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 R-Truth joking about Kit Wilson’s camel toe, LA Knight and Alexa Bliss among the stars who qualified for Elimination Chamber, and Apollo Crews’ first SmackDown match in over one year, a lot of fortunes were changed.
With that in mind, let’s see
whose stock decreased the most this week:
Stock Down #3: Lyra Valkyria
When WWE booked an Elimination Chamber qualifying match of Rhea Ripley vs. Lyra Valkyria vs. Ivy Nile on Raw, Ripley looked like the obvious winner, with Nile very likely there to take the fall. Keep in mind that Ivy hasn’t won a match on Raw since 2024, including multiple losses to Valkyria during this time.
It turns out that Ivy got some shine in this match, and Valkyria is the one who was pinned by Ripley. That was an unexpected booking decision, and something to keep an eye on going forward to see if Valkyria is slipping down the ladder on Monday nights.
Stock Down #2: Jordynne Grace
On this week’s SmackDown, Jade Cargill defended the WWE women’s championship on TV for the first since winning the belt over 100 days ago. Cargill left no doubt about who is the better woman when she used one arm to finish off Jordynne Grace with Jaded. Grace now goes to the back of the line, with the rest of the road to WrestleMania in front of her. This was also Grace’s first defeat on SmackDown since being called up, which potentially opens the floodgates for more losses to come.
Stock Down #1: Sami Zayn
Sami Zayn already had the stench of being a loser on him coming out of his major flop at Royal Rumble against WWE Champion Drew McIntyre. Last night on SmackDown, he was given another chance to keep his WWE championship dream alive in an Elimination Chamber qualifying match against Jacob Fatu and Cody Rhodes.
Zayn had the win practically handed to him on a silver platter by McIntyre, who blasted Rhodes and Fatu with Claymores. Even with all of that unfair help, Sami is such a big loser that he still found a way to blow it.
It appears that Zayn’s world title chase is now over, at least on the road to this year’s WrestleMania. And he didn’t get screwed over at Royal Rumble or the Chamber qualifier, so it’s hard to feel a lot of sympathy for the underdog babyface this time. It’s getting a lot easier for fans to accept the fact that Sami Zayn is just not good enough to be the top champion in WWE.
Now let’s see whose stock increased the most this week.
Stock Up #3: Tama Tonga
Tama Tonga is not only a WWE tag team champion right now, but he’s also getting a singles push in the United States title scene. After defeating Shinsuke Nakamura last week, Tonga pinned US Champ Carmelo Hayes in a 10-man tag team match this week. That Tonga specifically pinned Hayes when four other babyfaces were available to take the fall strongly indicates he’s getting a title match soon. With the numbers game of the MFT on his side, Tama may very well have some mid-card gold coming his way.
Stock Up #2: AJ Lee
AJ Lee surprisingly showed up on this week’s Raw and got into it on the mic with Women’s Intercontinental Champion Becky Lynch. AJ is now getting a shot at the gold at Elimination Chamber in the city where she lives, Chicago, setting up the possibility that Lee walks into WrestleMania 42 as a champion.
Stock Up #1: Cody Rhodes
WWE booked a very interesting main event match on SmackDown where at least one of Cody Rhodes or Jacob Fatu would fail to qualify for the men’s Elimination Chamber match. Rhodes ultimately proved why he’s still the number one babyface in the company, as he survived Drew McIntyre’s Claymore and still walked out as the winner. Cody is now in the Elimination Chamber match, and there is every reason to think he will win it and advance to yet another WWE championship match at WrestleMania.
There you have it, Cagesiders. Whose stock do you think changed the most this week?
