WWE held their annual Superstar Shake-up on its two major programs, "Monday Night Raw" and "SmackDown Live" this week. This is normally done right after its biggest show of the year, "WrestleMania."
With no offseason, post-"WrestleMania" is the designated time for roster changes to be made. This is necessary with a brand split, due to the split rosters condensing the overall WWE roster, making matches become very repetitive if everyone stayed on the same show. The shake-up is designed to create fresh matches and story-lines for the fans with several superstars changing brands.
Who's headed to Monday nights?
The first leg of the two-night began on "Monday Night Raw". General Manager Kurt Angle welcomed the fans to the shakeup. He was interrupted by Sunil Singh, who introduced the first acquisition by "Raw," United States Champion Jinder Mahal.
The Riott Squad (Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan, and Sarah Logan) ambushed Sasha Banks and Bayley during their match.
On "Miz TV," The Miz introduced Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn to "Raw", with an e-mail from Stephanie McMahon confirming they are officially part of the show after getting fired from "SmackDown Live" at "WrestleMania 34," and losing their opportunity to join "Raw" the week before.
Tyler Breeze and Fandango, "Breezango," appeared backstage in a run-in with Sheamus and Cesaro.
Natalya was introduced to "Raw" in a backstage segment with Ronda Rousey.
Dolph Ziggler appeared with the new ally, Drew McIntyre, who is up from the NXT brand.
In the main event, earlier announced as a 10-man tag team match, "The Glorious" Bobby Roode came out as the final "Raw" pickup seen on the show.
"Raw" dedicated a number of segments for these moves, there were more additions made that were mentioned or announced after the show: Zack Ryder, Mojo Rawley, Baron Corbin, Mike Kanellis, Chad Gable, Konnor, Viktor.
Who's headed to Tuesday nights?
During "Miz TV" on "Raw," The Miz was informed by Kurt Angle that he was going to "SmackDown Live," without his "Miztourage," Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel.
Shelton Benjamin was in the ring, asking for competition. Initially, Randy Orton entered. Then, Jeff Hardy's music hits and the new United States Champion is now on "SmackDown Live" after he defeated Mahal for the title the previous night on "Raw."
Samoa Joe made his "SmackDown Live" debut in a match against Sin Cara.
Big Cass appeared backstage with Daniel Bryan after his interview.
Asuka ran in to save Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch from a 3-on-2 post-match attack by Carmella, Billie Kay, and Peyton Royce, to make her officially part of the blue brand.
R-Truth appeared in a comedy backstage segment with The New Day and Tye Dillinger.
Sheamus and Cesaro, as well as Andrade "Cien" Almas (with Zelina Vega), both appeared on a selfie video their arrival to "SmackDown Live."
Additions to "SmackDown Live" who didn't actively appear: Sonya Deville, Mandy Rose, Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson, Eric Young, Killian Dain, Alexander Wolfe.
Looking ahead
The changes to both rosters have without a doubt created a number of story-line scenarios.
The primary beneficiaries of their switch to "Raw" should be Dolph Ziggler, and Bobby Roode may have a main event spot on Monday nights if his debut was any indication.
On "SmackDown Live", the tag team division get a completely new look. Sanity will make for interesting feuds for The New Day, and we will likely see "The Bar" versus "The Usos" at some point. Samoa Joe versus AJ Styles, Nakamura, among others, now become available in a WWE ring.
We should be in store for a very intriguing few months of WWE programming with all the new possibilities that have been opened, thanks to this shake-up.
