5. Four Team Split
WWE warned us that no teams were safe and any team could be split if the company felt like it. By the end of the two-night event, WWE had destroyed four teams: Sanity, The Boss ‘N’ Hug Connection, The Riott Squad, Bobby Roode and Chad Gable. Chad Gable was sent back to SmackDown Live. Bayley was moved to SmackDown Live, In Sanity’s case, Eric Young was sent to Raw, Killian Dain remains on SmackDown Live, and Alexander Wolfe is has been sent to NXT UK. But the biggest shocker of them all was the company’s decision to split up The Riott Squad. Liv Morgan was also sent to SmackDown Live, leaving both Ruby Riott and Sarah Logan on Raw. Interesting to see what WWE has planned for all these superstars.
4. New House, New Yard
One of the most predictable shakeups this year was AJ Styles to Raw and Roman Reigns to SmackDown Live. While both moves were predictable, it was still cool to see. Most importantly, we should be getting some exciting new Styles and Reigns match ups.
3. The SmackDown Live Women’s Roster is Lit
The SmackDown Live women’s division is now stacked with some very talented women. Bayley, Ember Moon, Liv Morgan, and Mickie James are all new members of SmackDown. In addition to those superstars, SmackDown Live also acquired the Pirate Princess Kairi Sane from NXT. And let’s not forget SmackDown Live already has Charlotte Flair and Asuka.
2. 205Live Just Won’t Be The Same
205Live may have taken the biggest hit of the superstar shakeup, losing two of its major superstars, Cedric Alexander (Raw) and Buddy Murphy (SmackDown Live). With no Ali, no Alexander, or no Murphy, 205Live will have to rebuild and push new superstars to the forefront. This shouldn’t be too hard because 205Live is filled with talented superstars. Yet, it would have been cool if a main roster superstar was moved to 205Live. Chad Gable would’ve been a great addition to the 205Live roster.
1. The Viking Experience? Who Dat?
The most surprising, most hilarious, and most talked about moment from the Superstar Shakeup was seeing The War Raiders make their main roster debut on Raw. But no one would’ve guessed the current NXT tag team champions would be debuting with a completely new tag team name: The Viking Experience. Hanson and Rowe, now Ivar and Erik, seem to be keeping their same moveset and gimmick. So why would WWE change their names, after spending time in NXT as The War Raiders? WWE HoFer Mick Foley and some WWE fans suggested that the word “war” isn’t PG and isn’t acceptable in the PG era. That theory makes sense. But according to Uproxx via the Wrestling Observer, Vince McMahon just didn’t like the name War Raiders and decided to change it.
What were your top Superstar Shake Up moments?
