Roster Shake-up

[King Patrick Star]

Raw got 20 SuperStars.
Smackdown got 17 SuperStars.
NXT lost 6 SuperStars.

Going from the left lane to the right lane or the right lane to the left lane doesn’t really make that much of a difference. Moving forward does.

Raw and Smackdown can make all the trades or drafts or shake-ups they want. They will be the same television shows they have always been. If they really wanted to “shake things up”, they should have moved Smackdown to Monday and Raw to Tuesday.

I think NXT won 2018 WWE SuperStar Shake-up, based on the simple fact that they made room for new up and coming SuperStars. Now let’s think about who could fill in the spots of 2 former NXT World Champions, former NXT Tag Team Champions, a manager, and a leader of a Stable.

Spoiler

 

[Vintage Punk]

Raw got 20 SuperStars.
Smackdown got 17 SuperStars.
NXT lost 6 SuperStars.

Going from the left lane to the right lane or the right lane to the left lane doesn’t really make that much of a difference. Moving forward does.

Raw and Smackdown can make all the trades or drafts or shake-ups they want. They will be the same television shows they have always been. If they really wanted to “shake things up”, they should have moved Smackdown to Monday and Raw to Tuesday.

I think NXT won 2018 WWE SuperStar Shake-up, based on the simple fact that they made room for new up and coming SuperStars. Now let’s think about who could fill in the spots of 2 former NXT World Champions, former NXT Tag Team Champions, a manager, and a leader of a Stable.

Spoiler

People taking the place in NXT will be the War Raiders taking AOP's spot as the monster tag team and will eventually become champs. The Undisputed Era will take SAnity's spot as the dominant heel faction with Adam Cole eventually feuding with a future champion in Johnny Gargano. Also Ricochet will take the spot of the amazing in ring work of Almas. I'm excited too about who they could bring in to NXT over the next year as well. Continue to poach from NJPW, TNA, ROH, and even Lucha Underground.

 

[King Patrick Star]

People taking the place in NXT will be the War Raiders taking AOP's spot as the monster tag team and will eventually become champs. The Undisputed Era will take SAnity's spot as the dominant heel faction with Adam Cole eventually feuding with a future champion in Johnny Gargano. Also Ricochet will take the spot of the amazing in ring work of Almas. I'm excited too about who they could bring in to NXT over the next year as well. Continue to poach from NJPW, TNA, ROH, and even Lucha Underground.

It's not poaching. I view it as getting called up from the Minors to the Majors. HAHA!!

 

[Ceen]

I wouldn’t say Smackdown got raided at all. Smackdown managed to keep its big names in Styles, Nakamura and Orton – not to mention Daniel Bryan.

It certainly lost some mid – mid/main eventers but it gained The Miz, Jeff Hardy and Samoa Joe who are more than capable of filling in or headlining.

I would also say the tag team division on Smackdown has strengthened with the arrival of The Bar, Good Brothers and of course Sanity. Asuka is a big gain for the women’s division too.

I think McIntrye would have been better on Smackdown and I agree that Finn Balor should have moved too.

I rated SD better than RAW in terms of what they have got, but obviously they have less superstars than can be used in a proper feud without being repeative. That's why I call it raided. If they lost 2 or 3 upper-mid card guys for a while (injury), it's really meh, I hope they don't push a low carder like the last time. For me, what has been less shake up is the Women's division.

Finn I think Vince screwed everyone with the blue trunks

 

[XXJJ]

Yeah, I think Smackdown got the better end for a change. Bryan, Orton, AJ, Nakamura, Joe, Hardy, Miz, etc. The SD roster feels pretty loaded to me.

 

[Vintage Punk]

It's not poaching. I view it as getting called up from the Minors to the Majors. HAHA!!

Actually I meant that in a good way. Like WWE please continue to do so as I don't really get to see guys from indies or other promotions much. So when they come to NXT, I can finally get to see them. I've come to like NXT and Takeover events more than the regular roster so it's exciting to hear of new guys and future stars when they get signed by NXT

 

[THTRobtaylor]

On the night I actually thought McIntytre came out looking best... it was a real surprise, he looked good (and the headbutt especially looked sick) and most importantly, people bought into the idea of he and Dolph as a team immediately, without it looking like a demotion for either. Only way it would have been bettered was with a better team to batter, like The Bar, but pointless if they are now on SD I guess.

Remember SD is in effect getting Cesaro, as Sheamus is all but done... if you look at it that Cesaro could move up after he retires, then it's a great trade for SD and the guys they have at the top. Cesaro v AJ, Jeff, Shinsuke and Joe could all be headline title matches.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

I don't know if Sheamus is all but done right now since for somebody that as same type of condition as edge and Steve austin had, he sure have been wrestling in some pretty stiff match in both single and tag lately so i wouldn't bet on The Bar splitting up anytime soon as in my opinion, they are dead set on keeping them together right now, which in my personal opinion is the best for Cesaro because as a single, he's super boring but as soon as he's in a tag team, he become another wrestler, probably because they've always found a way to put him with the perfect partner or he's just more confortable in a tag situation, i don't know what it is with him but i like him more as a tag then a single.

 

[Dagger Dias]

Overall I really enjoyed this superstar shakeup. Both shows got a fairly good revision to their rosters.




RAW


Jinder Mahal
He's still terrible. I liked that Angle made him defend the title against Jeff Hardy immediately. He'll be fast forwarded.

Sunil Singh
Still Jinder's annoying sidekick. Still going to get attacked by people Jinder feuds with. He's still going to suck.

The Riott Squad (Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan, and Sarah Logan)
This is a good move. I could easily them inheriting the storylines Absolution was going to have, given Paige's retirement and the similarity of the groups.

Kevin Owens
Makes sense. There was nothing else he could do on Smackdown within the storyline following the loss to Shane and Bryan. He should become Universal Champion again.

Sami Zayn
While he was probably better off on Smackdown, his case is similar to Owens. There was nothing else he could do in the storyline after the loss to Bryan and Shane. Looking forward to seeing what he and Owens do on Raw.

Zack Ryder
He will be one of the resident jobbers. It's fine.

Breezango (Fandango and Tyler Breeze)
Not sure if this was that great of a move. They are likely to get lost in the shuffle. Hopefully they will get a lot of silly segments at least.

Natalya
I like this move. She could feud with Ronda, Alexa, Sasha, Mickie, and more.

Mojo Rawley
He sucked on Smackdown and still got lost in the shuffle. I expect the same to happen on Raw. Not that it matters much, he really sucks.

Dolph Ziggler
I am SO tired of Ziggler. The alliance with Drew will hopefully make him more interesting.

Drew McIntyre
Very glad to see him back on the main roster. Restart the "Chosen One" storyline. Right now!

Baron Corbin
Eh. I'm neutral on this. Not the biggest fan of the guy.

Mike Kanellis
Completely forgot about him. Without Maria he's irrelevant. Send him to NXT or something.

The Ascension (Konnor and Viktor)
Very concerned for them. There's no way they will last long on Raw if they got lost in the shuffle on Smackdown. I liked their silly segments with Breezango but I do not think this was the best move for either Breezango or The Ascension.

Bobby Roode
This could end up being a GLORIOUS change of scenery for Roode. He'll fit in fine in the midcard for now.

Chad Gable
Can American Alpha get back together now? Just retcon the Jordan is Angle's son thing and let those two be a tag team again.




SMACKDOWN


The Miz
He'll be better off on Smackdown. The feud with Bryan is inevitable.

Jeff Hardy
A great pick for the blue brand. I liked Hardy bringing the US Championship right back to Smackdown. It went to Raw with Jinder, then Jeff wins it and he gets moved to Smackdown.

Absolution (Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville)
Makes a lot of sense with Paige being the new GM for her to bring her protege's over.

Samoa Joe
I found this move a bit odd, though now we can see him face AJ Styles! In the WWE!

Sanity (Eric Young, Alexander Wolfe, and Killian Dain)
I like this move, but why isn't Nikki Cross coming with them? She would have been a good addition to Smackdown's female division and the group is incomplete without her.

Big Cass
He's been missed. Looking forward to seeing what he does next. I can see him in a role similar to what Corbin did, only doing it better.

Asuka
Wasn't she already on Smackdown? I thought she became a Smackdown member when she picked Charlotte as an opponent. Eh. Oh well. A good addition nonetheless.

Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson
Can't stand these guys. Them moving to Smackdown won't stop them from being boring and annoying.

Cesaro and Sheamus
I like this move. Now they have a whole new division to feud with.

R-Truth
He'll be one of the resident jobbers and will still be weird. I'm fine with it I guess.

Andrade "Cien" Almas and Zelina Vega
I hated Almas for the longest time. Have Zelina do all his talking and then he'll be ok.



It's hard to say all in all which brand "won". I suppose Smackdown did if I had make such a call. I was rather worried they would get the shaft but the thing is that both brands got some really good additions. This will be good for both brands moving forward in the coming months. Well done, WWE.