WWE Stock Report: Lilly has better moves than Eva Marie

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 a confrontation between John Cena and Roman Reigns, The Miz miraculously running out of his wheelchair, and Baron Corbin stealing Big E’s Money in the Bank contract, a lot of fortunes were changed.

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

Stock Down #3: Jeff Hardy

There was a chance that last month’s win for Jeff Hardy over Karrion Kross was a sign of a push coming Jeff’s way, particularly because it coincided with the return of his No More Words theme music. But then Hardy got COVID, and then he returned to Raw this week to give Kross his win back.

Stock Down #2: Cesaro

Cesaro headlined WrestleMania Backlash against Roman Reigns three months ago. Now he’s a complete afterthought with SummerSlam 2021 just around the corner on Aug. 21. It appears that Cesaro has been passed up in the babyface pecking order on Friday nights by Big E, Finn Balor, Shinsuke Nakamura, Edge, Rey Mysterio, and Kevin Owens. It won’t be easy to climb out of that hole.

Stock Down #1: Doudrop

Doudrop was pinned by Alexa Bliss after being distracted by a stupid doll blinking its eye. That’s a thing that happened on Raw this week, and it was as bad as it sounds. Eva Marie wasn’t happy with Doudrop’s performance, even though Lilly’s eye-blink was a more impressive move than anything we’ve seen in the ring from Eva so far this year.

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

Stock Up #3: Seth Rollins

The storyline between Seth and Edge is bringing out the best of Rollins on the microphone. He’s getting away from the not-so-interesting “embrace the vision” shtick, partially because he cannot contain his frustration with the idea that he is an inferior version of Edge. Rollins is so determined to prove that he is not Edge-lite that he is willing to end Edge’s career to make it happen. This is a very dangerous and very compelling version of The Architect.

Stock Up #2: Shinsuke Nakamura

Nakamura defeated Apollo Crews this week (Aug. 13) on SmackDown to become the new Intercontinental championship. Life is good right now for Rick Boogs and the one true king of WWE.

Stock Up #1: Randy Orton & Riddle

Orton disappeared from WWE for almost two months, putting the future of RK-BRO in doubt. But the Viper returned this week (Aug. 9) on Raw, and the show was heavily focused on his relationship with Matt Riddle. It might seem strange to think that Randy’s RKO on Riddle at the end of the night means they are back together, but that’s certainly what the Raw commentary team wants you to assume is the case.

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