The RAW roster is looking pretty different after last night.
WWE’s annual Superstar Shake-Up kicked off at the Bell Centre in Montreal, and there are a few new faces that will be showing up on Monday nights. It will continue tonight as we find out who will join SmackDown Live.
I want to take a look at those who are now on the red brand. However, there were several superstars who, at least going off what the commentary team was saying, aren’t officially on the RAW roster just yet. It feels like Aleister Black, Ricochet, Lars Sullivan, and possibly EC3 are still free agents, so they won’t be considered here.
The Miz
To kick off the show, Stephanie McMahon, with the help of her brother Shane, was ready to announce the first superstar to jump over to RAW. However, Shane took a brief moment to gloat about beating The Miz and torturing his father over the past several months.
Once that was all said and done, Stephanie introduced the newest member of the roster: none other than the A-Lister himself. He would then attack Shane and get some revenge on his former best friend with the help of a steel chair.
It hasn’t been that long since The Miz was on RAW; he had only been on SmackDown Live for a year. Now he’s back and ready to make his mark on Monday nights.
Shane’s boasting made this one painfully obvious. I expected their feud to go on a little while longer, so I was surprised to see it end so abruptly. Either way, this move doesn’t really excite me a whole lot. The Miz did great on SmackDown Live, and was doing great before that when he was on RAW.
I’m sure he’ll have another good run here, but that’s what we’ve come to expect from him.
Rating: 6/10
The Viking Experience (War Raiders)
The very first match of the night was an eight-man tag that featured Black, Ricochet, and RAW Tag Team Champions Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins going against The Revival and a mystery team.
War Raiders’ music hit, taking me completely by surprise, but then the announcer said, “Ivar and Erik, The Viking Experience” and I was left scratching my head. This call-up came completely out of left field, which isn’t a bad thing, however, because they’re the NXT Tag Team Champions I’m still not sure if this is a permanent call-up or a temporary one.
They were impressive in their debut and picked up the win for their team, but I couldn’t get over the name change. It’s so generic and boring that it kind of ruined their call-up for me.
If they’re staying on Monday nights, creative needs to come up with new names and fast, because “The Viking Experience” is sure to stop their momentum dead in its tracks.
Rating: 5/10
Cedric Alexander
Throughout the night, it was mentioned that members of the 205 Live roster were eligible to be shaken up as well. Then came a video package that announced former Cruiserweight Champion, Cedric Alexander, would be coming to RAW.
This move definitely makes sense; Alexander hasn’t been doing much since losing the title to Buddy Murphy. There really isn’t anything else for him to do on 205 Live, so it’s time for him to showcase his skills somewhere else.
He could easily be to RAW what Ali is to SmackDown Live: the plucky, high-flying underdog. The Age of Alexander is coming, and if done properly, the sky’s the limit for the former champion.
Rating: 7/10
Andrade & Zelina Vega
Intercontinental Champion Finn Balor was set to face an opponent supposedly hand-picked by the McMahons from SmackDown Live.
Andrade and Zelina Vega made their RAW debuts, and El Idolo gave Balor a run for his money. While it looked like the champ was closing in on a victory, Vega interfered and allowed Andrade to pick up his first win on RAW.
I think this move can be very beneficial for both superstars. Andrade was doing pretty well on SmackDown Live as of late, so hopefully his momentum continues on the red brand. If Vega gets the chance to wrestle more, it could be interesting to see the potential storylines with her and the rest of the women’s division.
The two had been on SmackDown Live ever since their call-up in last year’s Superstar Shake-Up, so it was time for a fresh start. Now we’ll have to see how well these two adjust to life on Monday nights.
Rating: 7/10
Rey Mysterio
The masked luchador became the latest superstar to interrupt Elias during one of his performances. He made short work of The Drifter, but Lars Sullivan would come down to the ring and do the same to him.
This is the first time Mysterio has been on RAW since April 2014, and now has the chance to take on a bunch of new competition on Monday nights. With Andrade making his way over to RAW in the Shake-Up as well, the two will be able to reignite their feud and continue what they started on the blue brand.
Just like on SmackDown Live, I think Mysterio will be one of the more prominent superstars on the show. Will he consistently be in the main event picture? Probably not, but he’ll still be one of the guys you can count on to put on quality matches with whoever he faces.
Rating: 6/10
The Uso’s
Chad Gable and Bobby Roode wanted more competition from any team who was willing to step up, and boy did they get it. Jimmy and Jey Uso answered the call and took care of their opponents with ease.
First off, someone in the production truck needs to be fired
for flashing The Usos name card on TV before they showed up. But regardless, the tag team division on Monday nights was getting stale and adding the six-time tag team champions is an instant shot in the arm.
The brothers haven’t been on RAW since 2016, but it was definitely time for a change of scenery. They were easily one of, if not the best team on SmackDown for those 3 years, so it’s going to be exciting to see them take on a new crop of teams.
They better watch out, because The Uso Penitentiary is ready to put the RAW tag team division on lockdown.
Rating: 8/10
Naomi
Then came the first woman to make the jump to Monday nights. With Sasha Banks going AWOL, Bayley was in search of a tag partner for her match against The IIconics. Naomi came to her friend’s aid, and helped her defeat the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions.
This was one move that I was hoping would happen. The SmackDown women’s division is kind of in disarray at the moment, and Naomi is one of the most criminally underrated superstars in the company. Ever since she lost the SmackDown Women’s Championship at SummerSlam in August 2017, she hasn’t been the same.
This is the fresh start that she needs to hopefully get her career back on track. They could revisit some old storylines, such as with Tamina and Banks, or give her something new to try out. Either way, I hope this is a good sign for Naomi.
Rating: 8/10
Lacey Evans
Here’s the other woman officially joining the RAW roster. Becky Lynch promised Natalya that she would get a shot at the RAW Women’s Championship, until Lacey Evans made her presence known.
She said that the McMahons gave her the opportunity to face Natalya for a shot at Lynch and her title. The Sassy Southern Belle would go on to beat Nattie and earn the title shot.
I’ll be honest, I don’t like Evans and her gimmick. It’s antiquated, stereotypical, and just plain boring. For weeks now she’s been doing exactly what Emmalina did: walk out onto the stage and that’s about it.
It wouldn’t have mattered if she went to RAW or SmackDown Live, I’m just not a fan and can’t get invested in her at all. But the brass seems to be pretty high on her, so whether we like it or not, we should get used to seeing her.
Rating 4/10
AJ Styles
Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns were set to team with another new member of the RAW roster to take on the team of Drew McIntyre, Baron Corbin, and Bobby Lashley. Much to everyone’s surprise, it was none other than AJ Styles. He was definitely the highest profile superstar to make the jump, and helped Rollins and Reigns pick up the win.
This was the most exciting move of the night and helps elevate the RAW roster even higher. Styles helped SmackDown Live compete with its sister show, and might have made it better even though it was considered “the B show”.
While the blue brand might take a hit, RAW will definitely get better at their expense. The possibilities are endless for the match-ups The Phenomenal One could have. Just imagine if he takes on Finn Balor again, or Rollins, those are match of the year candidates right there.
SmackDown Live was known as “The House that AJ Styles Built”, so think of what he can do on WWE’s flagship show.
Rating: 9/10
Overall, this week’s show was pretty good. While there were some low points, the good parts definitely outweighed the bad. A roster that was tired and overused got a much-needed boost with fresh and new faces. It’ll be exciting to see where this takes RAW going forward, and which superstars are making their way to SmackDown Live.
Overall: B
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