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 Oba Femi actually wrestling a match on Raw, Stephanie Vaquer returning for War Games, and GUNTHER not being buried after not wrestling in Saudi Arabia, a lot of fortunes were changed.
With that in mind, let’s see whose stock decreased the most
this week:
Stock Down #3: Judgment Day
This faction looks like its filled with a bunch of losers recently, with Women’s Intercontinental Champion Raquel Rodriguez getting pinned by IYO SKY on nearly a weekly basis, Liv Morgan losing at Crown Jewel, Roxanne Perez losing three out of her last four matches, and JD McDonagh & Dominik Mysterio getting tossed out of the ring like low card fodder by CM Punk and Cody Rhodes on Raw. Dirty Dom’s current irrelevance on Raw really stands out after he was once arguably the hottest heel in the company.
Stock Down #2: Fraxiom, Bakusai, MFT
It couldn’t be any more obvious that WWE doesn’t give a shit about tag team wrestling. Fraxiom suffered the worst of it this week, as Axiom was fed to Damian Priest in a singles match, before Nathan Frazer also fell victim to him in a post-match attack. It’s never a good sign for a tag team when one wrestler can steamroll them by himself.
Then there’s the WWE tag team title match between MFT and Bakusai on SmackDown, which didn’t have a winner thanks to War Raiders interfering to ruin the ending. WWE has put the bare minimum effort in trying to get fans to care about Kyoki since his debut less than three months ago, and a lot of that is because he is stuck in the worst division on the main roster. It’s no wonder The Creeds look so thrilled to be in AEW now.
Stock Down #1: Bronson Reed
Bronson Reed reportedly wasn’t able to travel back to the United States from Saudi Arabia due to serious injuries he sustained at Crown Jewel, which includes broken ribs and a lacerated kidney. It’s only been two months since Bronson returned to WWE from his last major injury, and now Reed is back on the sidelines again (and stuck in a Saudi hospital) after working his ass off to get in great physical shape.
Now let’s see whose stock increased the most this week:
Stock Up #3: Rey Fenix
Fenix is next in line for an Intercontinental title match after beating Chad Gable and Big Cass in a number one contender’s match on Raw. He also officially joined Team Mexico for Survivor Series, where he’ll be alongside his brother Penta against main event stars Cody Rhodes and CM Punk. Earlier this year, it looked like Rey’s WWE career was heading towards a permanent residence in jobbersville, but he has turned things around very nicely after winning the AAA world cruiserweight championship at the end of May.
Stock Up #2: Jacob Fatu
Fatu returned at the end of this week’s Raw to kick 946’s ass and join The Bloodline for War Games. Jacob looked like a badass with the way he emerged from the smoke and shadows of a burning car, and he looked even cooler as he flew through the air from the top rope to splash Carmelo Hayes through a table on the outside of the ring. WWE has a pretty hot War Games match coming up at Survivor Series, and Jacob Fatu is now a big part of it.
Stock Up #1: Charlotte Flair
Flair was given a major endorsement from John Cena this week as he invited her to participate in next month’s John Cena Classic exhibition. She cut an emotional promo explaining how much it means to her that WWE fans actually like her after she felt stuck at rock bottom. The Queen also defeated Women’s United States Champion Jacy Jayne in a non-title match on SmackDown, before doing the thing and challenging Jade Cargill’s team to a War Games match at Survivor Series.
There you have it, Cagesiders. Whose stock do you think changed the most this week?
