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A highly unlikely three ties in the Wrestler Wrankings Top Ten this week. Let's look at the circumstances surrounding each one.
In 8th place, Christian and Ryback are tied at 32 points each.
This seems a clear instance of one wrestler on the way up and one on the way out. Christian's mini-comeback has been... fine, but now that he's exited the World Heavyweight Championship picture, he's bordering on irrelevant. Ryback, on the other hand, had just entered into a (possibly amorous) relationship with manager extraordinaire, Paul Heyman. This pairing will likely result in Ryback facing a bevy of favorable match ups before his inevitable clash with former Heyman acolyte, CM Punk. That will do wonders for a guy that was dominant in the Wrankings as recently as a year ago.
Dolph Ziggler and Rob Van Dam are tied for 5th, each with 35.5 points.
Except for the obvious age differential, these two are on remarkably similar paths. Both are looking strong in recent weeks and demanding title consideration. Both also had strong showings on RAW with Ziggler besting a game Dean Ambrose and RVD outclassing Damien Sandow. Look for these two to maintain a strong presence in the Wrankings.
That leaves Daniel Bryan and Alberto Del Rio deadlocked atop the Wrankings with 67.5 points.
There's not much new to be said about Daniel Bryan and his well documented struggle against Triple H. What is being under-reported is the lengthy title reign that Alberto Del Rio has put together, despite considerable tumult in his professional life with the loss of personal ring announcer and confidant Ricardo Rodriguez. Del Rio isn't receiving the same type of accolades that Sheamus got for his run with the belt last year, but he has been nearly as dominant as the Irishman.
The nature of professional sports demands that these ties will soon be broken and it's entirely possible that none of these pairings will even be close to each other in score by the end of the year, but that won't make it any less significant that these great wrestlers crossed paths at least for one week.
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OFFICIAL WRESTLER WRANKINGS FORMULA
ANY WIN = 2 POINTS
US OR INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE BOUT = 1 POINT
WWE OR WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE BOUT = 3 POINTS
NON "BIG 4" PPV BONUS = 1.5X
SUMMERSLAM, SURVIVOR SERIES, ROYAL RUMBLE = 2X BONUS
WRESTLEMANIA = 3X BONUS
The WWE season begins on the day after WrestleMania 29 and culminates with WrestleMania 30. The wrestler who accumulates the most points over the course of the season, wins the coveted Wrankings Championship!
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Night of Champions-- 9/15/13 (1.5x PPV bonus incloded below)
Monday Night RAW -- 9/16/13
Main Event -- 9/18/13
SmackDown -- 9/20/13
WRESTLER WRANKINGS, WEEK 24 *TOP TEN*
T1. ALBERTO DEL RIO -- 67.5 points
T1. DANIEL BRYAN -- 67.5 points
3. Randy Orton -- 62.5
4. Curtis Axel -- 53
T5. Dolph Ziggler -- 35.5
T5. Rob Van Dam -- 35.5
7. Miz – 33
T8. Christian -- 32
T8. Ryback -- 32
10. John Cena -- 31.5
Thanks for reading Cagesiders. We'll see you back here next week!