WrestleMania Stock Up/Stock Down

[BRV]

As we're approaching one year since WrestleMania 39, whose stock is up and whose is down a year after WrestleMania went Hollywood?

Quickly, I can think of three up and three down:

STOCK UP

- Cody Rhodes: Yes, he was in the main event of WrestleMania last year, but after losing to Roman Reigns, it was assumed by many that he would never be as hot as he was going into that night. And yet not only has he maintained his popularity, it's grown to new heights. He now finds himself in two main events in one weekend and in a high-profile blood feud with The Rock (and Roman Reigns).

- Gunther: Like Cody, he's in the same position he was in around WrestleMania season last year - defending Intercontinental Champion - but now he's a 600+ day champion and has elevated the Intercontinental Championship to levels it has not seen since the early 1990s.

- LA Knight: He wasn't even on the card at WrestleMania 39, and now he finds himself in an intense rivalry with AJ Styles, the man the WWE is trying to push as the next Mr. WrestleMania.

STOCK DOWN

- Sami Zayn: He's gone from a main event feud with The Usos and The Bloodline to spinning his wheels in a match against Gunther where the story arc seems to be, "You can't win."

- Austin Theory: Last year, he was feuding with (and beating) John Cena for the United States Championship. This year he's (probably) going to be one of 12 men in a chaos ladder match.

- The Usos: Much like Sami Zayn, they've gone from a main event level rivalry to a relatively heatless feud against each other, although they will presumably play big roles in the main event of WrestleMania Sunday.

[Finish Uncle Muffin’s Story]

Stock Up
Cody Rhodes: He's the guy. Not much more needs to be said.

Seth Rollins: Despite all the knocks on Seth, the fact remains that the guy is wrestling The Rock in a huge, high profile tag team match on Night 1 and defending a World Title on Night 2.

Drew McIntyre: He went from being an IC contender to likely winning the world title on Night 2.

Stock Down
Sami Zayn: Fans seem cooler on him than they were last year.

Kevin Owens: He's still in a good spot but it feels more like he's here to take some bumps so Randy/Logan didn't need to have an intense 1:1 Mania match.

Austin Theory: Beat John Cena last year, in a ladder schmozz this year.

[Jindrak Mark]

Up: Cody. Seth. Drew. IYO. Bayley. Becky. Rhea. Priest. Knight. Miz.

Down: Sami. Jimmy. Jey. Finn. KO.

Same: Roman. Gunther. Paul.

Not been announced for a match yet but Rey and Dom will be down. They had one of the biggest and well built midcard matches ever last year. The likely tag match they have this year won't come close.

Jey is kinda tough. He's a bigger star and more popular than a year ago but he'll be lower on the card.

Drew is probably the biggest rise. He's probably one of the top 5 people going into the show when last year he might not even have been top 20.

[Jonathan Michaels]

I’d say Miz and Drew are the most up.

Can’t be too upset about Owens and Zayn, Owens main evented the last two years and Zayn main evented last year and stole the show the year before with Knoxville, and they still have title matches this year.

[chronocross]

Stock Up: Cody, Drew, Seth, Rhea, all of them have been on a wave of momentum since last year's Mania especially Cody after his loss last year.

Stock Down: Sami, KO, Usos. I'm sure their matches will be good but can't say there's a lot of interest vs. last year's storylines.

[centeroftheuniverse]

Stock down Bianca Belair. This time a year ago she had a cool entrance and was about to pass a year as RAW women's champion in a title defense vs Asuka. This year, after barely being on Smackdown since Feb 9th, she's likely to be inserted into a 6 person tag with minimal stakes, against a stable she has been feuding with in what feels like forever (just when it was looking like she was finally shaking them off). This will probably be her 4th different 3 vs 3 combo with DCTRL in the past 6 months, and while Jade makes it somewhat interesting, it really could have been on any given Smackdown.

[clc]

Stock Up: Bayley - Last year she was in a tag cluster as the leader of a jobber squad. This year she is a popular face getting cheered on the way to vanquish one of her former mooks for the title.

Stock Down: Asuka - Last year, they repackaged her, and some people (foolishly*) thought she was on her way to finally get the Wrestlemania win and dethrone Bianca. This year she's joined the jobber squad and probably on her way to lose to whatever Frankenteam Bianca comes up with in a match absolutely no one will care about.

*Not me, I knew as soon as Rhea picked Charlotte that it was because they needed Bianca to win.

[4real]

Stock down: Sheamus

I miss Sheamus.

[theironyuppie]

Mar 29, 2024 14:56:06 GMT -5 chronocross said:

Stock Up: Cody, Drew, Seth, Rhea, all of them have been on a wave of momentum since last year's Mania especially Cody after his loss last year.

Stock Down: Sami, KO, Usos. I'm sure their matches will be good but can't say there's a lot of interest vs. last year's storylines.

It's interesting because for all the (admittedly understandable given the build) talk about how the tag match had to main event WM 39 Night 1, Rhea's the one whose star has grown considerably in the year since.

[bob]

stock down: Brock Lesnar for obvious reasons

stock down: Omos - dude disappeared after his feud and better than expected match with Brock

[DichEvans]

Mar 29, 2024 12:04:18 GMT -5 Finish Uncle Muffin’s Story said:

Stock Up
Cody Rhodes: He's the guy. Not much more needs to be said.

Seth Rollins: Despite all the knocks on Seth, the fact remains that the guy is wrestling The Rock in a huge, high profile tag team match on Night 1 and defending a World Title on Night 2.

Drew McIntyre: He went from being an IC contender to likely winning the world title on Night 2.

Stock Down
Sami Zayn: Fans seem cooler on him than they were last year.

Kevin Owens: He's still in a good spot but it feels more like he's here to take some bumps so Randy/Logan didn't need to have an intense 1:1 Mania match.

Austin Theory: Beat John Cena last year, in a ladder schmozz this year.

Cena more or less predicted this would happen during the build to their match last year