WWE Superstar Shake-Up: Grading Every Superstar’s Outcome From 2018
The Riott Squad from SmackDown Live to Raw
The main roster presence of The Riott Squad has been relatively up and down from the start. The trio of NXT call-ups have become a truly unique unit and a mainstay of the women’s division regardless of brand. After a strong start on SmackDown Live that included a failed attempt to capture the SmackDown Women’s Championship by Ruby Riott at WWE Fastlane, the group was drafted to WWE Raw.
Once on Raw, they had a fairly similar year. Despite Riott being sidelined for several months with a knee injury, Sarah Logan and Liv Morgan continued to hold down the fort and keep the group in the fray. Riott even repeated her pre-Mania title shot by challenging Ronda Rousey for the Raw Women’s Title at Elimination Chamber this year, though she still came up short.
Grade: B, If you’re comparing how someone’s career changed with their move, The Riott Squad is about as middle of the road as it gets. They were decent mid-card staples on SmackDown Live, and continued to be that on Raw.
Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn from SmackDown Live to Raw
The 2018 WWE Superstar Shake-Up was a weird time for Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. They had recently been fired from SmackDown Live, and failed to defeat Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon at WrestleMania 34 to regain their jobs. Both men got a chance to earn a spot on WWE Raw by defeating the other, but the match during the WWE Superstar Shake-Up ended in a double countout.
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Despite this, the duo were signed to WWE Raw by then Commissioner Stephanie McMahon the following week. Unfortunately, any hope at a fresh start on WWE Raw for the two was hampered by injuries. After a horrendous feud with Bobby Lashley, Zayn went down with an injury that required double shoulder surgery just two months later.
Kevin Owens had a solid rivalry with Braun Strowman, but went out of commission and required surgery on both knees in October of 2018. Owens ultimately returned this February, instead going back to SmackDown Live, and made an unsuccessful attempt at the WWE Championship at Fastlane. Zayn made his return last week, tearing into a controversial crowd in Brooklyn for their antics.
Grade: C, I want to be clear that this great is really just a product of injuries. What each superstar did, they did well, but bad timing, some poor writing, and injuries just made this a rough year for both Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens. Hopefully things will look better for them moving forward.