WWE Stock Report: Dean Ambrose’s heel turn has been a total bust

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 a brawl inside Mandy Rose’s hotel room, escalating tension between Ronda Rousey and Sasha Banks, and a birthday bash for Shane McMahon, a lot of fortunes were changed.

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

Stock Down #3: Jinder Mahal

Mahal was given a golden opportunity to choose one of four possible opponents and beat that man in order to earn his way into the main event of this week’s (Jan. 14) Raw. Mahal chose Finn Balor as his opponent and then gave himself a big advantage when he brutally attacked Finn during his entrance. The end result was a match where Mahal’s vast arsenal of chinlocks just wasn’t enough, and he lost to Balor despite the advantage.

Stock Down #2: Dean Ambrose

Dean Ambrose delivered another uninspired promo backstage before going on to lose the Intercontinental championship on Raw. That Ambrose already lost the title roughly one month after winning it is an admission that his heel turn has been close to a total bust so far. Hopefully this title change will prompt WWE to take his heel turn in a different direction going forward.

Stock Down #1: Braun Strowman

Braun Strowman damaged Vince McMahon’s limo and it resulted in the Monster being removed from his Universal championship match at the Royal Rumble. Strowman also seemed at least slightly intimidated by Mr. McMahon when he took a few steps back as Vince approached him, and Braun uncharacteristically attempted to repair the damaged limo. It’s at least possible now that Strowman’s humiliation at Crown Jewel ends up being the final chapter of his failures against The Beast. The bottom line is that Strowman has been removed from a major championship match on one of the biggest pay-per-view events of the year, and that definitely takes him down a notch.

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

Stock Up #3: Andrade & Zelina Vega

Andrade may no longer have a last name, but that didn’t stop him from putting on one of the best television matches in recent memory on this week’s (Jan. 15) episode of SmackDown Live against Rey Mysterio. If Andrade goes on to do great things in WWE, this could be the match many people point to as his big star-making moment.

Stock Up #2: Bobby Lashley & Lio Rush

I’ve had some fun with Lashley’s recent butt posing antics, but the truth of the matter is the gimmick never seemed like upper card material. That changed this week when Lashley stepped up his game and pinned Dean Ambrose in a triple threat match, winning the Intercontinental championship. Lashley, Ambrose, and Rollins had the best match of the night, and it resulted in a much-needed victory for the All Mighty superstar.

Stock Up #1: Finn Balor

Has Vince McMahon changed his mind about Finn Balor’s potential as a main event superstar? Balor won two separate matches on Raw, including a pin fall over John Cena, to secure a Universal Championship match against Brock Lesnar at Royal Rumble 2019. The cherry on top occurred during the final moments of the episode, when Cena offered a handshake and verbal endorsement to the Extraordinary Man.

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