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The 2019 WWE Superstar Shake-Up will take place on the April 15-16 episodes of Raw and SmackDown Live in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Last year, a total of 15 Superstars/teams moved to Raw when WWE mixed up the rosters after WrestleMania 34, with AOP, Ember Moon and Drew McIntyre among those to join the red brand from NXT.
The Superstar who has had the most success since swapping Tuesday nights for Monday nights last year is arguably Baron Corbin. Granted, the WWE Universe has not exactly taken kindly to seeing the 2017 Money In The Bank winner on their screens every week, but his career has progressed massively as an authority figure and prominent heel on WWE’s flagship show.
On the contrary, former WWE champion Jinder Mahal has been nowhere near the title picture since leaving SmackDown Live, while Mike Kanellis moved to 205 Live in October 2018 after failing to compete in a single match on Raw.
With the 2019 Shake-Up on the horizon, let’s take a look at five realistic contenders who could move to Raw a week after WrestleMania 35.
#5 Rusev & Lana
Rusev will team with makeshift tag partner Shinsuke Nakamura to face The Usos, The Bar and Aleister Black & Ricochet in a Fatal 4-Way match for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship at WrestleMania 35.
If “The Bulgarian Brute” wins, he will become a Tag Team champion for the first time in his career. If he loses, he will set a new record of 18 pay-per-view losses in a row (he currently holds the record of 17, joint with The Great Khali).
Now, unless your name is Curt Hawkins, nobody wants a PPV losing streak like that, especially a Superstar like Rusev who made a name for himself in WWE by winning match after match for an entire year before finally losing on the grand WrestleMania stage to John Cena.
Things have gone downhill for the three-time United States champion ever since he joined SmackDown Live. The only positive during his time on the blue brand was the ‘Rusev Day’ phenomenon, but it’s safe to say that WWE did not take full advantage of it.
Now a heel again, perhaps it is time for Rusev, along with Lana, to have a fresh start on Monday nights.
#4 Naomi
Naomi has been very vocal on social media about her lack of opportunities in WWE lately. Although the former Funkadactyl’s list of accomplishments reads quite well compared to other members of the women’s division (SmackDown Women’s champion x2, WrestleMania wins x2, WrestleMania Battle Royal winner x1), she definitely has a point.
The Total Divas cast member is one of the most gifted and athletic female Superstars in all of WWE, yet she has not been seriously involved in the title picture for over 18 months, and her Battle Royal triumph at WrestleMania 34 resulted in absolutely nothing.
WWE has announced that the Triple Threat between Ronda Rousey, Charlotte Flair, and Becky Lynch will be ‘Winner Take All’ with both the Raw and SmackDown Women’s Championships on the line.
Regardless of what WWE plans to do with the titles going forward, it feels like Naomi has achieved everything she can on SmackDown Live, having won the brand’s Women’s Championship back in 2017 at WrestleMania, so maybe she could switch to Raw and target a new title after WrestleMania 35.
#3 Lars Sullivan
Lars Sullivan was reportedly supposed to face John Cena in one of the featured matches of WrestleMania 35. However, it was widely reported in January that, on the day that the rivalry was set to start on Raw, Sullivan suffered an anxiety attack, hence why he has not yet appeared on the main roster.
According to the Wrestling Observer, the former NXT Superstar is due to “return imminently”, which seems to suggest that he could be involved at WrestleMania 35 or the episodes of Raw and/or SmackDown Live after the event. Either way, it sounds like he should be back in time for the Superstar Shake-Up.
“The Freak” further fuelled rumors of his main-roster call-up by replying to a WrestleMania-related tweet from Elias, writing: “They don’t know what to do with ya huh? I’ll tell ya what, the ol Sullster knows exactly what to do with ya. All I’m saying is you better be playing a good song at Mania.”
#2 Shinsuke Nakamura
Shinsuke Nakamura had a difficult first few months on SmackDown Live after joining the brand in April 2017. Granted, he defeated big names including John Cena and Randy Orton, but he was also involved in underwhelming rivalries with Dolph Ziggler, Baron Corbin, and Jinder Mahal.
Things looked to be improving for “The King of Strong Style” when, after winning the 2018 Royal Rumble, he went on to face AJ Styles in a ‘dream’ match at WrestleMania 34. However, the much-anticipated encounter did not live up to the hype, nor did the overall rivalry, and Nakamura was made to feel like just another heel on the roster once the feud was over.
The Japanese Superstar has since had one of the worst United States Championship reigns of all time, while he has recently joined forces with Rusev to form a makeshift tag team just in time for WrestleMania 35.
Needless to say, things have not gone according to plan on SmackDown Live, so perhaps a move to Raw could help turn Nakamura’s WWE fortunes around.
#1 Randy Orton
Randy Orton has been a key Superstar on SmackDown Live ever since the 2016 brand split. His time on the brand began with a long-running storyline with Bray Wyatt, in which he teamed with the Wyatt Family leader before facing him for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 33.
Since then, he has held the United States Championship and been involved in rivalries with Superstars including Jinder Mahal, Bobby Roode, and Jeff Hardy, and he is currently preparing to face AJ Styles in a WrestleMania match which is being billed as “The Face of WWE” versus “The King of The Indies”.
Orton’s successful heel turn in mid-2018 revitalized his character, so he does not necessarily need to move to Raw at this stage of his career. However, when you look at what else “The Viper” has left to achieve in WWE, there is one thing that really stands out: John Cena and Ric Flair’s record of 16 world title reigns.
Orton, currently on 13 world title reigns, would be a worthy WWE Championship challenger after WrestleMania 35, but would it not be more exciting to see him challenge for a title he has never won, the Universal Championship, over on Raw instead?
