WWE Stock Report: They forgot about Naomi again

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 Bayley’s explanation for turning on Sasha Banks, Alexa Bliss using Sister Abigail, and Kevin Owens brawling with Aleister Black on Raw Underground, a lot of fortunes were changed.

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

Stock Down #3: Shayna Baszler

Pinning Shayna Baszler should be a really big deal. The only pinfall Baszler has taken on WWE’s main roster is when Becky Lynch got a lucky win over her at WrestleMania 36.

That changed this week (Sept. 7) when Baszler was pinned by Liv Morgan on Raw. Yes, it was a handicap match, but that really wasn’t much of a factor in the fall. WWE commentary tried to play it up like Baszler was distracted by Nia Jax, but it wasn’t a very convincing argument. Morgan simply slipped out of Baszler’s grip and rolled her up for the win.

A win over Baszler should feel special, but there was nothing special about this. Morgan got a pin over her in a nothing match and angle that was later overshadowed by a RETRIBUTION promo. This doesn’t mean Baszler is suddenly going to drop down the card, but it does mean that pinning Baszler is no longer a major accomplishment.

Stock Down #2: Viking Raiders

Ivar suffered a cervical injury in a tag team match on Raw, and it’s significant enough where surgery has not been ruled out. Jey Uso’s current push offers some hope that maybe WWE can find something interesting for Erik to do in a singles role for a while, but that’s not usually how it goes in WWE for tag teams when one member of a team is injured and the other is healthy. Erik might have to get used to being a jobber in Raw Underground until Ivar recovers.

Stock Down #1: Naomi

Naomi was nowhere to be seen on SmackDown this week (Sept. 11) when there was a Fatal 4-way match between Tamina, Lacey Evans, Alexa Bliss, and Nikki Cross to determine Bayley’s challenger at Clash of Champions.

Cross got the win, but considering that she’s already failed so many times to take the gold away from Bayley, it’s not clear why a different outcome should be expected when they fight again. Naomi seemed like a better choice, especially because she pinned Bayley a few weeks ago during a Beat the Clock challenge. But it looks like WWE has once again forgotten that Naomi exists. #NaomiDeservesBetter

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

Stock Up #3: Cedric Alexander & The Hurt Business

Cedric Alexander finally made the smart decision and turned on that loser, Ricochet. MVP’s recruitment efforts paid off, and Alexander is now aligned with a much more successful group of men than he was previously teaming with. Mustafa Ali should follow suit if he wants to be rescued from the obscurity of Main Event.

Stock Up #2: Dominik Mysterio

Dominik hasn’t even been an active wrestler in WWE for more than a month, yet he’s already a featured act on pay-per-view and main eventing episodes of Raw. He’s somehow higher up in the babyface pecking order than Kevin Owens. I think it can be argued that Dominik’s booking is now more promising than Keith Lee, who took a step back this week in a match against Randy Orton.

Dominik has a Steel Cage match lined up against Seth Rollins on Raw next week, which further emphasizes that he is one of the most important babyfaces on Monday nights.

Stock Up #1: Drew McIntyre

Drew McIntyre has superhuman recovery abilities. He returned to Raw this week in an ambulance, after missing only one episode from Randy Orton’s punts, and Claymore’d Orton’s head three different times throughout the episode. Who knows, maybe these two stars are headed for a “Skull for a Skull” match at Clash of Champions.

The bottom line is that Drew is back, and he was booked like a total badass on Raw.

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