411’s WWE RPI Rankings 10.06.13

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

Overview of this week’s rankings
For the third straight week, YES! YES! YES! Daniel Bryan remains atop the RPI rankings followed by Randy Orton, John Cena, Mr. Monday Night Rob Van Dam and Seth Rollins (no change in the top five from last week). With Bryan and Orton’s match set for Battleground, Bryan will likely remain on top of the rankings next week. However, you wins the WWE Championship is anybody’s guess. The result could really go both ways and lead to interesting storylines either way.

Big Show, Wade Barrett and Darren Young made the single biggest jumps over the last week while Alberto Del Rio and Tons of Funk dropped the most. But looking at changes over a one week timespan can be deceiving as to who is getting pushed and who is not. Yet, when we look over the last four weeks, these same superstars (minus Del Rio) are making strides. With Darren Young, I’m surprised I haven’t seen more written about his coming out before SummerSlam. It’s a fantastic revelation but other than a few additional wins on televised programming, not much has been said and it hasn’t been a focal point. Much like with the dissolution of the Rhodes Scholars, it would be fun to see the PrimeTime Players break up and go at it. Titus O’Neil seems destined to move up the card what with his physique and mic skills (anybody remember Pancake Patterson?).

Regarding who stands to gain the most this weekend, the big winner will be R-Truth in his match against Curtis Axel. Axel has a far superior win-loss percentage (0.719) compared to Truth (0.231) and since RPI rankings are 50% based on opponent’s win-loss records, R-Truth will move up from his current 32nd spot in the rankings. Everyone else will remain pretty static where they are.

WWE Superstar	RPI Ranking	Winning %	Win-Loss-Draw Record
1) Daniel Bryan	71.7	0.868	16-2-1
2) Randy Orton	67.7	0.733	10-3-2
3) John Cena	65.7	0.667	2-1-0
4) Rob Van Dam	62.2	0.737	12-5-2
5) Seth Rollins	61.2	0.688	16-7-1
6) Christian	60.5	0.667	6-3-0
7) Roman Reigns	60.0	0.700	17-7-1
8) Bray Wyatt	58.9	1.000	3-0-0
9) Dean Ambrose	57.1	0.589	16-11-1
10) Wade Barrett	56.7	0.286	2-5-0
11) Cody Rhodes	55.7	0.667	6-3-0
12) Alberto Del Rio	55.3	0.706	12-5-0
13) Big Show	54.5	0.786	5-1-1
14) Mark Henry	53.6	0.667	4-2-0
15) Erick Rowan	52.8	1.000	6-0-0
16) Luke Harper	52.8	1.000	6-0-0
17) Kofi Kingston	52.5	0.550	11-9-0
18) Curtis Axel	52.5	0.719	11-4-1
19) Dolph Ziggler	51.2	0.364	8-14-0
20) The Miz	51.1	0.611	5-3-1
21) The Great Khali	50.1	1.000	4-0-0
22) Darren Young	49.9	0.438	7-9-0
23) Ryback	49.7	0.500	4-4-0
24) CM Punk	49.6	0.583	3-2-1
25) Jey Uso	48.8	0.556	10-8-0
26) Titus O’Neil	48.6	0.412	7-10-0
27) Santino Marella	48.1	0.875	7-1-0
28) Jimmy Uso	47.6	0.529	9-8-0
29) Antonio Cesaro	45.5	0.500	9-9-0
30) Kane	45.4	0.500	2-2-0
31) Damien Sandow	44.4	0.294	5-12-0
32) R-Truth	43.6	0.231	3-10-0
33) Fandango	42.8	0.250	4-12-0
34) Jack Swagger	42.6	0.421	8-11-0
35) Zack Ryder	41.5	0.111	1-8-0
36) Big E Langston	41.3	0.429	6-8-0
37) Sin Cara	39.5	0.250	1-3-0
38) Brodus Clay	39.5	0.143	1-6-0
39) Tensai	39.5	0.143	1-6-0
40) Jinder Mahal	39.2	0.000	0-11-0
41) Heath Slater	37.1	0.000	0-15-0
42) Drew McIntyre	34.0	0.000	0-11-0
43) Justin Gabriel	31.6	0.091	1-10-0

WWE Divas	RPI Ranking	Winning %	Win-Loss-Draw Record
1) AJ Lee	56.6	0.545	6-5-0
2) Cameron	51.9	0.750	3-1-0
3) Layla	49.1	0.429	3-4-0
4) Brie Bella	48.4	0.667	7-3-2
5) Kaitlyn	47.0	0.500	3-3-0
6) Natalya	46.1	0.542	6-5-1
7) Naomi	43.3	0.455	4-5-2
8) Alicia Fox	43.3	0.200	1-4-0
9) Aksana	41.7	0.167	1-5-0

Top ten movers over the last 4 weeks

Gainers		Sliders
1) The Miz	+2.9	1) Brodus Clay	-5.4
2) Darren Young	+2.6	2) Tensai	-5.4
3) Wade Barrett	+2.4	3) Erick Rowan	-2.9
4) Big Show	+2.3	4) Luke Harper	-2.9
5) Titus O’Neil	+1.9	5) CM Punk	-2.2
6) Jey Uso	+1.8	6) Big E Langston	-1.6
7) Zack Ryder	+1.8	7) Bray Wyatt	-1.4
8) Daniel Bryan	+1.6	8) Kane	-1.4
9) Cody Rhodes	+1.6	9) Ryback	-1.4
10) Christian	+1.3	10) The Great Khali	-1.3

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.