10 Ways to Make WWE’s Superstar Shakeup Work

Wrestlemania has come and gone, and now we have moved in to the week where WWE truly show their cards for the year to the WWE Universe.  Monday Night Raw produced a lot of interesting moments and talking points. The Hardy Boyz have returned, The Revival were called up, Finn Balor returned, Goldberg said goodbye, and Vince McMahon came out to let us know that next week we will see a Superstar Shakeup. While the full details of the shakeup are not entirely clear yet, many news articles are circling the internet with rumours stating what people think will happen.  I am going to rank my top 10 Superstar Shakeup changes that I feel would improve both Raw and Smackdown Live.

 

10. The Tag Division Goes Raw

The Tag Team Division recently got a shakeup with the return of The Hardy Boyz and the call up of The Revival. The biggest issue with the brand split so far has been too thin of a roster on either show in certain divisions. The Tag Team division has been a perfect example of this problem. While things have been hot recently on Raw there’s still been too much focus on three or four teams only. Smackdown Live started with the tag division looking strong, but they have recently fallen from grace and have become somewhat of an after thought.  Moving the entire division to one show would be a huge improvement. The Hardyz could easily have a match with The Usos to amalgamate the tag team titles. This would then allow WWE to disband certain teams who were put together specifically to keep the division alive.  Superstars like Sheamus and Cesaro could then move on to focus on singles competition.

 

9. The Cruiserweight Division goes to Smackdown Live

The Cruiserweights are suffering from over exposure. Currently we get Cruiserweight matches on Raw and then get an entire hour show with 205 Live that airs after Smackdown Live. Removing the Cruiserweight division from Raw and moving it to Smackdown would allow Smackdown to utilize the stars of the Cruiserweight division on their exclusive pay-per-views and then allowing the division to have their weekly show air after Smackdown. This would then essentially make Smackdown a 3 hour show similar to Raw, but with a new way of creating interest in the product. This would also free up some time on Raw to focus on the Tag Team Division.

 

8. The Women’s Division goes to Raw

Yes, it is hard for me to make a claim of divisions going certain directions without mentioning the Women’s division as well. WWE has done a great job getting over lots of names on both brands, but so soon into the brand split already we are suffering from repeat booking in the Women’s division. Great new feuds and prolonged story line angles could easily be created if the women of WWE were all together on one show.

 

7. Cesaro to Smackdown Live

This one is an easy choice for me. Cesaro is very much over with the vast majority of the WWE Universe. While we all continue to hope to see Cesaro get to top of the card in WWE, it always seems like it is just slightly out of reach for the Swiss Superman. Cesaro going back to singles competition over on Smackdown would give a brand new dynamic to his career.  Cesaro would have a little more freedom and a better spotlight over on Smackdown and they could really use him over there as one of their top Superstars.

 

6. Luke Harper to Raw

Luke Harper as a singles competitor has been very intriguing to us as fans. Harper is a big guy but truly can perform in a ring far beyond the expectations of most his size. Harper, however, is still living in the shadow of Bray Wyatt and his time with the Wyatt family. The best way to solve this problem is to bring Harper over to Raw in singles competition. This worked wonders for Braun Strowman and now it needs to do the same for Luke Harper.

 

5. Sami Zayn to Smackdown Live

Sami Zayn would fit in brilliantly with the roster over on Smackdown Live. The Underdog from the Underground has often been compared to being a Daniel Bryan like character, so why not place him on the show where Daniel Bryan himself is the GM? Sami would then be able to get slotted into the Intercontinental Title scene and we could also see great feuds with him and the likes of The Miz.

 

4. The New Day to Smackdown Live

It’s a new day over on Smackdown Live. The New Day have been one of the biggest marketing groups for the WWE, but one begins to feel like the group is becoming stale in their current run. An over-stuffed roster on Raw seems to have caused The New Day to become nothing more then a joke, and we rarely see them compete in the ring these days.

The New Day moving over to Smackdown would free them from the Tag scene. It would allow the group to function as a three man group who have each others backs in the form of singles competition. Each member of The New Day are capable of holding their own in the upper mid card to main event scene, especially over on Smackdown. This could then allow The New Day to pick up titles wins in the IC  and World Championship picture. The time is right for this group to get a breathe of fresh air. “Oh WWE Universe, don’t you dare be sour, clap for Smackdown Live’s greatest acquisition and feel the power.”

 

3. Byron Saxton to Smackdown Live and Tom Phillips to Raw

Do not go and call for my head just yet on this one. The reason I am making this switch, and especially so far up the card, is that this move could truly work very well.  JBL needs a bit of a rival on the commentary team and he does not have that dynamic with Otunga or Phillips at the moment. Saxton coming to Smackdown would give JBL a rival there and the dynamic between the two could truly work. On the flip side we the fans already know how great Corey Graves and Tom Phillips are when they are paired together. Putting them together on Monday Night Raw would bring back something the fans will enjoy.

 

2. Roman Reigns to Smackdown Live

Smackdown Live is lacking in top heel characters and right now there is nobody drawing better heat then Roman Reigns. Whether you feel the heat is warranted or not Reigns draws a reaction. Reigns mic drop promo to start Raw off this week was the best use of Roman Reigns in such a long time. Reigns would bring a strong heel dynamic that is lacking heavily on Smackdown at the moment and give them a top name, especially seen as we know Cena is off for a while. And, well, we all see the writing on the wall for my number one pick here.

 

1. AJ Styles to Raw

I personally would love to continue to see AJ Styles on Smackdown Live, but that is not going to prevent WWE from making this switch anyway. The huge benefit to this switch is we get AJ Styles back with Anderson and Gallows, where they could reform The Club. Even better yet there would now be the potential to see AJ, Finn Balor, Anderson, and Gallows group together to form the Balor Club. This easily could lead into a great feud with a reformed Evolution group that we have slowly seen forming on Raw. If we could get Triple H, Kevin Owens, Samoa Joe, and possibly Pete Dunne as a fourth member to this new potential group, this could easily become a well booked feud and would allow for some real classic matches to be introduced.

Right now we will have to wait and see what the WWE has in store for us. Either way a shakeup of the rosters would freshen up matches, feuds, and angles and deliver to us a much needed new stage to the current era in WWE.