2018 WWE Superstar Shake-up
| 2018 WWE Superstar Shake-up | |
|---|---|
WWE Superstar Shake-up logo. | |
| General information | |
| Sport | Professional wrestling |
| Date(s) | April 16–17, 2018 |
| Location | Hartford, Connecticut (April 16) Providence, Rhode Island (April 17) |
| Overview | |
| League | WWE |
| Teams | Raw SmackDown NXT (outgoing only) |
→ | |
The 2018 WWE Superstar Shake-up was the twelfth
Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island
.
Background
The WWE Draft is an annual process used by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE while a brand extension, or brand split, is in effect. The original brand extension occurred from 2002 to 2011, while the second and current brand split began in 2016. During a brand extension, the company divides its roster into brands where the wrestlers exclusively perform for each brand's respective television show, and the draft is used to refresh the rosters of the brand divisions, typically between the Raw and SmackDown brands.
In
Paige, who had retired from in-ring competition the previous night, was introduced as SmackDown's new general manager. She replaced Daniel Bryan, who returned to being a full-time wrestler.[3]
Selections
Raw
The following wrestlers and other personnel changed brands on the April 16 episode of Raw.[4][5]
Color at the top indicates the brand color of Raw as to Night 1 of the draft taking place on Raw separate from Night 2 of the draft taking place on SmackDown separate from the color blue that represents the brand SmackDown.
| # | Brand (to) | Employee (Real name) |
Role | Brand (from) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Raw | Sunil Singh (Yuvraj Dhesi and Gurvinder Sihra) |
Male wrestler and manager | SmackDown | Drafted with the United States Championship. |
| 2 | Raw | Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan, and Sarah Logan )(Dori Prange, Gionna Daddio, and Sarah Bridges) |
Female stable | SmackDown | |
| 3 | Raw | Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn (Kevin Steen and Rami Sebei) |
Male tag team | Free agents | Owens and Zayn were (kayfabe) fired from SmackDown on March 20, 2018 for assaulting SmackDown Commissioner Shane McMahon, and failed to regain their jobs at WrestleMania 34. They were given a chance to win a single contract in a match against each other on Raw the day after WrestleMania, which ended in a double countout. They were ultimately both signed to Raw contracts as free agents by Raw Commissioner Stephanie McMahon the following week. |
| 4 | SmackDown | The Miz (Michael Mizanin) |
Male wrestler | Raw | |
| 5 | Raw | Zack Ryder (Matthew Cardona) |
Male wrestler | SmackDown | Announced his transfer on Twitter[6] |
| 6 | Raw | Breezango (Fandango and Tyler Breeze) (Curtis Hussey and Mattias Clement) |
Male tag team | SmackDown | |
| 7 | Raw | Natalya (Natalie Neidhart-Wilson) |
Female wrestler | SmackDown | |
| 8 | Raw | Mojo Rawley (Dean Muhtadi) |
Male wrestler | SmackDown | Announced on WWE's YouTube channel[7] |
| 9 | Raw | Dolph Ziggler (Nicholas Nemeth) |
Male wrestler | SmackDown | |
| 10 | Raw | Drew McIntyre (Andrew Galloway IV) |
Male wrestler | NXT | |
| 11 | Raw | Baron Corbin (Thomas Pestock) |
Male wrestler | SmackDown | |
| 12 | Raw | Mike Kanellis (Michael Bennett) |
Male wrestler | SmackDown | Announced on WWE's Twitter |
| 13 | Raw | The Ascension (Konnor and Viktor) (Ryan Parmeter and Eric Thompson) |
Male tag team | SmackDown | Announced through WWE's Instagram |
| 14 | Raw | Bobby Roode (Robert Francis Roode Jr.) |
Male wrestler | SmackDown | |
| 15 | Raw | Chad Gable (Charles Betts) |
Male wrestler | SmackDown | Announced on WWE's Twitter. Separated from his tag team partner Shelton Benjamin. |
SmackDown
The following wrestlers and other personnel changed brands on the April 17 episode of SmackDown.[4][8]
Color at the top indicates the brand color of SmackDown as to Night 2 of the draft taking place on SmackDown separate from Night 1 of the draft taking place on Raw separate from the color red that represents the brand Raw.
| # | Brand (to) | Employee (Real name) |
Role | Brand (from) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SmackDown | Jeff Hardy | Male wrestler | Raw | Drafted with the Hardy Boyz tag team partner, Matt Hardy .
|
| 2 | SmackDown | Absolution (Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville) (Amanda Saccomanno and Daria Berenato) |
Female tag team | Raw | |
| 3 | SmackDown | Samoa Joe (Nuufolau Seanoa) |
Male wrestler | Raw | |
| 4 | SmackDown | Sanity (Eric Young, Alexander Wolfe, and Killian Dain) (Jeremy Fritz, Axel Tischer, and Damien Mackle) |
Male stable | NXT | Nikki Cross was also a member of the stable in NXT, but was not called up. |
| 5 | SmackDown | Big Cass (William Morrissey) |
Male wrestler | Raw | The Superstar Shake-up was his first appearance on WWE television since his injury in August 2017. |
| 6 | SmackDown | Asuka (Kanako Urai) |
Female wrestler | Raw | Asuka had challenged SmackDown Women's Championship after winning the 2018 Women's Royal Rumble, and had been appearing on both shows in the weeks prior to WrestleMania 34 .
|
| 7 | SmackDown | Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson )
(Andrew Hankinson and Chad Allegra |
Male tag team | Raw | |
| 8 | SmackDown | Claudio Castagnoli and Stephen Farrelly )
|
Male tag team | Raw | Cesaro and Sheamus challenged for the Raw Tag Team Championship at Greatest Royal Rumble two weeks later, which they lost.
|
| 9 | SmackDown | R-Truth (Ronnie Killings) |
Male wrestler | Raw | |
| 10 | SmackDown | Andrade "Cien" Almas and Zelina Vega (Manuel Andrade and Thea Trinidad) |
Male wrestler and female manager | NXT |
- Notes
- Two tag teams were split up as a result of the Superstar Shake-up. In September 2017, The Hardy Boyz. The team of Chad Gable and Shelton Benjaminwas split as Gable moved to Raw while Benjamin remained on SmackDown.
- The United States Championship moved from SmackDown to Raw and then back to SmackDown. Reigning champion Jinder Mahal moved to Raw on the April 16 episode of Raw and lost the title to Jeff Hardy who moved to SmackDown the following night on SmackDown.
Aftermath
 |
On Raw, after being drafted with the United States Championship, Jinder Mahal immediately lost the title to Jeff Hardy and failed to win it back at the
Mike Kanellis primarily appeared on Main Event and was eventually moved to the 205 Live brand along with his wife Maria Kanellis. Bobby Roode and Chad Gable
eventually formed a tag team and later won the Raw Tag Team Championship.
After moving to SmackDown, bringing the United States Championship back to the brand, Jeff Hardy feuded with
Andrade began a feud with Sin Cara. The Hardy Boyz eventually reunited; in mid-2018, Matt Hardy went on hiatus, but when he returned in February 2019, he returned on the SmackDown brand and reunited with Jeff. Nikki Cross was eventually called up in December 2018, but did not rejoin Sanity
and appeared on both Raw and SmackDown.
References
- ^ Keller, Wade (April 9, 2018). "KELLER'S WWE RAW REPORT 4/9: The Day After WrestleMania 34 Edition with Reigns-Lesnar and Rousey fallout". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
- ^ Passero, Mitch (April 9, 2018). "Superstar Shake-up announced for next week's Raw and SmackDown LIVE". WWE.com. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
- ^ Keller, Wade (April 10, 2018). "KELLER'S WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT 4/10: WrestleMania 34 fallout, Daniel Bryan vs. A.J. Styles, new G.M. announced, Tag Team Contenders decided". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved April 10, 2018.
- ^ a b "Get live results from the two-night WWE Superstar Shake-up". WWE. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
- ^ Powell, Jason. "WWE Raw Live TV Review: The Superstar Shakeup Night One, Sasha Banks vs. Bayley, Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt vs. The Revival for a shot at the vacant Raw Tag Titles". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
- ^ @TheMattCardona (April 17, 2018). "BREAKING! You know it. I know it..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ Mojo Rawley demands respect as a Raw Superstar: Raw Exclusive, April 16, 2018 – YouTube
- ^ Powell, Jason. "4/17 Powell's WWE Smackdown Live TV Review: The WWE Superstar Shakeup Night Two". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved April 17, 2018.