WWE Stock Report: Braun Strowman fills a glaring hole on the roster

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 Dominik Mysterio joining The Judgment Day, Drew McIntyre fading to black at the hands of Karrion Kross, and Dexter Lumis petting The Miz’s face inside a steel cage, a lot of fortunes were changed.

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

Stock Down #3: Shayna Baszler

After losing to Liv Morgan in a women’s championship match at Clash at the Castle, Baszler quickly dropped out of title contention on this week’s (Sept. 9) SmackDown in favor of losers like Sonya Deville and Xia Li.

Stock Down #2: Toxic Attraction

In only their second match on the main roster, Toxic Attraction was already serving as tune-up fodder for the Women’s tag team champions to beat in a five minute match on SmackDown.

Stock Down #1: Los Lotharios & Alpha Academy

This week’s (Sept. 5) Raw featured a four way match to determine the number one contenders for the WWE tag team titles. Los Lotharios and Alpha Academy were among those four teams, but by the end of the match it was apparent that they were only in there to be destroyed by the returning Braun Strowman. Strowman then annihilated Alpha Academy again on SmackDown.

WWE is running the same four way tag match again next week despite Los Lotharios and Alpha Academy clearly not being championship material. It begs the question, why aren’t the Viking Raiders in the mix for earning a title shot? They are pretty much the only team in WWE that looks like they stand a chance against the Usos.

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

Stock Up #3: Ronda Rousey

One week Ronda Rousey is suspended, the next week she is the number one contender to the SmackDown women’s championship. The Baddest Woman on the Planet finally gets her rematch with Liv Morgan next month at Extreme Rules, where Ronda will no doubt be the favorite once again.

Stock Up #2: Solo Sikoa

Solo Sikoa officially joined the main roster and The Bloodline this week, and then he wrestled against Drew McIntyre in the main event of SmackDown. Considering the dominance of The Bloodline faction, Sikoa has a great foundation to thrive right away in WWE.

Stock Up #1: Braun Strowman

The Monster Among Men is back in WWE and he steamrolled a good chunk of the tag team division during his return segment on Raw. Commentators emphasized multiple times that the eight men in the ring were no match for one Braun Strowman.

WWE needs more main event level talent, and Braun immediately serves that role as a new top babyface to match up against Roman Reigns. WWE also needed a more capable giant on the roster who can be relied on for a lot more than just squash matches. Whether it’s Omos, Commander Azeez, or future WrestleMania main event star Shanky, WWE has struggled to replace Braun in that spot ever since Vince McMahon fired him last year. That hole is filled now that Braun is back.

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