What happened to Ronda Rousey?

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 Mustafa Ali attacking Dolph Ziggler backstage, Kevin Owens taking out The Bloodline all by himself during a contract signing, and Hit Row actually winning a match, a lot of fortunes were changed.

With that in mind, let’s see whose stock decreased the most this week:

Stock Down #3: Ronda Rousey

Another week has gone by with Ronda Rousey still missing from WWE television. She has yet to resurface since dropping the SmackDown women’s championship to Charlotte Flair on Dec. 30.

There is only one episode of SmackDown left before Royal Rumble, and it’s looking more and more like the Baddest Woman on the Planet is going to miss one of WWE’s biggest events of the year despite no indications of injury. WWE presumably pays top stars like Rousey the big bucks to be booked on major stadium shows like this one, so her absence from television stands out and is very interesting to think about.

What’s going on here?

Stock Down #2: Elias

Elias has been struggling to win matches ever since he returned to WWE, and on this week’s (Jan. 16) episode of Raw he was fed to Omos. His younger brother Ezekiel probably would have fared better if he was able to compete right now.

Stock Down #1: Butch & Ridge Holland

Now that Sheamus is doing bigger and better things in the tag team division with Drew McIntyre, his fellow Brawling Brutes come off like a secondary act. It’s not surprising that Butch and Holland were eliminated in the first round of the SmackDown tag team tournament without their leader there to guide them to victory.

Now let’s see whose stock increased the most this week:

Stock Up #3: Cody Rhodes

WWE announced that Cody Rhodes is returning as one of the entrants in the men’s Royal Rumble match. Cody is immediately the favorite to win it all and main event WrestleMania 39, especially given recent reporting that indicates The Rock is less likely to work the event.

Stock Up #2: Banger Bros (Sheamus & Drew McIntyre)

The Banger Bros had a banger with the Viking Raiders in the first round of a tournament to determine number one contenders to the SmackDown tag team titles. Sheamus and McIntyre look like the strongest team still alive in the tournament. Now that The Usos are defending two sets of tag belts, the probability that Sheamus and McIntyre can go all the way and bring home championship gold is significantly increased.

Stock Up #1: Bray Wyatt & LA Knight

Bray Wyatt brought back the Firefly Funhouse this week (Jan. 20) on SmackDown to hype up his Mountain Dew Pitch Black match at Royal Rumble, and it worked like a charm. The return to Wyatt’s funhouse was both humorous and unsettling at the same time, creating anticipation for what’s to come at Royal Rumble. LA Knight did his part too, effectively selling the match with a quick promo in the ring before squashing a jobber.

There you have it, Cagesiders. Whose stock do you think changed the most this week?