Chairshot Weekly Brainbuster: Matt’s Power Rankings 11/1/19

We bring to you the fifth installment of the scientific approach to wrestling power rankings!

Welcome to the fifth weekly Chairshot Brainbuster Power Rankings!

This week, we are discussing the week of 10/24-10/31! We will be comparing WWE (RAW and SDL), NXT (NXT and NXT UK), AEW, and NJPW! Who had the biggest week?

These rankings are very much based on momentum as well as strength of opponent, weighing out “power rankings” based on head to head results. Each week, I will discuss five difference makers in wrestling and, using science, prove why they had the best week in wrestling! Greg DeMarco and I will compare our lists, giving you all two different types of power rankings!

This week I am going to try a new format, because after preparing this article like I have in the past, I realized that I did not like the trend I was seeing in the style in which I prepared. Notably, if nothing of note happens in any promotion during a week, this list will end up highlighting the biggest upsets each week. While that is something worth discussing, it was not the original intention of this project. I wanted to show who made the biggest impact, who gained the most momentum, not just who had the biggest upsets. I will still be using the same formula, and same rankings though.

1) AEW Tag Team Champions S.C.U. (Kazarian & Scorpio Sky) +20 [54 Overall Team Score]
S.C.U. defeats The Lucha Bros, [vacant championship], AEW Dynamite

Immediately out of the gate, I’m going to tell you this team was in my Top 5 with the old system, but there was no doubt in my mind the winner of this match was going to rank highly. I discussed it last week talking about both of these teams wins in the semi-finals. S.C.U. are the new AEW Tag Team Champions after outlasting three teams in the tournament. I really thought the Lucha Bros were going to win, so color me shocked. They held a small advantage going in, with a 51.9% chance to win, but it was SCU’s night. SCU finds themselves atop AEW’s tag team division both statistically and literally.

2) Io Shirai +13 [67 Overall Score]
Io Shirai defeats Candice LeRae, NXT 

I just love the Evil Genius. She’s such a great worker, and she is so captivating as a heel. This wasn’t as good as their match at Takeover Toronto, but it was still very enjoyable. This rivalry is red hot. The culmination of this match and events later on in the night led to the first ever women’s WarGames match, so Shirai heads into that match on a high note and also throws her name in the hat that she is arguably the top contender for Shayna Baszler’s NXT Women’s Championship!

3) US Champion AJ Styles +17 [34 Overall Score]
AJ Styles defeats Humberto Carrillo, WWE RAW

Using my original concept, AJ Styles found himself on the Runner Up list, and that is one of the reasons I’m changing direction here. Styles’s current run has been marred with alot of losses for him and his teammates, and he’s been made to look bad week after week, thus his low score. He’s no where near the Top 10 Men’s list in the company, so that’s why this win was important. It got Styles back on the right track. This is his first singles match in 6 weeks, the fact the US Champion isn’t featured more is a shame. But, here he was in the main event of RAW! Styles has a busy week, because he had to defend the championship four days later against an opponent he can’t prepare for. As of the writing of this article, the match has not happened yet.

4) The Elite (Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson, Nick Jackson) +16 [15 Overall Trio Score]
“The Elite” defeats Angelico, Jack Evans, & Kip Sabian, AEW Dynamite

I get to discuss The Elite and AJ Styles in the same article! While this was only the second pairing of The Elite in AEW, it proved to be an important moment for the founding fathers of the company. They were absolutely winning this match, which was a lot closer statistically than in anyone’s mind, but Kenny Omega and the Bucks needed this win to say they matter in a company where wins and losses matter. With Omega [+14] and The Bucks [-2] failing to gain any momentum, they came together and came out on top with Full Gear just a week away! Also announced was that Kenny Omega’s match with Jon Moxley was official and it was going to be an Unsanctioned match! Moxley wrestled to a time limit draw last week, so barring next week, Omega has all the momentum!

5) Cameron Grimes +18 [64 Overall Score]
Cameron Grimes defeats Tyler Bate, NXT

The Big Strong Boy faced off against the runner up of the Breakout Tournament, and what a match we had! I loved the pacing of this weeks episode of NXT, they had only 5 matches compared to their usual 7 and it made a huge difference overall and gave this match time to breath. I definitely thought Bate was going to win here, but Grimes picked up the win. He stomped his way up the rankings, and while he’s still outside the Top 10, he’s piling up victories. The magic number for championship opportunities seems to be around an 80 Overall Score, so Grimes could find himself in a championship match very soon!

Runners Up:

6) WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka & Kairi Sane) +13, [83 Overall Team Score]
*7) IWGP Champion Kazuchika Okada +6 [314 Overall Score]
(This entry should have been added last week, but I had not yet updated NJPW yet)