Many Smackdown Live stars joined the RAW roster this week in the Superstar Shake-Up. This included names like Dolph Ziggler, Bobby Roode, Baron Corbin, the Riott Squad and more. The question now becomes, who will be joining the Smackdown Live roster in return?
Here Is Who We Think Will Join Smackdown’s Roster
– Either Jeff Hardy or Seth Rollins will have to move over to Smackdown Live with their Title. I am going to guess that it will be Jeff so that Seth can keep the ‘Monday Night Rollins’ moniker going. Either one works here though. My gut says Jeff moves over to get him away from the ‘Woken’ Matt Hardy stuff (for now at least).
– I think that it is a safe assumption that Asuka is moving to Smackdown Live. She wasn’t mentioned at all on RAW and has been rumored as a name moving over to the blue brand.
– Since RAW got Drew McIntyre, I am going to guess that Smackdown gets Andrade Almas, who is also rumored for a call-up.
– Gut feeling that Finn Balor, Luke Gallows, and Karl Anderson will move over to Smackdown Live.
– Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville get picked up by their leader Paige.
– I initially had either Sasha Banks or Bayley moving to Smackdown. With the way their match on RAW ended, it has me thinking that WWE will keep them together and build for a future big match. Going to guess that neither move to Smackdown.
– Big Cass returns and joins the Smackdown roster. He is rumored to be cleared to return from injury.
– I need another heel so I am going to go with Elias.
READ: WWE SPLITS UP TAG TEAM AFTER RAW GOES OFF THE AIR
– I think that the big move will be Braun Strowman to Smackdown Live. I think WWE will want to keep him away from the Universal Title picture for the time being and he would make sense on the blue brand.
Here are my picks to move to Smackdown:
- Jeff Hardy, Asuka, Finn Balor, Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson, Mandy Rose, Sonya Deville, Andrade Almas, Big Cass, Elias and Braun Strowman.
Let us know your picks in the comment section!
i hope sasha moves to smack down would be best for her right now to reboot to her character
and turn heel and get a nice long run with the title as well
I like your logic in re: Jeff Hardy, but Jinder did invoke the rematch clause tonight. Given that, and, well, WWE have started him off with a strong push after returning from injury, I think that he can distance himself without moving whilst holding and defending the United States Championship. As such, to add Balance, I do see a move of Seth to SD Live.
Seth is currently buried from any upward mobility, namely a run at the Universal Title, and with what WWE is seemingly doing is building a stable of superstars who are technical, innovative, and not Vince’s preference when it comes to body type; in other words, they are not giants. But what this stable can and will do, especially if you were to add in Finn Balor and one more heel, would be to create a core group of people capable of putting on both incredible feuds and matches, and could compete for both titles; having the IC strap on Seth is great and all, but having that belt on Raw does not give it the legitimacy that it deserves. But an interchangeable core of Styles, Nakamura, Bryan, Balor, Rollins, The Miz, and throw in Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas and a newly freed Shelton Benjamin, freaking Rusev, and, if Sanity gets a call up, Eric Young, there is enough talent right there to enable creative can build out storylines that even they cannot screw up. And as of now, Randy Orton, who is in need of a heel turn, and a part-time Chris Jericho are both still on SD Live. I will get to the tag team in a minute, but without having complete focus on the WWE Championship, not everyone is going to get buried. Superstars who did not come over tonight, superstars such as Tye Dillinger, Aiden English, and some of the B talent that will be sent over after the show ends, might get a small chance to shine. I am not overly optimisitic given the time constraints, but one experiment that they could do with a roster that deep is to not book everyone every week. You are still going to get great matches and you do not have to burn out your talent and their appeal in the process.
For the reasons why I listed above, I think that Braun will not be heading over to the Blue Brand; he simply does not have any legitimate competition on SD Live, as he could, in theory, run through most everyone whom he fought, regardless of talent. So he stays on Raw, keeping the status quo of the hierarchical card that Vince has been running forever. It is not a bad thing, but it is a different look than the SD Live, and with the talent they have and what they picked up in McIntyre, Roode, Ziggler, Corbin, Owens, Zayn, and Jinder, and a possibly emerging Chad Gable, they will be able to pair them with what they already have to fill out the respective cards and still create some exciting television. If this does end up happening, the brands will definitely have a different look and feel to them.
As side note, what are you going to do with Big Cass? Elias is a better fit for the SD Live roster than Big Cass. Maybe he stays on raw, fueds with Corbin, Jinder, and some of the taller contenders for the US title, and see how badly he gets lost. If it doesn’t work, perhaps he shows up one night on SD Live. Again, throwing things at the wall in anticipation for tomorrow.
The biggest issue that I have is the tag team. I was fully expecting the Usos or The Big Day to come over tonight, but that did not happen, so we shall see what happens tomorrow. The Usos have the edge that I would prefer stay on the SD Live, while I was expecting The New Day to head over to Raw, leaving the door open for The Revival, Gallows and Anderson, and Sanity. Let the Revival crawl out of the rock pile under which they have been buried; let Gallows and Anderson drop the gimmicks, pair with Balor, and start another stable, and let Sanity be Sanity, It could still happen tomorrow with a last minute trade or something of the sort, maybe it is what it takes for Finn and Balor Club to come over (after it was agreed that Rollins and the IC title were moving anyway). I do not know, but I am speculating.
I am also surprised that more women did not come over tonight. Again, maybe they are setting up for some on-air trades tomorrow, but Asuka is definitely coming over. She has plenty of time to get ready for her rumoured WrestleMania 35 Main Event with Ronda Rousey, so there is that. It did not look like Bayley or Sasha are moving, so I see Asuka, Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville coming over tomorrow. The only problem with that is that give SD Live a bulky and dominant women’s roster (sans Rousey). So something has to happen tomorrow on the trade front as well; it will not have anything to do with fighting, but if both lineups are truly in the back, then let the GMs talk.
Our picks are very similar save for Rollins instead of Hardy, and Sanity and The Revival (with The New Day somehow moving over) instead of Strowman and Big Cass. I could see either Big Cass or Elias moving, particularly the latter, but we shall see.