WWE Superstar Power Rankings for 10/13/2014

This past week was chock-full of surprises and guest appearances, and the WWE Superstar Power Rankings have been shaken up a bit in the aftermath.  We saw SmackDown's 15th anniversary show, a very awkward segment on Raw featuring Kathie Lee Gifford and someone named Hoda.  We even saw Roman Reigns live via satellite (it must run in the family).

Oh, and I almost forgot, THE ROCK RETURNED!  In a shocking move, The Great One confronted Rusev on Raw.  Will he be a regular on the show, or was it a one-time appearance?  Perhaps we'll find out this week.  We'll get into all this past week's action in the following slides.  Before we move on, though, please read how these rankings work.

Holding a championship, being a No. 1 contender or holding a Money in the Bank briefcase counts for much of a wrestler's ranking, and these honors are therefore the most heavily weighted components in the rankings.  If a wrestler is tied with another wrestler, holding a title will be a tiebreaker.

Wins and losses account for the bulk of the week-to-week movement—wins and losses are, after championships, the most important component of the rankings.  The quality of a wrestler's opponents and whether they are ranked is considered in the week-to-week movement.  

"Getting the better" of someone—like beating someone down—as well as "getting got" also counts, though not as much as wins and losses.  Being "over" with the fans is considered but not heavily weighted in the ranking decisions.  Pay-per-view performances take on added importance.  

Only the top 10 wrestlers are ranked.  Wrestlers on the Watch List were considered for top-10 status but were ultimately nixed.  They are unranked, and their listing is in no particular order.  

Generally speaking, these rankings do not break kayfabe, though any major non-storyline information (serious injury, WWE Wellness Policy violations, legitimate hirings, firings, contract information, "sabbaticals," etc.) may be taken into consideration, especially if WWE confirms them publicly.  Nothing that could be explicitly considered a spoiler is included unless WWE acknowledges it as well.

All WWE shows, televised or digitally distributed, as well as anything from WWE.com, the WWE App, the WWE Network and any WWE or Superstar social media accounts that don't break kayfabe may be taken into consideration for these rankings.  This includes but is not limited to WWE Raw, WWE SmackDown, WWE Main Event, WWE Superstars, NXT and any WWE pay-per-view.

Watch List

The Rock

The Rock stunned the world this past Raw by making a surprise appearance in response to Rusev and Lana.  He had plenty of non-PG things to say about the two, including calling Lana a Soviet streetwalker.  It's amazing how funny a segment can be when the wrestlers—er, Superstars—don't have to be "family friendly."  Will we see more of The Rock this week?  

Gold & Stardust

Can Gold & Stardust win a match?  They lost to The Usos and Dolph Ziggler while teaming with Cesaro on Raw, then Stardust lost to Jey Uso on Main Event.  Then on SmackDown, they were in a 16-man tag match that brought tears to Teddy Long's eyes.  They were on the losing team.  They need wins and fast.

The Miz

The Miz picked up a big win over Sheamus on Raw and is probably the closest thing to a No. 1 contender for the United States Championship that there is in WWE.  He seems to be building a feud with Sheamus, and could get a title match at Hell in a Cell.  

Paige

Paige and AJ Lee's feud may have been pushed to the back burner, but they still each continue to win.  This week, Paige picked up a victory in tag team action when she teamed with Alicia Fox in a win over AJ and Emma.  Can she keep winning heading into Hell in a Cell?

10. Big Show

Credit: WWE.com

Previous Rank: 9

Movement: Down 1

Big Show did not appear this past week, as we got news he was in "sensitivity training" after what he did to the Russian flag the week before.  Rusev did call him out, but of course, Big Show was not the one to answer.

Going forward, will Big Show be the one to face Rusev?  Or will he have to compete for the spotlight with The Rock?

9. The Usos

Previous Rank: Watch List

Movement: Into Top 10

The Usos had a very good week. Even though they don't have the tag titles anymore, they're still the premier tag team in WWE.  And they just keep racking up wins over the tag champs.

On Raw, they teamed with Dolph Ziggler against Gold & Stardust and Cesaro and won.  Then Jimmy Uso defeated Stardust on Main Event.  And on SmackDown, they were on the winning team (and got the pin, no less) in the 16-man tag team match.  

The Usos are on a roll.  Can they reclaim the tag team titles?

8. AJ Lee

Previous Rank: 8

Movement: None

AJ Lee and Emma lost to Paige and Alicia Fox on Raw in a tag match, but AJ got a bit of revenge in defeating Fox on SmackDown before driving off Paige, who was trying to attack her.  

The reigning Divas champion continues to fend off Paige and her schemes.  There will be a rematch between the two, but will it be at Hell in a Cell?  

7. Sheamus

Previous Rank: 3

Movement: Down 4

Sheamus had a mixed week, and his four-spot drop is not as bad as it seems.  Yes, he lost to The Miz on Raw.  That hurt.  Badly.  But he got back in the win column on SmackDown as a member of the winning team of the 16-man tag match.  

The Celtic Warrior dropped four spots because other guys jumped ahead more than he did anything wrong.  But the No. 3-ranked Superstar should not be losing.  We'll see if he can rebound this week.

6. Rusev

Previous Rank: 7

Movement: Up 1

Rusev just took that big step up in competition that we've been waiting for.  And it doesn't get much bigger than The Rock.  He's also still got to deal with the World's Largest Athlete, The Big Show.  Rusev is picking fights with top-tier names.

Big Show still presents a threat, and now Rusev may be fighting on two fronts with The Rock in the picture.  He did defeat Dolph Ziggler in a non-title match on SmackDown, too, which is no small feat seeing as Ziggler is highly ranked and holds the Intercontinental Championship.  

5. Dean Ambrose

Previous Rank: 6

Movement: Up 1

Dean Ambrose is nuts.  He's unstable.  He's crazy.  And he gets things done in his own way and on his own time.  He's not a fan of John Cena these days after leaving him high and dry on Raw.  Or so we thought.  Instead, it looked like he used Cena as bait in his plan to attack Seth Rollins and the rest of The Authority. 

It worked.  He used a hot dog cart (!) to attack Kane and Randy Orton.  Then he got his hands on Rollins briefly before Kane got in the way.  It was then announced that Cena and Rollins would face each other at Hell in a Cell for the right to face Rollins.  At that point, Ambrose hit Cena with a DDT.  

On SmackDown, he learned that his match with Cena will be a No Holds Barred, Contract on a Pole match.  Vince Russo is weeping with joy somewhere about this.  In any case, Cena got the better of Ambrose on MizTV, hitting him with an AA after they both had dispatched the Miz.  Can Ambrose continue his climb up the rankings?

4. Seth Rollins

Previous Rank: 5

Movement: Up 1

Seth Rollins moves up a spot this week after narrowly escaping a beating at the hands of John Cena and Dean Ambrose on Raw and then picking up a solid win over Kofi Kingston on SmackDown.  

Rollins has been kept off balance by Ambrose, and he vented his frustration on Raw, much to the displeasure of Jamie Noble and Joey Mercury, who apparently have been tasked with his safety and well-being.  

Now he's going to get either Cena or Ambrose at Hell in a Cell.  But he'll have the advantage.  They'll have likely beaten the devil out of each other, while he'll be fresh.  Can he take advantage of that in a few weeks?

3. Dolph Ziggler

Previous Rank: 4

Movement: Up 1

Dolph Ziggler may not seem like an obvious choice for No. 3, but he's defended his Intercontinental Championship quite a bit lately.  He defended it again this week and was successful against Bo Dallas.

He's on a roll right now but is heading toward a confrontation with Cesaro in the near future.  And while there's no official matches set for the pay-per-view aside from Cena vs. Ambrose and Rollins vs. the winner of that match, it would be a safe bet that they're going to have that match at Hell in a Cell.

2. Brock Lesnar

Previous Rank: 2

Movement: None

It was very difficult keeping Brock Lesnar at No. 2 this week, but that's where he lands again since no one was able to unseat him.  He did not appear, and the only appearance from Heyman was in relation to the 15th anniversary of SmackDown, where he touched a bit on Hell in a Cell.

Lesnar still gets a boost from being the WWE World Heavyweight champion, but other Superstars are now nipping at his heels in the rankings.  If we don't see Lesnar soon, he'll likely drop again.  And with no plans set for Hell in a Cell yet, time is running out for him to get an opponent named.  

Will we even see Lesnar at the pay-per-view?  As of now, it sure doesn't look like it.

1. John Cena

Previous Rank: 1

Movement: None

John Cena technically defeated three Superstars on Raw, getting a DQ win over Seth Rollins, Kane and Randy Orton on Raw before Dean Ambrose returned with his hot dog cart and the two of them went to town on The Authority.  He was suddenly attacked by Dean Ambrose, though, at the end of the show.  

He got back at Ambrose on SmackDown when, after the two of them had finished attacking The Miz on MizTV, Cena hit Ambrose with an AA.

Cena and Ambrose will face off at Hell in a Cell in a No Holds Barred, Contract on a Pole match for the right to face Rollins later that evening.  Already, Cena has to be the heavy favorite.  He's won more big matches than can be counted.  But Ambrose is crazy enough that Cena could make a mistake that costs him.