4 theories on why WWE has moved three Raw Superstars back to SmackDown Live

It looked as though the Raw and SmackDown Live rosters had been finalised following the 2019 Superstar Shake-Up last week. However, with no explanation given, WWE has quietly moved new Raw recruits Aleister Black, Andrade and Zelina Vega over to SmackDown Live.

All three Superstars now have a SmackDown Live logo next to their pages on WWE’s official website (H/T Credit: Pro Wrestling Sheet), while the bio section of Black’s profile has been changed to include the following sentence:

“After the 2019 Superstar Shake-up, Black set his sights on changing the landscape of SmackDown LIVE.”

In WWE’s storylines, Vega is the villainous business associate of Andrade who accompanies him to the ring during his matches and often gets involved, even attacking male Superstars on occasions, to help “El Idolo” pick up victories.

In reality, Vega is the wife of Black, who has been teaming up with fellow main-roster newcomer Ricochet ever since he made the jump to Raw and SmackDown Live in February 2019 from NXT.

Following the Superstar Shake-Up, Black, Andrade and Vega were confirmed as members of the Raw roster, but it appears that WWE has changed their plans and moved them all over to SmackDown Live.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at four theories on why the company has chosen to switch the trio to Tuesday nights.

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#4 Relationship reasons

The most common theory that fans are suggesting on social media is that all three Superstars have moved to SmackDown Live due to their real-life relationships with fellow WWE personnel.

As Charlotte Flair is in a relationship with Andrade in real life, many fans are speculating that WWE has moved the Mexican back to the blue brand so they can continue to be together. In turn, Zelina Vega may have moved with Andrade due to storyline reasons, while it would make sense for Aleister Black to also move due to his real-life relationship with Vega.

Unlike previous years, WWE appears to have made a concious effort not to separate couples in the 2019 Superstar Shake-Up. Every main-roster married couple is on the same brand following the roster changes, with the possible exception of SmackDown Live star Killian Dain (it is unknown which brand his wife, Nikki Cross, will be on).

#3 Andrade is owed an Intercontinental title shot

There is also a possibility that WWE has moved Andrade due to storyline reasons. After all, SmackDown Live is lacking credible heels on its roster following the Shake-Up, with Daniel Bryan currently out with an unspecified injury and the likes of Rusev and Shinsuke Nakamura losing on a weekly basis.

With Kofi Kingston holding the WWE Championship and Finn Balor holding the Intercontinental Championship, the blue brand desperately needs some bad guys to step up and challenge for the show’s top two male singles titles over the next few weeks.

Andrade enhanced his reputation earlier in 2019 during his rivalry with Rey Mysterio and some may argue that he should already be next in line for an opportunity at the Intercontinental Championship after he defeated Balor on Raw last week.

Granted, there was interference from Vega, but it would definitely make sense from a storyline perspective for WWE to continue the feud on SmackDown Live.

#2 Aleister Black & Ricochet should be singles stars

Heading into the 2019 Superstar Shake-Up, many fans predicted that WWE would split up Aleister Black and Ricochet and allow them to compete as singles Superstars on separate brands.

However, they teamed up once again last Monday, this time alongside Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder in a losing effort against The Viking Experience and The Revival, and they went on to be confirmed as members of the Raw brand.

Although the main-roster newcomers have impressed with their in-ring ability during their matches on Raw and SmackDown Live over the last two months, it looked as though their run as a duo would come to an end after they lost matches for the Raw Tag Team titles, SmackDown Tag Team titles and NXT Tag Team titles in the space of six days over WrestleMania week.

Now that Black has moved to SmackDown Live and Ricochet is on Raw, the WWE Universe will get to see what all the fuss was about when both Superstars stood out as singles competitors in NXT.

#1 Trade for Samoa Joe

One of the biggest surprises from the 2019 Superstar Shake-Up came when Finn Balor and the Intercontinental Championship moved to SmackDown Live, yet Samoa Joe and the United States Championship did not move to Raw.

Needless to say, it makes zero sense for the red brand to have one male singles title (Universal Championship) and the blue brand to have three (WWE Championship, Intercontinental Championship, United States Championship).

It was widely reported following the Shake-Up that Joe was suffering from a bad case of the flu, hence why he did not appear on either Raw or SmackDown Live, so the expectation is that both he and the US title will be moved over to Raw in the coming weeks.

As of the time of writing, the April 22 episode of Raw is yet to air, but it would not be a surprise if “The Samoan Submission Machine” were to be added to the roster during the show, with Aleister Black, Andrade and Zelina Vega switching to SmackDown Live in return.