WWE SmackDown: 5 biggest surprises from the Superstar Shake-up episode (April 16, 2019)

The second and final night of the Superstar Shake-Up was as eventful as the first one, as we were treated a lot of surprises throughout the night.

While some expected drafts were made, there were a few which were extremely unexpected and can lead to some great things for the blue brand ahead of the FOX deal.

Lars Sullivan continued to attack veterans of the sport, as he has now been announced as a part of the blue brand. Superstars of the red brand would surely be celebrating after the move.

Apart from that, we saw a champion move with his title belt from Raw to SmackDown, increasing the number of titles on the blue brand while reducing on Raw.

Throughout the night, there were a few surprising moments and we will look at the 5 biggest surprises WWE delivered on SmackDown Live this week.

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#5 The Princess and The Queen

SmackDown Live this week highlighted it’s women’s division extremely well. While the focus had been on Becky Lynch and Charlotte before WrestleMania, they’ve done well in bringing it towards most of the other women in the roster.

This week, we saw an interesting match between the Women’s Battle Royal winner Carmella and former SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte. As expected, Charlotte defeated Carmella by submission.

After this match, we saw a segment where Becky 2 Belts came out to address the WWE Universe before she was interrupted by Bayley, Ember Moon, and a number of tag teams.

What’s surprising to see is that neither the Women’s Battle Royal winner, nor the former Women’s Champion came out to challenge Becky 2 Belts, and only former champions and tag teams did so.

While the segment was good enough to set up an eight-woman tag match which followed, it would have been better to see the winner of Carmella and Charlotte’s clash challenge Becky for a later date.

#4 Mustafa Ali’s loss

When Mustafa Ali made his way up to the main roster, it seemed like there was nothing that could stop The Heart of 205 Live from becoming The Heart of SmackDown Live.

His immediate push saw him compete against the big guys and score pinfalls over many of WWE’s biggest superstars.

Things were looking up for the superstar before he suffered an injury which took him out for a few weeks and gave rise to KofiMania.

Now since he is back, he is struggling to find the same level of momentum again and is constantly losing the other superstars.

This week, he surprisingly took another loss to the newly drafted superstar Finn Balor, who is also the Intercontinental Champion. If the trend continues, his losing streak will cause many fans to lose hope in him and kill the hype that was built around the superstar when he first made it on to SmackDown.

#3 The Prizefighter’s Day

Kevin Owens opened up the show with a loud pop as he made his way to host the Kevin Owens Show in the middle of the ring.

Owens talked about the Superstar Shake-Up before introducing his guest, WWE Champion Kofi Kingston.

The Prizefighter congratulated Kingston on his win, drawing a huge ovation from the fans. Kingston thanked Owens and discussed what the moment meant to him. The crowd, again, erupted as Owens shifted his attention to Big E's absence.

Owens then went on to announce a tag team match for The New Day for later in the night and asked if he could have the honor of filling Big E’s spot in the most famous team in WWE.

In a surprising move, The New Day accepted the man who had just taken Kofi’s spot away at Fastlane a couple of months ago, and thus, ‘Big O’ became a part of The New Day in Big E’s absence.

Whether Owens genuinely wants to be a part of the team, or whether he has some other intentions, will surely be revealed in the weeks to come.

#2 The Pirate Experience

Last week, SmackDown’s former General Manager returned to the screens to make a bold announcement. She announced that she will be bringing in a tag team which will rule the women’s division.

Straight after her announcement, fans started assuming who would Paige bring to SmackDown and manage. Teams such as Mandy Rose and Sonya DeVille, Io Shirai and Kairi Sane, and many others were thrown around.

However, Paige surprised everyone this week by bringing in a duo no one even thought would work as a tag team on the main roster.

Former SmackDown Women’s Champion Asuka forged an alliance with Kairi Sane, as the two have now become a tag team which will be managed by Paige.

What’s more surprising is that Asuka’s quest for the Women’s Championship seems to be over for now, and she will quickly be moved into tag team feuds with the Women’s Tag Team Champions.

#1 Roman Reign’s attack

To close out the night, Vince McMahon took to the squared circle and announced the biggest, most charismatic acquisition in SmackDown history: Elias. The announcement was underwhelming, to say the least.

While the fans were not too happy with the announcement, most knew that it was a trap which would lead to another superstar coming out and interrupting The Drifter.

Elias continued his heelish act and said without AJ Styles, SmackDown will become "The Temple of Elias."

As expected, Elias was interrupted and Roman Reigns' music played and The Big Dog made his SmackDown debut.

Reigns laid out Elias with a Superman Punch, and then surprisingly turned his attention to the Chairman of the Board, Superman Punching him in the process.

It didn’t end there, as The House AJ Styles Built and The Temple of Elias soon became Roman Reigns' yard as the night full of surprises came to an end.