Some places do power rankings. Here at Cageside, we do a stock report.
In this weekly series, we identify three Superstars (or groups of Superstars) who are on their way up, and three that are moving in the opposite
direction. After a busy week that included Crown Jewel 2025 in Australia, Shinsuke Nakamura’s return to SmackDown, and Maxxine Dupri pulling off an upset win over Becky Lynch, a lot of fortunes were changed.
With that in mind, let’s see whose stock decreased the most this week:
Stock Down #3: Cody Rhodes
I think Cody’s hubris got the better of him going into Crown Jewel, because he talked a big game about how he had Seth Rollins’ number and there was no circumstance in which Seth could beat him. Rollins then beat Rhodes all by himself, putting into question Cody’s claim that he’s the number one QB leading the way on the greatest team WWE has ever assembled.
Stock Down #2: Tiffany Stratton
Coming into Crown Jewel, it already felt like Stratton’s reign as WWE women’s champion was losing steam. Now that Tiffany’s 2025 undefeated streak is over due to her non-title loss against Stephanie Vaquer, it feels like there isn’t much reason to keep the belt on her anymore.
Stock Down #1: Damian Priest
Priest’s latest loss against Aleister Black pushes him even further away from the world championship scene. This entire feud has been bad for Priest from start to finish, especially when a bigger push seemed plausible coming off his feud-ending win over Drew McIntyre at the end of May.
Now let’s see whose stock increased the most this week.
Stock Up #3: Aleister Black & Zelina Vega
Aleister’s wife Zelina Vega finally aligned with him in kayfabe on his way to winning a Last Man Standing match against Damian Priest by throwing a fireball in his face. The win over a former world champ means Aleister should be moving up the card, possibly into world title contention himself. At the very least, he’s on the cusp of his biggest push since returning to WWE earlier this year. Vega is going to receive more consistent television time by his side, and seeing them united should make both characters more interesting going forward.
Stock Up #2: MFT
After a rough first impression this summer, WWE hit something akin to a reset button on Solo Sikoa’s MFT faction over the last month, pumping up each member in separate hype videos. Then Tama Tonga returned on SmackDown this week as the “missing part” that made the family complete. Now wearing face paint, the new-look MFTs put everyone on notice by taking out United States Champion Sami Zayn and the returning Shinsuke Nakamura, before confronting WWE Tag Team Champions Wyatt Sicks. It looks like Solo’s group is going to be all over SmackDown television in the coming weeks and months.
Stock Up #1: The Vision
Crown Jewel couldn’t have gone any better for The Vision, with Bronson Reed becoming the only man besides Cody Rhodes to pin Roman Reigns in a singles match over the last five years, and then Seth Rollins ending the event by finally defeating Rhodes. After the match was over, Rollins wore the ridiculously over-sized and gaudy Crown Jewel championship around his waist while making a very bold declaration:
“I am no longer just the greatest of my generation. I proved tonight I’m the greatest of all-time!”
That’s certainly a hyperbolic claim that many fans will disagree with. I’d say Seth proved he’s the top pushed WWE star in 2025, with a huge WrestleMania main event win under his belt, defeating CM Punk for the world title at SummerSlam, and now taking Cody’s spot as the best men’s champion in WWE. Seth, Paul Heyman, and The Brons looks well-positioned to dominate Raw as the top heels from now through WrestleMania 42.
There you have it, Cagesiders. Whose stock do you think changed the most this week?
