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Raw tried to deliver its most diverse episode of the year right after the 2019 Superstar Shake-up shuffled the rosters of Raw and SmackDown Live.
Not only did we watch the top men from SmackDown who moved to Raw compete during the night, but also saw a few more superstars jump ship from Raw to SmackDown and from SmackDown to Raw.
As we saw two near A-grade triple-threat matches play out to determine the contenders for the Universal Championship, we also saw WWE trying to build Naomi as a singles competitor after her move from SmackDown.
While men like Braun Strowman and Bobby Lashley were nowhere to be seen during the episode, we got to saw 205 Live competitor and now Raw superstar Cedric Alexander compete with Cesaro, and Robert Roode took on Ricochet in a couple of interesting bookings.
The creatives left us with a few surprises during the night, and we take a look at the top 5 surprises from this week’s Raw.
#5 Goodbye Andrade
Andrade came into Raw last week as part of the Superstar Shakeup and made an immediate impact as he defeated Intercontinental Champion Finn Balor in a non-title match. The following night, Balor was drafted to SmackDown, separating the two superstars for now.
However, in a surprising turn of events, Andrade has been sent back to SmackDown Live. While reasons for the move is still not clear, it seems like Charlotte Flair may have pulled some strings to get back closer to her boyfriend.
Andrade could have done wonders on the red brand as Raw is deprived of quality mid-card heels who aren’t running after the Universal Championship.
What makes things interesting now is that Balor is now on SmackDown where Andrade has been redrafted. Since Andrade has already defeated Balor in a non-title match, will WWE continue this story and give him a title match against Balor?
#4 Moustache Roode
While Bobby Roode was doing his absolute best at being The Glorious One after his move to the main roster, it seems like it wasn’t enough for the superstar.
This week on Raw, Roode introduced himself as a repackaged new character by the ring name of Robert Roode, a name he had previously used in his career during his tenure in TNA.
What surprised many was Roode’s rude comments about Chad Gable, and how he had never felt better in his entire life now that Chad Gable had been drafted to SmackDown and he had lost dead weight.
What was even more surprising was Roode’s new look where he shaved his beard and went with a mustache look, making himself look even more glorious than ever before.
He battled Ricochet in his first match as Robert Roode and defeated the newer superstar by scoring a pinfall victory.
#3 Baron Corbin’s victory
When you hear the names The Miz, Drew McIntyre, and Baron Corbin, how do you rate the superstars in terms of their skills and impact?
While we don’t want to state the obvious weakling here, it was surprising to watch Baron Corbin go one-up over The Miz and Drew McIntyre this week on Raw.
While Corbin did use his heelish tactics and capitalized on McIntyre’s Claymore Kick to The Miz, it was still odd to watch him come out on top and battle AJ Styles later in the night.
While WWE will be saving McIntyre for a future feud for the Universal Championship, The Miz vs. AJ Styles would have made a great match for Raw.
With WWE trying to protect so many feuds involving men like The Miz, AJ Styles, Drew McIntyre, Seth Rollins, and others, it’s become quite repetitive to see Baron Corbin come close to something special and then lose out.
#2 Cesaro on the red brand!
WWE can’t seem to make up their mind, and that’s why we are surprised by the company more often than we should be.
As The War Raiders became The Viking Experience and were changed to The Viking Raiders a week later, Cesaro was also moved from SmackDown to Raw in what seemed like last minute adjustments.
Whether it was to compensate for the move of Andrade to the blue brand or to prepare Cesaro for a singles title run, it’s a move that has broken up The Bar and many fans with it.
While we are all for Cesaro competing for a top title like the United States Championship or even the Universal Championship, it seems like a move that might have many consequences on the blue brand.
SmackDown has now lost Sanity, The Bar, and The Usos from its tag team division and now seems much weaker than what it was just a couple of weeks ago.
#1 Best in the world
While we were expecting someone like Baron Corbin or The Miz to compete for the Universal Championship, to begin with, WWE has thrown a dream match at us right away.
Raw had a couple of triple-threat matches which involved its top talent, but surprisingly only two men from Raw competed, and four men imported from SmackDown Live competed as well. The winner of each match competed against each other, which saw AJ Styles defeat Baron Corbin to earn his ticket for the top title.
Even though AJ Styles vs. Seth Rollins for the Universal Championship sounds more like a twenty-minute A-grade match for WrestleMania, it will be played out at WWE’s next pay-per-view Money in The Bank.
While this match can easily be classified as a Best in the World clash, it will also be for WWE’s top title the Universal Championship. What's more is that WWE now has enough options on Raw to not get involved in placeholder matches.
