Wrestling Inc. Prestige Rankings 11/3/23: The Top 25 In The Pro Wrestling Conversation

It's Friday, which means it's time for the latest installment of Wrestling Inc.'s Prestige Rankings, which may or may not be called something totally different next week in order to better explain to any readers who still don't understand what we're presenting here.

We're heading into a WWE premium live event this weekend, so the data is invariably going to skew towards participants in Crown Jewel 2023. Others are rising and falling based on rumors, innuendo and other vague reports of impending returns. Notably, two of the names that were near or at the top of our rankings in past weeks have continued to fall or, in the case of Jade Cargill, fallen off entirely, despite debuting in the No. 2 spot in our inaugural edition, the erstwhile Wrestling Inc. Power Rankings.

To clarify, as we explained last week in accordance with the name change (and the first and second weeks as well), these rankings are based on data, not anyone's opinion. Anyone still coming here for a dose of confirmation bias to see where your favorite performers are, only to be outraged, need to understand that we're presenting the movers and shakers based on their involvement in the greater wrestling conversation, as demonstrated by wrestling fans all over the world. No one's kayfabe win-loss record factors into these rankings; that's what arguing on Reddit is for.

Kicking off our list is Drew McIntyre, who takes a bit of a drop compared to last week's rankings. "The Scottish Warrior" is currently preparing to challenge Seth Rollins for the World Heavyweight Championship at tomorrow's WWE Crown Jewel PLE. Apart from that, it's been a quiet week for McIntyre in terms of news, explaining his low placing despite the big match this weekend.

The Miz reenters Wrestling Inc.'s Prestige Rankings after engaging in a heated confrontation with Intercontinental Champion GUNTHER on the October 30 episode of "WWE Raw," one which led Mark Henry to call The Miz a "full-fledged Jedi knight." Following Miz's encounter with "The Ring General" on the set of "Miz TV," WWE announced that "The A-Lister" will be competing in a fatal-four-way match on next week's "Raw" to determine the number one contender for the Intercontinental Championship.

The former Sasha Banks, now known as Mercedes Mone, has only slid slightly in our prestige rankings, though she remains injured, or at least, off television. Many AEW fans may have expected Tony Khan to announce Mone's debut for the company as his "major announcement" on Wednesday, though that sadly wasn't the case. According to reports, Mone's New Japan Pro Wrestling return could be imminent and it could very well be against Giulia for the NJPW STRONG Women's Championship.

Former "WWE NXT" Women's Champion Becky Lynch drops down more than 10 spots on the list following her loss to Lyra Valkyria last week. While "The Man" doesn't have a match coming up at Crown Jewel, it was announced this week that Lynch will compete on "Celebrity Jeopardy" later on in November.

Chris Jericho and Kenny Omega have been at odds with The Don Callis Family for weeks, but on Wednesday's episode of "AEW Dynamite," the duo brought forth a pair of equalizers. After Omega announced that Kota Ibushi would be joining them for a future "Dynamite" Street Fight, Jericho revealed Paul Wight as the man he planned to use as a counter to Powerhouse Hobbs. 

The AEW World Champion has been off the list of our prestige rankings but has returned with a vengeance. That's likely due to the increased amounts of feuds the champion seems to find himself in, this week being no different. From Samoa Joe to Jay White with the Bullet Club Gold, everyone is gunning for MJF. It's made all the more interesting as we move into "The Bidding War of 2024," with the star's contract supposedly up with AEW in 2024.

This has been a quiet week for Asuka, making it somewhat surprising that she's risen several spots up the list. While it remains to be seen if she is active on tonight's "WWE SmackDown," last week's episode was absent of Asuka, with the WWE star last appearing on "WWE NXT" nearly a month ago.

In the wake of her loss to IYO SKY on the October 20 episode of "WWE SmackDown," Charlotte Flair received a post-match beatdown from Damage CTRL. This cued the return of Bianca Belair, who helped even the odds for Flair, before solidifying a WWE Women's Championship match against SKY at Crown Jewel. While Flair may not be directly involved in this match at Crown Jewel, WWE fans know that "The Queen" is always waiting in the wings for another opportunity to secure her 15th world championship. 

AEW's Bryan Danielson, the American Dragon, has suffered repeated injuries throughout 2023, and most recently, it was revealed on November 1 that Danielson sustained an orbital bone injury in a match against Andrade El Idolo on an episode of "AEW Collision." The timetable for the "American Dragon" to return to the ring is not yet known.

Though his presence on this week's "Raw" was relatively brief, Jey Uso had a strong impact, causing a double disqualification in the main event between Sami Zayn and J.D. McDonagh. He doesn't have a match at tomorrow's Crown Jewel, but Uso remains a key player in WWE as he continues to strike out on his own as a singles performer.

Dominik Mysterio has kept himself very busy recently, wrestling 10 matches over a span of six days. In addition to his live event performances in Germany, the "WWE NXT" North American Champion posted back-to-back wins across "WWE Raw" and "NXT" this week, including a successful title defense over Nathan Frazer on night two of "NXT" Halloween Havoc.

Having debuted at No. 1 following he AEW debut, Adam Copeland continues to slide in the prestige rankings. He's involved in a six-man tag team against Cage, Luchasaurus, and Nick Wayne, which was announced in an appearance by the former WWE Legend on this week's episode of "AEW Dynamite." The "Rated R Superstar" will team with Sting and Darby Allin in the upcoming match at AEW Full Gear.

With his record-breaking WWE Intercontinental Championship reign, it's no surprise GUNTHER has made his way into the prestige rankings. However, things have been a little quieter for the Austrian as of late. This week om "Raw," GUNTHER came face-to-face with The Miz, setting up a match between the two in the days ahead.

Much like Chris Jericho, Kenny Omega now has the benefit of having Kota Ibushi and Paul Wight in his corner during the eight-man "Dynamite" Street Fight against The Don Callis Family in two weeks. Outside of his dealings with The Don Callis Family, Omega received the opportunity to challenge MJF for the AEW World Championship on last week's episode of "AEW Collision." Despite Omega's best efforts, MJF emerged victorious, cementing himself as the longest-reigning AEW World Champion in company history — a record previously held by Omega.

LA Knight is challenging the top championship in WWE in Saudi Arabia, taking on Roman Reigns in a match at Crown Jewel. Knight has risen to meteoric levels within the company, with his skills on the mic unparalleled, to take on the WWE Undisputed Universal Champion at the premium live event on Saturday. 

Though many speculated that Ronda Rousey was leaving professional wrestling behind with the expiration of her WWE contract, the former UFC star and multi-time champion in both wrestling and MMA worked a surprise match last week at independent promotion Lucha VaVoom. This week, it was announced that Rousey will again team with Marina Shafir, this time in Wrestling REVOLVER against Athena and Billie Starkz.

Rhea Ripley has a hefty task ahead of her this weekend as she prepares to defend her WWE Women's World Championship against Nia Jax, Shayna Baszler, Zoey Stark, and Raquel Rodriguez at WWE Crown Jewel. Outside of her looming title defense, Ripley remains a hot topic of conversation in the minds of wrestling fans, and WWE Hall of Famer Torrie Wilson, who recently told "Sportskeeda WrestleBinge" that she'd gladly let "The Eradicator" pin her in the ring sometime.

Seth Rollins returns to the top ten ahead of his championship match with Drew McIntyre at Crown Jewel on Satruday, with the threat of a Damian Priest Money In The Bank cash-in looming in the background. Fresh off his victories over Shinsuke Nakamura, Rollins looks to score another high-profile win in Saudi Arabia.

Cody Rhodes maintains his position this week, having stayed in the headlines as he gets ready to wrestle Damian Priest at Crown Jewel. WWE producer Road Dogg recently analyzed Rhodes' evolution in WWE, while fellow wrestler Carmelo Hayes described how he helped Rhodes return to the ring earlier this year.

November is officially upon us, which means WWE Survivor Series, and Randy Orton's reported comeback, are right around the corner. Given his extended absence from WWE programming and his impressive record at the Survivor Series event, news of Orton possibly returning around the major PLE continues to stir quite a buzz amongst wrestling fans.

Rey Mysterio jumps up on our list ahead of his premium live event match against Logan Paul for the WWE United States Championship. The WWE Hall of Famer could have his work cut out for him ahead of his match with the YouTuber-turned-boxer-turned WWE superstar, at Crown Jewel on Saturday.

Though he hasn't been seen in a wrestling ring (or on a wrestling TV show) since August, CM Punk remains a focus of conversation. While some believe it's possible that Punk could still return to WWE soon, others are talking about what could have been if Punk had stayed in AEW.

Logan Paul has an opportunity to secure his first title in WWE as he challenges Rey Mysterio for the United States Championship at WWE Crown Jewel this weekend. Before the two meet for their title bout, though, viewers saw Paul blindside the legendary luchador with a backstage attack in the midst of the LWO's match against The Street Profits on last week's episode of "WWE SmackDown."

John Cena hasn't been winning a lot during his current WWE run, but he's set to take on the Bloodline's Solo Sikoa at Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia on Saturday. While The Bloodline left Cena lying before the premium live event, many fans believe he can rally and defeat perhaps their most vicious and merciless member.

At long last, Roman Reigns sits at head of the table in the Wrestling Inc. Prestige Rankings this week, just as he remains at the top of the food chain in WWE. A heavy favorite going into his match against LA Knight tomorrow at Crown Jewel, Reigns has had all eyes on him as he continues the lengthy title run that began more than three years and 1000 days ago.