WWE Superstar Shake-Up: Grading Every Superstar’s Outcome From 2018

R-Truth from Raw to SmackDown Live

Prior to last year’s WWE Superstar Shake-Up, R-Truth had long continued his presence as a background figure in WWE’s mid-card. It’s not a bad place for a 47-year-old superstar with more than two decades of experience, and Truth was always impressive when given a chance to shine. Once moved to SmackDown Live, R-Truth actually saw a boost that led to some highlights of his recent years.

Things first looked up for R-Truth when he joined forces with Carmella. The pairing initially felt very odd, but they turned out to be a great combo that fans fell in love with. They went on to win last year’s Mixed Match Challenge, earning the final spots in their respective Royal Rumble matches. R-Truth continued the success by winning the United States Title in January, his first title win in WWE since 2012.

Grade: A+, Despite his clear in-ring skill and charisma, R-Truth is definitely in the twilight of his career, and few people expect him to be a main eventer. Despite that, Truth’s usual tendency to barely appear on TV changed over the last year, and his time on SmackDown Live has been a true career resurgence. This move was definitely a good one for R-Truth.

The Miz from Raw to SmackDown Live

After moving to WWE Raw as part of the 2017 Superstar Shake-Up, The Miz went on to have a truly spectacular year. He tacked on two more Intercontinental Championship reigns, bringing his grand total up to 8, one shy of the record set by Chris Jericho. The Miz stayed a constant presence on Raw, even utilizing The Miztourage (Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel) to keep himself on top.

Once drafted back to SmackDown Live, the brand he started on when the split returned in 2016, The Miz didn’t lose a bit of relevance. He went on to have a memorable feud with longtime rival Daniel Bryan, defeating Bryan at SummerSlam. After making it to the finals of the WWE World Cup, Miz suffered an injury that saw him replaced by SmackDown Commissioner Shane McMahon.

McMahon ultimately won the tournament, leading to a slowly formed tag team between The Miz and Shane McMahon. The duo even captured the SmackDown Tag Team Titles, but things broke down when Shane McMahon turned on The Miz at WWE Fastlane. This led to their match at WrestleMania 35, which despite destroying Shane McMahon for most of the match, The Miz ultimately lost.

Grade: A, On the surface, this might not look like as good of a year as The Miz had had in 2017 on Raw, but it saw something much more significant. More than any other time in his career, The Miz has become a definitive fan-favorite, and had one of his best WrestleMania matches against Shane McMahon. Even without titles, this year was an undeniable success for The Miz, and the move to SmackDown Live the right one for him.