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Welcome to the WrestleMania stock report, our yearly series where we look back at all the players from last year’s WrestleMania card and see how they fared over the year. You can take a look at where people were at this time last year in last year’s final report here.
WrestleMania is the perfect time to see how the stock of a wrestler has moved over 365 days. It serves as a “season finale” to the year of WWE. This is where they pay off their big storylines and where they want to showcase their best. Where someone lands on the Mania card says a lot about what their stock is currently. Given there are so many people vying for spots on the biggest show of the year, it’s a good look at how WWE views certain talent.
We’re going to start off with the Andre the Giant Memorial battle royal, which is so big it’s been divided into two parts. This is roughly ordered by eliminations (though tag teams have been grouped together) and these are the folks who didn’t even last long in the “Get Everyone on the Card” battle royal.
The Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal
Aiden English
English started the year as Rusev’s hype man and occasional tag partner in the Rusev Day tag team.
However, they started to fracture when English accidentally cost Rusev in the Bulgarian’s WWE title match against AJ Styles at Extreme Rules. It was a drawn out break up that involved Aiden trying to endear himself to both Rusev and Lana prior and even involved the duo earning a tag title shot.
But eventually, English snapped and attacked Rusev. Their feud consisted of English coming up with the inexplicable plan of presenting a tape that looked to initially be Lana coming onto English, but was really the other way around. It was all quite dumb. Rusev would win the feud, and that was pretty much it for Aiden on SmackDown.
Aiden English is now a commentator on 205 Live.
Best Moment: Earning a tag title match alongside Rusev
Worst Moment: The entire “A Night in Milwaukee” crap
Stock: Dropped - when you go from being on SmackDown to being on 205 Live, it’s a drop
The Ascension
The Ascension moved to Raw in the shake-up and were rarely used.
They had a couple matches in losing efforts here and there, but that’s about it.
Stock: Mild drop - At least when they were on SmackDown, they got to be in Fashion Files bits.
Curt Hawkins
This man did not win at all this year. He came close one time, but Baron Corbin cost him by attacking his opponent, which resulted in a Hawkins DQ loss. Damn, Corbin.
He’s now teaming with Zack Ryder, still losing.
Best Moment: The Major Brothers reunion
Worst Moment: The time Corbin cost him his first win in ages
Stock: Unchanged - Even teaming with Ryder, he’s not doing too much. Hopefully, they’ll function more as a tag team next year.
R-Truth
R-Truth continued to rule this year.
He moved to SmackDown and felt he needed to beat Carmella to earn a title match because, you know, R-Truth. This turned into a fun partnership between the two that included seven second dance breaks.
They were a team on Mixed Match Challenge, winning the entire thing. (Truth picked an all expenses paid trip to Stamford, Connecticut for their reward.)
He was attacked by Nia Jax, costing him a spot in the Royal Rumble. However, he was compensated with a US title match which he won from Nakamura. He then pinned Rusev a few minutes later for his first successful title defense.
In honor of his childhood hero John Cena (who is younger than Truth), he held open challenges for the title. He eventually lost it in a fatal 4-way to Samoa Joe.
He’ll probably be in the battle royal at WrestleMania, but he’ll still be super fun.
Best Moment: His all expenses paid trip to Stamford
Worst Moment: Nia Jax costing him a Royal Rumble spot
Stock: Slightly up - Yes, he’s in the same spot he was last year, but this year showcased his talents more and he feels like a bit of a bigger deal.
Primo Colon
Last week he served as random security for Shane McMahon, which was probably the first time he was on TV all year.
Stock: The same I guess?
Mike Kanellis
Mike Kanellis started his year on the main roster and ended it in 205 Live. So is that a good thing?
Probably, in the sense it at least gives him television time, even if it’s on a show many less people watch. He was moved to Raw after WrestleMania last year where he did pretty much nothing before being moved to 205.
There was a rumor of him and Maria asking for their release earlier this calendar year, which they both denied.
If they use Cruiserweight talent in the battle royal, that’s where he’ll be. But that’s not what they did last year, so it’s likely he’s not on the card.
Best Moment: Moving to 205 Live where he got to work more.
Worst Moment: Being drafted to Raw, where he had less opportunity to work than even on SmackDown.
Stock: Dropped - While it’s good that he’s working more, it’s pretty clear that guys on 205 are lower on the totem pole stock wise than most main roster guys.
Tyler Breeze
Tyler Breeze and Fandango were switched over to Raw, a move that seemed beneficial for them. They picked up a win over the Bar on their debut. They even spoke on the Edge and Christian podcast about how they felt moving to Raw was a good thing because the SmackDown tag scene was too crowded.
But that was all wrong. They soon started losing. It felt like the spot intended for them went to the B-Team instead. They weren’t on TV much and then Fandango got hurt. Breeze wasn’t on TV much at all after that. His one moment of note was getting an Intercontinental title match on a Raw.
So moving to Raw was no better than SmackDown and no Fashion Files. It sounds like he’s not happy about his position.
Best Moment: Picking up that win over the Bar
Worst Moment: Fandango’s injury keeping Breeze off TV
Stock: Mild drop - they were presented better on SmackDown.
Fandango
Dango’s story is the same as Breeze’s outside the fact he’s the one who got hurt.
Stock: Injured
Zack Ryder
Ryder almost went all of 2018 without being on Raw. He made it last minute in a battle royal, but still.
He reunited with Curt Hawkins early in 2019. They haven’t won at all, and they haven’t been on TV much. But hopefully they’ll be able to lift themselves up to a victory after WrestleMania.
Best Moment: Reuniting with Hawkins
Worst Moment: The time Raw couldn’t even spell his name right on the graphic
Stock: Unchanged - But there’s definitely potential for an increase if they actually do something with the Major Brothers.
Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows
The Good Brothers may be saying goodbye to the WWE.
This year they were moved to SmackDown where the tag team division is treated better compared to Raw. However, they still failed to get much time.
They did defeat the Usos to get a title shot against the Bludgeon Brothers, in which they failed on a PPV kickoff match. They failed again two nights later when they got a rematch.
Word is they aren’t going to be re-signing their contracts when they soon come up.
Best Moment: When they came out on SmackDown after the McMahons promised change and were angry that such a good tag team was overlooked.
Worst Moment: When the above segment had zero follow up and they still were never on TV. Man, I wonder why they want to leave.
Stock: Unchanged - It’s almost sad that a team leaving doesn’t get a dropped stock, but they’re really in the same cruddy position they were last year.
Apollo Crews
Not too much of note from Apollo Crews this year.
He ended up going solo from Titus Worldwide. This wasn’t a story. He just returned to TV one time without Titus.
His biggest moment was winning a battle royal to earn an Intercontinental title shot against Dean Ambrose. (He failed to win the title.)
He also had a match against Kurt Angle on Kurt’s farewell tour. Kurt won the bout.
And there was the time he threw Sasha Banks into the Singh brothers.
Best Moment: Getting the Crews back in his name
Worst Moment: Honestly, he hasn’t done enough for anything that sticks out.
Stock: Slight increase - It feels like he’s just a bit more featured on TV, but his position is still the same.
Shelton Benjamin
Shelton Benjamin was riding solo after his partner Chad Gable moved to Raw.
The Gold Standard faded away and was rarely used, but he did pick up a televised win over Daniel Bryan. He popped up on Raw to fight Seth Rollins on behalf of Brock Lesnar in a losing effort.
He was back on SmackDown as random protection for Shane McMahon against the Miz (of all people).
Best Moment: Picking up a win over Daniel Bryan
Worst Moment: Having to play loser security for Shane McMahon
Stock: Down - He was utilized a bit better as part of the SmackDown tag team than as a solo effort. Use Shelton more, WWE!
Rhyno & Heath Slater
Rhyno and Heath Slater were moved to Raw where they did little.
They were brought into the “Baron Corbin is the worst” story when he forced them to fight each other and the loser would be fired. Heath won. But he only remained on as a referee who was forced to be a crooked official for Corbin.
Heath aided in the TLC beat down of Corbin, getting Corbin out of the GM role and himself back in a full time competitor role.
Rhyno returned to help Heath a couple weeks after that, reuniting the tag team so they could return to doing nothing.
Best Moment: Heath getting his revenge on Corbin / Rhyno’s return
Worst Moment: Having to fight each other
Stock: The same. They’re not really doing anything again.
We’ll cut it there and finish up the Andre tomorrow. That’s when we’ll break down the numbers for it.
However, this first half of the Andre did not fare well. This year, only two guys on this list have increased stock. There are more people on this list who are reportedly unhappy or looking to leave (Good Brothers, Breeze) than have increased stock. Everyone here is either still in the Andre, out injured, or not advertised for the card at all.
Last year, 20/31 entrants were back in the Andre. At this rate, it’s going to be even more this year, which shows that it’s a position that’s tough to move up from. But there are some who fared better who we’ll look at tomorrow.
See you then!