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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 10 Superstars/teams moved to SmackDown Live when WWE mixed up the rosters after WrestleMania 34, with SAnitY, Andrade and Zelina Vega among those to join the blue brand from NXT.
The Superstar who has had the most success since swapping Monday nights for Tuesday nights last year is arguably Asuka. Granted, “The Empress of Tomorrow” has had ups and downs as a member of the SmackDown Live roster, but she has still main-evented a pay-per-view, TLC 2018, in that time and established herself as one of WWE’s most popular women.
On the contrary, Big Cass only lasted two months on SmackDown Live before being released, while Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson have found television time limited since leaving Raw and they look likely to depart WWE later this year.
With the 2019 Shake-Up on the horizon, let’s take a look at five realistic contenders who could move to SmackDown Live a week after WrestleMania 35.
#5 Braun Strowman
When Roman Reigns announced in October 2018 that he had been diagnosed with leukemia for the second time, Braun Strowman seemed like the obvious Superstar to step up in his rival’s absence to become the main guy on Monday Night Raw.
As it turned out, “The Monster Among Men” lost yet another Universal Championship match against Brock Lesnar – his fourth in 15 months – at Crown Jewel in November 2018, and he has since been unable to regain the enormous amount of momentum that he had through 2017 and in the first half of 2018.
Strowman has been a member of the Raw roster ever since the 2016 brand split, but he continues to fall short whenever he is placed in the Universal Championship picture. It has gotten to a point where it feels boring every time he gets involved in the title reckoning – something that would have seemed unthinkable when the Strowman character was at his most popular around 18 months ago.
If WWE is to allow the former Wyatt Family member to build up momentum again and be seen as a legitimate title contender, perhaps he should be given a fresh start on SmackDown Live.
#4 The Riott Squad
It is rare that WWE swaps a Superstar/team between Raw and SmackDown Live twice within the space of 12 months (The Miz and Kevin Owens are two recent examples). If they do so again in 2019, then The Riott Squad would probably benefit most from a return to SmackDown Live.
The villainous trio were an exciting addition to Raw in 2018. However, with no Women’s Tag Team titles around at the time, Liv Morgan & Sarah Logan’s multiple matches against Sasha Banks & Bayley became far too repetitive and they desperately needed fresh opponents to face throughout the year.
As for Ruby Riott, her credibility as a serious title challenger was severely damaged at Elimination Chamber when she was defeated in 100 seconds by Ronda Rousey. Like her fellow faction members, she needs a lot more Superstars to face if she is going to build momentum again.
In a nutshell, The Riott Squad’s time on Raw began well but they ended up losing far too often, especially in high-profile feuds. A switch to SmackDown Live would give them a platform to have another fresh start.
#3 Finn Balor
Like Braun Strowman, Finn Balor is a world title-worthy Superstar but he looks unlikely to win the Universal Championship any time soon. Since finally receiving his rematch for the championship he was forced to relinquish in August 2016, he has lost title matches against Roman Reigns (Raw) and Brock Lesnar (Royal Rumble).
Moving forward, the Irishman has his sights set on Bobby Lashley’s Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 35, where he will don the “Demon” attire for the first time since his win over Baron Corbin at SummerSlam 2018.
Regardless of whether or not he defeats Lashley (he will – this is the “Demon” we’re talking about!), Balor would be well suited to SmackDown Live.
If he wins the Intercontinental Championship, he could freshen up Tuesday nights by taking the title with him in exchange for the United States Championship. If he doesn’t win at ‘Mania, he could put his Universal and IC title woes behind him and turn his attention to another major title, the WWE Championship, on the blue brand.
#2 Bray Wyatt
Bray Wyatt was among the most prominent Superstars on SmackDown Live when the brand moved to Tuesday nights and began to air live every week after the 2016 WWE draft.
With Luke Harper and Randy Orton by his side, the Wyatt Family leader worked his way up the blue brand's card and ended up winning the WWE Championship for the one and only time in his career when he emerged with the victory in a six-man Elimination Chamber match in February 2017.
Following his WrestleMania 33 title loss to Orton and subsequent move to Raw, “The Eater of Worlds” was never quite the same. His character appeared to have run its course, especially during feuds with Finn Balor and Matt Hardy, and while the Deleters of Worlds tag team run offered something a little different, Wyatt felt nothing like the WWE title contender that he was on the blue brand.
If he returns to WWE programming by the time of the Shake-Up, Wyatt would be the perfect addition to SmackDown Live – the show where he initially broke out as one of WWE’s top singles stars.
#1 Ronda Rousey
FOX Sports will begin airing SmackDown Live on Friday, October 4, 2019. The Wrestling Observer has reported that FOX is wanting to promote the show during its other sports broadcasts (NFL, college football etc) and the network is keen for sports personalities to be able to discuss WWE from “sports and athletic standpoints”.
If that is indeed the case, then it would make sense for Ronda Rousey – one of WWE’s top two sporting stars, along with Brock Lesnar – to make the switch to SmackDown Live in the 2019 Superstar Shake-Up.
Both the Raw and SmackDown Women’s Championships will be on the line in the main event of WrestleMania 35 when Rousey faces Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch, so there will no longer be one brand-exclusive title tying “The Baddest Woman on the Planet” down to one show in the future.
Besides, she has already faced every single woman on the Raw roster over the last 12 months, so it is about time WWE found her some new opponents.
