WWE Stock Report: Toni Time is over

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 Happy Corbin and Madcap Moss being covered in eggnog, Dolph Ziggler beating Damian Priest, and Paul Heyman acknowledging that his career is likely over, a lot of fortunes were changed.

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

Stock Down #3: Edge

Edge was a bit of a dummy on Raw. He told Maryse that he knew Miz was hiding somewhere waiting to attack him. Even so, Edge spent far too much time looking in one place (straight ahead at the entrance ramp) when The Miz’s music began to play. The Miz emerged from his hiding spot behind Edge and put him down with the Skull Crushing Finale.

Here is the story told to the audience by the Raw commentators at the end of the segment:

Byron Saxton: “Here’s the sad part. Edge called it. Edge called it being a set up.”

Corey Graves: “So it’s extra humiliating when you recognize the setup and still fall for it.”

Sad and humiliating, indeed.

Stock Down #2: Mansoor, Humberto, Jinder Mahal

WWE booked a 12-man gauntlet match on SmackDown, which meant several wrestlers were destined to take very quick falls and look like jabronis. These three guys stand out the most from that group:

Mansoor wasn’t wrestling in Saudi Arabia, so he lost in about 96 seconds in the opening match of the gauntlet against Angel.

Humberto lost against Ricochet in roughly 25 seconds even though Sheamus gave a huge advantage to the Lothario by nailing Ricochet with a Brogue Kick right before the match began.

Jinder Mahal followed that up by losing against Ricochet in 31 seconds. I would like to remind you that Jinder Mahal is a former WWE champion.

Stock Down #1: Toni Storm

Toni Storm was defeated by Charlotte Flair in a SmackDown women’s championship match last night (Dec. 24). Unlike Liv Morgan’s recent loss to Becky Lynch on Raw, there’s no reason to book a rematch here because Flair was the better woman. It very much feels like Toni’s month in the spotlight is over, and she will now fall down the card and into the group of women who are stuck wrestling in matches that rarely get five minutes of television time.

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

Stock Up #3: Bianca Belair

WWE often struggles to focus on women who are not involved in championship matches, but they’ve made sure to keep a spotlight on Bianca Belair ever since she moved on from her feud with Becky Lynch. Belair has beaten Doudrop multiple times on Raw, and showed off her impressive power this week (Dec. 20) when she put Dou away with the Kiss of Death.

Stock Up #2: Omos

Omos and AJ Styles officially broke up this week, and there are rumors the split was rushed because WWE has major plans for both men. That’s good news for Omos in particular, given that Royal Rumble and WrestleMania will be here before you know it. Even if the rumor is not true, it’s clear that Omos is getting a big singles push. He isn’t anywhere close to ready for it and the matches are going to be garbage, but that’s a rant for another column.

Stock Up #1: Sami Zayn

After he helped carry SmackDown for a couple weeks while working segments together with Brock Lesnar, Zayn was rewarded for those efforts with a win in the 12-man gauntlet match on SmackDown. As a result, he is now the number one contender for the Intercontinental championship. The belt has been collecting dust for months around the waist of Shinsuke Nakamura, so Sami has a decent chance to bring home the gold.

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