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 both nights of WrestleMania 39, a lot of fortunes were changed.
With that in mind, let’s see whose stock increased the most this week:
Stock Up #3: Rhea Ripley & Charlotte Flair
Ripley and Flair might have had the best match of WrestleMania 39, silencing the doubters and proving that they both belong in the main event picture. Ripley gets her win back from WrestleMania Empty Warehouse and is now an undeniable star in WWE, while Flair can move on to gunning for her next title reign as she tries to surpass her father’s record for most world championships in history. For example, will anybody be surprised if Flair is the one who eventually ends Bianca Belair’s lengthy reign as Raw women’s champion?
Stock Up #2: Austin Theory
For the rest of his career, Austin Theory can always brag about beating John Cena at WrestleMania. That’s what he did in Hollywood this past weekend, and he’s never going to let us hear the end of it.
Stock Up #1: Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens
Zayn and Owens had the biggest win of WrestleMania weekend, bringing the Usos’ record-setting reign of 600+ days as WWE tag team champions to an end in the main event of Saturday’s card. Owens has now main evented WrestleMania in consecutive years, while Zayn is better off getting this major win at WrestleMania compared to an alternate universe where he loses to Roman in Hollywood just like Cody Rhodes did.
Now let’s see whose stock decreased the most this week:
Stock Down #3: Damage CTRL
Damage CTRL has a knack for losing important matches, and it happened to them again at WrestleMania. Becky Lynch, Lita, and Trish Stratus proved to be too much for Bayley and friends to deal with. Damage CTRL has been on the losing end often enough to wonder if it might be time for a breakup or some additions/subtractions from the group.
Stock Down #2: Shane McMahon
Is it possible for someone’s stock to go down when their stock was already near rock bottom after being sent home by the company over a year ago for being a jackass backstage?
Yes, indeed it is. Shane McMahon found an even lower level to drop to when he had a surprise return at WrestleMania 39 for a match against The Miz and immediately injured himself on a jump after throwing a flurry of his terrible punches. Shane failed to finish the match and had to be bailed out by Snoop Dogg.
According to Triple H, Shane suffered a torn quad. Maybe that injury runs in the family, because it instantly brought back memories of what happened to his dad at Royal Rumble 2005.
Shane is a 53 year-old untrained wrestler and his body just crapped out on him while trying a basic wrestling move. He should probably call it quits at this point, but I doubt he wants to go out in such humiliating fashion.
Stock Down #1: Cody Rhodes
Cody Rhodes was undefeated in WWE over the last year and entered WrestleMania in a great position to end Roman Reigns’ near 1000 day run as the top champion in the company. But Cody fell victim to the typical Bloodline antics (interference from Solo Sikoa, in this case) and lost the match, showing that he’s ultimately no better than previous challengers like Drew McIntyre, Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, and Logan Paul.
No, this doesn’t mean that Cody is now in the same undesirable position as 1993 Lex Luger, but it’s definitely a blow to the idea that he is going to become the face of WWE. The company had a chance to lock him into that spot at WrestleMania, and they opted not to do it.
There you have it, Cagesiders. Whose stock do you think changed the most this week?
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