Photo Source: WWE.com via Twitter
With the WWE superstar shakeup officially in the books for 2018, each of the two biggest brands in the company improved in one way or another.
The WWE needed to change things up on Raw and SmackDown and after back-to-back nights of superstars switching from one brand to the other plus new additions or returns, the landscape of the WWE has been altered.
But which brand reigned supreme following the shakeup? The case can be made for both the red and blue brand, but with that being said, let’s take a look at each brand’s overall grade following the superstar shakeup.
New Raw Superstars
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Jinder Mahal
The Modern Day Maharaja had a career resurgence on SmackDown over the past year by capturing the WWE Championship and the United States Championship. However, he still feels like a work in progress despite his noticeable improvement.
It’s hard to write him off completely, but it just doesn’t seem likely he’ll ever reach the main event picture on Raw. He’ll likely have to settle for a permanent mid-card role on Monday nights.
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The Riott Squad
The trio of Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan, and Sarah Logan made a decent enough impact on SmackDown, but never truly got going and often came up short against their main rivals in Charlotte Flair, Naomi, and Becky Lynch.
But a switch to Raw could see The Riott Squad finally reach its fullest potential as a trio if the WWE handles it appropriately. Only time will tell, but this could be a good move.
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Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn
SmackDown’s biggest heel duo of Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn ran roughshod on the blue brand for months, but finally will get a much-needed change of scenery to Raw where they both have had prominent enough roles in the past.
Seeing what shenanigans these two can get into on Monday nights, whether they’re together long-term or not, should be very interesting given how talented each superstar is.
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Bobby Roode
The Glorious One didn’t have the longest stint on SmackDown, but after winning the United States Championship once, he is headed to Raw where he hopes to continue to make his name on the main roster after an up-and-down career on the blue brand.
Roode didn’t always click on SmackDown, so trying to stand out on a more crowded roster on Monday nights could be challenging. It will certainly be challenging for him to reach the world title picture on Raw any time soon.
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Zack Ryder
Not a whole lot to say about this move. Ryder has proven he can get himself over in the past, but it doesn’t seem like the WWE will ever give him a legitimate push again.
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Breezango
The entertaining duo of Tyler Breeze and Fandango had a big breakthrough on the blue brand, so seeing their gimmick on the red brand should be very good if handled the right way.
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Natalya
As a mainstay of the WWE’s women’s division, Natalya can seemingly fit in no matter what the situation is. Expect more of the same with her move to Raw as she will likely continue to pay dividends for the women’s division on Monday nights.
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Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre
These two appear to be a duo of sorts, so hopefully the WWE handles their gimmick on Raw the right way. There is a lot of potential for this duo and aligning himself with a superstar like McIntyre should help Ziggler’s lackluster gimmick out immensely.
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Baron Corbin
The Lone Wolf had a pretty rocky 2017 at times on SmackDown, but he has been improving so far in 2018. Hopefully his move to Raw will further that improvement as he hopes to climb up the ladder on Monday nights.
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The Ascension
Konnor and Viktor had a memorable stint in NXT, but has been treated as nothing more than a comedy act ever since. A move to Raw likely won’t result in much of a change unless the WWE gets a random change of heart at the last-minute.
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Mojo Rawley
After Rawley won the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 33, many felt he was headed for a push. But outside of a lackluster singles feud with Zack Ryder, nothing has happened and that will likely stay the same on Raw amidst an already crowded roster.
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Mike Kanellis
Kanellis has basically been nonexistent on TV since a random mini-feud with Sami Zayn several months ago, so a switch to Raw won’t help his cause out any. The WWE has put no effort into making him into anything.
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Chad Gable
In one of the most underrated moves of the shakeup, Gable coming over to Raw as a singles competitor is intriguing. He is supremely talented in the ring and hopefully he’s put in a position to succeed.
As a whole, Raw did a solid job of adding to its roster. It didn’t add much in terms of the immediate main event picture, but it did add several standout mid-card talents and some new faces for an already stellar women’s division.
Final Overall Grade For Raw’s Superstar Shakeup: B
Photo by WWE.com
New SmackDown Superstars
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Jeff Hardy
The Charismatic Enigma is back after missing six months of action with an injury and not only is he the new United States Champion, he’s now a new member of SmackDown where he had his singles career breakthrough nearly a decade ago.
Hardy can still produce at a high level and seeing what he can do on the blue brand should be exciting, to say the least. One final singles push can shake up the brand.
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Absolution
Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville never got much of a chance on Raw given how Absolution’s leader Paige had to retire, but now on SmackDown, expect to see the two in a more prominent position on their former leader’s show.
And with The Riott Squad heading over to Monday nights, it will be important for this duo to make an impact given how the brand doesn’t have an abundance of heel entities in the women’s division.
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Samoa Joe
SmackDown’s acquisition of Samoa Joe is arguably the best move of the entire superstar shakeup as the blue brand gets a bonafide star that can single handily turn the brand upside down and immediately emerge as a main event threat.
Joe can have so many dream matches of sorts on Tuesday nights and hopefully can finally win a world title in the WWE after being passed over for a part-timer on Raw.
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The Miz
The A-Lister returns to the brand he had a career resurgence on nearly two years ago and this time around, expect more greatness from one of the most underrated superstars in WWE history and one of the most important current superstars.
Without The Miztourage in his corner, The Miz might find new lackeys on SmackDown as well, so keep an eye on that and everything else he does on the blue brand.
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Asuka
No women’s superstar has taken the WWE by storm more in recent memory than Asuka. And now The Empress Of Tomorrow is officially a member of the SmackDown roster after her undefeated streak came to an end at WrestleMania 34.
Even with a loss now on her resume, Asuka should have a huge impact on Tuesday nights and can help rejuvenate the division at the same time. And let’s be honest, Charlotte Flair vs. Asuka part two will be awesome.
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Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson
No tag team has needed a change of scenery more than Gallows and Anderson. Ever since they lost the Raw Tag Team Championship at WrestleMania 33, they just haven’t been given much of a fair shot to succeed.
Now on SmackDown, expect a career resurgence of sorts as they look to make an impact and help improve the blue brand’s already stellar tag team division.
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The Bar
Sheamus and Cesaro have been the standard bearers for Raw’s tag team division over the past year or so. And now with them heading over to SmackDown, the opportunities are pretty endless for future feuds and matches.
The Bar was becoming a bit stale on Monday nights, so seeing them square off with different teams on Tuesday nights is just what the doctor ordered.
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Big Cass
After breaking up with former tag team partner and now departed Enzo Amore, Big Cass appeared to be in position for a singles breakthrough. But an injury kept him sidelined for several months until he returned this past Tuesday night as the newest member of SmackDown.
Cass looks like he might be feuding with Daniel Bryan in the near future and that seems to be the perfect first opponent for his return. Not many can get him over like Bryan could.
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R-Truth
Truth is seemingly at the end of his career, but he can still offer up comedic elements to SmackDown if nothing else as was evident this past week. Not much else to say about this move.
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Andrade Almas and Zelina Vega
The former NXT standouts were some of the most anticipated NXT call-ups post-WrestleMania 34, so it should be intriguing to see how they do on the main roster given how impactful they were in NXT.
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SAnitY
Eric Young, Alexander Wolfe, and Killian Dain made up one of the most powerful groups in NXT history, and now SAnitY is headed to SmackDown. This group should be able to make an immediate impact no matter what position it’s put in.
Next: SmackDown Clearly Won The Superstar Shakeup
From top to bottom, SmackDown improved tremendously via the superstar shakeup. The brand added future stars, solid mid-card talent, and main event caliber talent all at the same time. The blue brand has a bright future and it won the 2018 superstar shakeup.