![]() STRATEGY: With a main-event scene that seemed firmly set in stone - Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Brock Lesnar, Finn Bálor and Braun Strowman - Stephanie McMahon and Kurt Angle’s strategy was to bring over one or two big names, back them up with reliable hands and use the rest of their picks to stock young talent that they could develop down the line. Let’s see how things … shook out, shall we? Next week will be the third Shake-up in the company’s history, so before the shifts are made and the deals are signed, we thought we’d take a look back at the 2018 edition and grade the moves made by Raw and SmackDown management. ![]() The gist of it is, instead of a full draft, Raw and SmackDown shuffle several Superstars between their rosters in the wake of each WrestleMania to revitalize competition, give talent a chance to develop and maybe add a little extra oomph to their shows where required. It currently holds The IIconics, Asuka and Kairi Sane (Kabuki Warriors), Daniel Bryan and Erick Rowan, New Day, The Hardy Boyz and mid-cards like The Colons and Rusev and Aiden English.The Superstar Shake-up has become a crucial moment in WWE’s calendar year since the 2016 Brand Extension. WWE SmackDown: SmackDown has always better tag teams than Raw in recent years, and the WWE didn’t look to change that around this year at the Shake-up. The Raw currently boasts former SmackDown talents The Usos, The Viking Experience, and The Revival, The Boss ‘n’ Hug Connection gets separated with Bayley moving to SmackDown adding to the skint nature of the Raw Tag Team Division. WWE Raw: The only division where Raw loses out to SmackDown in terms of roster. Asuka is still on SmackDown, but like Bryan, she is going to be competing in the Tag Team division with Kairi Sane. Ember Moon makes a good mid-card, however, apart from that, there is really not a lot to pick from. ![]() WWE SmackDown: Charlotte Flair moving to SmackDown has brought some parity to the women’s division of the two brands of WWE, with Bayley currently being the biggest name on SmackDown. Even the mid-card in WWE Raw women’s roster has some pretty big names. Lacey Evans also seems to be getting a push from the creative team lately. Not to forget Sasha Banks and the currently injured Nia Jax. Becky Lynch, hands down the biggest superstar on WWE, is ever-present in Raw alongside big names like Alexa Bliss and Ronda Rousey. WWE Raw: Again Raw has the edge over SmackDown in star power in the women’s division as well. Intercontinental champion Finn Balor made an interesting move to SmackDown, and he alongside Dolph Ziggler is expected to take the reins of the SmackDown men’s roster. Daniel Bryan is still there, but he is going to perform on the Tag Team division as the Smackdown has a major dearth of big names. ![]() His addition will likely compensate for the loss of the Styles over time, but right now the SmackDown roster indeed looks without a major star apart from WWE Champion Kofi Kingston. However, to compensate Styles’ move Roman Reigns moved over to SmackDown. WWE SmackDown: The loss of AJ Styles threatened to knock down the quality of the SmackDown roster and it definitely did so. However, the creative team is yet to make effective utilization of the superabundant Raw roster, who seem to be more focused on making the pointless push of Shane McMahon. Apart from the WWE Universal Champion Seth Rollins, the Raw roster boasts former champion and Money in the Bank winner Brock Lesnar, Drew McIntyre, Baron Corbin, Braun Strowman, Bobby Lashley and the list goes on. Being the flagship show of the company, the Raw roster looks indeed star-studded and far more glamorous compared to SmackDown. the red brand has been further bolstered by the addition of The Miz, Andrade, and Ricochet. And sure enough, arguably the biggest move across the brands was The Phenomenal One making his way to WWE Raw. WWE Raw: The WWE news reported well ahead of the Shake-up that a move for AJ Styles could be on the cards. So how has the Shake-up fared, and where does the parity of the two brands stand? Here’s a detailed comparison: The annual Superstar Shakeup went down over two nights at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and the main roster brands have been reset heading into the summer months.
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