Superstar Shake Up 2019

The third Superstar Shake Up took place over RAW and Smackdown last week. As well as the usual transfers between shows, we also had call ups from NXT and 205 Live. The people who got moved are as follows:

To RAW from Smackdown

• Hollywood Miz
• Andrade and Zelina Vega
• Rey Mysterio
• The Usos
• Naomi
• Eric Young
• AJ Styles

To RAW from NXT

• War Raiders The Viking Experience
• Ricochet
• Aleister Black
• EC3
• Lacey Evans

To RAW from 205 Live

• Cedric Alexander

To Smackdown from RAW

• Finn Balor
• Bayley
• Ember Moon
• Elias
• Roman Reigns
• Liv Morgan
• Chad Gable
• Apollo Crews
• Mickie James

To Smackdown from NXT

• Lars Sullivan
• Kairi Sane
• Heavy Machinery

To Smackdown from 205 Live

• Buddy Murphy

Right, let's deal with the elephant in the room. The Viking Experience is a fucking stupid name and it only got changed an hour before the start of RAW because Vince McMahon didn't like the name. I'm sorry but Vince had plenty of time to get the name changed before this so I feel sorry for them. I was surprised for them as they are the current NXT Tag Team Champions so I suspect they will lose the Championships by the next Takeover. 

As for the rest of the Shake Up, this has had so many consequences. It has resulted in the break up of two stables and two tag teams and I'm worried for some of them. I like Liv Morgan but she is the least talented one out of The Riott Squad and I can see her being lost in the shuffle. The same probably goes for Chad Gable as well. I'm also worried about 205 Live. The show has improved a lot over the last year and it was thanks to Buddy Murphy and Cedric Alexander. Now that, along with Ali, they are on different shows, I'm concerned about the future direction of the show.

Out of RAW and Smackdown, I strongly feel that Smackdown got the best of it. The addition of Ember Moon, Bayley, Mickie James and Kairi Sane has really improved the quality of their Women's Division. Bayley moving was a surprise as she was in a tag team with Sasha Banks and I assume it's a result of Sasha's unhappiness over the decisions taken by WWE regarding the Women's Tag Team Championship. Despite that. I think she'll do well on Smackdown.

Roman Reigns and Finn Balor going over to Smackdown was also a surprise. It currently means that the United States and the Intercontinental Championships are on the same show so they will change in the near future. I only hope that Reigns doesn't get put in the WWE Championship picture too quickly, especially as we got a fan's champion in Kofi Kingston. 

Overall, as with every Shake Up, they will be winners and losers from this and I'll be interested to see where it goes.