WWE Stock Watch: Ranking 10 Superstars Who Are Moving Up or Down (May 17)

You probably know what to expect from this article by now.

As the title implies, we watch stocks here. I'm talking about the stocks of the WWE superstars, of course.

The WWE has been particularly wild as of late, with a lot of tainted match endings and crazy booking that is setting up some superstars for failure and some for success.

Naturally, that's caused plenty of guys to go up and just as many to go down.

So, who's doing what?

Let's take a look with this week's WWE Stock Watch (May 17 edition).

Note: As always, these rankings take into account last Friday's SmackDown and this Monday's Raw.

5. Stock Down: Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger

Given how terrible this duo has been booked throughout most of 2012, this really isn't all that surprising.

After Dolph Ziggler got his first victory in what seems like forever on last week's Raw, he and Jack Swagger were right back on the losing end of things just a few days later.

Swagger lost in singles action to R-Truth on SmackDown, while both Swagger and Ziggler lost a six-man tag team match on Raw.

Does anyone actually believe Vickie Guerrero's clients are going to win at Over the Limit? I sure don't.

The way that Ziggler and Swagger are booked is one of the creative team's biggest screw-ups.

5. Stock Up: Brodus Clay

It was more of the same old, same old from Brodus Clay.

While I'm getting incredibly bored with "The Funksaurus," though, the truth is that the way he's booked clearly he means that his stock is up in the eyes of the WWE brass.

This week, he easily squashed Hunico on SmackDown and then got the pin in that six-man tag team match on Raw.

Though Clay still hasn't had a feud or a real storyline since debuting/returning, he continues to pile up wins, and even though wins don't matter as much in pro wrestling as they do in sports, they definitely still matter.

4. Stock Down: Zack Ryder

Congratulations, WWE: You've officially ruined Zack Ryder.

Though Ryder became one of the company's most popular superstars in 2011, he's had a really rough 2012 so far, and that continued once again this week.

He teamed up with Santino Marella to job to Darren Young and Titus O'Neil (and, of course, he took the pin) on SmackDown, and then, he was nowhere to be found on Raw.

For the life of me, I can't figure out what the hell is going on with Ryder, but something had to have happened that caused this guy to go from main-eventing Raw alongside John Cena to being stuck on Superstars again.

At least as far as storylines go, Ryder is no better off right now than he was in 2010, and that's a shame.

But hey, at least he'll get that match against Kane on the Over the Limit preshow that he actually should have gotten at WrestleMania. That's sarcasm, folks.

4. Stock Up: AJ

AJ continues to make more noise than any other Diva in the WWE.

She's been on a bit of rampage over the last several weeks, and her maniacal streak came to a climax on SmackDown when she dismantled former friend Kaitlyn both during and after their match.

What's been interesting about AJ lately is that it's hard to tell exactly what's going on with her, whether she's actually turning heel or if this is simply a bump in the road for her.

But whatever's going on, it's been great.

AJ has more depth than any female character (and probably any male character, too) in the WWE at the moment, and she's finally picking up wins and getting noticed.

3. Stock Down: The Miz

It's hard to decide who's been booked worse lately: The Miz or Zack Ryder.

But either way, The Miz has looked pretty terrible over the last several months and especially lately.

He was once again on the losing side of his match on Raw this week, getting pinned by Brodus Clay in six-man tag team action.

It could be that the WWE simply doesn't want to push The Miz because he's going to film The Marine 3 soon, but no matter what the case is, it's safe to say that he's taken a dramatic plunge down the WWE totem pole.

Perhaps his upcoming time away from the WWE will be a blessing in disguise for him, and (who knows?) maybe he comes back as a new and improved or even a babyface Miz.

3. Stock Up: Darren Young and Titus O'Neil

Not that this is saying all that much, but Darren Young and Titus O'Neil are beginning to establish themselves as a legitimate threat in the tag team division.

Since being promoted to SmackDown last month, the Primetime Players, as they like to be called, have still yet to lose a match.

They've picked up victories over the likes of the Usos, Ezekiel Jackson and Yoshi Tatsu and, most recently, United States Champion Santino Marella and Zack Ryder on last week's SmackDown.

Oh yeah, they actually showed some personality for a change after their match, too.

While Young and O'Neil may not be everyone's cup of tea, they're bringing some much-needed life, personality and depth to the tag team division.

2. Stock Down: Big Show

Even if he wouldn't have gotten fired, The Big Show's stock would have went down because of that 20-minute cry-fest that put me to sleep and literally made me feel embarrassed for Show.

But since he got "fired," too, this was one easy: Show's stock is down because he no longer has a job.

I don't think his firing is gonna last more than a week (and I wouldn't be surprised if he interferes in the match between John Laurinaitis and John Cena at Over the Limit) but for now, the giant is going to be sitting on the sidelines watching SmackDown from home.

That's fine by me.

Let's just hope it leads to a much-needed heel turn for the World's Largest Cryer. 

2. Stock Up: John Cena

It was a really good week for John Cena after a string of bad ones.

For starters, his arm injury magically healed just two weeks after it required a sling. So kudos for that, John.

But Cena also didn't have to wrestle a match and found out that there can be no interference in his match against John Laurinaitis at Over the Limit.

Even though that pretty much ensures that there will, in fact, be interference, at least storyline-wise things appear to be going much better for Cena right now than they were just two weeks ago.

He's got a superhero-like ability to heal his arm and has a one-on-one match with a guy who hasn't wrestled in like 10 years.

It's good to be John Cena.

1. Stock Down: Cody Rhodes

I hate what the creative team is doing to Cody Rhodes.

He has been the victim of some absolutely horrendous booking since WrestleMania, and he was victimized once again this week.

Rhodes didn't even appear on SmackDown (what the hell was that about?), and he took the pin in tag team action on Monday's Raw.

Literally all he does these days is lose, and it's really hurt his credibility as a top guy on SmackDown.

I don't think that Rhodes is in the doghouse or anything like that. I just think that creative has no idea how to book him.

Either way, though, Rhodes continues to come across like a loser.

1. Stock Up: Chris Jericho

Although Chris Jericho didn't win any matches by pinfall or submission over the course of the last week, the bottom line is that he continues to weasel his way into victories.

After that tag team match on SmackDown fell apart and ended in a no contest, Jericho was able to beat Sheamus in the show's main event. He then followed that up with another DQ victory over Randy Orton in the last match on Monday's Raw.

While Jericho's not being booked overly strongly, he's slyly building up some momentum with these victories, and after a feud with CM Punk that saw him almost never win any matches, it's nice to see him get some consistent victories.

Y2J has now won his last three matches that had a decisive winner and looks like a potential dark horse to win the World Heavyweight Championship on Sunday.

Don't be surprised if he does.

Drake Oz is the WWE Lead Writer for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter and ask him any wrestling-related questions (to be answered in the B/R Mailbag) on Formspring.