Power rankings a hoax, WWE confirms

If you've ever perused WWE's website after wrapping up a week of Smackdown! and Raw, you've probably seen something called the POWER 25. Borrowed from real sports, the garishly written poll ranks the top 25 WWE superstars according to their performance on their respective shows.

But where sports like basketball, baseball and football derive their rankings from wins and losses, wrestling often ranks its superstars according to hard-to-measure factors, like progression in a storyline.

For instance, JBL taunting the world champ from the announcement booth gets him a higher rank (7th) than Lashley's semi-final victory in the King of the Ring tournament (9th), according to the May 13 ranking.

On the Raw side, Kane hearing voices (6th) puts him above the Spirit Squad (10th) despite their victory over Shawn Michaels and The Champ, John Cena.

Isn't it odd that victories don't equal high rankings? Just who the heck decides these wacky rankings and how do they do it?

It turns out that the POWER 25 is decided by WWE and something called The Academy of Wrestling Arts & Sciences (Now you too can learn the science of suplexes!).

I Googled the "academy" and found that though it's often mentioned in other wrestling sites--usually quoted verbatim from WWE's site--it doesn't have a site of its own. Odd. I then called WWE headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut to ask them about the phantom academy.

"No, it's just something our offices created for the website," said WWE's Corporate Communications Coordinator, Adam Hopkins.

When asked how the POWER 25 are ranked, Hopkins said, "It's decided by our team at WWE.com."

So the wrestling academy isn't real. The WWE is the only one ranking its superstars' weekly performances, which means that just like on the shows, WWE is strongly suggesting whom we should root for on the web.

Most fans know they are told whom to cheer or jeer at WWE shows. But the website's POWER 25 suggests that an independent academy helps the WWE decide who is on top of the mountain. If it were real, the academy might have legitimized (however slightly) the "sports" in sports entertainment. Sadly, the academy is just another one of WWE's characters.

There's an old saying in pro wrestling: "If you see it on television, it's probably scripted." I guess that applies to the web, too.

Your thoughts? Post 'em and let other fans know what you think.

This Friday is the last stop before Judgment Day! Got predictions? Share 'em with us next time when we recap and review the highpoints (don't laugh!) of Smackdown!.