WWE Stock Report: NXT has already shown why it’s the top brand

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 Buddy Murphy knocking on Aleister Black’s door, Daniel Bryan fighting the Miz once again, and Triple H trying to recruit Kevin Owens to NXT, a lot of fortunes were changed.

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

Stock Down #3: Zack Ryder & Curt Hawkins

These guys are such losers. They were supposed to get a shot at the Raw tag titles, but were instead beat up backstage by the Authors of Pain and never heard from again.

Stock Down #2: Lana

Lana’s storyline with Rusev and Bobby Lashley is already bad enough, and then this week she botched her scripted line explaining the terms of her restraining order against Rusev. It’s a new kind of trainwreck every week with this angle.

Stock Down #1: No Way Jose

The only thing No Way Jose really has going for him in WWE is his entrance. And this week on Raw he didn’t even get a televised entrance, serving as an in-ring jobber for Lashley’s full nelson finisher. Jose also had to wait there in the background the entire time during Lana’s botched promo, which was an even worse fate to endure.

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

Stock Up #3: Shinsuke Nakamura & Sami Zayn

This week (Nov. 22) on SmackDown, Sami Zayn revealed a newly designed Intercontinental championship for Shinsuke Nakamura. Nakamura is a true artist who now has some championship gold befitting a man of his studly stature.

Stock Up #2: Samoa Joe

Samoa Joe joined the Raw commentary team for this week’s (Nov. 18) episode. In a span of just three hours he might already be the best commentator on the main roster. More of this, please!

Stock Up #1: NXT roster

NXT has shown that the main roster stars are no match for them. Just look at everything they accomplished this week. Rhea Ripley pinned Charlotte Flair on SmackDown. Becky Lynch struggled to deal with some of the remaining NXT women on Raw. The Undisputed Era launched a sneak attack on Kevin Owens on Raw, beat the Revival on Wednesday night, and then defeated New Day & Heavy Machinery on SmackDown. Bayley is running scared from Shayna Baszler. Ricochet can’t handle Matt Riddle.

Raw and SmackDown send out their roster members in goofy-looking blue and red shirts, whereas the NXT roster invaded SmackDown in a makeshift DX Tank. Keith Lee starred in the closing moments of both Raw and SmackDown, even going toe-to-toe with Braun Strowman. To top it all off, NXT’s Wednesday night show surged in the ratings to finally outdraw AEW in total viewership.

This battle for brand supremacy looks like it’s already over.

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