WWE Stock Report: Mustafa Ali is already back to his losing ways

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 pull apart brawl between Ronda Rousey and Charlotte Flair, Dana Brooke seeking a divorce from Reggie, and Lacey Evans returning to live WWE television, a lot of fortunes were changed.

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

Stock Down #3: Mustafa Ali

Mustafa Ali recently returned to WWE and could use some wins to get the fans behind him more. But he followed up last week’s win over The Miz with a loss in a handicap match, and then he was laid out afterwards by Tommaso Ciampa. It’s still early in Ali’s return, and it’s good to be involved in multiple stories, but falling victim to two different beatings/losses in one segment isn’t ideal.

Stock Down #2: Shinsuke Nakamura

Remember when Shinsuke Nakamura was teased last month as the first challenger for WWE Undisputed Champion Roman Reigns? Nakamura hasn’t done much of anything on television since then. Last night (May 6) on SmackDown he was outwitted by Sami Zayn and lost their match via count out.

Stock Down #1: The Bloodline

Roman Reigns has rarely ever appeared in the Stock Down side of this column ever since he returned to WWE as a heel in August 2020. But the last couple weeks have been questionable for the Bloodline, with the Usos generally being dominated by RK-Bro, and Reigns making the confusing decision to cancel their tag team title unification match. WWE had a chance this week to add some stakes to the Bloodline’s six man tag match at WrestleMania Backlash, but nothing changed. This is an underwhelming way to begin Reigns’ run as the unified WWE Universal champion.

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

Stock Up #3: Nikki A.S.H. & Doudrop

Both of these women were forgotten about and/or ignored by WWE Creative during the build to WrestleMania 38. That might be changing, as they appeared to form a stronger alliance on Raw this week (May 2), with Nikki suggesting she’s ready to drop her goofy superhero gimmick.

Stock Up #2: Sheamus, Ridge Holland, and BUTCH

BUTCH is booked like sort of a current day Crash Holly, and there’s potential for that gimmick to get over once again. After he went missing for a spell, BUTCH returned to SmackDown this week and helped his boys Sheamus and Ridge Holland get one over on the New Day.

Stock Up #1: AJ Styles & Finn Balor

Balor came to AJ’s rescue on Raw during Judgment Day’s latest attempt to maim the Phenomenal One. The two babyfaces raised their fingers for some Too Sweet action afterwards. Despite WWE’s maddening booking of Balor since he was called back up to the main roster last summer, there’s something cool to tap into here between AJ and Finn if WWE chooses to pursue it.

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