squashed by Mark Henry on last week's Raw, "The Milan Miracle" has been on an absolute roll over the last couple of weeks, winning the United States Championship and then successfully defending it in a steel cage match.

He'll ride that wave of momentum all the way to WrestleMania, when he serves as the captain of the Team Long vs. Team Laurinaitis match.

Though it's hard for many fans to take Santino seriously because of how hilarious he is, he's gotten over big-time over the last several months, is actually a solid in-ring competitor and provides some comedic relief on Raw every week.

Santino is undoubtedly at the peak of his career, and we should all enjoy it while it lasts.

9. The Rock

Like The Undertaker and Triple H, it's difficult to rank The Rock when his impact is made primarily on the microphone, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

Although I enjoyed "The Rock concert" on last week's episode of Raw and thought bits and pieces of it were hilarious, I was underwhelmed overall. The Rock indeed ripped Cena a number of times, but he also spent a big chunk of the "concert" sucking up to the fans with his "Cleveland rocks" line.

Of course, The Rock also ended Raw on a bad note (both literally and figuratively) when he sang karaoke, had the words up on the titantron and still found himself having a hard time getting the words right.

I don't think The Rock has been terrible lately like some are saying, but he's definitely been slightly off his game on the microphone since returning to the WWE after Elimination Chamber. He needs to pick it up a bit because it doesn't look like he and Cena are going to get physical before WrestleMania 28.

8. Randy Orton

Unless he's out of action with a major injury, Randy Orton is always going to be booked like the major star that he is, and that's exactly what we saw happen last week.

On Raw, Orton picked up an easy victory over former United States Champion Jack Swagger, and then on Smackdown, he got what he really wanted: a match with Kane at WrestleMania 28.

Although this Kane/Orton rivalry was basically split 50/50 before this week, Orton seems to have gotten the upper hand, thanks to his victory over Swagger and the fact that he didn't end up the victim of a tombstone or chokeslam on this week's Smackdown.

Orton, who gets a lot of heat for not being a great promo guy, also was able to deliver a solid performance on the microphone during his promo with Kane on Friday night. It was nothing remarkable, but at least it was halfway decent.

Perhaps Orton can step his game up on the mic during this rivalry and continue to rise up these rankings.

7. CM Punk

Last week's episode of Raw was quite the night for CM Punk.

He became the latest in a long line of top superstars that have squashed The Miz recently, and a victory over a former WWE Champion certainly never hurts. But after his match, Chris Jericho cut a phenomenal promo ripping Punk, his Straight Edge lifestyle and his drunken father.

This left Punk dumbfounded, as he seemed both upset and at a loss for words as he simply left the arena.

Though Punk was riding high after his win over The Miz, he came crashing down after Jericho's promo and showed some genuine weaknesses for the first time in a while. How Punk responds will go a long way in determining his stance on this list.

For now, though, he sits just outside the top five.

6. Cody Rhodes

Cody Rhodes continues to skyrocket up the WWE ladder.

The second-generation superstar has held the Intercontinental Championship since August 2011, and now, he's been owning The Big Show over the last several weeks by criticizing Show for his embarrassing past performances at WrestleMania.

Not only that, but Rhodes has been incredible on the mic and during promos as usual, and he also squashed the monster known as The Great Khali on last Friday's Smackdown.

Although Khali isn't exactly getting pushed, having Rhodes beat someone like Khali in relatively easy fashion is going to make him look a lot better and be a lot more confident as he heads toward his WrestleMania match with The Big Show.

Rhodes has been really impressive as of late, and it's clear that the WWE has big things in store for him going forward.

5. The Big Show

While Cody Rhodes has made a mockery out of The Big Show recently, Show is still wreaking havoc on anyone who gets in his way.

Though I don't see the benefit of having Show squash people when he probably doesn't have that much time left, the WWE seems hellbent on pushing Show and using what should be up-and-coming superstars to do so.

This week, Big Show completely destroyed Drew McIntyre in a quick match on Smackdown as the WWE's way of saying, "Hey, The Big Show is big, and he can beat people very easily."

I think we get that by now, WWE.

Sorry for that rant, but the ridiculous booking of Show over the last several months has really ticked me off, and it only gets worse when he continues to annihilate fellow superstars when he should be putting them over at this point.

That being said, that booking does make Big Show continue to be one of the WWE's top baby faces.

4. Sheamus

It's officially safe to sat that Sheamus is now on the same level as John Cena, CM Punk and Randy Orton.

In other words, the WWE is going to protect Sheamus by having him win most of his matches and having his rare losses come with a dirty finish. This was incredibly evident last week, when Sheamus was involved in the typical big-time baby face booking.

Sheamus won his match against Dolph Ziggler on Raw, and then on Smackdown, he lost his main event match with Chris Jericho only after interference from Daniel Bryan. That shows a lot of faith in The Great White.

The WWE doesn't want him to lose clean and wants to protect him at all costs, which is fine by me because Sheamus still looks like a worthy No. 1 contender when it takes some obvious cheating to beat him.

In fact, I'd say that Sheamus is looking like a solid bet to take the World Heavyweight Championship off of Bryan at WrestleMania, assuming the WWE doesn't book a dirty finish there, too.

3. Daniel Bryan

Daniel Bryan didn't compete on either Raw or Smackdown last week, but that didn't prevent him from making a huge impact.

Bryan continues to morph into a slimy little weasel each and every week, and this was never more evident than on Friday's Smackdown when Chris Jericho distracted the referee during his match with Sheamus. Bryan laid out Sheamus on the outside of the ring and caused Sheamus to lose the match by countout.

The WWE has done an excellent job of building up Bryan as the heel champion, and even without actually getting in the ring, he continues to stay over as the top heel on Smackdown.

Bryan figures to hold onto the World Heavyweight Champion no matter what, even if it means that he has to cheat every time he defends it. I'm really enjoying watching Bryan in his new role, though, and if he gets in the ring this week and is victorious, his stock will only go up in my eyes.

2. John Cena

John Cena has been turning haters into fans with his performances on Raw over the last several weeks. 

Critics of Cena have blasted him for years being lame and corny, but ever since he's picked back up on his feud with The Rock, we've seen a new, edgier Cena that has outclassed arguably the best mic worker in wrestling history.

While I don't think Cena is killing The Rock on the mic like many others do, I definitely think it's fair to say that Cena has stepped up his promo game in a major way and given us a reason to start liking him again.

His promos have seemed genuine, his rap on last week's Raw was short and sweet (and well done, I might add) and his momentum is at an all-time high.

If we continue to see this Cena on the build to WrestleMania, then I have a feeling that he's going to convert some members of Team Bring It over to the Cenation. 

1. Chris Jericho

What an amazing week for Chris Jericho.

On Monday's Raw, he cut an unbelievably awesome promo in which he blasted CM Punk's Straight Edge lifestyle and his father's alcoholism, finally bringing some realism to this feud. It was honestly one of the best heel promos in recent memory, and maybe, just maybe, the best one since Punk's "worked shoot" last summer.

But Jericho didn't just stop there.

He followed that promo up with another fantastic promo on this week's Smackdown, which was in turn followed up by a win (albeit a tainted one) over Sheamus in the show's main event. This was heel Jericho at his finest.

Although he's been booked strongly since his return, Jericho had yet to cut that awe-inspiring promo or get that big heat-generating victory. Until now.

Jericho is not only back. He's back on the top of the WWE. 

Note: As part of the new WWE blog, I'll be asking all of the B/R wrestling readers for questions for a new mailbag that I will post on Fridays. It will be a slideshow featuring 10-20 questions and answers on a wide range of topics. You can submit questions either through Formspring orTwitter, and the best ones will be answered in the B/R mailbag.