The first half of the year has come and gone in the WWE and in just a couple weeks, they will welcome back full, live crowds for the first time in 16 months. It will be awesome to see that again and they’re already doing it in other companies and it is fantastic. Despite working in the Thunderdome, things have been fine, but not as good as things potentially could be. As far as surprises are concerned with my first half rankings, there aren’t many at the top, but some of the ones in the Top 10 be a little surprising. Moving forward, they absolutely have to listen to the fans. RAW is not a must-watch every week, SmackDown can be hit or miss, and NXT is fine, but something feels like it is missing. Fans simply aren’t invested in a lot of the talent and not having a live audience can be mostly to blame for this, but that is a problem. A talent can be on fire in NXT for a couple years and get to RAW or SmackDown and simply have nothing planned for them or they just don’t adjust for some reason or another. This happens more often than it should, and it is frustrating to see this as a fan.

Also, releasing a slew of talent for budget cuts doesn’t make fans happy either, especially when a lot of the released talent had big potential. We see performers like Aleister Black and Braun Strowman get cut and they likely do bigger and better things elsewhere. Black is now a member of AEW and were waiting to see what is next for Strowman. Andrade, The IIconics, Murphy, Mickie James, Bo Dallas, Tucker, Chelsea Green all had big potential and they’re gone. I know I am missing some more, but the fact that these talents can’t find themselves in good storylines is ridiculous on creative’s part. They must do a better job moving forward for fans to be invested and hopefully we see that in the next 6 months. With all of that being said, here is the 2021 WWE Midseason Breakdown.

Just Missed the Cut

Here are the superstars that performed well, but just missed out on the Top 10 in the First Half

7 Appearances: Dominik Mysterio

6 Appearances: Alexa Bliss, Apollo Crews, Kofi Kingston, Kushida, Rey Mysterio, Seth Rollins

5: Appearances: Charlotte Flair, Edge, Finn Bálor, Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler, Randy Orton

2021 WWE Power Rankings Midseason Breakdown

10: Big E (7 Appearances)

In January if you asked me who I thought would be in my Top 5 in July, Big E would’ve been on the short list. That hasn’t been the case, but there is a lot of room for improvement. E tied with Dominik Mysterio and the tie was broken by 3rd place entries. I didn’t expect Dominik Mysterio to be anywhere close on the list, but here we are. Big E has mostly been involved in a feud with Apollo Crews in the last 6 months, and he even was Intercontinental Champion for over half of that time. I predicted that 2021 was going to be Big E’s year to shine, but it has just been more of the same things from 2020. We’ll see how things pan out in the next 6 months, but there is a lot of unused potential with Big E.

9: Karrion Kross (7 Appearances; 2 Number Ones)

Kross has been the brightest spot in NXT since his return from injury and is your current NXT Champion. A lot of the buzz recently however, is surrounding his potential “call-up” that could happen within the next few weeks. NXT is the land of guys that are within the 205 lb. mark or right at it, but Kross isn’t that. He is a big, menacing performer and that is just what NXT has needed over these next few months. It appears that greener pastures are in his near future and I’m not sure how that will affect his Top 10 spot in the Power Rankings, but I think Kross is one of those guys that will have a successful run on the main roster. I think he checks all of the boxes that Mr. McMahon is looking for in a superstar. It will be interesting to see what he’s up to in January.

8: Raquel Gonzalez (8 Appearances)

Speaking of menacing performers. Raquel Gonzalez is everything that Karrion Kross is, but for the women’s division in NXT. This time last year, I had a feeling she would be the face of the NXT Women’s division and here she is. You could tell she had that potential and a lot of things can change over the next few months, but don’t be shocked to see her end 2021 in the Top 10. It makes you wonder when she will cut ties with Dakota Kai and how that will all play out, but I have enjoyed their alliance. They make a great team and it will be interesting to see what happens with them. With that being said though, do I think she will keep the title going into 2022? My prediction is that she will. It will be a difficult task to build someone within the division within a 6-month span, at the moment, to take her down. It can definitely happen, but she will hold the belt for a while.

7: Daniel Bryan (8 Appearances; 2 Number Ones)

Who knows what the future holds for Daniel Bryan, but whatever happens, he can leave the WWE knowing that he had an incredible run. Bryan has said that he isn’t done wrestling but is done doing it on a full-time basis. At this point, why would he need to go back to full-time status? He has done basically everything that he could potentially accomplish in the WWE and if he never performed in the WWE again, I would say that his career was a Top 10 WWE career in history, if not Top 5. Speaking for the rest of 2021, I think his year is done. I don’t think he’ll lace up the boots for a match for the rest of the year, but I could see him coming back in 2022 for a handful of big matchups.

6: Bianca Belair (9 Appearances; 1 Number One)

Belair is the highest-ranking woman in the Top 10 and that isn’t shocking, but the fact that she is ranked 6th is somewhat surprising. The women’s division is dragging their feet right now. This time last year, women were featured more than the men almost and that just isn’t the case now. The majority of last year’s Midseason Breakdown featured the women with 6 of the 10, this year there were only 2. In a lot of cases, the creative vision for the women has taken a turn for the worse and it is really sad to see. There have been bright spots and Belair is one of those, but a lot of things that have happened with the women in 2021 have been head-scratching to say the least. Belair’s feud with Bayley has been the best thing in the women’s division this year in my opinion and a lot of people would say Sasha Banks and Belair’s feud was, but I disagree. I wasn’t a fan of their feud, but I have been on board practically each week of Bayley and Belair’s feud. I think Belair will maintain her spot in the Top 10 at the end of the year, and I’m interested to see what is next for her.

5: Cesaro (9 Appearances; 3 Number Ones)

Cesaro has had somewhat of a breaking out party in 2021. A lot of fans were tired of seeing Cesaro staying away from the spotlight, but they have gotten their wish so far this year. Cesaro has been a big factor on SmackDown and hopefully that continues. Seth Rollins is the perfect villain for him to take down and they have had an incredible feud over the last few months. Cesaro’s feud with Roman Reigns was also incredible. From memory, I would say Cesaro and Roman Reigns had the Match of the Year so far. He has a chance to put his name in the Money in the Bank ladder match and don’t be surprised to see him win. The fans love Cesaro and I think the MITB briefcase would be a natural look for him. I could see Cesaro maintaining his status within the Top 5 or dropping out of the Top 10 at the end of the year, who knows what will happen within the next few months.

4: Riddle (10 Appearances)

It isn’t surprising to see Riddle in the Top 10, but I was shocked to see him ranked 4th. Riddle has had a great year despite not being in any big feuds. He was the US Champion for a little over a month, he had a small feud with The Hurt Business and as of late, he has been in a somewhat of an alliance with Randy Orton, even if Orton doesn’t acknowledge it. Riddle is entertaining and that is why he is on TV every week. It doesn’t matter what he does week-to-week, he brings a lot of entertainment value. I would be surprised to see him involved in a major title bout in 2021, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see him stay in the Top 10. I think he will be in a feud with Randy Orton for the better part of the next few months so look out for that.

3: Drew McIntyre (12 Appearances; 3 Number Ones)

The Scottish Warrior was the MVP of 2020 without a doubt, but he hasn’t strayed too far away in 2021. He has remained in the top feud on RAW this year and it appears that he is walking away from that, but he remains as the top dog without a belt. Although he couldn’t regain the belt from Bobby Lashley, he will look to win the MITB briefcase in a couple weeks. Not only was he the MVP of 2020, he was the pandemic’s MVP. There aren’t many superstars that could carry a show through a pandemic, but McIntyre did just that. He is now a mega star and it will be great to finally hear a crowd that is on his side. Even though he has been the one who has benefitted the most from the Thunderdome, it has also held him back in some ways. Don’t expect McIntyre to stray out of the Top 10 and my bold prediction for him will be that he will be Universal Champion by the end of the year.

2: Bobby Lashley (12 Appearances; 5 Number Ones)

This time a year ago, it would’ve been crazy to think that Bobby Lashley would be a WWE Champion, but not only did that happen, he has been a real solid champion. He has had a lot of help along the way, but what heel champion in history hasn’t benefited from outside factors? I can’t name any. Surprisingly enough, Lashley’s last full year has been right up there with McIntyre and Roman Reigns. He has been on a marvelous run over the last 12 months and his next 6 could be similar. Lashley is living up to every bit of potential that we all saw back in the day when he was the ECW Champion. MVP has been the biggest complement to his success and I honestly don’t think he would be where he is at right now without MVP. MVP has added so much to Lashley’s character and has brought out a lot of untapped potential. Also, Drew McIntyre has been a great opponent for him to outduel. You also have to thank The Miz for his squeamish attempt at a title reign and Otis. Yes, Otis. Without Otis and his MITB win last year, none of this would’ve been possible. I’ll keep telling myself that, but who knows. The cards fall where they ultimately should and Lashley has been a big factor over the last year, it will be interesting to see where Lashley is in the next 6 months.

1: Roman Reigns (15 Appearances; 3 Number Ones)

No surprises here. Roman Reigns has dominated the WWE since his return at SummerSlam last year. Whether fans want to admit it or not, Roman Reigns has been can’t-miss TV in the last year. The Tribal Chief has commanded the attention of everyone and he is number one for a reason. Roman Reigns hasn’t lost a singles match since December of 2019 if you need further proof of his domination. 2021 has consisted of a number of feuds and all of which have been great. He took down Kevin Owens, Daniel Bryan, Cesaro, the Mysterios, and you could even throw Edge in that discussion as well, but there is more to that story. I could see Roman losing the belt before the calendar changes, but I’m not expecting it. It would surprise me to see anyone else at the top spot in the Year-End rankings for 2021, but we’ll see. A lot of things can happen in 6 months.

Yacs