Power Rankings — Week of November 12, 2023
Welcome to the Midcarder Power Rankings. Every week, our wrestling experts—Cameron Carstensen, David Carstensen, and Justin Glazner—will rank the top wrestlers in the world in order from No. 1 to No. 25. We’re taking into account recent performance, championship reign, win/loss records, backstage shenanigans, message board buzz, and much more to rank the top performers, every week. This week, Hangman Adam Page drinks Swerve Strickland's blood, Rhea Ripley seduces Drew McIntyre to the Dark Side, and Cody Rhodes re-enters the Bloodline chat. Did your favorite crack the rankings this week? Find out below.
Welcome to the most accurate wrestler power rankings on the World Wide Web:
01
01
LAST WEEK
25-5
2023 TV RECORD
Seth Rollins
World Heavyweight Champion
No match? No problem. Seth's in WarGames against the Judgment Day. We've also got continued implied beef with Cody Rhodes. Will that be a factor at Survivor Series? Is his back going to hold up? What in God's name will he wear on the Premium Live Event? Still the top talent on RAW. We'll see how it goes on Saturday. — JG
02
02
LAST WEEK
20-14
2023 TV RECORD
LA Knight
No match, no... wait, we just did that. Knight's still the top character when he's present on SmackDown. He's also not on the Survivor Series card as of this writing. I think we need a match on SmackDown and/or a Premium Live Event appearance at this point, or he may tick down the rankings just a bit. Did I say that right? YEAH! — JG
03
13
+10
LAST WEEK
14-7
2023 TV RECORD
Drew McIntyre
Exploding into the Top 3 like a Claymore, Drew McIntyre’s decision to (temporarily?) help Rhea Ripley and Judgment Day could breath new life into a character that has been trapped in arrested development since 2021. With future matchups against Seth Rollins, Cody Rhodes and others now unlocked for the heel McIntyre, perhaps he’ll find a permanent place in the Top 5. — DC
04
8
+4
LAST WEEK
17-3
2023 TV RECORD
Rhea Ripley
Coming in at No. 4 this week, Rhea Ripley becomes the first woman to break into our Top 5. With her convincing Drew McIntyre to help Judgment Day on RAW, Mami remains the glue that keeps Judgment Day together, even though cracks are beginning to widen. Is her focus on Judgment Day business going to cost her against Zoey Stark at Survivor Series? — CC
05
NA
LAST WEEK
14-14
2023 TV RECORD
Swerve Strickland
Coming off weeks of solid performances and a hyper violent Texas Death Match against Hangman Adam Page at Full Gear, Swerve Strickland has Nana’d his way into this week’s Top 5. Suddenly, his feud with Hangman is in the running for Feud of the Year, and the hottest thing going in AEW. Should his momentum continue, Swerve could see himself stapled to the very top of the Power Rankings. — DC
06
NA
LAST WEEK
13-9
2023 TV RECORD
Hangman Adam Page
Hangman Adam Page is really starting to define himself by his hardcore matches. And this week was no exception. That Texas Death Match was insane. Hangman and Swerve seem like they were made to feud with each other, and could be destined to fight forever. Honestly, it made me queasy. I’m feeling queasy writing about it. This was some real Cowboy %&$^. — CC
07
09
+2
LAST WEEK
22-5
2023 TV RECORD
Cody Rhodes
Whoa-oh! Cody Rhodes continues to climb the rankings, clocking in this week at the No. 7 spot. With several segments on RAW building to WarGames, and a surprise appearance on SmackDown that inserted him into the LA Knight-Bloodline feud, the son of the son of a plumber may soon be battling the Megastar to see who gets Roman Reigns at WrestleMania. — DC
08
03
-5
LAST WEEK
5-2
2023 TV RECORD
Roman Reigns
Undisputed WWE Universal Champion
We need to face facts. For a while, it's cool to have the Bloodline keeping Roman Reigns around via TV mentions, it's fun to have Paul Heyman use his Google Voice Assistant (that is an Android, right?) to "Call Roman Reigns"... but at some point... the champ has to actually be present. He hasn't been. He's not on Survivor Series. We don't know if he's going to even be on SmackDown. It's going to be really awkward if the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion slides off the list by absence. It's already awkward that the 2nd highest Champion here, amongst them all, only ranks eighth this week. — JG
09
10
+1
LAST WEEK
94-66
2023 TV RECORD
Judgment Day
No matches, no... this is becoming a theme, isn't it. Well, there's a kinda big match coming up involving the male elements of the group in a caged double ring. Might be a main event, I think. Heard it's a Premium Live Event, too. The JD (not McDonagh) is still all over RAW, though, and considering the slides down, they move up here en route to the Survivor Series. — JG
10
07
-3
LAST WEEK
42-8
2023 TV RECORD
Orange Cassidy
AEW International Champion
Despite several setbacks and unfortunate events that delayed the Jon Moxley rematch, Orange Cassidy turned oranges into orange juice and came out of the Moxley feud elevated. Had Swerve and Hangman not stolen the show with blood and violence, OC would have walked away with the Match of the Night at Full Gear. — CC
11
15
+4
LAST WEEK
41-8
2023 TV RECORD
Will Ospreay
IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion
Let's get it out of the way: "Bruv." There, let's continue and not say that again this week. With the blessing of New Japan Pro Wrestling, Ospreay's been allowed to make a deal with AEW so long as he finishes his existing commitments - and surely he will be allowed to do occasional shows with NJPW down the road. At the media scrum, he praised MJF and a few others, but most notably, he wants to run it back in a rematch with the Editor-in-Chief's personal favorite (sarcasm) in Switchblade Jay White. Buckle up. — JG
12
04
-8
LAST WEEK
20-18
2023 TV RECORD
Sami Zayn
I don't like to see Sami slide down the rankings. He's got upsides here: like others above, he's in the Men's WarGames match. He got a DQ win on RAW. And yet one of the most dynamic and enjoyable characters on the show is lost in the middle somehow. I'd like to see this change. Please let this change. Soon. — JG
13
17
+4
LAST WEEK
38-49
2023 TV RECORD
Damage CTRL
Damage CTRL continue their ascension up the Power Rankings, after officially adding Asuka and Kairi Sane to the group (Don’t worry guys, they’re being put on the shirts). And with a win on SmackDown against Charlotte Flair and Bianca Belair, a tease about Bayley’s fit, and a WarGames match set for Survivor Series, don't expect Damage CTRL to fall off anytime soon. — DC
14
18
+4
LAST WEEK
16-8
2023 TV RECORD
Becky Lynch
Who is “Becky Lynch at No. 14” for $500. Despite a somewhat embarrassing appearance on Celebrity Jeopardy!, Becky finds herself four spots higher this week. And after attacking Xia Li on RAW, The Man received an unlikely phone call and invite to join her frienemy Charlotte Flair in WarGames. This could be fun for Big Time Becks. — DC
15
05
-10
LAST WEEK
18-7
2023 TV RECORD
Gunther
WWE Intercontinental Champion
Gunther was here. Gunther needled The Miz with some backhanded praise. And that was Gunther's week. He's capable of delivering so much more in the ring and on the microphone. We need to see more next week. Having such prominent champions so low in the rankings is leaving me a little grumpy, but we have to keep it fair. — JG
16
06
-10
LAST WEEK
12-11
2023 TV RECORD
Shinsuke Nakamura
Shinsuke Nakamura fell a crazy 10 spots this week but I trust we’ll see him back inside the Top 10 after Survivor Series. Nakamura has been consistently great in his vignettes, and the continued teases towards a mystery opponent has kept fans intrigued. — CC
17
20
+3
LAST WEEK
25-6
2023 TV RECORD
Samoa Joe
A squash on Dynamite, a deal with MJF at Collision and a successful ROH Tag Team Championship defense at Full Gear lands Samoa Joe at No. 17 this week. Joe may no longer be the ROH TV Champion and "King of Television", however, a renewed focus on capturing the AEW World Heavyweight Championship has made him must-watch TV Wednesday and Saturday nights. — DC
18
14
-4
LAST WEEK
23-16
2023 TV RECORD
Dominik Mysterio
Dominik Mysterio and Judgment Day have quite a lot going in their favor at the moment. The anticipation WWE has been building up for the WarGames match has grown each week, as fans look forward to seeing Dirty Dom compete. A tag team loss against Seth Rollins and Sami Zayn did push Mysterio a little down the rankings. — CC
19
11
-8
LAST WEEK
2-3
2023 TV RECORD
Logan Paul
WWE United States Champion
Still MIA after winning the WWE United States Championship two weeks ago has led to a slide down the rankings for Logan Paul. Should he continue being a part-time attraction, both his championship reign and his position in the rankings could suffer damage. — DC
20
25
+5
LAST WEEK
8-10
2023 TV RECORD
Dragon Lee
Dragon Lee flies in at No. 20 this week, after a show stealing performance on SmackDown against NXT’s Axiom (Seriously, go watch this). And with obvious interest in establishing Lee as the next Rey Mysterio, expect more of this Luchador every Friday night. — DC
21
12
-9
LAST WEEK
20-3
2023 TV RECORD
MJF
AEW World Heavyweight Champion
Somehow MJF finds himself even further down our rankings, despite winning two matches at Full Gear. His feud against Jay White and the Bullet Club Gold did nothing to elevate him, his opponents or the AEW World Heavyweight Championship. MJF needs to quickly rebound before these misfires stain his Championship run. — CC
22
16
-6
LAST WEEK
49-20
2023 TV RECORD
Alex Shelley
IMPACT World Champion
When a champion doesn't appear on a show, it runs the risk of dropping the champion in the rankings. When that champion is on a very unprominent show, that risk is greater. That's what's happened to our Time Splitting Motor City Machine Gun this week. We know he's good, he's really good, after all these years, extremely good. But we have to see something. This week, unfortunately, we didn't. — JG
23
19
-4
LAST WEEK
5-6
2023 TV RECORD
Christian Cage
AEW TNT Champion
How's wrestling's dad? Well, after Full Gear, probably tired of running. He abandoned his (wrestling) children fleeing Adam Copeland. After he catches his breath, though, he's still your AEW TNT Champion and fit as a fiddle - possibly a few pounds lighter after his marathon sprint out of the arena. It'll be interesting to see how Luchasaurus and Nick Wayne treat him when he's next seen - likely live on Dynamite. — JG
24
NA
LAST WEEK
20-10
2023 TV RECORD
Toni Storm
AEW World Women's Champion
We are now in the Timeless era. With a win against Hikaru Shida at Full Gear, Toni Storm has become a three-time AEW World Women’s Champion. Her new Old Hollywood character has arrived, and boosted her into one of the most entertaining women on the roster, on top of being one of the most talented in-ring performers. Here’s hoping her third reign goes better than her last two. — CC
25
NA
LAST WEEK
33-21
2023 TV RECORD
Golden Jets
The Golden Jets squeak into the Rankings this week, not for their Dynamite Like A Dragon Street Fight match, which was - at times - embarrassing, but for their Full Gear win over the Young Bucks. Now with a future Tag Team Championship shot in their hands, and a Elite breakup being teased, I can appreciate what we’ve seen so far. — CC
Honorable mentions: Devil Worshippers, Julia Hart, Josh Alexander, JD McDonagh, Jon Moxley, Xia Li, The Miz
