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 Ludwig Kaiser aka El Grande Americano arrested for battery, Sami Zayn turning his back on Cody Rhodes, and Saturday Night’s Main Event, a lot of fortunes were changed.
With that in mind, let’s see whose stock decreased the most this week:
Stock Down #3: Fatal Influence
Jacy Jayne
and her crew have taken a backseat on SmackDown since Jade Cargill and the Baddies returned a couple of weeks ago. That includes this week’s episode of SmackDown, where Fatal Influence suffered their first pin fall loss since being called up to WWE’s main roster. I think they are still fine, and am only including them here because there aren’t a lot of other great options for Stock Down this week. If this pattern continues after Cargill’s title match at Clash In Italy, then there is a problem.
Stock Down #2: Sol Ruca
Ruca could still be lined up to win the Women’s Intercontinental Championship from Becky Lynch at Clash In Italy, but it’s hard to ignore how much of a disaster their match was at Saturday Night’s Main Event. Ruca won with a very disappointing disqualification finish after another botched Sol Snatcher, in a dud match that barely went over two minutes. Becky then beat the shit out of Sol afterwards. It’s the kind of mess that will make it harder for Sol to get over, even if she does win the title next weekend.
Stock Down #1: Irresistible Forces
WWE booked Lash Legend to lose an open challenge title match against United States Champion Tiffany Stratton on SmackDown, one night before booking Legend and Nia Jax to lose another rematch against WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Paige and Brie Bella at Saturday Night’s Main Event. Jax was pinned in the title match with a foot-to-butt assist between the babyfaces. With booking like this, it’s no wonder that Nia had such an unhappy look on her face during her entrance at SNME.
Now let’s see whose stock increased the most this week.
Stock Up #3: Chelsea Green
Chelsea Green didn’t waste any time getting right back into the mix in WWE after missing WrestleMania and then returning from a heart operation. She’s doing an odd couple angle with Tiffany Stratton where she helped Tiffy Time retain the United States title this week on SmackDown. She was also part of Blake Monroe’s glamorous 18 second backstage debut later in the show.
Stock Up #2: Roman Reigns & Jacob Fatu
These guys kicked off Raw with a great brawl that ultimately set up Tribal Combat for the world heavyweight championship at Clash In Italy. It looks like their match should be the main event on a card that is absolutely stacked, and there is potential for WWE to be turned upside down if Fatu actually beats Reigns to become the new Tribal Chief.
Stock Up #1: Brock Lesnar
Brock Lesnar made his shocking return to WWE on this week’s Raw, after doing a fake retirement bit at WrestleMania 42. The Beast destroyed Oba Femi to set up “the biggest rematch in history” at Clash In Italy. I think there’s a good chance that WWE has an even bigger match lined up for Brock at SummerSlam in Minnesota, which means The Beast has a decent chance to get his win back on The Ruler at WWE’s next PLE.
There you have it, Cagesiders. Whose stock do you think changed the most this week?
