WWE Superstars who have barely appeared on TV after the Superstar Shake Up

All superstars aren't created equal. When the Superstar Shake Up hit the WWE, it was exciting because of the possibility of the new stars that could show up or switch brands. We were also promised that the NXT stars that had showed up since the start of 2019 would finally be assigned to a brand.

The Shake Up came and went, with the main change being AJ Styles and Roman Reigns switching brands. Many other superstars switched shows (Bayley, Ember Moon to SmackDown) while others joined a brand they had already been a part of before (the Miz, Cesaro).

Every superstar cannot be featured on TV every week, so its not surprising that some show up one week and others show up another week. The build to Money in the Bank was also going to leave some stars out, but they could have at least been featured in qualifying matches for the event.

But a handful of superstars that found homes during the Shake Up have not been featured much on the shows to which they were assigned. Nikki Cross hadn't shown up much at all until the go-home Raw before Money in the Bank.

And EC3 went from posing in front of mirrors backstage to getting driven through a table by Braun Strowman. What's the deal with the superstars that have been barely featured since WrestleMania or not featured at all? Here are a handful of superstars that have either not appeared on TV or that haven't been featured much at all after the Superstar Shake Up.

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EC3

EC3 had a lot of potential when he re-joined the WWE as a member of NXT. He was given a decent push as a star to watch, but didn't win any titles. His time in NXT was short as he was among the six superstars that management called up at the end of 2018 and beginning of 2019.

The stars showed up sporadically, but EC3 had two matches and wasn't allowed to speak much. That was his main strength, and they actually let Heavy Machinery have more mic time than him.

Raw ended being the show to which he was assigned, and his lone appearance on the show was when he was chosen to face Braun Strowman. Strowman wasted little time in burying EC3 in the ruins of the announcer's table instead of facing him in a match.

It seems like a huge waste of someone that could really be rivaling someone like Sami Zayn or Kevin Owens on the mic. Instead, the guy with a million dollar body and million dollar mouth has been made to look like Monopoly money.

Liv Morgan

The Shake Up saw the Riott Squad split up when Liv Morgan was moved to SmackDown. She was the rawest of the three members as she was a model prior to joining the WWE and not an independent wrestler.

Because of that, she was the greenest in the ring but was slowly improving. She likely wasn't ready for the main roster, but WWE wanted more women for the first-ever Women's Royal Rumble. With that, she joined the main roster alongside Ruby Riott and Sarah Logan.

They had been a decent act until they lost relatively easy matches that were used to make the participants of main event of WrestleMania look all the better. Riott and Logan can probably recover, but Morgan needed more seasoning before being put on her own.

Maybe she hasn't appeared on TV yet because she is getting that much needed experience, but it's been a month since the Shake Up and she hasn't even appeared on TV. She could have some potential for the future, but we can't see if she's made any progress is she isn't featured on SmackDown at all.

Sarah Logan and Ruby Riott

What's more shocking than Morgan not showing up on the blue brand is the complete absence of both Riott and Logan from Raw. They haven't been on TV either since the Shake Up and either woman could have feasibly been placed in the Money in the Bank match.

Instead, we were blessed with Natalya, Naomi, Dana Brooke and now Nikki Cross. While it is understandable that some of those ladies needed to be featured since the women's roster was shallow, both Riott and Logan are much more exciting choices than Natalya and Brooke.

Even putting Alexa Bliss in the match turned out to backfire since she was removed from the match due to an undisclosed injury. She won last year, so someone else could have easily been chosen for the match instead of her.

Maybe Logan and Riott are off filming vignettes as a part of the Viking Raiders' act or maybe it just isn't their time. But if they don't show up after Money in the Bank then what's the deal? They are both future stars but have been handled poorly over the last six months.

Lana, Rusev, and Nakamura

One easy solution to the instant tag team division problem that the Shake Up created was featuring the newer (albeit strange) pairing of Rusev and Shinsuke Nakamura on SmackDown. Rusev Day apparently ended when Rusev turned heel once again. It was another missed opportunity for 'the Bulgarian Brute' in a long line of them.

He and Nakamura battled over the United States Title until it was given some stability with Samoa Joe capturing the title. Shortly after they battled over the title, they were paired together as a tag team. But as things played out with WrestleMania and the Superstar Shake Up, they were one of the few remaining tag teams on the blue brand.

The New Day and the Bar had injured members and the Usos went to Raw. Now that Daniel Bryan and Rowan are SmackDown's Tag champs, they should be facing a team from their own show.

Instead, they're being challenged by a team that moved to Raw. Why haven't two former champs been on TV at all post-WrestleMania? And even if she isn't going in the ring, Lana could easily get TV time as the team's manager.

Both men could have at least individually tried to qualify for the men's Money in the Bank match, but alas, the participants were just announced. Reasons like that are why some superstars request their releases from the company.

Buddy Murphy

Buddy Murphy was so dominant on 205 Live that he had to be moved to either Raw or SmackDown during the Superstar Shake Up. He ended up as a member of SmackDown, but has had one pre-taped promo announcing his membership on the blue brand and a segment on SmackDown that aired on WWE.com but not on TV.

Murphy clearly has mega-star potential due to his look and his amazing in-ring skill. But while certain superstars are showing up on both shows each week, exciting stars like Murphy aren't even getting ring time during the week.

Every superstar can't obviously be featured weekly, but some newer ones that are certainly exciting should be showcased better. Fans who haven't followed 205 Live or who haven't watched pre-shows of PPVs don't have a reason to care about someone like Murphy.

They totally should because he's great in the ring, but why should they care if they don't know him at all or haven't seen him wrestle? There's a reason why he calls himself 'the Best Kept Secret' and it appears that the secret won't get out for a while until he shows the WWE Universe what he can do on a bigger stage like SmackDown.

Cedric Alexander

Like Murphy and Ali, Alexander has been one of the top stars on the 205 Live brand for the better part of two years. He was so talented that he was chosen to move on to Raw after WrestleMania. While both he and Cesaro showed up on the first night of the Shake Up against each other, he lost and hasn't been seen since.

It's not his fault, but since he's not involved in the build to Money in the Bank, Creative must have decided to keep him on the back-burner until after the PPV. In the very least, that's what I'm hoping is going to happen.

Part of the reason for the ratings' drops is that they haven't followed through with consistently featuring a lot of the new and exciting start to the main roster. Instead, we got an episode of Raw with two squash matches where the Lucha House Party was given an easy win against 'local talent' and Lacey Evans beat a 'local talent' in under two minutes.

What's the point of having such a talented and deep roster if they aren't used to the fullest? Not everyone can look strong, but did the Lucha House Party really need a pointless win when Alexander could have at least had a competitive match instead?

Honorable Mention

There certainly are more stars that have yet to make it to TV after the Superstar Shake Up for one reason or another. Eric Young not only saw his entire faction, Sanity, disbanded, but he was also shipped to Raw by graphic.

He hasn't been on TV yet and might be doing the rounds at house shows or unaired shows like Main Event. Six hours a week is already enough for me to follow, so I'm not going to watch yet another show like Main Event when I can watch NXT instead.

Someone I totally feel for is the ultra-talented Chad Gable. If he was about five inches taller, I think he'd be getting pushed to the moon. But instead, he's only 5'8'' and close to 200 pounds. That's not the size of someone that will get a push from 'the Chairman'.

But regardless, he's put on a lot of good matches. His matches as a member of American Alpha and with Bobby Roode were decent, but we know that tag wrestling isn't at the top of the 'to do list'. Because of that, Gable, despite his great potential and ability, usually gets to lose to make heels look better.

Another superstar that hasn't appeared on TV since 'Mania is the veteran Mickie James. It's not a big surprise that she probably isn't getting pushed to a title run due to her status as a vet from the past, but someone like Natalya is still getting chances in matches like MITB.

James might be perfectly fine spending more time with her family and working on her music career, but her lack of TV time lately has been noticeable. As I previously mentioned, I'm hoping that some of these superstars will get regular time on TV once MITB is over, but we might get more of the same superstars getting pushed instead.