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In an attempt to hype up things, and shake up the WWE landscape, the company presented the first half of Superstar Shake-up 2019 on RAW. WWE has lost plenty of star power recently. Brock Lesnar and Ronda Rousey have probably both began their indefinite absence from WWE. Nia Jax recently got injured, and Kurt Angle has retired. This Superstar Shake-up had to make things right for the red brand.
The show was nothing explosive, in fact often underwhelming. Yes, we saw some big, albeit predictable moves to RAW. Most notably, SmackDown Superstars, AJ Styles, Rey Mysterio, and Andrade have been drafted to the red brand.
Still, RAW only moved at a pedestrian pace. And we received average segments one after another. In this article, we evaluate 4 mistakes that WWE made on the Superstar Shake-up edition of RAW.
#1 Finn Balor's loss
It has been reported that Samoa Joe had to be pulled out from RAW due to an illness. Whether the plans were to have Joe switch brands or to work an angle with Strowman is not clear.
But, WWE needs to switch the brands of the Intercontinental and the US Champions. While Finn Balor has had a struggle on the red brand, Joe has gained some momentum recently and he has some dream feuds awaiting him on the red brand.
On RAW, firstly, WWE brought the impressive Andrade to the red brand. Then, he surprisingly beat the Intercontinental Champion. We can't disagree that the win would do wonders for El Idolo, but Balor shouldn't have taken the loss there.
The way WWE used Finn Balor on RAW was odd, lest familiar. It's still hard to understand why WWE likes to have their champions lose so frequently. Intercontinental Champions, especially, are treated like jobbers. It further harmed Balor's credibility as a main event star.
Yes, Balor may move to SmackDown, but it's weird that he'd go out with a loss. It was a mistake.
#2 The IIconics squashed by Bayley and Naomi
The Women's Tag Team Championship has led to so much in recent times. We saw the return of WWE Hall of Famer, Beth Phoenix, before WrestleMania 35, and we have maybe seen Sasha Banks potentially walking away from the company after WrestleMania 35.
As reported, Banks' frustration reached a boiling point after she dropped the tag titles to IIconics at WrestleMania 35.
However, if you were one of us who thought all of this would lead to something really big for the young Aussie women, you too have been mistaken. From what we saw on RAW, it appears that IIconics won't exactly have an iconic run with the championship.
Bayley and Naomi comprehensively beat the champs on RAW, further stating that the IIconics' win at 'Mania was a fluke. They are only placeholders until some team is chosen to take the titles away from them.
It's even more startling because Banks and Bayley could have done wonders with the titles. WWE has messed up the whole situation. Let's see if WWE can right this wrong in the near future.
#3 Braun Strowman destroys EC3
EC3 has everything to be a successful WWE Superstar. Besides solid in-ring skills, he has good looks, physique, mic skills, and charisma. Therefore EC3’s use on the main roster so far has been even more startling. He hasn't even been relevant.
On RAW, EC3 stormed into the ring demanding some competition. Rightly, he has been tired of being in the background. The star wanted to begin a winning streak. Alas! What did he get?
The Monster Among Men, Braun Strowman. From the moment Strowman stepped into the ring to the moment Becky Lynch’s music hit, it was just a one-sided whacking which ended with the monster putting EC3 through the stage.
It was entertaining television, but not the right move in regards to EC3. The young star hasn’t made much of an impression during his main roster stint, and this segment did nothing to better his stay. Some more of these segments, and we’d have another star feel like a comedy act. We haven’t forgotten the Strowman and Owens rivalry in 2018.
#4 Lacey Evans becomes the number one contender
On RAW, Lacey Evans interrupted Natalya who had been trying to get a championship match against Becky Lynch, announcing pre-match that she had been officially drafted to the red brand.
Furthermore, The Sassy Southern Belle also wrestled in what's a pleasant change. The Lady of WWE fought and beat Natalya to become the first challenger to The Man’s RAW Women’s Championship.
Though there was nothing overly wrong with the whole segment or match, the entire ordeal felt underwhelming. The match was rather pedestrian as well and did nothing to establish Evans as a deserving title-contender.
Instead, we feel that WWE could have actually gone forward with Natalya challenging Lynch. Even though it would have been anticlimactic considering recent events. Perhaps, WWE could have made this a triple-threat match.
While Evans has the potential to be a star in WWE, we haven't seen enough from her, other than some nasty punches and a finisher that makes Corey Graves go crazy, to think of her as a great opponent for Lynch. It’d have been better for WWE to let Evans prove herself in the ring before challenging Lynch for the title.
Instead, this decision seemed rather sudden and underwhelming.
