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 Dash Wilder falling down, Rusev and Lana signing divorce papers, and Bray Wyatt giving a creepy doll to Miz’s daughter, a lot of fortunes were changed.
With that in mind, let’s see whose stock has decreased the most this week:
Stock Down #3: Sonya Deville & Mandy Rose
Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville lose all the time, so the fact that they failed again on this week’s (Dec. 13) episode of SmackDown is not surprising. This time they actually gave themselves an unfair advantage by attacking Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross before the match...yet they still lost. There just isn’t much going their way these days.
Stock Down #2: Matt Hardy
After an absence of several months, Matt Hardy returned to WWE television at the end of November. He has wrestled two matches on Raw during this latest comeback, and he lost both matches in less than three minutes. It sure looks like WWE brought Hardy back just to play the role of a jobber.
Stock Down #1: Street Profits
The Street Profits have had a regular presence on Raw throughout the second half of 2019. They spent most of that time doing backstage segments, and rumors suggested that the plan was for them to get over first before competing in the ring. Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford finally wrestled in their first Raw match on Oct. 21, with a main event win over the OC. Considering how they were positioned for that debut match, as well as WWE’s attempt to get their catchphrase over, it seemed like WWE’s decision-makers were strongly behind this duo.
That’s why it made no sense to see the Street Profits fed to the Viking Raiders on this week’s Raw in a three minute tag title match. This was the first pinfall loss the Street Profits have suffered on Raw, and taking such a quick loss emphasized the point that these guys are not big stars. I guess WWE thought that giving them a Weekend Update type segment later in the show would help them save face, but all it really did was make me wonder why these two guys who got their asses kicked earlier in the night were now doing a comedy segment with a laugh track. This was just bizarre booking all around. The Street Profits’ first pinfall loss on Raw should have been a much bigger deal than this.
Now let’s see whose stock has increased the most this week:
Stock Up #3: Sami Zayn
Sami Zayn has acquired a managerial license which will allow him to appear on both Raw and SmackDown. It’s still maddening that WWE is using one of the best workers on the roster as a manager rather than a wrestler, but the newest loophole in the brand split at least ensures that Zayn’s presence on television will only increase going forward.
Stock Up #2: Humberto Carrillo
It looked like Humberto Carrillo’s push was left for dead a couple weeks ago when he was suddenly cast to the side so that Rey Mysterio could win the United States championship from AJ Styles. But Carrillo bounced back in a big way on Raw this week (Dec. 9) with a thrilling win over Andrade, who had won almost all of his televised matches over the last two months.
Stock Up #1: Seth Rollins & AOP
Seth Rollins’ full heel turn was finally realized this week, when he removed his hood to show that he was in cahoots with the Authors of Pain. Seth’s hood reveal wasn’t quite at the level of Vince McMahon unveiling himself as the higher power in 1999, but Rollins’ follow-up promo was tremendous. He seems to really believe that he’s been the good guy all along, and it’s the fans who turned on him. He even beat Brock Lesnar twice this year to bring the Universal title back full time to Raw, because that’s what everyone asked for. What more do you people want from this guy?
There you have it, Cagesiders. Whose stock do you think has changed the most this week?