Wrestling Inc. Prestige Rankings 10/27/23: Rating Pro Wrestling's Top 25 Performers

Welcome to the third installment of Wrestling Inc.'s weekly ... well, we were calling them Power Rankings, but that was just misdirection. Internally, the first time, we referred to them as Pledge Rankings. Then in the second week, we added an exciting new element in the form of external data, resulting in the Turn Rankings. Now, we are finally ready to reveal the truth, and formally present you with what we are now calling Wrestling Inc.'s weekly Prestige Rankings!

Okay, magician's tricks and 17-year-old Christopher Nolan film references aside, some of you were still a little confused by the fact that we've been calling these "power rankings," so we changed the name for the sake of transparency. This is not a ranking of the wrestlers who win the most matches, sell the most merchandise, or main event the most pay-per-views. This is a ranking of the wrestlers who you, the WINC readership, and other wrestling fans around the world, pay the most attention to. In the past week, which active talent have drawn you in, whether because of what they did in the ring or because of something that happened in the real world? (In wrestling, it's usually a combination of the two). Whose names have you mentioned in the presence of a casual, lapsed, or latent wrestling fan and made them say "Oh, I've heard of them"? Which wrestlers, in short, command the most prestige from fans across the globe at this particular moment in time?

It's about time we found out. As always, please feel free to leave your feedback in the comments!

Last Friday night started off great for Bayley, as she and Dakota Kai helped IYO SKY retain her Women's Championship against Charlotte Flair. However, she found herself on the receiving end of a KOD from Bianca Belair, as the latter made her return to WWE after taking some time off.

Nia Jax enters the Prestige Rankings for the first time after cutting one of her better career promos on "Raw" during one of the better contract signing segments in history. As she gears up for Crown Jewel and its five-way Women's World Championship match, Jax's profile is the highest it's been since her explosive return to WWE.

"The EST of WWE" finds herself among the top 25 for the first time following her return on the October 20 episode of "WWE SmackDown" after a two-month hiatus. Bianca Belair also spoke to Keke Palmer and reflected on how Mark Henry recruited her to WWE and why she didn't know what she was getting into at first.

Asuka started the month of October pretty busy — she faced both the WWE Women's Champion IYO SKY and Charlotte Flair on October 7 at the WWE premium live event Fastlane. A few days later on the October 10 edition of "WWE NXT," she made her "NXT" in-ring return, defeating Roxanne Perez in the process. 

Though the second half of October has been quieter for "The Empress of Tomorrow," fans know that she is biding her time until she gets another chance to face SKY again for the WWE Women's Championship.

Last week, it was reported that when Mercedes Mone finally returns from her ankle injury, which she suffered back in May, Mone will likely challenge current NJPW STRONG Women's Champion Giulia, and that popularity seems to have carried her through to this week's Prestige Rankings, though the former IWGP Women's Champion slid from #16 to #21.

Will Ospreay has been racking up wins since the beginning of the month, defeating Chris Jericho and The Golden Lovers in a Trios Match at AEW WrestleDream, retaining his NJPW United States Heavyweight Champion match over Zack Sabre Jr. at Royal Quest III, and defeating "Speedball" Mike Bailey at Impact's Bound for Glory this past Saturday.

Inside the ring, he's in the middle of what most believe to be a slow-burn heel turn that could finally catch fire during or after his World Heavyweight Championship match at Crown Jewel; outside the ring, Drew McIntyre's impending 2024 contract expiration remains a major topic of speculation. Between the two, it's no surprise that Drew McIntyre's prestige is on the ascent.

"Dirty Dom" was knocked down a few spots this week, perhaps for his lack of in-ring presence. He did, however, appear on "WWE Raw" alongside Logan Paul to discuss their shared disdain for Rey Mysterio. Dominik's second "NXT" North American Championship reign may be in jeopardy, as he is preparing to defend against Nathan Frazer during the second night on "NXT" Halloween Havoc on October 31.

During last week's episode of "AEW Dynamite," Chris Jericho acknowledged his defeat against Powerhouse Hobbs two weeks prior, but "The Ocho" won't let the loss get him down, because he teased that he has a friend who is "bigger" than Hobbs. While Jericho is in the middle of dealing with Hobbs and the rest of the Don Callis family, he still has time to show off his acting chops this past Sunday: his new television film, "Country Hearts" premiered on the UPtv channel.

Jade Cargill has been the talk of the wrestling world and made a regal appearance at "WWE NXT" on Tuesday, watching Lyra Valkyria dethrone WWE NXT Women's Champion Becky Lynch, but there's clearly a bit of Cargill fatigue from all the coverage, as the former AEW TBS Champion has dropped from #6 to #16 in this week's Prestige Rankings.

Although Saraya hasn't wrestled since October 10 when she lost her AEW Women's World Championship to Hikaru Shida, she has been quite active on her X account. Perhaps the most notable of her posts came a couple of weeks ago when she shared what the photo of her, Bryan Danielson, and Edge standing in the ring together meant to her after the latter posted it on his own page. 

Seth Rollins might be the World Heavyweight Champion, but he hasn't wrestled since WWE Fastlane, and there's a sense within the wrestling fandom that his title reign might be nearing its end, whether via a loss to Drew McIntyre at WWE Fastlane or a cash-in by Señor Money in the Bank, Damian Priest (or quite possibly both).

Rey Mysterio makes his Prestige Rankings debut with a splash at #13. The WWE Hall of Famer made headlines this week when Logan Paul called him out for a United States Championship match at WWE Crown Jewel. Despite still performing at a high level, the masked legend is not shying away from retirement conversations as he approaches age 50.

Adam Copeland's run in All Elite Wrestling isn't going exactly like he thought — and he's fallen in the rankings just like Jade Cargill — seeing that he wanted to tag again with his "best friend" Christian Cage. Since Copeland's debut in AEW at WrestleDream, he's been dealing with the TNT Champion's rejection. Copeland doesn't want to take their drama to the ring either, he revealed that on this past Wednesday's episode of "AEW Dynamite," which dumbfounded both Cage's enemies — Sting and Darby Allin. That doesn't mean that Copeland won't face Cage's cohorts; his last match, the October 10 episode of "AEW Dynamite," saw him defeat Lucharasus.  

Jey Uso is the center of animosity between the "Raw" and "SmackDown" brands, with "Raw" recently trading former WWE Universal Champion Kevin Owens to "SmackDown" in return for the wayward member of the Anoa'i Dynasty. Uso may not have been successful in his match against Damian Priest on Monday, but the former WWE Undisputed Tag Team Champion's stock is climbing in the Prestige Rankings, as he rises from #17 to #11.

Becky Lynch week started off on a high note, retaining her "NXT" Women's Championship against Indi Hartwell on "Raw" this past Monday. However, things took a turn when she was dethroned by Lyra Valkyria the following night during the main event of Night One of "Halloween Havoc." That hasn't prevented her stock rising in the Wrestling Inc. Prestige Rankings.

Grayson Waller has a long way to go before becoming an actual name superstar in the wrestling business, but he's certainly in the conversation right now after he jumped head-first into the national Taylor Swift/Travis Kelce discourse. Some might call doing battle with the Swifties during the Eras tour a fool's errand akin to invading Russia in the winter, but it seems to be working out for Waller — at least in terms of prestige.

Sting made waves last week when he announced that he intends to retire at AEW Revolution 2024 — the same pay-per-view at which he returned to action in 2021 after an initial five-year retirement. "The Icon" reunited with a familiar face in Ric Flair on this week's "AEW Dynamite," which provided fans with a boost of nostalgia and Sting a boost in the conversation metrics. 

On this past Monday's episode of "WWE Raw," Cody Rhodes showed the locker room that you can't beat him down so easily. Earlier on the October 23 episode, Judgment Day's Damian Priest took two steel chairs to Rhodes' ankle, but Rhodes still limped down to save his fellow former tag team champion Jey Uso from Priest and the other Judgment Day members. "The American Nightmare" will look to get his revenge on Priest in singles action at WWE Crown Jewel on November 4. 

It looks like the GOAT isn't unbeatable after all.

The longer the SAG-AFTRA strike continues, the longer John Cena will seemingly be around to give LA Knight as many stamps of approval as humanly possible. While Wrestling Inc. readers got plenty of anecdotes about Cena, as well as the lingering momentum from his most recent segment on "SmackDown" a couple of weeks ago, Cena drops from #1 to #6. Though he's not at the forefront of people's minds at the moment, his top 10 Prestige Ranking suggests he's still soundly in the conversation.

Logan Paul has made quite the splash since returning to WWE last Friday on "SmackDown", coming face-to-face with Rey Mysterio and challenging him for his United States Championship at WWE Crown Jewel. He then found an ally in Dominik Mysterio on "Raw" this past Monday but was blindsided by an attack at the hands of Ricochet after having some choice words for the latter's fiancée, Samantha Irvin.

It's singularly appropriate that Randy Kyle Orton's debut in these rankings comes from out of nowhere, just like his RKO finisher. He's been out of action for more than a year, the rumors that he could be back as soon as November have been circulating for two weeks, and yet, here he is. Between this sudden appearance from "The Viper" and a significant rise from someone who ranked even higher this week, it seems wrestling fans are already thinking about what surprise returns could be in store for them come Survivor Series.

Despite not appearing on television again this week, Roman Reigns holds on to the #3 spot as his next title defense at WWE Crown Jewel looms. "The Tribal Chief" did, however, take to social media to remind his challenger LA Knight that there's only one "megastar" — the one who's held the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship for over 1,100 days.

Former AEW star CM Punk has long since proved that he doesn't have to be in the ring to still keep wrestling fans talking about him — either good or bad. In the most recent news, Punk was reportedly backstage last Sunday for Impact Wrestling's TV tapings in Chicago — a day after Impact's Bound For Glory pay-per-view, to give out advice to talent. The move definitely got the wrestling world abuzz, wondering if Punk will return to WWE at Survivor Series.

It's not like she hasn't told us all plenty of times: Mami's always on top!

It's Rhea Ripley's world and the rest of us are just living in it. The WWE Women's World Champion is not only being talked about more and more as the leader of Judgment Day but she also topped the Pro Wrestling Illustrated's list of the Top 250 Women in professional wrestling, further cementing her status as the woman, and the wrestler, of the moment, and nudging her from #4 to the top spot of this week's Prestige Rankings.