WWE Stock Report: Logan Paul is proving the doubters wrong

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 was capped off with SummerSlam 2022, a lot of fortunes were changed.

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

Stock Up #3: Drew McIntyre

Drew McIntyre defeated Sheamus in an Irish Donnybrook on SmackDown and will now challenge Roman Reigns for the WWE Universal championship at next month’s Clash at the Castle in Cardiff, Wales. With an expected capacity in the range of 70,000 fans, it will be the highest attended WWE show of the year, which might make this the appropriate stage for Roman Reigns to finally drop the title. Drew will be booked as a very serious threat to the Tribal Chief.

Stock Up #2: Logan Paul

Logan Paul did the impossible and got himself cheered in a victory at SummerSlam 2022. The YouTube star wowed the audience with his tremendous performance in the match, highlighted by an insane frog splash through a table on the outside of the ring. How can anybody boo that?

I recently used the term “train wreck” to describe the concept of Logan Paul as a babyface, but he’s quickly making a fool out of me and all the other doubters. It turns out that Logan Paul is a good pro wrestler, and he’s capable of winning an audience over with his impressive skills in the ring.

Stock Up #1: Raw women’s division

A big splash was made at SummerSlam when Bayley finally returned to WWE, and she brought Io Shirai IYO SKY and Dakota Kai along with her. Becky Lynch turned babyface in the same angle, setting up a future conflict pitting Bayley, SKY & Kai against Lynch & Bianca Belair.

When you add Asuka, Alexa Bliss, and Rhea Ripley to the mix, the Raw women’s division suddenly looks like the best thing going in WWE. Exciting times are ahead, and I’m definitely drinking the Triple H Kool-Aid on this one.

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

Stock Down #3: Street Profits

At SummerSlam, the Street Profits once again failed to win the WWE tag team titles from The Usos. This time there was no foul play or controversial referee call that made the difference; Jimmy and Jey Uso were simply the better team. Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins should be dropping out of the title picture from here.

Stock Down #2: Liv Morgan

SummerSlam was an important night for Liv Morgan to erase any doubts about the legitimacy of her current reign as SmackDown women’s champion, given the fluky nature of the way she won the title earlier this month via Money in the Bank cash in.

Unfortunately for Liv, her rematch with Ronda Rousey at SummerSlam proved that Liv is an undeserving champion. Ronda kicked her ass the entire match and then Liv tapped out. The only reason Liv is still the champ right now is because the referee blew the call, and the commentary team made sure to point this out.

This finish was WWE’s attempt to solve the problem of finding a way to keep the title on Liv while still protecting Rousey and setting her up for a heel turn. Those goals were accomplished, but now Liv’s credibility as champion is damaged.

Stock Down #1: Theory

Ever since he won the Money in the Bank contract earlier this month, Theory has been on the losing side of all eight television and PPV matches that he has competed in. His status as a total geek was reiterated at SummerSlam. He never posed much of a threat in a quick loss against United States Champion Bob Lashley. He later tried to cash in his Money in the Bank contract, but it never happened because Brock Lesnar took this chump out with an immediate F5.

Some folks have argued that the constant losses and beatings don’t hurt Theory’s stock because it’s fitting for a cowardly heel to lose fair fights, only to steal the title some time down the line. The problem with this argument in Theory’s case is that he’s been booked as a guy who doesn’t belong in the same ring with the top stars in the company. It’s gotten to the point where if he were to cash in that briefcase right now and steal the WWE Universal championship away from a compromised Roman Reigns, the title would immediately lose a lot of its value being in the hands of this mid-card dweeb.

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