WWE: 5 Trades That Should Happen in ‘Superstar Shake-Up’
2. AJ Styles for Roman Reigns
The rumors of AJ Styles switching over to Raw have been circling around for months, and they’ve become much more pronounced ever since Monday’s announcement by Vince McMahon of a “shake-up” between brands.
Styles moving to Raw seems like a mere formality at this point, because Daniel Bryan already fired “The Phenomenal One” for attacking Shane McMahon. This allowed Styles to have a WrestleMania match, in which he showed that he can put on a four-star match with literally anyone, but it also opened up the possibility for a trade. Many of us want to see a WWE Championship feud between Randy Orton and Styles, but we might be better off watching a “face” Styles, who is so over that he received cheers from the crowd in the aftermath of his bloody attack of Shane O’Mac, feud with the likes of Samoa Joe and Kevin Owens.
There’s no doubt that Styles would make Raw must-see TV. He’s the hottest superstar in the company, the best in-ring worker in the world, and a living legend. Everything Styles touches turns to gold, and Raw desperately needs that sort of firepower. This is a three-hour show that can go stale easily, and nobody is a bigger draw than Styles. Even when an episode runs dry, fans will still want to tune in just so that they can see what “P1” pulls out of his arsenal.
His promo work is lights-out, and now that he’s turned face and seems poised to be showcased as the biggest star in the company, it makes sense for him to move to Raw. It would be bittersweet to see him leave SmackDown Live, because there is merit to his in-character statement that he built the blue brand. AJ Styles is as responsible as The Miz, Becky Lynch, Shane McMahon, or anybody else for SmackDown’s popularity. Imagine what he could do with new feuds on Raw, even if it means he won’t take the title away from Brock Lesnar (I think he could, but that’s a topic for another time).
Speaking of Brock Lesnar, I think it would be wise for the WWE to separate Roman Reigns from “The Beast Incarnate”. If their plan is to coronate Reigns for another year running by feeding “The Beast” to him at WrestleMania 34, then I don’t want to see that match until then. I don’t even think that match needs to have the title on the line with the whole “Both guys beat the Undertaker at WrestleMania” storyline, but, you know, it probably will.
In either case, I don’t want to see Reigns and Lesnar fight until then. I also don’t want to see Styles and Reigns on the same brand, especially if the WWE surprises us by pulling the trigger on a Reigns heel turn. That would leave the possibility of both facing each other if they are on the same show, and I highly doubt anybody is interested in seeing Styles lose to Roman.