WWE Stock Report: Cesaro has been demoted to random tag team duty

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 WWE firing 18 wrestlers, Shotzi explaining why she turned on Sasha Banks, and Naomi getting screwed over by Sonya Deville yet again, a lot of fortunes were changed.

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

Stock Up #3: Carmella & Zelina Vega

There are no women’s tag teams in WWE besides the tag team champions Nikki A.S.H. and Rhea Ripley. I don’t know if Carmella and Zelina Vega qualify as a tag team yet, but they did defeat Ripley and A.S.H. in a championship contenders non-title match on Raw, which means they are suddenly a major threat to win championship gold.

Stock Up #2: Drew McIntyre

McIntyre’s SmackDown run has started with a weekly open challenge where he kicks some low or mid card wrestler’s ass in a fun match. McIntyre might be better off not actually saying the phrase “Talk less, Claymore” out loud during his promos, but the spirit of that phrase is working well for him now and feels like a breath of fresh air compared to how his time on Raw came to an end.

Stock Up #1: New Day

The new era of Raw and SmackDown has begun with the New Day as main event stars. Xavier Woods won the King of the Ring at Crown Jewel and (along with Sir Kofi) has gotten the better of The Usos in SmackDown main events since. He also has a new theme song.

Big E is the WWE champion and is lined up for a championship defense against Seth Rollins. He defeated Kevin Owens in the Raw main event this week (Nov. 1) and didn’t fall for Owens’ lies afterwards. On top of that, Roman Reigns has inserted himself into the story between the New Day and The Usos, which could open the door for Reigns vs. Big E at Survivor Series.

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

Stock Down #3: Street Profits

The Street Profits’ time on SmackDown came to a close by putting over The Usos in multiple title matches, and their time on Raw has begun by putting over Omos, essentially. Omos hasn’t fought them yet in an actual match, but his presence has caused them to be defeated by the Dirty Dawgs on two consecutive episodes of Raw.

WWE is heavily teasing a singles match between Omos and Randy Orton, and the Street Profits are the unlucky ones who Omos gets to make look like chumps in the process.

Stock Down #2: Cesaro & Mansoor

I was a little disappointed when Cesaro wasn’t drafted to Raw, because I figured the three hour format there would at least have a spot for a guy who can kill time with good mid-card matches. It was wishful thinking on my part, given how John Morrison continues to waste away doing nothing on Monday nights.

Instead, Cesaro remains on SmackDown, where he was demoted to random tag team duty last night (Nov. 5) along with his partner Mansoor to do the job for the new team of Los Lotharios (Angel Garza & Humberto Carrillo). Just to remind anybody who forgot, this is the same Cesaro who defeated Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 37 and headlined WrestleMania Backlash against Roman Reigns one month later.

As for Mansoor, well, it wasn’t clear if a push was in the cards for him given his multiple wins over Mustafa Ali in late October. This random tag pairing and loss with Cesaro clarified that he has an uphill battle going forward.

Stock Down #1: Bianca Belair

Bianca Belair was pinned by Becky Lynch on Raw and once again failed to win championship gold. That’s now four championship matches Belair has had over the last six weeks with nothing to show for it. WWE has tried to protect her in the finishes, but just like with Naomi over on SmackDown, there’s a point where a babyface just comes off as ineffective and incapable when they fail to reach their goal this many times in quick succession, no matter the context. Belair hasn’t won a match by pin or submission since late August, and she needs to find something else to do other than failing to win titles.

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