The clock is running out on Bray Wyatt

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 Edge and Finn Balor setting up a Hell in a Cell match, Damage CTRL attacking Trish Stratus backstage, and Drew McIntyre and Sheamus both earning an Intercontinental title match against GUNTHER at WrestleMania 39, a lot of fortunes were changed.

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

Stock Down #3: Emma & Tegan Nox

WWE is getting a lot more women on the card at WrestleMania 39 thanks to a new four way tag match that was announced yesterday, but Emma and Tegan Nox won’t be part of the mix. They lost a qualifying match against Raquel Rodriguez and Liv Morgan on SmackDown.

Stock Down #2: Asuka & Bianca Belair

The build for the Raw women’s championship match at WrestleMania 39 has been flat up to this point. This week’s underwhelming angle saw Asuka briefly take Bianca’s belt and play keep away with it before laughing and dripping goo out of her mouth. WWE commentators said she was playing mind games. Even if that’s what you want to call it, there’s nothing about her antics that builds excitement for their match in Hollywood, as evidenced by the quiet Raw audience.

Stock Down #1: Bray Wyatt & Bobby Lashley

Bray Wyatt has been gone from WWE television in March, missing all three weeks of Raw and SmackDown thus far, creating a lot of uncertainty about his expected WrestleMania match against Bobby Lashley. As a result, this was yet another week of TV where Bob had nothing to do. Uncle Howdy isn’t a character that has been developed well enough to carry the story in Bray’s absence, so he has been a non-factor for the most part too.

The clock is running out, and with two weeks to go until WrestleMania, it feels like WWE might need to call an audible very soon, or at least have a backup plan for Lashley ready to go.

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

Stock Up #3: Bronson Reed

Bronson Reed demolished Elias on this week’s Raw, continuing his push as an intimidating monster on the roster. In 2023, Reed has picked up wins on TV over Dolph Ziggler, Chad Gable, Akira Tozawa, Mustafa Ali, and Elias. After dominating these lower level wrestlers on the roster, he could be moving up the card pretty fast after WrestleMania 39.

Stock Up #2: Charlotte Flair & Rhea Ripley

Unlike the Asuka/Belair feud, this one picked up in a big way on last night’s SmackDown. When Flair and Ripley were jawing each at other again, that little shithead Dominik Mysterio created an opening for Ripley to cheap shot The Queen. A wild brawl ensued, after which I’m much more interested in seeing these two wrestlers rip each other apart at WrestleMania 39. This was much better than playing keep away and dribbling goo, that’s for sure.

Stock Up #1: Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens

On this week’s SmackDown, Kevin Owens summarized his resistance to Sami Zayn’s pragmatic plan that they join forces to take down The Bloodline by asking the following question:

“Why would I fight for someone who doesn’t even want to be my friend?”

That’s when Sami realized his approach towards KO had been wrong this whole time. So he found Kevin on his way out of the building, told him that none of the stuff he said about The Bloodline mattered, and that their friendship is what’s most important to him:

“We are friends. We’ll always be friends. We’re not just friends, we’re brothers. You understand that? We’re brothers. And if you never want to talk to me ever again, that’s fine. I just want to let you know, I love you. Okay? That’s it.”

And wouldn’t you know it, Owens came back at the end of the night to save Sami from a Bloodline beatdown, and then hugged his best friend to a massive pop from the live crowd.

This was incredible, and sets the stage for a tag team title match with The Usos that could steal the show at WrestleMania 39.

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