WWE Stock Report: Things can’t get much worse for RETRIBUTION

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 Law & Otis, the Usos tricking Roman Reigns, and Bayley being forced to sign a contract, a lot of fortunes were changed.

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

Stock Down #3: Keith Lee

Keith Lee was pinned by a big boot from a less than 100% healthy Braun Strowman this week (Oct. 19) on Raw. Yes, there was a low blow involved, and Lee did leave Braun laying afterwards. But the fact remains that Keith Lee has wrestled in 10 matches on the main roster thus far and only has three wins to show for it. That’s not good.

Stock Down #2: Matt Riddle

Do you remember when the end of Seth Rollins’ babyface run in 2019 involved him cowering in fear of The Fiend?

Well it was Matt Riddle’s turn to be a frightened babyface on Raw this week, when he was spooked out multiple times by Jordan Omogbehin standing at ringside. A clenched fist from AJ Styles’ bodyguard was all it took for Riddle to be distracted and get caught in the Styles Clash for the pin. This was Matt Riddle’s debut match on Raw; it’s not how babyfaces who will be pushed are booked.

Stock Down #1: RETRIBUTION

Things were finally looking up for this ragtag group of Slaps and Jacks when Mustafa Ali was revealed as their leader on the Oct. 5 episode of Raw. Since then, however, their advertised segment for the Oct. 12 Raw was bumped off the show without notice, and then they lost against The Hurt Business in an 8-man tag team match on this week’s episode. T-Bar tapped out to Lashley’s full nelson without much drama or intrigue.

The worst part for them occurred right after the finish. The Fiend came out and effortlessly decimated the group all by himself. Mustafa Ali’s ensuing promo where he revealed himself as the SmackDown hacker didn’t mean a thing because the group was so convincingly exposed as being all bark and no bite.

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

Stock Up #3: Chad Gable

It’s unusual for someone’s stock to go up after being squashed by Lars Sullivan, but that’s what happened to Shorty G on this week’s (Oct. 23) episode of SmackDown. Right after that loss, he decided to drop the Shorty G moniker and go back to using the name Chad Gable. I’m not under any delusions that Gable is going to vault up the card now, but in order to have any chance to escape off the bottom rung of the ladder, this name change was a required step.

Stock Up #2: AJ Styles & Jordan Omogbehin

AJ Styles is usually in a very good spot on the card, and now things are even better for him because he has a giant friend guarding his body. Jordan Omogbehin now has a chance to establish himself as the Diesel of this tandem, with Styles playing the role of Shawn Michaels.

Stock Up #1: Bray Wyatt & Alexa Bliss

Bray Wyatt destroyed four members of RETRIBUTION all by himself on Raw, and he made it look like the easiest thing in the world. Alexa Bliss then joined him in the Firefly Fun House later in the night. Drew McIntyre and Asuka will probably need new opponents to challenge for their championship gold, and Wyatt & Bliss look like two leading contenders to fill those main event level shoes.

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