WWE Stock Report: Watch out Andrade, Angel Garza is taking your spot

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 Otis stealing King Corbin’s crown, Braun Strowman tipping over a creepy white van, and Ivar transforming into a human bowling ball, a lot of fortunes were changed.

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

Stock Down #3: Andrade

When Andrade lost the United States championship to Apollo Crews, it could have been a situation where Andrade later earns a rematch for the title at Backlash. Yet this week on Raw, Andrade was pinned by Crews once again, this time in a tag team match. It’s notable that Andrade took the pin, because Angel Garza was his partner, and Garza’s the one who was protected. Garza is also coming off a recent win over Kevin Owens.

It’s very possible that WWE has already moved on from the idea that Andrade is a serious threat to win the United States championship back. Without that championship gold over his shoulder, Andrade might be quickly eclipsed by Angel Garza as Zelina Vega’s top star.

Stock Down #2: Rob Gronkowski

Gronk was the longest reigning 24/7 champion in history, but thankfully order was restored to the WWE Universe when R-Truth rolled him up to take back the strap. Gronkowski is now done with WWE, and won’t be wrestling at SummerSlam after all.

Stock Down #1: Jinder Mahal

One month ago I warned that you should prepare for a whole lot more Jinder Mahal in your life. Well, I clearly jumped the gun on that proclamation. Bobby Lashley has instead become the newest challenger to Drew McIntyre’s WWE championship, while Mahal is out indefinitely with knee surgery.

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

Stock Up #3: Drew Gulak

Gulak’s contract with WWE was up in mid May, perhaps over a disagreement on money. He signed a new contract with the promotion by the end of the month, and then he actually defeated AJ Styles on this week’s (June 5) episode of SmackDown. The win over Styles indicates that Gulak will have some influence on the Intercontinental championship story going forward. He could be first in line for a title shot after the tournament concludes, or maybe he’ll turn heel on Daniel Bryan.

Stock Up #2: Aleister Black

When Aleister Black was booked for a singles match with Seth Rollins on this week’s (June 1) Raw, with WWE also advertising a retirement ceremony for Rey Mysterio, it looked like Aleister may have been playing second fiddle to a planned pay-per-view match and story between Seth and Rey. But WWE once again showed that they are interested in pushing Black, because he pulled out a clean win over the Monday Night Messiah.

It’s not clear what Black’s specific direction is right now, but it involves an awful lot of winning, that’s for sure.

Stock Up #1: Bayley & Sasha Banks

Bayley was already the most dominant female superstar in WWE, and this week she added even more championship gold around her waist when she and Sasha Banks defeated Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross to win the women’s tag team titles. Banks and Bayley even cried on the floor to celebrate their big championship victory.

WWE always seems to screw up or never follow through on a potential Banks vs. Bayley story on the main roster, but it feels like things are different this time. Banks and Bayley continued to have tension near the end of the match, before Sasha secured the win. Maybe the tag titles are just the thing needed to eventually drive a wedge between these two best friends. Either way, you should expect to see their story more heavily featured on SmackDown over the coming months.

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