wrestling / Columns

411’s WWE RPI Rankings 08.17.13

August 17, 2013 | Posted by MP Schroeder

Click here for the entire spreadsheet containing win/loss records and detailed calculations for the past two months.

Overview of this week’s rankings
John Cena remains at the top of the RPI rankings for a fourth straight week. Cena is undefeated in the last two months having competed in 5 matches. Randy Orton, 2nd in this week’s rankings, has competed in 20 mathces while Daniel Bryan, 3rd in this week’s rankings, has competed in 18 matches making these two some of the hardest workers in WWE today. Perhaps if John Cena competed on TV more, he wouldn’t be susceptible to elbow injuries. Just a thought…

For being a Money in the Bank winner, Damien Sandow did not have the greatest of weeks what with loses to Christian and Randy Orton. While his match with Orton on Raw was entertaining and the commentary provided by Cody Rhodes furthered their storyline heading into SummerSlam, WWE has a history of burying MITB winners for quite some time after they secure the briefcase. From a face/heel perspective, this only makes sense for faces. By having them consistently lose, we begin to cheer for them more because we know they have the potential and the opportunity to win the championship. But to have a heel consistently lose? What does this accomplish storyline-wise? Sandow’s recent loses have further sunk his RPI to 23rd overall and a win-loss record of 4 wins, 10 losses over the last two months.

Rob Van Dam has been impressive since his return and has gained the most in the last 4 weeks. He leaped from 14th to 7th overall in this week’s rankings with his win in the 20-man battle royal. By facing Dean Ambrose on the SummerSlam preshow, these two have a big opportunity to steal the show before it’s even started! Speaking of the Shield, the three members remain high in RPI rankings. However, is it just me or do they seem aimless at the moment. I mean, Reigns and Rollins aren’t even booked to defend the Tag Team titles! The bottom half of the RPI rankings are ripe with superstars with no real creative direction. Here’s hoping the same doesn’t come to the Shield which would plummet them down the rankings.

WWE Superstar RPI Ranking Winning % Win-Loss-Draw Record

1) John Cena

70.7

1.000

5-0-0

2) Randy Orton

62.7

0.625

10-7-3

3) Daniel Bryan

61.9

0.806

14-3-1

4) Seth Rollins

61.4

0.615

8-5-0

5) Roman Reigns

60.8

0.625

7-4-1

6) Chris Jericho

60.4

0.625

7-4-1

7) Rob Van Dam

59.6

0.778

6-3-0

8) Alberto Del Rio

59.3

0.528

8-7-3

9) CM Punk

59.2

0.889

7-0-2

10) Christian

57.4

0.789

15-4-0

11) Dean Ambrose

56.9

0.417

5-7-0

12) Kane

56.5

0.727

8-3-0

13) Ryback

56.3

0.500

5-5-0

14) Curtis Axel

53.8

0.833

12-2-1

15) The Miz

53.1

0.667

6-3-0

16) Mark Henry

52.8

0.571

4-3-0

17) Sheamus

51.0

0.682

7-3-1

18) Antonio Cesaro

48.4

0.583

7-5-0

19) Jimmy Uso

47.6

0.625

10-6-0

20) Cody Rhodes

47.2

0.333

4-8-0

21) Wade Barrett

47.1

0.200

3-12-0

22) Jey Uso

46.6

0.588

10-7-0

23) Damien Sandow

46.3

0.357

4-10-0

24) Big E Langston

46.1

0.500

4-4-0

25) Fandango

46.0

0.273

3-8-0

26) Dolph Ziggler

45.3

0.583

7-5-0

27) The Great Khali

45.0

0.600

3-2-0

28) Tensai

44.9

0.250

2-6-0

29) Jack Swagger

44.7

0.200

2-8-0

30) Brodus Clay

42.8

0.222

2-7-0

31) Titus O’Neil

41.5

0.300

3-7-0

32) Kofi Kingston

40.3

0.500

2-2-0

33) Heath Slater

40.1

0.227

2-8-1

34) Jinder Mahal

39.0

0.000

0-4-0

35) Sin Cara

38.2

0.250

2-7-1

36) R-Truth

36.5

0.400

2-3-0

37) Drew McIntyre

36.5

0.000

0-9-0

38) Darren Young

36.5

0.167

2-10-0

39) Justin Gabriel

35.3

0.188

1-6-1

40) Zack Ryder

32.4

0.143

1-6-0

WWE Divas RPI Ranking Winning % Win-Loss-Draw Record

1) AJ Lee

58.6

0.611

5-3-1

2) Layla

58.2

0.917

5-0-1

3) Naomi

57.4

0.333

1-2-0

4) Natalya

53.6

0.667

6-3-0

5) Alicia Fox

51.7

0.300

1-3-1

6) Kaitlyn

41.9

0.458

5-6-1

7) Aksana

37.9

0.000

0-4-0

Top ten movers over the last 4 weeks

Gainers Sliders
1) Rob Van Dam +2.4 1) Justin Gabriel -2.4
2) The Great Khali +2.3 2) Kane -2.4
3) Zack Ryder +1.8 3) R-Truth -2.1
4) Wade Barrett +1.7 4) Curtis Axel -1.7
5) John Cena +1.6 5) Jimmy Uso -1.6
6) Antonio Cesaro +1.2 6) Jey Uso -1.5
7) Dean Ambrose +1.1 7) Darren Young -1.5
8) Ryback +1.1 8) Titus O’Neil -1.3
9) The Miz +1.0 9) Roman Reigns -1.0
10) Chris Jericho +0.9 10) Sin Cara -0.6

RPI Explained
The ratings percentage index (RPI; out of 100) is a method which ranks teams or individuals based upon their wins, losses and strength of schedule. It is used by the NCAA to aid in the selecting and seeding of teams appearing in tournaments such as basketball’s March Madness.

Why are RPI rankings superior to simple win-loss records? Imagine a superstar that wins matches only against jobbers. Sure, their win/loss record will be stellar but by facing opponents who always lose, their RPI will not be as high as a superstar who wins half their matches but always faces opponents with stellar win/loss records. Using a statistically valid approach to examine WWE superstars will allow fans to determine if their favorite wrestler is being booked appropriately and whether their stock is rising or falling.

The factors involved are:
* 1) the superstar’s winning percentage (25%)
* 2) the average winning percentage of the superstar’s opponents (50%)
* 3) the average winning percentage of the superstar’s opponents’ opponents (25%)

Win-loss records are calculated for every WWE superstar over the past 2 months from Monday Night Raw, Smackdown, Superstars, Main Event, Saturday Morning Slam, and pay-per-views. Superstars must have competed in at least 3 matches over the past 2 months to be included in the overall RPI rankings.

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MP Schroeder

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