WrestleMania Stock Report: Liv Morgan had the best year of her career

Welcome to the WrestleMania Stock Report. This five-part series will look at everyone on last year’s WrestleMania card and what they’ve been doing since to make a determination of whether they’re in a better position in April 2025 than they were in April 2024. Was it a good year? Was it a down year? Are they the definition of Even Steven?

Most folks who were not on last year’s card will not be included, though I made a few exceptions for those who I felt deserved some time. So you’ll see people like today’s headliner, Liv Morgan, slotted into the Stock Report in places where it seemed logical to do so, like putting Liv with Rhea Ripley and the WWE Women’s World title.

We’ll go match-by-match from Night One through Night Two. With many of the people on the WrestleMania 40 card, I’ll try to pinpoint their best and worst moment of the past 12 months. Sometimes that’ll be in-story. Sometimes I’ll focus more on booking/real life. Some folks didn’t do enough this year to really warrant much discussion of either, but that’s something for y’all to debate in the comments.

I will make the call on how much everyone’s stock is up or down, or if it’s unchanged. Of course, such judgments are subjective, and feel free to debate those as well. Each entry includes something more objective, their PPV (PLE, in WWE speak) record. In addition to wins and losses, that’s interesting information because it tells us how active someone was during the year (records include multi-person matches, including the Royal Rumble).

And a final note: When I use the term “last year” I mean since WrestleMania 40 and not calendar year 2024.

OK, let’s do it.

Rhea Ripley (c) def. Becky Lynch to retain the Women’s world championship

Rhea Ripley
PLE overall record (3-1)

Let’s say this to start. The Eradicator was set coming into this match. She was made as part of the Judgment Day run and especially by her victory over Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania 39. So defeating Lynch wasn’t a star making moment as much as it was another feather in her cap.

Unfortunately, soon after she sustained a shoulder injury at the hands of Liv Morgan which forced her to relinquish her title. Morgan won the title against the other person in this match. Upon Ripley’s return to action, her world came crashing down at SummerSlam when her Dirty Dom Mysterio left her for Liv, helping her retain the women’s world title in the meantime.

They delayed Ripley getting her revenge for awhile, with a returning Raquel Rodriguez helping Liv hold onto her title. But Ripley finally won her title back at the Netflix Raw premiere in January.

In a bit of a shocker, Rhea lost the title to Iyo Sky on the Raw after Elimination Chamber last month. But that was done to shake up the women’s title picture, not because WWE’s.

Best Moment: Finally winning her title back from Liv Morgan
Worst Moment: Dirty Dom betraying her at SummerSlam

Stock: Despite not having the title now compared to last year, she’s still the big star in the title match. Unchanged

Becky Lynch
PLE overall record (0-1)

Not much to say about Lynch this year given she’s been gone for most of it.

She came back early to help fill the void after Ripley’s shoulder injury. The Man captured the vacated title, but that reign served to transfer it to Liv Morgan. After she did those honors, she took a break to spend more time with her daughter and explore other career paths.

Until recently, signs pointed to the fact she’d likely re-signed and would be back soon. She says it won’t, but that return could be at WrestleMania. That could be on Raw or SmackDown next week. But right now, she’s on hiatus.

Stock: On hiatus

Liv Morgan
PLE overall record (3-5), one on one matches (3-1), championship (not including Crown Jewel) (2-1)

Most folks who were sidelined for WrestleMania 40 aren’t going to get time in this series. Coming back from injury and competing in itself is a type of stock increase. But I had to take time to shout out Liv Morgan.

Because this was her best year ever as a performer.

I’ve long been critical of Morgan. Her ring work has steadily improved over the years, but in other areas she seemed to hit a low ceiling. I recall a feud with Becky Lynch years back that clearly demonstrated Becks was light years ahead of her.

But this year has changed that. Liv’s heel work during her Revenge Tour showed incredible strides in the character department (with the ongoing development of her ring work there was less necessity there). She’s embraced her current role with a conviction she hadn’t demonstrated in the past.

It led to her best year in the business, which included an impressive world championship run, an ongoing tag title run alongside Raquel Rodriguez, and defeating fellow World champ Nia Jax for the accolade of being the first Crown Jewel champion.

Best Moment: Fulfilling her Revenge Tour by taking out Ripley and winning her title
Worst Moment: Getting wrongfully blamed for the Jade Cargill attack

Stock: Surging Increase. What a year for Morgan.

A-Town Down Under & Awesome Truth win ladder match to split the unified tag titles

A-Town Down Under
PLE overall record (0-0)

I could recap the year for A-Town Down Under, but there isn’t much here. They lost the titles they won in Philadelphia to #DIY, and spent a lot of time teasing a break up that would position Austin Theory as babyface, but that never happened.

But can we talk about Theory as a whole here? Has there been a bigger stock down over two years than him?

This man got a clean win over John Cena at WrestleMania 39. Then he won a tag match where there were two winners the following year. Sure a win is a win, but that’s not the most prestigious follow up to beating the 16-time World champ a year prior.

And this year, he’s not even on the card. He’s not featured at all. I guess the positive is he can’t go any lower?

Grayson Waller’s stock is down with him, but he didn’t have the massive push that came before this.

Stock: Plummeted

Miz & R-Truth
Miz PLE overall record (0-1), one on one (0-0)
R-Truth PLE overall record (0-0)

The Awesome Truth winning the tag titles from the Judgment Day was a nice little moment, though one lessened by having two winners in the match.

But that was kind of it for these guys this year. They lost the titles back to Judgment Day in the summer. Tired of his antics, Miz soon turned heel on Truth, but that didn’t go anywhere.

Truth isn’t doing much currently outside some backstage skits here and there (which are always a good time).

Miz is part of a budding team with Carmelo Hayes.

Neither guy can drop too much given how established they are. But from last year, it is a drop.

Status: Dropped x2

Finn Bálor
PLE overall record (0-2), one on one (0-1)

I think it makes more sense to cover Damian Priest when we cover his title win on Night Two, leaving us with Bálor here.

The main story beat for Finn this year was his betrayal of Priest at SummerSlam. This developed a feud between the two men that would finally end with Priest winning a hardcore (check) match on Raw.

Despite losing that feud, Bálor did get Judgment Day in the breakup (but thankfully not Street Trash). He won back the tag titles with JD McDonough, having a nice run with those until dropping them to War Raiders.

Unfortunately for the former Demon, his control of the group has slipped through his fingers, with Morgan undermining him at every term. I think this year we’ll see him go out on his own, which may be for the better.

Best Moment: Taking charge by betraying Priest
Worst Moment: Being unable to keep his house in order after

Stock: Despite losing status within the Judgment Day, his career has been more focused in the singles scene coming into this ‘Mania. To me, that’s an increase.

#DIY
Overall PLE record (1-0)

Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano had a solid year that included multiple title wins, one over the first winner of this match (A-Town Down Under) and a later one against the Motor City Machine Guns. The latter involved a heel turn that gave #DIY some spark they were lacking as babyfaces.

They’ve remained part of the tag title scene on SmackDown, a solid showcase of four teams (with Pretty Deadly, MCMG, and Street Profits). They’re featured, but that was true heading into last year’s ‘Mania.

Stock: #Unchanged

The New Day
PLE overall record (0-0)

The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods at this point) spent the months after WrestleMania 40 bickering as team wins stopped coming and Woods couldn’t get his singles career off the ground.

It seemed like this would lead to a split. But then Big E returned make sure that didn’t happen, Woods and Kingston turned their ire on their old teammate, kicking him out of New Day and generating monster heat because of it.

Unfortunately, creative was a bit slow to capitalize on that momentum. A meandering feud with an LWO that was less dominant at the time didn’t do much for new bad guys Kofi & Xavier.

It does seem like they’re picking up steam now, setting themselves up to take the tag titles from War Raiders. In the process, they targeted Erik & Ivar’s necks, sending a long-distance message to the man New Day claims abandoned them, Big E.

Best Moment: Kicking Big E out of the group. It was heinous, but needed for their own success.
Worst Moment: Having to wrestle a match with Tony Hinchcliffe on commentary

Stock: Not as good as they could have been if WWE had something more exciting ready for them fresh out of the gates hot after such a big heel turn. But this team is still in a better spot this year than they were last year. Increased

New Catch Republic
PLE overall record (0-0)

This team hung around, though with little fanfare, until Tyler Bate unfortunately tore his pectoral and missed about 9 months.

In that time, Pete Dunne turned heel due to lack of respect (really, the name Butch), and feuded with the likes of Sheamus. It wasn’t a promising run for the Bruiserweight, who came up on the losing end often.

Bate just returned, so that must mean things are looking up, right? Wrong. They lost their debut match, which makes me wonder if they’re going to be a tag team for much longer. The best they can hope for is a feud with one another that builds on their storied history. The worst they can fear for is more time catering.

Stock: Decreased

Feel free to debate below. Tomorrow we’ll look at one man who could be a blueprint for returning AEW talent, as well as one of the sharpest increases you’ll see.

See you then!