WWE Raw Clearly Belongs to Roman Reigns After Superstar Shake-up

When the dust settled on the Superstar Shake-up this year, general consensus seems to be that SmackDown was the big winner. But over on WWE Raw, Roman Reigns has become the clear guy on top, for better or for worse.

When WWE got to New England on April 16-17, 2018, it was time for the apparently now-annual Superstar Shake-up. Over the course of two days, 25 superstars, teams, and stables switched sides from WWE Raw to SmackDown Live. A couple of free agents and NXT superstars were also on the move.

After all was said and done, the opinion of most members of the WWE Universe is that SmackDown clearly came out the winner. While Raw added Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Bobby Roode, and Dolph Ziggler (who brought Drew McIntyre with him), they lost The Miz, Samoa Joe, Jeff Hardy, and Asuka.

SmackDown’s acquisitions also included Andrade Almas, Cesaro & Sheamus, and SAnitY. Meanwhile, they shed the likes of Zack Ryder, Mojo Rawley, The Ascension, and Mike Kanellis. Sometimes you hear the phrase “addition by subtraction” in conversation, right? Well, the Blue Team added by both substraction and addition.

But there’s one superstar who stayed put on Monday nights: Roman Reigns. The Big Dog has been seen as one of the top guys on WWE Raw for some time. He’s been in the main event of four consecutive WrestleManias, a feat only accomplished by Reigns and Hulk Hogan. Reigns is also a Grand Slam Champion in WWE, so he’s clearly an accomplished superstar.

With the Superstar Shake-up, though, Reigns has been positioned as the clear “top guy” on Raw, with much less competition than before. Besides current Universal Champion Brock Lesnar, and former champ Kevin Owens, is there anyone on Roman’s level in the world title scene? Seth Rollins could be there; same with Finn Balor. But those two superstars seem locked in for the Intercontinental Championship.

Getting rid of Samoa Joe, who was again being positioned as Reigns’s top rival, gives The Big Dog a more clear path to dominance. As it stands right now, the top heels on Raw are likely Lesnar (probably on his way out), Owens/Zayn, and Jinder freaking Mahal. Yeesh. Barring a turn from one of the babyface superstars, it looks like Reigns doesn’t have much in the way of competition. We can finally get back to “making Roman look strong” on the regular.

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The wild cards here are Braun Strowman and Bobby Lashley. Strowman has organically become the biggest megastar on WWE Raw, but his WrestleMania booking seems to indicate a more comedic leaning for The Monster Among Men. It’s unclear just how much that comedy will translate to main event success.

And Lashley just came back to WWE after a decade away. He’s got the talent, but he needs to rebuild his connection with the WWE Universe. Just how long that will take is impossible to know.

So it’s likely time to make peace with Roman Reigns as the face of WWE Raw for the foreseeable future. I’ve done it, myself. He’s a great worker, and you can’t blame the guy for being put in the position he was by the creative team (or Vince McMahon).

Next: WWE Raw Review: April 16, 2018

It’s also probably time to brace yourself for the raucous boos that are sure to be intensified from here on out when Reigns enters the arena.