WWE RAW Power Rankings: Ready to Rumble

January 22, 2014 Patrick Hickey Jr. Professional Wrestling 0

With the Royal Rumble this weekend, this week’s Monday Night RAW did an admirable job of drawing intrigue. With Batista’s return, CM Punk’s drawing of the #1 spot in the Royal Rumble and appearances from Daniel Bryan, John Cena, Brock Lesnar and The Big Show, there was plenty of interesting developments this week.

Check out this week’s RAW Power Rankings to see who has the crowd buzzing on the first turn towards the Road to Wrestlemania.

Honorable Mention: CM Punk: His new feud with Kane and The New Age Outlaws is a bit misleading considering his angle with The Shield, but it’s still high profile enough to keep him near the top half of the card. Still beloved by the fans, like Daniel Bryan and John Cena, Punk doesn’t need gold to solid his presence on the roster.

5: Batista: The six-time World Heavyweight Champion spent more time playing to the crowd, but in the end, he let current WWE World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton know very quickly that he has his eyes on winning the Royal Rumble, the WWE title and a spot headlining Wrestlemania. Later in the show, Batista also let Alberto Del Rio know that he’s well aware of the Mexican Aristocrat’s hatred of him, squashing that problem with a Powerbomb.

4: John Cena: He sure took his time doing it, but with just minutes left in the show, Cena proved he’s ready to reclaim the WWE title at Royal Rumble.

3: The Shield: While their miscommunication over the past months or so has been well-documented, The Shield were in unison in the ring against both the Intercontinental Champion Big E. Langston and the WWE Tag Team Champions Cody Rhodes and Goldust. With the Royal Rumble this weekend, you can expect big things from the trio, even if it is the end of the faction. All three have excellent potential and this Sunday could be the beginning of one of their careers as a singles star.

2: Randy Orton: He’s a spoiled brat and you hate him, but that’s exactly what the WWE wants you to do. Orton may not be the best WWE Champion ever, but he’s certainly not overrated and he’s a top-notch performer. His match with John Cena at the Royal Rumble will be solid and although he’s still not the presence on the mic his father was, he’s still one of the most valuable assets the company has. More than anything this week on RAW, Orton proved once again that he can work with the best in the company.

1: Daniel Bryan: Even though he didn’t perform this week, Bryan’s entrance and promo proved he’s still the top face in the company right now. The World Title may not be in his sights right now, but his feud with Bray Wyatt is one of the best in the company.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13889 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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