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 GUNTHER’s return to Raw, Dolph Ziggler showing up as a surprise in The Last Time Is Now tournament, and AJ Lee & Becky Lynch joining War Games, a lot of fortunes were changed.
With that in mind, let’s see whose stock decreased the most this week:
Stock Down #3: Fraxiom
Fraxiom’s job this week on SmackDown was to put over DIY and Candice LeRae, who have a story brewing with Ilja Dragunov. At least these guys aren’t stuck in catering.
Stock Down #2: Giulia
Giulia needed a quick rebound after the way she lost the women’s United States championship in less than two minutes. Instead, she did practically nothing in a backstage segment on SmackDown this week while new champion Chelsea Green already seems to have a bigger threat on her hands in the form of Jade Cargill.
Stock Down #1: Sheamus
Some wrestling fans could squint and see a scenario where Sheamus had a chance to win The Last Time Is Now tournament and go on to finally win the Intercontinental championship in John Cena’s retirement match next month. That idea instantly went up in smoke this week when WWE pulled Sheamus from the tournament due to injury. You don’t have to squint to see that Sheamus has a hard time staying healthy as he approaches 50 years old, and that his elusive Intercontinental title reign looks increasingly unlikely to happen. At this point, I don’t think it ever will.
Now let’s see whose stock increased the most this week.
Stock Up #3: Carmelo Hayes
Even though Cody Rhodes played the pivotal role in Carmelo Hayes’ win over Bronson Reed in The Last Time Is Now tournament, it was a case where Carmelo very much looked like he belonged in the same ring with a star who recently defeated Roman Reigns on PLE. It was a back-and-forth match where Hayes had Bronson on the ropes multiple times, and you could believe he might win in a clean fight if The Vision and Cody never interfered. This is much better booking for Hayes than being someone who falls for Skull Crushing Finales from behind by a low card guy like The Miz.
Stock Up #2: Maxxine Dupri
Maxxine Dupri beat Becky Lynch on Raw to become the new women’s Intercontinental champion at Madison Square Garden. According to the data at CageMatch, it’s the first time Maxxine has pinned someone in a singles match on Raw in over two years. Does anything else really need to be said to understand why this is the biggest push of Maxxine’s WWE career, even if it doesn’t last very long?
Stock Up #1: Brock Lesnar & Roman Reigns
Business picked up for the men’s War Games this week when Lesnar and Reigns made their surprise returns to Raw to officially join the match at Survivor Series. These guys looked like gods as Lesnar obliterated CM Punk and Reigns speared the NYPD. WWE clearly brought in the right stars if the idea was to turn War Games into a must-watch attraction.
There you have it, Cagesiders. Whose stock do you think changed the most this week?
