WWE Stock Report: Vince screwed Vince

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 Ronda Rousey going face-to-face with Liv Morgan backstage, Dominik Mysterio almost joining The Judgment Day, and Brock Lesnar returning to SmackDown after reportedly walking out, a lot of fortunes were changed.

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

Stock Up #3: Kevin Owens

Any wrestling show is automatically better whenever Kevin Owens makes an appearance. That’s why it was great to see Owens return to Raw this week (July 18) after missing a few episodes. He talked his way right into the middle of the ongoing feud between Seth Rollins and Matt Riddle.

Stock Up #2: Logan Paul

Logan Paul showed up on Raw for the first time since he signed a WWE contract, and the company figuratively rolled out the red carpet for him. He was positioned in the main event segment, was booked to be the hero, and overcame a two-on-one attack from The Miz and Ciampa.

Logan Paul as a babyface sounds like a very bad idea, but WWE is clearly going to push him like a giant star regardless of whether fans are booing are cheering him.

Stock Up #1: Bianca Belair & Becky Lynch

This week’s Raw set up a women’s championship rematch between Bianca Belair and Becky Lynch at SummerSlam. Most of the remaining Raw women’s division was relegated to chasing after the 24/7 jobber championship later in the episode.

Belair and Lynch aren’t booked with the extreme level of dominance that Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns exhibit on a regular part-time basis, but they still have a major stranglehold on the Raw women’s division. Asuka is really the only other woman who comes close to their level; it’s no coincidence that Asuka didn’t join her partner Alexa Bliss or any of the other women in pursuing the 24/7 title.

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

Stock Down #3: Veer Mahaan

Veer Mahaan went from defeating Rey Mysterio on Raw last month to...saying “Boo!” at backstage interviewer Sarah Schreiber this week. Veer’s original gimmick wasn’t setting the world on fire, but this character change appears to be a significant downgrade.

Stock Down #2: Maximum Male Models

Max Dupri was nowhere to be seen on last night’s (July 22) SmackDown, and the latest reporting indicates he has been removed from Maximum Male Models. The entire gimmick depends on his charisma and mic work, so even though Maxxine Dupri is the new leader, the group is facing an uphill battle right now.

Stock Down #1: Vince McMahon

Vince McMahon announced his abrupt retirement from WWE this week. As a result, he’s no longer part of WWE Creative and won’t be backstage during tapings of Raw and SmackDown. This is the end of Vince McMahon as the man who runs WWE.

A lot of people in the wrestling world have reacted to this news by expressing their admiration, respect, or gratitude towards McMahon. This includes an entire segment on last night’s SmackDown devoted to saying “thank you” to Vince.

Every person who thanks McMahon right now is exercising poor judgment; it’s as if they are completely clueless to the ugly context behind Vince’s decision to retire. These folks are ignoring the elephant in the room: what happened that made Vince McMahon change his mind about retiring?

Only the most naive person thinks McMahon’s retirement decision was made independent of the current investigation into allegations of hush money payments and sexual misconduct in the workplace. Nobody should be glorifying this man right now, certainly not before the WWE Board of Directors concludes its investigation. We still don’t know just how deep the story goes or what new information might come to light.

It’s a natural human impulse to thank someone for their body of work after they retire. However, Vince McMahon’s retirement from WWE is a direct consequence of these troubling allegations made against him, and that’s something nobody should be responding to with a “thank you.”

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