Grading SmackDown's divisions before and after the Superstar Shake Up

While Monday night started things out with a bang, Tuesday continued the trend when Roman Reigns made the jump for Mondays to Tuesday nights. The Superstar Shake Up has still taken place over the last week or so, but just on a smaller scale.

In the guise of maintaining relationships, Andrade and Zelina Vega and Aleister Black were all moved from Raw to the blue brand last week so that real-life couples Andrade and Charlotte Flair and Vega and Black could be kept together.

The B-Team also was quietly shipped to SmackDown and just in time for a division that has been riddled with injuries. And the one division that was already strong in the women's division was extremely improved into possibly the best division top to bottom in WWE. Here are the grades for SmackDown life before and after the shake up.

---

Tag Team Division

Added - Otis and Tucker, B-Team to Hardyz, New Day, Colons, Good Brothers, Rusev and Nakamura

Lost - the Usos

Other Notes - Sanity disbanded, Big E, Sheamus hurt

Grade Before - B+

Grade After - C+

In order to help Raw's tag teams improve, WWE shifted the Usos from SmackDown to Raw. But in order to improve one division, another division was hurt by not only the loss of one team but the 'on-hold' statuses of several other top teams on Tuesday nights.

The Bar was essentially disbanded once Sheamus had to take time off after WrestleMania due to a concussion. And since Cesaro was left by himself, he was moved to Raw. Also suffering an injury was Big E. With Kofi Kingston now the WWE Champion, the tag division still could boast Xavier Woods and Big E.

But now with the big man hurt, the division was essentially stripped of its three top teams by movement or injury. And that's not even considering what to do with the current champions, the Hardyz. Jeff Hardy is reportedly hurt and the titles might have to be taken off of them.

That leaves teams that haven't been pushed much (Good Brothers, Colons) and a team that could have potential in Rusev and Nakamura. SmackDown did add both the B-Team and Heavy Machinery, but neither team is the same caliber of the Usos, the Bar or the New Day. This division, once a huge strength of the blue brand, is now a weakness.

Mid-card Division

Balor will anchor the IC Title scene until he is needed to challenge a main-event heel

Added - Apollo Crews, Aleister Black, Finn Balor, Buddy Murphy, Chad Gable, Lars Sullivan, Jinder Mahal

Lost - Samoa Joe, Cesaro

Other Notes - Andrade moved to Raw but back to SmackDown

Grade Before - B-

Grade After - A

While SmackDown lost its bruiser US Champion, they added the scrappy Intercontinental Champion in Finn Balor. Balor should hopefully have a stabilizing force on the mid-card division before eventually dropping the title to one of the young up-and-comers like Black, Sullivan, Murphy or Andrade.

Once he does drop the title, whomever takes the title from Kofi Kingston will need fresh face challengers, and Balor would be the perfect man for that. While its mid-card division was already pretty good with Joe, Rusev, Shinsuke Nakamura, Rey Mysterio, Andrade and Ali, it improved mightily with the additions of Murphy and Black as well as scrappy faces Apollo Crews and Chad Gable.

Some of these superstars might get randomly paired together in order to help bolster the tag team division, but the IC Title scene should provide a lot of masterful matches if WWE books matches like Balor vs. Black, Balor vs. Murpy, Ali vs. Black and many more possible combinations. Is this where Black starts his ascent up the card? What road will they take with Sullivan?

And just like bolstering the tag team division might pair up some of these superstars, some like Black, Sullivan and Balor will eventually move up into WWE Championship contention. Their characters will likely be built up well before that, so they might be mid-card staples for most of the rest of 2019.

Women's Division

Ember Moon is someone who could challenge for the SmackDown Women's Title right away

Added - Kairi Sane, Ember Moon, Mickie James, Bayley and Liv Morgan to Charlotte Flair, Asuka, Mandy Rose, Sonya Deville, IIconics, Carmella, Lana

Lost - Naomi

Other Notes - Becky Lynch appears on both brands until she drops one of her titles

Grade Before - B

Grade After - A

SmackDown's Women's division was already top-heavy with Asuka, Flair and Lynch being the top superstars on the blue brand. But in order to potentially improve it even more for the move to Fox, WWE stacked the division from top to bottom. It not only opened up a lot of new storylines but also created amazing depth on the blue brand.

Not only did SmackDown get both Bayley and Ember Moon in the switch, but they also added Kairi Sane in a tag team with Asuka. They also added Liv Morgan and Mickie James in a strange mix of a relatively green Morgan and the battle-tested James.

Those ladies were added to Flair, Carmella, the IIconics, Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville. While Carmella, Rose or Deville could have also joined Raw, they were kept together on SmackDown. It's depth that will allow for a lot of tag team feuds and multiple women matches.

Once Lynch drops one of her titles, and I think it will be the SmackDown Women's Title, she'll presumably join Raw officially. While she became the biggest star in the company as a member of SmackDown, she's appeared on both shows regularly since 2019 started. The main problem will be the usual desire to book Flair as the champion rather than give any number of other women a chance to carry the SmackDown Women's Title.

Main-Event Scene

The Big Dog's move to the blue brand was one of the biggest moves ever during a shake up.

Added - Roman Reigns, Elias to Kofi Kingston, Daniel Bryan, Kevin Owens, Randy Orton

Lost - AJ Styles, the Miz

Other Notes - Daniel Bryan currently out of action with an injury

Grade Before - B-

Grade After - B-

While switching out Roman Reigns and AJ Styles essentially meant one face took the other's spot, not a lot changed in terms of the performers. Kevin Owens did return and as a face, but that quickly changed when he attacked Kingston and Xavier Woods during SmackDown's main event last week.

The main event scene for the blue brand was in decent shape but could have been better. Once Styles lost the title and Bryan turned heel, they were left without many top-level faces for the main event. The Miz was turned face but it was mainly for a feud with Shane McMahon and his dangerous rabbit punches.

He was sent to Raw, and Elias came to SmackDown in his stead. Elias has always been over with the crowd regardless of if he was insulting opponents or his fans and he's been immediately thrust into a feud with Reigns. It does show faith in 'the Drifter' but he needs some gold sooner rather than later.

A lot of the talent from the mid-card has the potential to have great matches with the likes of Reigns, Kingston and Elias, but who will be given the chance to ascend? Buddy Murphy was arguably one of the top five performers in all of WWE up until Mania. Will SmackDown continue to be the 'land of opportunity' in WWE?

Chad Gable has always had the talent but lacked the push. Ali has proven to be worthy of big matches, but will his size continue to hold him back? Aleister Black and Andrade both have big potential that could shove them up the card at any point this year, but the question will be of when would be the right time.