The 2019 Superstar Shakeup has come and gone and here are my thoughts on what transpired.
Smackdown got the better bargain with the women’s division
This is something that has already been said but the distribution of female talent has obviously benefited the blue brand. Asuka is staying on Smackdown, now teamed up with Kairi Sane from NXT and Paige as their manager apparently. Bayley, Ember Moon, Liv Morgan (split off from the Riott Squad) as well as Mickie James. With Becky Lynch still able to go between both brands because of her dual champion status and the IIconics being the women’s tag champions, Smackdown’s women’s division is rather stacked.
In contrast to RAW, Alexa Bliss looks like the only credible challenger to Lynch’s RAW Women’s Championship, although it looks like the champion will be in a program with Lacey Evans (who finally was put to some use after months of literally doing nothing). However, those left, Dana Brooke, Natayla, Ruby Riott and Sara Logan, and Alicia Fox, don’t come off as providing much competition to the self proclaimed “Man”. Even the recent arrival, Naomi, would need some work after a lacklustre time on Smackdown following her brief run as champion over there.
I am very surprised that Charlotte Flair was left on Smackdown; with Nia Jax out due to injury and Sasha Banks MIA at the moment, RAW would need an injection of someone who could carry the division, but perhaps WWE wants to see if Evans and Bliss can do that going forward. Another Lynch and Charlotte confrontation is most likely as the champion currently appears on both shows.
WWE Needs Consistency When It Comes to Keeping Couples Together
For a company that likes to tout how family friendly it is, WWE doesn’t seem to be very good at helping in ring talent who happen to be in relationships with each other stay together.
While Jimmy Uso and Naomi (husband and wife) were drafted together on RAW, as were Zelina Vega and her husband Aleister Black, it was rather odd that Andrade was drafted to RAW but Charlotte (whom Andrade has recently begun a relationship with) was left on Smackdown.
If this was about some WWE hidden policy that they try to accommodate married couples excluding all other relationships, then it makes more sense, but there isn’t one as far as I know. As I stated earlier, putting Charlotte on RAW actually makes more sense in the grander scheme of things; her relationship with Andrade is more of an afterthought in that context.
You’d think that Charlotte Flair, of all people, would have some backstage stroke to get such an accommodation but apparently that’s not the case. Also to be determined is the status of another married WWE couple, Nikki Cross and Killian Dain.
There’s 7 Former TNA World Champions on RAW…
Not that it matters much to Vince, since he doesn’t acknowledge other promotions anyway. However, since that other company is now known as Impact Wrestling, WWE actually name dropped TNA on a few occasions.
That being said, this could be a crucial window of opportunity to book some good feuds and story lines for the upcoming year since the Universal title is now back in the picture. Seth Rollins’ more immediate challengers could come in the form of Drew McIntyre and Bobby Lashley, leading up to an eventual match with AJ Styles at Wrestlemania 36 in Tampa Bay.
I’m not saying all the men in the picture will compete for the Universal title one on one (maybe some kind of six pack challenge could be put together). Samoa Joe (if he is coming over to RAW with the United States title) could have his own hands full with Braun Strowman as was teased on Smackdown a few weeks ago. As for the rest, I don’t mind seeing Styles feud with Eric Young now that he’s not with the Sanity stable anymore, and Bobby Roode and EC3 could form a credible tag team now that Chad Gable got drafted to Smackdown.
But then again, Vince McMahon is not getting advice from me.
Viking Experience….WTF?
In another nod to how Vince just ignores what happens outside his company’s flagship brands, even NXT, the renaming of the War Raiders, in name of team as well as the two men in that team, is going down as one of the most asinine decisions of WWE in 2019.
Apparently not liking the name because of the allusion of war, or just that he didn’t like the name, Vince McMahon changed them from War Raiders to “The Viking Experience” and their ring names (Rowe and Hanson) to ‘Ivar and Erik’ because of the whole Norse viking presentation, perhaps not understanding that the NXT tag team champions actually adopt that lifestyle in real life.
Whatever the case may be, McMahon managed to take a team that Triple H packaged rather well from New Japan and made them sound like a joke. “The Viking Experience” sounds more like a Nordic cruise line, rather than a fearsome tag team; this is not to say that Rowe and Hanson are not lacking in ring experience and charisma.
But looking at how the Authors of Pain were repackaged with Drake Maverick, I am not optimistic in how the War Raiders will be handled on RAW. Notice I am calling them by their NXT monikers; I frankly refuse to use this stupid name McMahon pinned on them.
An average professional doing the 9-5 grind who really loves wrestling across all platforms. Here's hoping wrestlers finally get some basic workers rights in 2021.
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