The road to WrestleMania 31 is well underway and various feuds and storylines continued this week on Monday Night RAW, which emanated from the Prudential Center in New Jersey.
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The WWE is continuing the countdown to the biggest show of the 2015 and there is nothing more valuable for WWE Superstars this time of year than getting screen time and utilizing it to propel them to the top of the storylines.
Some Superstars come out of this week's edition of RAW looking great while others had some hardships along the way.
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Here are the weekly Sports World News power rankings for this week's edition of the WWE's flagship show:
10) Curtis Axel: The son of Mr. Perfect may have lost his match to John Cena, but you can tell the crowd is really starting to get behind his new shtick of not being eliminated from the Royal Rumble Match. Axel saying he's been in the Rumble Match "for 35 days now" is a hilarious bit that should hopefully continue as "Axelmania" continues to run wild.
9) Roman Reigns: Not a great night for the No. 1 contender for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Not only were the reactions poor for the WWE's golden boy on RAW, but he also lost a singles match to Seth Rollins after a distraction from Randy Orton. Losing matches just 27 days before the biggest bout of his life doesn't bode well for the leader of the "Roman Empire."
8) John Cena: The "Cenation" leader may have gotten a win over Axel, but overall Monday wasn't kind to him. Not only did Stephanie McMahon talk him down and emasculate him by threatening to keep him off the WrestleMania card, but Cena also still doesn't have a rematch booked with Rusev and pondered entering the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal.
7) Paige: The WWE Diva got a measure of revenge on The Bella Twins, and picked up a huge win against Divas Champion Nikki Bella -- albeit by disqualification. Paige seemed to have the title won when Brie Bella interfered, giving her a good argument for a rematch down the line.
6) Daniel Bryan: It's disappointing that the singles match between "The Beard" and "The Showoff" Dolph Ziggler appears to be canceled, but Bryan has made the most of it. Bryan notched a big win over Luke Harper to keep his momentum up as he is expected to be in the Intercontinental Championship Ladder Match at WrestleMania.
5) Rusev: The United States Champion didn't have any in-ring action this week, but he did have a great promo where he talked down to the fans and ripped John Cena. The mighty Russian once again said no when asked for a rematch by the face of the WWE.
4) Bray Wyatt: "The Eater of Worlds" has been unstoppable on the microphone lately and once again he cut a passionate and creepy promo about The Undertaker. Wyatt said he would walk through hell to see The Undertaker's face and set a casket on fire, saying everything -- including the Deadman -- burns with him at WrestleMania. If only The Streak was intact for this.
3) AJ Lee: After a three-month hiatus, the three-time WWE Divas Champion made her return in her home state of New Jersey on RAW. Lee helped Paige thwart off The Bella Twins after her Divas Championship match, sparking what should lead to an interesting tag team match at WrestleMania 31. Lee also stuck a nice, "give Divas a chance" dig into her promo.
2) Dean Ambrose: Another big win for the "Lunatic Fringe" as he defeated Bad News Barrett -- who has been booked oddly as Intercontinental Champion -- in a non-title match. Ambrose hit Dirty Deeds after Barrett was distracted to get the win and some much needed momentum heading into the Ladder Match. It still would have been nice to see an Ambrose/Barrett one-on-one Ladder Match and a separate Bryan/Ziggler bout, but the WWE needs to fit everyone on the card. Then again, what's the battle royal for?
1) Seth Rollins: "Mr. Money in the Bank" has helped keep RAW afloat in the absence of part-time WWE Champion Brock Lesnar, and he did it yet again on Monday night. Not only was Rollins involved in a huge segment with The Daily Show host Jon Stewart, but he also got a win over Roman Reigns to boot. Picking up a pinfall victory over the No. 1 contender for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship gives huge bragging rights to Rollins, if not harming Reigns at the same time. Could a cash in be looming at WrestleMania 31?
Coming out of Monday Night RAW, here is the updated card for WrestleMania 31 on March 29 at Levi's Stadium in California with only the matches that have been officially announced by the WWE:
WWE World Heavyweight Championship:
Brock Lesnar (c) w/ Paul Heyman vs. Roman Reigns
Icon vs. Icon:
Sting vs. Triple H
2nd Annual Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal:
Participants: The Miz, Curtis Axel, Ryback, Fandango, Adam Rose, Zack Ryder, Jack Swagger, Titus O'Neil, Darren Young and TBD
WWE Intercontinental Championship Six-man Ladder Match:
Bad News Barrett (c) vs. R-Truth vs. TBD
***Note: Dean Ambrose, Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler, Luke Harper and Sheamus are likely additions
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