WWE Stock Report: The Money in the Bank contract is not better off with Miz

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 Hell in a Cell 2020 and all of its fallout, a lot of fortunes were changed.

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

Stock Up #3: Bianca Belair

Bianca Belair was moved over to SmackDown during the WWE Draft, and things are beginning on a high note for her. She defeated Natalya and Billie Kay in a triple threat match on this week’s (Oct. 30) episode in order to qualify for the SmackDown women’s team at Survivor Series.

Stock Up #2: Sasha Banks

Banks gained revenge on her former best friend at Hell in a Cell by ending Bayley’s lengthy reign as SmackDown women’s champion. These two stars stole the show and proved that they should have been booked in the main event match on the card.

Stock Up #1: Randy Orton

Orton became a 14-time WWE champion by defeating Drew McIntyre at Hell in a Cell. The Viper now has a long list of superstars looking to get a piece of him, including Bray Wyatt, Edge, The Miz, and McIntyre. He’s also booked in a match against Roman Reigns at Survivor Series, which could very well be the main event of the card. So you better get used to seeing Randy involved in the top stories on Raw for another six months or so, because there’s no end in sight for his current push.

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

Stock Down #3: Riddle

Matt Riddle’s losing ways continued on this week’s (Oct. 26) Raw when he couldn’t figure out a way to beat Sheamus. A few days later he lost his first name, because Vince McMahon is an out of touch old man with some absolutely baffling quirks when it comes to wrestler names. It’s going to be really hard not to laugh or cringe every time he is now referred to simply as “Riddle.”

Stock Down #2: RETRIBUTION

RETRIBUTION still has not won a match. SLAPJACK was easily defeated by Bobby Lashley in a five star match at Hell in a Cell, and then the Hurt Business prevailed over this inept faction in an 8-man elimination tag team match on Raw. The only pinfall that RETRIBUTION could muster came on a distraction roll up after RECKONING was possessed and fell to the mat scratching herself. Lashley was counted out shortly thereafter, and it seemed like RETRIBUTION had a path to victory. But their leader (Mustafa Ali) couldn’t even score a pin over the two least prominent members of the Hurt Business, Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander.

Ali tried to cut a promo afterwards explaining that they win when you suffer. His words are easy to dismiss because nobody ever suffers in the presence of RETRIBUTION. Not unless suffering consists of falling victim to a distraction roll up. RETRIBUTION continues to be the laughingstock of WWE.

Stock Down #1: Otis

Otis lost his Money in the Bank contract to the Miz at Hell in a Cell. In some ways this was easy to see coming, because it’s hard to imagine Otis taking a major title off top wrestlers like Roman Reigns, Drew McIntyre, Bray Wyatt, and Randy Orton. Plenty of fans wanted the briefcase to be moved off Otis, and they got their wish on Sunday.

But considering how Miz was booked this summer against former Universal champion Braun Strowman, where Strowman easily dispatched of him and John Morrison despite the numbers disadvantage, it’s just as difficult to see Miz taking a major title off the current top wrestlers; the days of the Miz as a believable threat to a top singles title expired years ago.

Prior to Hell in a Cell, the last time Miz won a match of any kind was on the May 8 episode of SmackDown. I’ll rephrase those words to let it truly sink in: the Miz had zero wins across a nearly six month span. The Miz went right back to losing on this week’s Raw, because that’s what he does. The Miz may not be a strict comedy wrestler like Otis, but the booking results over the last six months suggest that he’s even more out of place as the Money in the Bank contract holder than Otis.

Therefore this looks like a case where WWE has decided that the MITB holder is going to fail this year, and they prefer for Miz to be the guy who fails instead of Otis. That’s fine and all, but WWE never should have given Otis the briefcase to begin with if they didn’t think he was a credible contender for the gold. Otis was a big enough deal to make the new SmackDown banner after the WWE Draft. But now he is severely damaged as a result of losing the briefcase and no longer being on the same show as Mandy Rose or Tucker.

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