WWE Stock Report: Karrion Kross has to start all over again

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 night two of the WWE Draft and Backlash in Puerto Rico, a lot of fortunes were changed.

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

Stock Down #3: Ronda Rousey

Ronda Rousey was a WrestleMania headliner during her first run with WWE in 2019. When she returned in 2022, she won the Royal Rumble match and had multiple championship reigns. Now in 2023, she is a forgettable fourth round draft pick, being taken off the board after Karrion Kross.

Stock Down #2: Matt Riddle

Since returning to WWE one month ago, the Original Bro has made a habit of getting pinned by Solo Sikoa. Sikoa beat him on the Apr. 14 episode of SmackDown, the Apr. 21 episode of SmackDown, and once again last night at Backlash. That’s a lot of losses for a wrestler to take this soon after coming back. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn probably should have found a better partner to help them fight The Bloodline at Backlash.

Stock Down #1: Karrion Kross

Kross fought Shinsuke Nakamura a couple nights ago (May 5) on SmackDown in a match that both men needed to win in order to bolster their chance of being pushed in the short-term. Kross went on to lose the big match, just like he’s done multiple times since he returned to WWE last year. Their brief story appears to be over now that Nakamura is heading to Raw, which means Kross has to start all over again, looking for a new feud with the next babyface who will probably beat him.

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

Stock Up #3: Cody Rhodes

Cody Rhodes survived his match with Brock Lesnar at Backlash and walked out as the winner. This was portrayed in kayfabe as a necessary step for Cody if he’s ever going to finish his story. It’s not clear how he’ll do that as long as he is not allowed to appear on SmackDown with Roman Reigns. But for now, Cody is one of the few wrestlers in WWE who doesn’t need any help to beat Brock Lesnar, and that’s no small feat.

Stock Up #2: IYO SKY

IYO SKY has been a secondary player on the main roster ever since her debut last summer as part of Damage CTRL, but her match at Backlash against Bianca Belair laid the foundation for a singles breakout. As she took the fight to Belair in a way that few wrestlers have, SmackDown commentator Michael Cole said the following:

“This is the IYO SKY the WWE Universe has been waiting for!”

That sums up what I was thinking as the match got going, especially given IYO’s prior reputation as one of the best women’s wrestlers in the world. She might finally have a chance to perform at that level going forward as she moves away from Damage CTRL.

Stock Up #1: Latino World Order

The LWO received a huge spotlight this weekend in Puerto Rico. Not only did Bad Bunny join the group, but Carlito and Savio Vega also received massive pops at Backlash when they appeared wearing LWO shirts. If WWE is ever going to start giving this group some wins on television, now is the time to do it.

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