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 Je’Von Evans’ match on Raw stopped early during a commercial break, Jacob Fatu and Cody Rhodes’ match never officially beginning at Saturday Night’s Main Event, and Giulia now in position to become a double champion in WWE, a lot of fortunes were
changed.
With that in mind, let’s see whose stock decreased the most this week:
Stock Down #3: Austin Theory
Austin Theory has competed in four matches on Raw since he revealed himself to be the mystery masked man from War Games. Theory won the first match but has been on the losing side of all the rest, including this week’s six-man tag on Raw when he was pinned by Rey Mysterio. It took brass knuckles and Adam Pearce interference before Austin went down, so it’s not like the guy is being buried, but this could be the start of him settling in as the low man in The Vision who is there to take the falls so that his stablemates (Bronson Reed, Logan Paul, Bron Breakker) don’t have to.
Stock Down #2: Johnny Gargano
Tommaso Ciampa revealed this week that he is leaving WWE when his contract ends, which means Johnny Gargano is suddenly back to being a singles wrestler on SmackDown. Johnny’s singles run so far in 2026 has consisted of losses to Carmelo Hayes and Nathan Frazer. The latter loss in particular doesn’t bode well for the chances of a Gargano push up the card now that Ciampa is gone from WWE.
Stock Down #1: Wyatt Sicks
Uncle Howdy’s spooky gang of misfits dropped the WWE tag team championship to Solo Sikoa’s MFT on this week’s episode of SmackDown. The MFTs aren’t exactly a hot stable, so this booking decision was probably more about it finally being time for a title change after the Wyatts’ lackluster run with the gold. The family lantern is still in the MFTs’ possession for Howdy’s faction to keep pursuing, so the story isn’t over. However, the Wyatts have been back in WWE long enough that it’s very possible we’ve already witnessed their peak push, and now it’s time for a downhill slide until they come up with a new idea to get WWE fans more invested in their act.
Now let’s see whose stock increased the most this week.
Stock Up #3: Natalya
Natalya showed up on Raw and turned heel this week, screwing Maxxine Dupri over in her latest Intercontinental title match against Becky Lynch. The most likely scenario is that Natalya’s primary job as a heel will be to put Maxxine over, but this is still a much better spot for Natalya to be in on the road to WrestleMania compared to where she previously was, which was getting no TV time at all.
Stock Up #2: Sami Zayn
Sami Zayn won a Fatal 4-way match at Saturday Night’s Main Event in his hometown of Montreal to earn a WWE championship match against Drew McIntyre at Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia. Sami is an underdog going into the title match, but I won’t underestimate the power of a Saudi prince potentially asking WWE to book a title change. Even if Sami loses at Rumble, the fact that WWE is still revisiting his pursuit of the top championship does increase the likelihood that it will pay off with a win at some point.
Stock Up #1: CM Punk
There’s a lot of volatility in the WWE championship scene after Cody Rhodes shockingly lost the belt to Drew McIntyre earlier this month. CM Punk, on the other hand, has the world heavyweight title locked down and looks like a safe bet to land another WrestleMania main event match this year. He successfully defended the gold in Ireland against home country hero Finn Balor on this week’s Raw, and there aren’t really any looming threats to his run on top until a part-timer like Roman Reigns or Brock Lesnar returns to challenge him for the gold.
There you have it, Cagesiders. Whose stock do you think changed the most this week?
