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 Becky Lynch calling Paul Heyman a penguin-faced prick, Nikki Bella saving Stephanie Vaquer, and Drew McIntyre pleading his innocence regarding Jacob Fatu’s attack, a lot of fortunes were changed.
With that in mind, let’s see whose stock decreased the most this week:
Stock Down #3: Rusev
Rusev once again failed in his quest to win the Intercontinental championship on this week’s Raw. Dirty Dom kicked him in the dick to cheat his way to victory, and later eliminated Rusev from the world title number one contender’s Battle Royal. It seems that Rusev’s mid-card title chase is over, and it’s not a good sign for him that WWE fans aren’t giving him much of a reaction during his latest run with the promotion.
Stock Down #2: Aleister Black & Zelina Vega
I figured that bigger and better things were coming for Black and Vega after they finally aligned in WWE and threw a fireball in Damian Priest’s face to win a Last Man Standing match. But Aleister went right back to losing a United States championship open challenge in his very next match, which took place on last night’s episode of SmackDown. Damian Priest returned to distract him for the finish again, just like he did when Black lost against Sami Zayn on October 3. The wheels are just spinning in the dirt here as the Priest vs. Black feud continues on.
Stock Down #1: Rey Fenix & Shinsuke Namakura
Solo Sikoa’s new-look MFTs need someone to beat up on, and Rey Fenix is their new punching bag. They kicked his ass multiple times last week, and this week Shinsuke Nakamura was along for the ride with Fenix in a tag team match. Rey was pinned in the match after taking an awkward chokeslam from Talla Tonga, followed by Tama Tonga’s “Cutthroat” finisher, which is similar to Will Ospreay’s Hidden Blade.
The booking indicates Nakamura probably isn’t in line for a push now that he’s back in WWE and the events in Japan are over with. Meanwhile, I don’t know why Fenix continues teaming up with everyone else on the WWE roster besides his lucha bro Penta, but I guess it doesn’t matter much since he’s just there to lose anyway.
Now let’s see whose stock increased the most this week.
Stock Up #3: AJ Styles & Dragon Lee
Styles is starting to get a bigger spotlight in WWE following so much talk about his retirement in 2026, and now he’s a world tag team champion on Raw with Dragon Lee. They don’t want to be called “AJ Lee,” so we’ll see if they hold onto the gold long enough to come up with a better official team name. There is potential for AJ & Lee to be a really exciting team going forward given how they captivated the audience during their title win on Raw. The win also shows there’s still some hope for Dragon in WWE if he can distance himself from the low-card LWO faction.
Stock Up #2: Jey Uso
Jey Uso is still a major factor in the world title picture on Raw after eliminating his twin brother Jimmy to win a number one contender’s Battle Royal. Uso will now face CM Punk for the vacant belt on November 1 at Saturday Night’s Main Event, and it’s far from a lock that Punk will win. If Jey is ready to fully embrace his inner Tribal Chief and/or turn heel, he could very well capture the gold next weekend.
Stock Up #1: Jade Cargill
Cargill turned heel on SmackDown and showed off her vicious side in destroying Tiffany Stratton. Babyface Jade struggled to win the big one this year, but all it took was this one angle to freshen up her act and make her a serious threat to win the WWE women’s championship at Saturday Night’s Main Event.
There you have it, Cagesiders. Whose stock do you think changed the most this week?
