Dillster Knows Best: Grading the Founders Big Board

Thursday, July 9, 2026 · Dillster

Dillster Knows Best...Except When He Doesn't

Grading the Founders Big Board Through Two-Thirds of the Road to SummerSlam

When the Founders released our preseason Big Board, we thought we had it figured out. Four fantasy wrestling junkies sat around debating every single spot, defending our favorites, trashing each other's picks, and eventually agreeing on one consensus Top 50.

Now we're two-thirds of the way through the Road to SummerSlam, and reality has done what reality always does...

It punched us right in the mouth.

Some of our predictions have aged like fine wine. Others have aged like milk sitting in the summer sun. And after Monday Night Raw, the fantasy landscape changed once again.

Overall, though, I'm pretty happy with where we landed.

The Founders Got More Right Than Wrong

Let's start with the good.

Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes were our preseason No. 2 and No. 1. Today they're sitting exactly where we expected...just flipped. If you're building a fantasy roster, those two continue to be the gold standard.

Oba Femi was another win. Ranking him sixth before the season looked aggressive at the time, but he's rewarded owners with a Top 5 fantasy season and has proven he's one of the safest picks in the game.

Then there's Iyo Sky.

We ranked her 11th entering the season. Today she's fourth overall, and much of that climb came from her incredible run through the Queen of the Ring Tournament. Tournament victories carry huge fantasy value, and Iyo cashed in every opportunity she was given. Looking back, she may have been the most underrated superstar on our entire board.

Trick Williams has been even better.

We ranked him 18th.

He's currently sitting third overall.

That's a fifteen-spot climb and one of the biggest success stories of the entire season.

Penta has also rewarded fantasy owners, climbing from 21st to ninth. Sol Ruca has exploded from 28th all the way to eighth thanks to a phenomenal season that continued Monday night when she successfully defended her Women's Intercontinental Championship against Raquel Rodriguez. She has become one of the biggest draft steals of the year.

Raquel deserves some credit too. Even after losing her championship opportunity, she's climbed from our preseason ranking of 32nd to 27th overall. That's still tremendous value.

Damian Priest, Ricky Saints, Charlotte Flair, Jade Cargill, Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins have all significantly outperformed where we ranked them before the season began.

And then there's Paige.

We ranked her 44th.

She's currently sitting 13th.

That's still a climb of 31 spots and one of the biggest surprises of the entire fantasy season.

Sami Zayn's Wild Ride

No superstar has had a crazier fantasy journey than Sami Zayn.

Coming into the season, we ranked him 22nd. Then he shocked the wrestling world by capturing the WWE Championship and skyrocketed into the Top 10 fantasy rankings almost overnight.

Just when it looked like Sami might continue his unbelievable run, Monday Night Raw happened.

CM Punk made his long-awaited return to the Road to SummerSlam, defeated Sami Zayn for the WWE Championship in his very first match of the season, and instantly changed the fantasy landscape.

Sami remains seventh overall and continues to be one of the best values in fantasy wrestling, but losing the championship certainly changes the outlook heading into the final third of the season.

Monday Night Raw Changed Everything

This article was almost finished before Raw completely reshuffled the board.

CM Punk went from having zero fantasy points to becoming WWE Champion in one night. He immediately jumped into the rankings at 38th, and while that's still a long way from the fourth overall ranking we gave him before the season, there's no question he's now one of the biggest wild cards heading into the stretch run. If he keeps the championship, don't be surprised if he climbs this board in a hurry.

The Vision also made a massive statement.

Bron Breakker and Austin Theory defeated The Street Profits to capture the WWE Tag Team Championships, and the rankings reflected it immediately. Breakker climbed to 16th overall, while Austin Theory made one of the biggest jumps of the season, rocketing all the way to ninth after beginning the year ranked 41st.

On the flip side, Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins took a hit after dropping the championships. They're still tremendous values compared to where we ranked them, but championship losses always sting in fantasy.

One Monday Night Raw.

Three championship matches.

One tag title change.

One WWE Championship change.

One show completely changed the fantasy conversation.

The Ones We Missed

No Big Board is perfect.

Gunther has slipped from 10th to 25th.

Becky Lynch and Jacob Fatu have both fallen from Top 15 selections to 31st.

Jey Uso has slipped from fifth to 17th.

LA Knight has fallen all the way from 17th to 46th.

Those are tough misses.

Rhea Ripley's story is a little different.

She looked every bit like the Top 3 fantasy superstar we expected before injuries forced her to the sidelines. That's one ranking I'll defend because the process was right. Sometimes injuries simply derail great fantasy seasons.

Asuka may be the toughest break of all.

We ranked her 45th before the season began. Then she apparently retired at Backlash, the very first Premium Live Event of the Road to SummerSlam season. She now sits 67th. There's no predicting something like that.

Stephanie Vaquer, Randy Orton, Drew McIntyre and Ilja Dragunov remain scoreless through two-thirds of the season. There's still time for all four to make an impact, but every week that passes makes climbing back into the fantasy conversation more difficult.

The Ones We Never Even Ranked

This is the section that keeps every Founder humble.

It's one thing to rank someone too high.

It's another thing entirely to leave them completely off the Big Board...only to watch them become legitimate fantasy contributors.

Brie Bella continues to headline that list. She's currently sitting 14th overall despite not receiving a single ranking from the Founders before the season. That's an incredible fantasy season and easily our biggest omission.

Michin continues to impress at 27th, while B-Fab sits right behind her at 29th.

Talla Tonga has quietly worked his way to 33rd, while Chelsea Green and Chad Gable are tied at 35th.

Rey Mysterio continues proving legends never go out of style at 37th, and Danhausen has settled in at 38th after spending much of the season climbing the rankings.

Royce Keys and Ethan Page are now tied at 41st, proving once again that opportunity can create fantasy stars in a hurry.

Rounding out the surprise group are Brock Lesnar, Minihausen and Rey Fenix, all tied at 50th. None of them were on our preseason radar, yet all have done enough to earn a place inside the current Top 50.

Honestly, I don't beat us up too much over this group.

Who honestly predicted Brie Bella would be sitting 14th?

Who had B-Fab outperforming Gunther?

Who expected Danhausen and Minihausen to both crack the Top 50?

Exactly.

That's what makes fantasy wrestling so much fun.

The Biggest Lesson

Looking back, I think the biggest takeaway isn't who we got right or wrong.

It's that active fantasy owners have been rewarded.

The managers who watched every show, attacked the waiver wire, reacted to injuries, jumped on championship opportunities and weren't afraid to move on from big names have separated themselves from the pack.

Draft day matters.

What you do after draft day matters even more.

So...How Did the Founders Do?

Through two-thirds of the season, I'm giving the Founders a solid B+.

We nailed Roman Reigns, Cody Rhodes and Oba Femi.

We believed in Trick Williams before most people did.

We saw the potential in Iyo Sky.

We were much higher than most on Sol Ruca, and she's rewarded that confidence.

At the same time, we completely whiffed on Brie Bella, underestimated several breakout performers, and missed badly on a few established stars.

But here's the important part...

The season isn't over.

There is still one-third of the Road to SummerSlam remaining.

Championships will change hands.

Returns will happen.

Injuries will heal.

Cash-ins, betrayals and shocking moments are still coming.

If Monday Night Raw proved anything, it's that one night can completely rewrite the fantasy rankings.