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 Solo Sikoa getting kidnapped by The 946, CM Punk not being too old to qualify for the Money in the Bank ladder match, and Oba Femi joining forces with Je’Von Evans to wipe out The Vision, a lot of fortunes were changed.
With that in mind, let’s see whose stock decreased the most this week:
Stock Down #3: Giulia
Giulia predictably took the fall in this week’s Money in the Bank qualifying match against Charlotte Flair and Lash Legend. It’s not the ideal way to build up Giulia for Blake Monroe’s debut match, which is once again being advertised for next week’s SmackDown.
Stock Down #2: GUNTHER
After failing to win the WWE championship throughout the summer, GUNTHER was pinned by CM Punk in a Money in the Bank qualifying match on this week’s SmackDown, with a major assist from Finn Balor’s finishing move.
Earlier in the show, GUNTHER said it’s ridiculous for a great wrestler like him to have to qualify for a ladder-climbing contest. He then crossed paths once again with Danhausen, who was seconds away from cursing “Gooner.” Nobody in WWE can stop Danhausen, so if a curse is imminent, perhaps that means the plan is for GUNTHER’s current dry spell to continue. Since SummerSlam, the only wrestler GUNTHER has been able to beat on SmackDown is that jabroni Matt Cardona.
Stock Down #1: IYO SKY & Bayley
Prior to this week, Bayley had not wrestled on WWE programming since July, while IYO’s last Raw match took place in early August. They both returned to action on the show this week, and they both got pinned to lose their respective matches. In Bayley’s case, she lost against the same heel who put her on the shelf back in July. These results don’t indicate that WWE has a big push planned for either star right now.
Now let’s see whose stock increased the most this week:
Stock Up #3: Lash Legend & Roxanne Perez
WWE is embracing youth with most of its selections for this year’s Money in the Bank ladder matches. With that in mind, Perez and Legend qualified for the ladder match this week over former world champions like IYO SKY and Charlotte Flair. There isn’t an obvious winner in the current women’s field, so there’s at least a chance that this week’s win is leading to something much bigger for one of these stars.
Stock Up #2: Trick Williams
United States Champion Trick Williams closed the book on his feud with Baron Corbin by defeating him in a steel cage match on SmackDown. He still needed help from Lil Yachty to beat the very tall former champion, but the WWE commentators hyped up Trick in a big way afterwards for showing the fans what he’s truly made of by putting Corbin away for good.
Stock Up #1: Penta
If there was any doubt about whether or not Penta truly “got the rub” by losing against Roman Reigns on Raw in Mexico City, those concerns were mostly quieted on this week’s episode when he opened and closed the show. Penta made it clear that he’s not done chasing the OTC. He backed up those words by being a late addition to a Money in the Bank qualifying match and actually winning it too. Penta is hot and suddenly looks like a favorite to win the MITB contract in a couple of weeks.
There you have it, Cagesiders. Whose stock do you think changed the most this week?
