3 smart decisions WWE has made through the Superstar Shake-up

Just like jumping around within the squared circle, WWE makes its superstars jump from one brand to another in order to keep them relevant.

This helps create new rivalries, new opportunities, and new teams, which can impact a superstar's overall value to the company.

This year’s draft was sort of an upgrade from previous drafts, as four brands of the company were involved in the overall process as compared to the usual two or three. This enabled more diversified talent to find a new home in WWE.

With major changes, such as AJ Styles and The Miz moving to Raw, and Roman Reigns and Bayley moving to SmackDown taking place, we are sure that we will get a lot of more interesting and new feuds in the days to come.

Let’s take a look at 3 smart decisions WWE made in this year’s Superstar Shake-up.

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#3 Injected 205 Live competitors

While the main roster superstars have usually displayed superhuman strength and aggression, it’s been the NXT and 205 Live Superstars who have now been handed the task of displaying awe-inspiring athleticism and high-flying moves.

Mustafa Ali’s move from 205 Live to the main roster showed what a cruiserweight can do on the main roster, and WWE seems to have been tempted by that opportunity.

While no 205 Live Superstars were drafted to the main roster in last year’s Shake-up, WWE has taken the opportunity to draft at least two superstars from the cruiserweight division to the main roster this year.

Both men, Buddy Murphy and Cedric Alexander, are former Cruiserweight Champions and are sure to take the main roster by storm and add the much-needed speed and athleticism which we see from men like Finn Balor, Ricochet, and Rey Mysterio.

Murphy will now compete on SmackDown Live, while we will get to see Cedric Alexander display some jaw-dropping skills on Raw.

#2 Kept the monsters apart

Before the Superstar Shake-up, WWE teased Braun Strowman moving to SmackDown Live, as he appeared on an episode of SmackDown to attack Samoa Joe.

Instead, WWE moved Samoa Joe to the red brand, but nothing has followed up since that attack for almost two weeks.

Similarly, Lars Sullivan had been drafted to Raw last week, but it seems like WWE immediately realized the mistake they were about to make. Lars was moved to SmackDown the next night, as the blue brand was deprived of big men after Samoa Joe’s move.

If Lars and Strowman had been put on the same roster, it would have created more booking issues for WWE as they have already tried hard to keep Strowman and McIntyre apart for as long as possible.

Raw now has Strowman, McIntyre, and Joe on its roster who can demolish superstars, and thankfully Lars has been moved to SmackDown to carry on his demolition work there.

#1 Separated The Shield

If Dean Ambrose had not departed from WWE, and The Shield were still together, WWE would have been faced with a very huge task of disbanding the trio in the Superstar Shake-up.

Similar to The New Day, WWE would have wanted The Shield to live on and continue to be its cash cow in terms of viewership and merchandise sales.

With Ambrose departing the WWE, one good thing that was presented to the company was a chance to disband the trio without any of its own efforts upsetting the WWE Universe.

What WWE did smartly during the Shake-up was to further separate Roman Reigns from Seth Rollins, and end all possibilities of the two men helping each other out, finding a new partner, or teaming together on one brand.

This move will enable WWE to focus on the two stars separately on two separate rosters while letting the memory of The Shield live on without tampering it too much.