WWE Stock Report: WWE is making LA Knight wait even longer

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 Brock Lesnar calling Cody Rhodes a bitch, Alpha Academy and Viking Raiders battling it out in a Viking Rules match, and Roman Reigns agreeing to Tribal Combat with Jey Uso at SummerSlam, a lot of fortunes were changed.

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

Stock Down #3: LA Knight

When WWE announced the United States Championship Invitational, it looked like this could finally be the start of Knight’s push up the card. However, even though he vowed to drop three other men during this week’s match, Knight once again failed to deliver on his word, and Rey Mysterio emerged as the winner.

This continues a pattern where it seems like Knight is about to be pushed, only for it to be delayed. Four months ago he was talking about how you can’t have an LA WrestleMania without LA Knight, but that turned out to be false. Then he was supposedly a favorite to win the Money in the Bank contract, but that didn’t happen either. Now it looks like he’s missing out on a match at SummerSlam (although there is still some time for WWE to find something else for him to do that night, like a hosting gig).

The fact that WWE gives Knight regular mic time means he is doing fine even without winning many matches, but expectations for him are understandably higher than his current positioning given how loudly audiences respond to him. It doesn’t really make sense to pass up on the chance to give Knight a big win in front of 60,000+ screaming fans at Ford Field in Detroit, one of WWE’s biggest live audiences of the year.

Stock Down #2: Cameron Grimes

Cameron Grimes took the fall in this week’s United States Championship Invitational match, weeks after WWE abruptly ended his storyline with Baron Corbin. However, the worst thing by far for Cameron on the main roster is that WWE hasn’t made much of an effort to develop his character or explain what he’s all about. For the many WWE fans who aren’t familiar with Grimes from NXT, there isn’t really a reason yet to care about him on SmackDown.

Stock Down #1: Nikki Cross

Nikki Cross was squashed on Raw by Shayna Baszler in less than 20 seconds, making it look like she doesn’t belong on the WWE roster. This kind of booking brings up a question we’ve considered many times before: is it better to be on TV and lose in seconds, or is it better to not even be on TV at all?

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

Stock Up #3: LWO

Rey Mysterio and Santos Escobar both had pretty good weeks, with Mysterio picking up a win in the United States Championship Invitational, while Escobar pinned the actual champion in a non-title match. If WWE is indeed looking for a babyface Latino champion, there’s a pretty good chance it will be someone from the LWO.

Stock Up #2: Sonya Deville & Chelsea Green

Deville & Green continued their recent hot streak on Raw by defeating Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez and becoming the new WWE women’s tag team champions. Will Green and Deville be the team that finally brings stability to the women’s tag scene? The odds are against them given the history of the division, but they are currently doing better than any other women’s duo on the roster.

Stock Up #1: The Judgment Day

The Judgment Day was all over WWE television this week. Dominik Mysterio won the NXT North American championship and already defended it successfully on SmackDown television. Rhea Ripley played an integral role in costing Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez the WWE women’s tag titles. Finn Balor forced Seth Rollins to get serious and now has a World heavyweight championship rematch booked at SummerSlam. Damian Priest main evented Raw in a tag team title match and is presented as Balor’s equal when it comes to their joint pursuit of Seth’s gold.

Can this group eventually become as prominent as The Bloodline? That’s a long way from happening, but they are undoubtedly the top heel force in WWE on Monday nights.

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