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 Sami Zayn challenging Seth Rollins for the world heavyweight championship, Zoey Stark winning a Battle Royal, and Kevin Owens wearing a tie to join the commentary team, a lot of fortunes were changed.
With that in mind, let’s see whose stock decreased the most this week:
Stock Down #3: New Day
New Day lost their feud against the Viking Raiders when Ivar defeated Kofi Kingston in a Viking Rules match last month. Kofi and Xavier Woods have now moved on to putting over The Judgment Day ahead of War Games. It doesn’t look like New Day will be involved in War Games itself, so even though they are recognized as one of the best tag teams in WWE history, right now their primary job is to make the other wrestlers who have more important stories look good.
Stock Down #2: Nikki Cross
Nikki’s new gimmick is that she is in a catatonic state and doesn’t move or respond to what’s happening around her. Not surprisingly, it led to her very quick and early elimination in this week’s Battle Royal on Raw. Maybe I’m rushing to judgment too soon, but this seems like a very bad pro wrestling gimmick, or at least one that doesn’t lend itself well to moving Nikki up the card.
Stock Down #1: Karrion Kross
Karrion Kross has not competed on WWE television in three months. Every time a WWE PLE wraps up, the next week seems like a good chance for a fresh start to get him back in the fold, but it just hasn’t happened. Kross has been wrestling on house shows, so it’s not like he’s absent from WWE altogether. The company simply chooses to keep him off TV right now, and it’s hard to see how that can be anything other than bad news for him.
Now let’s see whose stock increased the most this week:
Stock Up #3: The Miz
The Miz seems to have recently turned babyface out of nowhere, and it’s resulting in a short-term push where he is now lined up to challenge GUNTHER for the Intercontinental championship at Survivor Series. Miz babyface runs typically don’t work out very well, but he was stuck in the lower card for much of the year as a heel, so perhaps a short-term change is just what the doctor ordered.
Stock Up #2: Santos Escobar
The arrival of Carlito into the LWO essentially pushed Santos Escobar down a spot in the pecking order, and it’s become increasingly clear that he needed to break away from the group. Santos made a big move in that direction this week when he turned on Rey Mysterio. Carlito first accused Santos of being a traitor, and then Rey got physical with Escobar when he wouldn’t help Carlito later on. That’s when Santos snapped and brutally attacked Rey. This heel turn should lead to a push for Santos after he was somewhat lost in the shuffle over the last couple of months.
Stock Up #1: Damage CTRL
Damage CTRL has quickly taken over SmackDown now that Kairi Sane is back and Asuka turned heel to join the group. Neither of these moves happened with Bayley’s knowledge or planning, and it seems inevitable that the other group members will kick her out when the time is right. For now, Damage CTRL is well-positioned to dominate War Games in a couple weeks, assuming WWE books a women’s War Games match this year.
There you have it, Cagesiders. Whose stock do you think changed the most this week?
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