WWE Power Rankings: Ranking the Company's Top 15 Stars After Extreme Rules 2012

There must be something in the water in Chicago because WWE pay-per-views that are held there always seem to deliver.

Of course, we remember the phenomenal Money in the Bank show that took place in the Windy City last year. But last night's Extreme Rules PPV was awesome as well.

We got three incredibly entertaining matches (Punk/Jericho, Cena/Lesnar and Bryan/Sheamus), a surprising return (Layla) and a surprisingly good match (Orton/Kane).

I don't know about you, but I enjoyed the show and am extremely excited to see what happens on tonight's episode of Monday Night Raw.

Before we get to the post-Extreme Rules Raw show, though, we need to take a look at which stars are rising up the ladder after the PPV.

Here are this week's WWE Power Rankings.

15. Santino Marella (Last Week: Unranked)

On last week's Raw, Santino Marella teamed up with Zack Ryder to pick up a win over WWE Tag Team Champions Epico and Primo.

Not to be outdone by, well, himself, Santino then successfully defended his United States against The Miz during the Extreme Rules pre-show match that aired on YouTube.

Santino's popularity is at its peak, and he is undoubtedly on the biggest roll of his career.

While he'll likely always be a comedy character first and foremost, he continues to surprise me by holding onto the US title, and picking up a big win over a former WWE Champ and WrestleMania headliner obviously helps his momentum.

I know some aren't crazy about that (myself included), but I guess I'm going to sit back and see where the Santino Choo Choo Train takes us.

14. Layla (Last Week: Unranked)

I think that a lot of people were disappointed that we didn't see Kharma at Extreme Rules last night, but Layla was a good consolation prize.

She has been out of action since last April after tearing her ACL, but she returned last night to beat Nikki Bella for the Divas title.

The Divas division definitely needed someone to make it a little more interesting, and Layla certainly does that.

It looks like the Bella Twins are officially going to part ways with the WWE and that Layla is going to be the face of the division until Beth Phoenix and Kharma return.

And props to Layla for looking solid in her return. She was a lot better than Nikki, at least.

13. Brodus Clay (Last Week: 15)

We should just call this: "Let's use Dolph Ziggler to get Brodus Clay Over Week."

On last Monday's Raw, Ziggler teamed up with Jack Swagger to lose to Clay and Hornswoggle in tag team action, and in an unannounced match at Extreme Rules, Clay basically squashed Ziggler once again.

Let's forget about the terrible booking of Ziggler for a second (it drives me insane), and instead just think about what another easy victory means for Clay.

I guess it's yet another sign that the WWE has big plans for him, but he still needs an actual feud with someone who doesn't just bump their butt off for him.

Either way, though, Clay will continue to rise up these rankings as long as he keeps winning.

12. Ryback (Last Week: 14)

Another week. Another couple of squashes.

That's become the theme for Ryback, who squashed a local competitor on SmackDown and then did the same to two local jobbers at Extreme Rules.

The guy looks like a beast and actually seems to be getting somewhat over (although not in a huge way), so I'm intrigued to see where this goes and if he can definitely turn into a top baby face.

That being said, Ryback really needs a feud and should get one this week.

11. Cody Rhodes (Last Week: Unranked)

Ever since WrestleMania 28, Cody Rhodes has been booked like absolute crap.

He's lost to guys like R-Truth and The Great Khali, and to be honest, he's looked like a complete loser over the last four weeks.

But that was until last night at Extreme Rules when he regained his Intercontinental Championship with a win over The Big Show in their Tables match.

Although the victory seems a little tainted (Big Show slipped and broke the table rather than being forced to break it by Rhodes), the bottom line is that Rhodes won back the title that he never should have lost in the first place.

The all-white Intercontinental Championship is now right where it belongs.

10. Daniel Bryan (Last Week: 10)

Daniel Bryan was disappointed that he and Sheamus only got 18 seconds at Extreme Rules (and rightfully so), but they were given the opportunity to really deliver at Extreme Rules.

And deliver they did.

Bryan and Sheamus had an excellent 2/3 Falls match, and though probably 95 percent of fans knew that Sheamus was going to win, that didn't matter.

These two went at it for more than 20 minutes and delivered a fantastic bout that ranks up there among the greatest matches of each of their WWE careers.

Bryan lost, but I don't think anyone is going to criticize him for it.

9. Kane (Last Week: 6)

It looks like we can finally put Kane's awful feud with Randy Orton to rest.

Kane and Orton have had one of the worst rivalries in recent memory, but it likely ended last night when Kane lost to Orton in their Falls Count Anywhere match.

Although the feud was bad, the match was pretty damn good and a great way to open up the Extreme Rules pay-per-view.

Kane did lose the match and the feud, however, and now it's on to something else for The Big Red Monster.

He's been solid in the ring lately, but let's just hope that he moves on to a storyline that we actually care about.

8. Alberto Del Rio (Last Week: 5)

Alberto Del Rio has just been biding his time.

He's sort of been stuck in No Man's Land as he's waited for the Sheamus/Bryan rivalry to end so that he can go after Sheamus and the World Heavyweight Championship.

Unfortunately for ADR, that led to a pretty terrible week last week in which he lost in tag team action on Raw and then was disqualified in his match with Big Show on SmackDown.

Those were two pretty big losses for Del Rio and weren't exactly a great way to build up the momentum for his likely upcoming feud with Sheamus.

Still, he should now be the new No. 1 contender for the World Heavyweight title and is in a spot that just about everyone on the roster would kill to be in.

7. Brock Lesnar (Last Week: 8)

Brock Lesnar absolutely destroyed John Cena at Extreme Rules.

He wiped the floor with Cena, incorporated some of his MMA moves to make himself look extremely vicious and then controlled about 90 percent of the match.

Lesnar was intense and impressive in his first match in eight years, but at the end of the day, he still wound up losing to Cena after being pinned following an Attitude Adjustment on the steel steps.

Even though Lesnar lost, however, I had to move him up for delivering a great performance in his return match.

It was one of the most unique matches I've ever seen, and one that I enjoyed the hell out of.

6. John Cena (Last Week: 13)

John Cena took a beating last night. Quite simply, Brock Lesnar kicked his ass.

But Cena still wound up coming out on top.

He did a fantastic job of selling (yes, selling) everything that Lesnar was giving him and of getting the crap beat out of him for the majority of the match.

I wasn't crazy about the "Super Cena" comeback finish, obviously, but Cena gained even more respect from me last night with that performance that shows why he is the WWE's top star.

He got destroyed for 15-20 minutes and worked his tail off to make the crowd realize it.

Props to Cena, who is probably headed for some much-deserved time off.

5. The Big Show (Last Week: 4)

The Big Show lost his Intercontinental Championship to Cody Rhodes at Extreme Rules, but let's be honest: He looked about as good as you can look in a loss.

It wasn't like Rhodes threw him through the table and beat him clean. Big Show slipped and inadvertently broke a table, resulting in the win for Rhodes.

I think that Big Show only won the IC title in the first place because it was the only singles title in WWE that he hadn't won. Plus, he's been booked incredibly strongly ever since WrestleMania.

Yeah, he lost last night. But did it really hurt him?

No, not much.

4. Randy Orton (Last Week: 9)

One of the biggest winners at Extreme Rules last night? Gotta be Randy Orton.

"The Viper" accomplished two huge feats when he beat Kane in their Falls Count Anywhere match: He got the victory, and he can finally move on from this feud.

Orton has been stuck in the upper midcard for what seems like forever now, but he finally got that momentum-building win that should make him a priority for creative going forward.

Not to mention that his match with Kane was really good and likely a lot better than most people expected.

It was a good showing for Orton, who's been a consistently great performer over the last year or so.

3. Chris Jericho (Last Week: 3)

Chris Jericho lost at Extreme Rules last night, but I can't penalize the guy. I just can't.

A lot of fans were left disappointed by the match between Jericho and CM Punk at WrestleMania 28, but these two made up for it with the best match of the night at Extreme Rules.

Although Jericho wound up on the wrong side of the match once again, he delivered one hell of a performance that cements him as one of the best wrestlers in the world.

Where does Y2J go from here?

I don't know, but I do know that he had a phenomenal match last night, even if it came in a losing effort.

2. Sheamus (Last Week: 2)

Sheamus is still the World Heavyweight Champion, and he proved last night why he deserves to hold that title.

While many fans were disappointed with the way his WrestleMania match with Daniel Bryan went, we got a special treat from these two last night.

Their 2/3 Falls match was simply awesome, and Sheamus showed that he's one of the best big men around with his performance.

He and Bryan had some great chemistry, and though the match outcome was very predictable, I didn't enjoy it any less.

Good job, Celtic Warrior. Next up: Alberto Del Rio.

1. CM Punk (Last Week: 1)

Was there ever any doubt who would be in this spot?

CM Punk claimed it a couple of weeks ago by successfully defending his WWE Championship in a great match against Mark Henry, and he held onto it this week by doing the same with Chris Jericho.

For the second straight year, Punk competed for the WWE Championship in his hometown of Chicago, walked out with the title and stole the show with an incredible match.

Jericho fans were probably disappointed by this outcome, but at the end of the day, keeping the belt on Punk was the right decision.

All he does is deliver in big matches, and it's going to take a lot to take his WWE title from him.

Drake Oz is the WWE Lead Writer for Bleacher Report. You can follow him onTwitter and ask him any wrestling-related questions (to be answered in the B/R Mailbag) on Formspring.