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 The Rock & Pat McAfee returning to WWE to beat up that dweeb Austin Theory, a lot of fortunes were changed.
With that in mind, let’s see whose stock decreased the most this week:
Stock Down #3: Bayley
Bayley was defeated by Asuka on last night’s SmackDown, making it three consecutive episodes now where she has been pinned.
Stock Down #2: Cruz del Toro & Joaquin Wilde
Faction warfare is running wild on SmackDown these days with several groups vying for power, including The Bloodline, The Judgment Day, The Suit Profits, The O.C., and The Brawling Brutes. The LWO is lagging behind the pack, primarily because Cruz del Toro and Joaquin Wilde aren’t much of a threat to win their matches. That includes this week’s loss against the Street Profits.
Stock Down #1: Raquel Rodriguez
Raquel lost her championship rematch against Rhea Ripley on Raw. WWE tried to protect her in defeat, but it’s pretty clear that Rodriguez is being dropped out of that title picture for now. The women’s tag team titles also aren’t on her radar, because her partner Liv Morgan is injured, and the new hot team on the scene seems to be Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark. Raquel’s job might be to put over Nia Jax in the short-term.
Now let’s see whose stock increased the most this week:
Stock Up #3: AJ Styles
John Cena needed help when he was attacked by The Bloodline during last night’s main event segment on SmackDown, so AJ Styles ran to the ring and cleared house on Solo Sikoa and Jimmy Uso.
The Phenomenal One used to be a mainstay in the upper card of WWE, but that hasn’t been the case for a while; he was recently dumped into a lower card Battle Royal at SummerSlam after a boring feud with Karrion Kross. And if kayfabe rankings mean anything to you, he actually finished number 99 in this year’s PWI 500, which sounds crazy for someone who not all that long ago was still in the argument for best wrestler in the world.
But AJ has come out of that lull and is now feuding with The Bloodline, which should set him up for a PPV title match against Roman Reigns and/or a top level tag team match alongside John Cena.
Stock Up #2: Nia Jax
Nia Jax is back in WWE, and it looks like she is being pushed right into a women’s world championship feud with Rhea Ripley. That means you can expect several wins and lots of destruction at Nia’s hole hands in the coming weeks, if not longer.