Superstar Shakeup Reveals

Now that the dust has settled, let’s talk about who changed rosters.

Here are the Superstars who debuted on RAW from Smackdown or NXT:

• Jinder Mahal
• Suni Singh
• Samil Singh
• Liv Morgan
• Sarah Logan
• Ruby Riott*
• Fandango
• Tyler Breeze
• Natalya*
• Dolph Ziggler*
• Drew McIntyre* (from NXT)
• Baron Corbin*
• Bobby Roode*
• Viktor
• Konnor
• Zack Ryder
• Mojo Rowley
• Chad Gable
• Mike Kanellis
• Maria Kanellis (When she returns from Maternity Leave)

* Denotes I predicted this Superstar would be moving in my previous post

Jinder Mahal was revealed as the first Superstar from Smackdown coming to RAW. He dropped the U.S. title his brought with him to Jeff Hardy. The Singh Brothers–one of whom is still recovering from injury–are presumed to be moving to RAW as well. Backstage, Jinder Mahal had a run-in with No Way Jose (from NXT), who debuted last week.

Bayley and Sasha Banks had their match interrupted by The Riott Squad–all of them.

Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens were introduced by The Miz as part of the RAW roster despite the events of last week. Kurt Angle came out to point this out but was rebuffed by Sami Zayn, who revealed Stephanie McMahon reversed the decision and gave both KO and Zayn a RAW contract. That’s when Kurt Angle decided to drop a surprise of his own when he revealed The Miz would be going to Smackdown. Not Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas, mind you but just The Miz (and presumably Maryse when she returns from Maternity Leave).

Backstage, Breezango and Natalya were revealed as coming to RAW. Dolph Ziggler came down the the ring but was interrupted by Titus Worldwide. That’s when Dolph revealed he didn’t come alone: Drew McIntyre (cue “HOLY SHIT!” chant) came out of nowhere and together they destroyed Titus and Apollo.

After the match involving Natalya and Mandy Rose, Baron Corbin was revealed to be coming to RAW offscreen. Bobby Roode was also revealed be the Mystery Superstar Kurt Angle mentioned earlier to be involved in the main even 5 on 5 main event tag match.

The Ascension, Mojo Rowley, Zack Ryder, Chad Gable and Mike Kanellis were revealed to be moving to RAW overnight. It’s presumed Maria Kanelis will join her husband on RAW when she returns from Maternity Leave.

 

Here are the Superstars who debuted on Smackdown from RAW or NXT:

• Chris Jericho (Presumed)
• The Miz
• Maryse (When she returns for Maternity Leave)
• Jeff Hardy*
• Sonya Deville
• Mandy Rose
• Samoa Joe*
• Big Cass*
• Asuka*
• Luke Gallows*
• Karl Anderson*
• Sheamus*
• Caesao*
• R-Truth
• Andrade “Cien” Almas w/ Zelina Vega (from NXT)
• Eric Young (From NXT)
• Alexander Wolfe (From NXT)
• Killian Dain (From NXT)

* Denotes I predicted this Superstar would be moving in my previous post

Due to drama over The Undertaker’s Casket Match over the weekend, it was revealed Chris Jericho will likely be on Smackdown Live the next time we see him.

Shelton Benjamin (Still a Heel), whose tag team partner Chad Gable was sent to RAW overnight demanded competition and so Randy Orton came out. Orton walked halfway to the ring before he awkwardly stopped and waited for a few moments for the new U.S. Champion Jeff Hardy’s music to hit. Jeff Hardy, who made his return from injury and took the U.S. Title from Jinder Mahal the night before on RAW was revealed to be the second Superstar coming to Smackdown from RAW. He competed with Shelton Benjamin in a non-title match on the spot.

The remaining members of Absolution–Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose–were revealed to be coming to Smackdown offscreen. After the commercial break, Samoa Joe came down to the ring where he made SinCara tap out but not before putting him to sleep. After the match, he reminded everyone in the arena he’s a Heel by calling out Randy Orton, Daniel Bryan and AJ Styles. He also promo’d his matches with Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns at The Greatest Royal Rumble and Backlash.

Backstage, Big Cass interrupted an interview Daniel Bryan was having with Renee Young, sizing him up before walking away. He and Shinsuke Nakamura would interrupt the main event match when they separately attacked AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan.

After Charlotte and Becky Lynch got tied up with Carmella, Peyton Royce and Billie Kay (from NXT, debuted last week), Asuka came out to give them some back up. It was revealed going into commercial break that Anderson and Gallows will be coming to Smackdown to join their old friend AJ Styles.

The Bar announced they were coming to Smackdown, which they asked for in the weeks leading up to Wrestlemania 34. Backstage, R-Truth was revealed was revealed to now be on Smackdown from RAW after taking some time off. The ominous faction from NXT known as SAnity was revealed to be coming to Smackdown offscreen going into the commercial break as well.

…There you have it.

It would be fair to say Smackdown won this year by Subtraction. Most of who were sent to RAW wasn’t being used much on Smackdown. Most notably The Miz, Samoa Joe, Jeff Hardy and Andrade Almas are either top tier-level or could be worked toward it.

In the Tag Division, The Bar, Gallows + Anderson and SAnity will work great opposite The Usos, The New Day and The Bludgeon Brothers. Smackdown’s Tag Team division was must-see before and who they picked up made it even better.

In the Women’s Division, clearly things are being set up for the Women’s Tag Team titles to come. The Iconic Duo and Absolution are obviously a team each already so that means pairing at least two more teams.

As for RAW, most of who they dropped was to make room for who they gained since Wrestlemania. As an aside, RAW no longer carries 205 Live matches so that’s more time for the actual RAW roster. It’s now truly a separate brand like NXT is.

RAW’s biggest gains were in the singles midcard obviously. Baron Corbin, Jindar Mahal, Dolph Ziggler and Bobby Roode can all be pushed into the main event so we’ll see. The other additions weren’t as noteworthy because of Ember Moon and The Authors of Pain arriving from NXT last week and Drew McIntyre coming this week.

So, Smackdown won by Subtraction like I said before. They became much stronger as a brand overall. RAW’s biggest gains were all NXT callups + The Riott Squad + Natalya. Time will tell if everyone else will get much use on either brand.

Overall, 60% of my predictions from my previous post changed brands and I am impressed, more so given I expected to get far less right.