The biggest winners and losers from last night's Raw (April 16)

Superstar shakeup 2018
The Miz waved his red brand farewell...for now.

We might justly say that the biggest loser of last night's Raw was Raw itself, as the Superstar Shakeup mostly gave Raw SmackDown's lower-tiered stars, where SmackDown already made a huge acquisition, with more expected to come.

Who came out ahead and who lost from the new dynamic so far? There are a few clues for what the rest of the year holds.


Loser: Jinder Mahal

youtube-cover

Revealed as the first SmackDown acquisition, Jinder Mahal promptly lost his United States Championship to Jeff Hardy. Either Jeff Hardy is taking the title with him tonight or Jinder will now feud with Hardy. While this might potentially save him from another terrible run-in with Randy Orton, Jinder's knees were cut off as soon as he got to Raw. His first impression wasn't amazing, but he at least got tremendous heat and had a better match than usual.

Winners: Sasha Banks and Bayley

youtube-cover

There was no payoff to the showdown between Sasha Banks and Bayley, meaning the feud is likely to continue either on Raw or if they're switched over to SmackDown.

Though this feud hasn't had a true breakout moment yet that really makes it something memorable and feels like wheel-spinning at times, the potential for something great is still there. It's made them both look more important than they have all through 2017.

Winner: The Miz

youtube-cover

The Miz is going to SmackDown to feud with Daniel Bryan.

This is great news for everyone. It gives Miz something to do that isn't the Intercontinental Championship, and it gives fans the feud they've waited for two years to see. If WWE plays its cards right, this feud could easily be one of 2017's best.

SmackDown came out far ahead last night, but this was the biggest benefit for the blue brand so far.

Loser: Drew McIntyre

youtube-cover

I expected Drew McIntyre to be in the 10-man tag match at the end of the show, but he instead showed up along with Dolph Ziggler to take out Titus Worldwide. This is exactly what the former NXT Champion doesn't need.

Dolph Ziggler is infamous for killing the momentum of NXT call-ups. On top of it all, why would Drew McIntyre waste his time feuding with Titus Worldwide anyway? This isn't the same man as in 3MB. He's a main event caliber player now and this was not the proper use of him.

Hopefully, he'll escape these confines soon.

Loser: Roman Reigns

youtube-cover

In another terrible promo that was washed over with a tsunami of boos, Roman Reigns failed to excite anyone for his upcoming cage match with Brock Lesnar. Raw's supposed top star looked worse for wear once again and Vince McMahon doesn't seem to have taken into account just how damaging that WrestleMania loss was for him.

The segment was saved by Samoa Joe of course, but his usual excellent work only served to show how inferior Roman Reigns is in comparison, even though he'll almost certainly lose at Backlash.

Loser: Ronda Rousey

youtube-cover

The whole segment felt contradictory. Why is Ronda Rousey, a supposed babyface, rushing in to save the heel Natalya, who showed heel tendencies in the match? Furthermore, Ronda's "beatdown" of Sonya Deville was terribly executed and served to display that the former UFC champion still needs a lot of work, despite her tremendous WrestleMania performance.

Ronda Rousey still isn't ready for a prominent singles program and it would be best if her presence doesn't become routine with boring segments like this. Let her train at the Performance Center some more en route to some kind of SummerSlam match.

Loser: Cesaro and Sheamus

youtube-cover

The former Raw Tag Team Champions lost last night to Breezango. Yes. You heard that correctly.

Did Road Dogg jump ship to Raw along with SmackDown's lower-tier stars?

It was an incredibly puzzling decision, given that The Bar have a championship match at the Greatest Royal Rumble next Friday. It isn't likely that Breezango is going to have some kind of big push either. So what's the deal? I doubt WWE's bookers even know.


Send us news tips at [email protected]

Teddy Long snaps when Swerve Strickland's race is brought up HERE

Quick Links