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The second half of the Superstar Shakeup emanated tonight from the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
The episode was one of the most anticipated ones in recent memory, courtesy WWE's announcement that Vince McMahon would be introducing the biggest acquisition in SmackDown Live history.
After losing a bunch of talented and extremely over Superstars to the red brand, SmackDown Live became home to some of Raw's absolute best.
As is always the case, not everything ended up to the liking of the WWE Universe, but there was a string of booking decisions that seemed interesting and promising at the same time. Let's take a look at four things WWE did right on tonight's SmackDown Live.
#4 An interesting replacement for Big E
As reported earlier, Big E is out with an injury, leaving Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods to fend for themselves on Tuesday nights. The show kicked off with Kevin Owens heaping praise upon The New Day and especially Kofi Kingston for doing the unthinkable at The Show of Shows.
Owens offered himself to The New Day as a backup in their upcoming match against Shinsuke Nakamura and Rusev. After showing off a bunch of New Day's signature moves, Kofi and Xavier seemed to have been impressed with Owens, and accepted the offer!
Wih Owens steadily growing on the people as a babyface, there's not a better way to get him more over than by pairing him up with The New Day, as Big E's replacement.
The Superstar has shown promise when it comes to making the audience chuckle, and he could do some amazing work on the mic as a part of The New Day, even if it doesn't lasts for more than a couple of weeks.
#3 Finn Balor moves to Tuesday nights
Quite possibly the most agile Superstar on the red brand has finally switched to SmackDown Live. What's important to note here is the fact that Finn Balor has brought in his Intercontinental Championship with him to the blue brand.
After wrestling Andrade on Monday Night Raw, Balor made his SmackDown Live debut by going toe to toe with one of the biggest crowd-favorites on the roster, Ali. A Coup De Grace gave Balor the pin and the duo shook hands post-match.
This switch was a long time coming. Balor has spent the entirety of his WWE career on RAW. It's about time he gets to show off his incredible in-ring skills on Tuesday nights.
With SmackDown being dubbed as the show that appreciates wrestling more than its Monday night counterpart, Balor would fit perfectly here. A long string of exciting bouts await the fans of the Blue Brand.
#2 A fresh start
Becky Lynch came out to address the live crowd, but was interrupted by Ember Moon, followed by none other than Bayley! So, is this it for The Boss 'n' Hug Connection?
The IIconics came out to mock Becky Lynch, with Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville joining in the fun in quick succession. To put an end to the chaos, Paige came out, and introduced a brand new tag team, consisting of Asuka and the newest member of the SmackDown roster... Kairi Sane!
The crowd popped big time for the recent recruit and a brawl broke out immediately between the eight women, with Becky Lynch watching from the corner.
Ember Moon has done nothing of worth on Raw, and the same could be said for Bayley to an extent. Then we have Asuka, who has been criminally underused by WWE over the past few months. Tonight's events could act as a new start for these women.
#1 A new yard for The Big Dog
As the fans watched with bated breath, Vince McMahon made his announcement regarding the biggest acquisition in the history of SmackDown Live. To the horror of the live crowd, it turned out to be Elias! The guitar-clad villain didn't get to slam the Montreal crowd for long though, as Roman Reigns made his way to the ring to a chorus of loud cheers!
Reigns immediately hit Elias with a thunderous Superman Punch. He followed it up with hitting the same on the boss! Roman Reigns stopped midway as he was about to leave, coming back for a Spear on Elias.
WWE did the right thing by sending Reigns to SmackDown here. There was no way he wouldn't have been booed on Raw, if he had faced off against Rollins for the Universal Title. It's time for Reigns to stay away from the spotlight for a while and work on becoming a genuine babyface again, like he used to be as a part of The Shield.
