WWE: How the Superstar Shakeup Should Have Been

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SmackDown Live’s Selections

Firstly, to justify my decision to move the entire Women’s Division to Raw, SmackDown’s first pick is the Cruiserweight Division.

Not every single Cruiserweight needs to come out every week either, as 205 Live is straight after. Even those who do manage to come out on SmackDown can tease what will happen after at 205 Live. It entices viewer retention going into the SmackDown’s final hour.

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With a shorter show than Raw, less of SmackDown’s show time is comprised of promos. This’ll give the Cruiserweight’s more time with the spotlight on them.

Next; One of SmackDown’s biggest problems is the amount of heels they have. Perhaps it’s less of that, and they just lack faces. In the title picture there’s only Randy Orton. The tag team division only has American Alpha. And, as for those WWE booked for the Intercontinental Title, there’s only Dean Ambrose. So, their next pick should be New Day, Sami Zayn, and Roman Reigns.

The New Day have lost their entertainment factor after losing the title. So, heir addition might brighten up the tag team division. It’ll also give them something to do rather than act as segment fillers.

Sami Zayn slots perfectly into the mid-card and upper-midcard. Him moving to SmackDown may potentially give him a meaningful feud as well, something Raw didn’t have. It also cuts his ties to Kevin Owens — for a while anyway — until the time is right for them to duke it out again.

Roman Reigns however may raise some eyebrows. However, I’m not saying that he should move to SmackDown Live to be the top babyface. It may be too late for him to be that. But, after the April 10 edition of Raw, Braun Strowman got the reaction of the night just by beating Reigns up.

So, the theory is to send him to SmackDown to bring out the faces in the other Superstars. AJ Styles is consistently getting a pop when he comes out on SmackDown. This will continue, seeing as Smackdown is, “The House AJ Styles Built.”

Reigns coming over to SmackDown may just allow AJ Styles to have his face turn. The idea seems even smarter, especially now if you think about it. Reigns has more heat than anyone after retired The Undertaker. Look no further than his opening promo on Raw after WrestleMania 33.

New SmackDown Live Picks:

Cruiserweight Division
New Day
Sami Zayn
Roman Reigns

I didn’t shift titleholders between the shows as some consistency is still needed. Consistency helps new viewers understand the industry better. “Ohhhh, Raw has these titles and SmackDown holds these other ones of equal value.”

Related Story: Updated Smackdown Roster

Did I make the right choices? Are my picks better than WWE’s? And will this fix both brands’ underlying problems?

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