WWE's Raw & Smackdown Superstar Shakeup: Analyzing All 30 Wrestler Moves

The WWE Superstar Shakeup coincides with a larger spring cleaning that takes place annually after every Wrestlemania. Contracts expire. WWE calls up top NXT prospects to Raw and Smackdown. And superstars who have run their course are shown the door.

WWE made 30 superstar switches during the 2019 WWE Superstar Shakeup: calling up superstars from NXT and 205 Live and moving superstars from Smackdown to Raw and vice versa. To get you all caught up, here is every roster change, along with our predictions for each one.

And if you liked this gallery, check out our roundups of the April 15 episode of Raw and the April 16 episode of Smackdown.

Editor's Note: A week after the Superstar Shakeup, a few wrestlers have been moved around, yet again. Updates noted at the bottom, and brand changes for certain wrestlers get the strike through.

From: Smackdown

To: Raw

The greatest wrestling talent of his generation has been the narrative anchor on Smackdown since the 2016 Draft. This move to Raw was a perfect decision and should put Styles on a direct collision course with Seth Rollins, Braun Strowman, Drew McIntyre, and more. He'll probably capture the WWE Universal Championship within the year, which will give the title some much-needed stability and ethos.

From: NXT

To: Raw Smackdown

He's on the same show with his wife Zelina Vega, which probably makes him very happy. What's unfortunate is that both him and Ricochet were drafted to the same brand; both of them need to get out of the tag team hell they're stuck together in and establish their own identities. Let's hope they break up soon (on amicable terms) and start their respective singles runs the right way.

Note: Aleister Black is now on Smackdown, according to the WWE website.

From: Smackdown

To: Raw Smackdown

This was the perfect call; Andrade was going nowhere fast on the blue brand. The character needed a do-over, and he essentially got that; on the April 15 episode of Raw, his manager Zelina Vega re-introduced him to the audience. Andrade has tons of potential. Protected properly, he could be a legitimate main eventer.

Note: Andrade is now back on Smackdown after a whirlwind week on Raw.

From: Raw

To: Smackdown

He wasn't getting much accomplished on Raw, so a move to Smackdown will hopefully do him some favors. He can clearly work; there's a reason why Kurt Angle hand-picked him to be one of his final opponents. But he needs more interesting motivations than "happy-to-be-there." Smackdown can give him the wiggle room he needs to develop his personality.

From: Raw

To: Smackdown

It may not seem that way now. But breaking up Sasha Banks and Bayley was the right move. The two of them only make sense as a tag team because we know that they're friends in real life. Character-wise, they have next to nothing in common. Sending Bayley to Smackdown will allow both women to resume their stalled solo careers, provided that Banks decides to honor her WWE contract instead of quitting, and Bayley gets to do her own thing instead of getting trapped in another tag team.

From: 205 Live

To: Smackdown

On 205 Live, Buddy Murphy was the king of his own kingdom. Is a move to the main roster worth the drop in prestige and attention? Time will tell if Murphy will be allowed to flourish on Smackdown or will have to satisfy himself with 'narrow losses' to the heavyweight talent.

From: 205 Live

To: Raw

As with Buddy Murphy, this is a wait-and-see sort of proposition. He's a cruiserweight, which means he could be given an unlikely moon shot, like Ali was, or he could be made into a midcard staple, like Neville was. Given that this is Raw, it's more likely to be the former than the latter.

From: Raw

To: Smackdown

Chad Gable has had an understated main roster career thus far. He's a two-time world tag team champion, and yet somehow, he's always played the backup star in his various tag teams and feuds. He's a technical wizard and a legitimate amateur wrestler; this move to Smackdown (away from Bobby Roode) could be what he needs to establish himself, away from the constant tag team pairings, as his own, solo man.

From: NXT

To: Raw

It was a bad idea to move him up from NXT in the first place. The past two months have shown that WWE creative has nothing for him to do, on either main roster brand. He needs to hang tough and bide his time, or go back to NXT and get some title reigns under his belt before giving the main roster another go.

From: Raw

To: Smackdown

It ultimately doesn't matter where Elias ends up. Someone's going to interrupt his performances whether he's on Raw or Smackdown, and WWE seems to have lost faith in his wrestling ability. His segments never rise to the level of an actual match, and it doesn't seem that's going to change any time soon.

From: Raw

To: Smackdown

She's now exactly where she needs to be: with an entire group of young female prospects that need space to grow and flourish. The women's roster on Smackdown is stacked: Kairi Sane, Sonya Deville, Mandy Rose, Billie Kay, Ember Moon, Liv Morgan and Bayley should keep things interesting and competitive for a long, long time. And Moon, in particular, is a potential world champion in the making, so long as she can stay off the injured list.

From: Smackdown

To: Raw

Poor Eric Young. His WWE career might be close to unsalvageable. His stable, Sanity, is no more, and he's barely been used on television for the past several months. This move to Raw won't do him any harm (how could it?), but it may not do him good either. His best hope is a total reboot from the ground up: a gimmick change, a new look, the whole nine yards. Barring that, he could serve as a lackey in a returning Bray Wyatt's Wyatt Family, and hopefully rebuild his reputation from there.

From: Raw

To: SmackDown

This was a good move. Bálor had done all he could on the red brand. He was jinxed from the start; he never recovered his reputation or his hype after separating his shoulder and being forced to drop the Universal Championship in 2016. Smackdown could give him a do-over, and get him away from Bobby Lashley, Drew McIntyre, Baron Corbin, Braun Strowman, and everyone else he's been fighting for the past year. Time to move forward.

From: NXT

To: Smackdown

They're currently being booked as a bit of a comic relief, and for that reason, Heavy Machinery is a better fit for Smackdown, which has a less competitive tag division than Raw. They could have used some more seasoning on NXT before moving up, but it's a bit too late to turn back now.

From: NXT

To: SmackDown

Asuka dropped the Smackdown Women's title right before Wrestlemania, which showed the company had little faith in her drawing ability. And with her singles career stalling out, the tag division was a natural place to head next. Enter: Kairi Sane. Not only does her pirate look meld perfectly with Asuka's wild appearance, but both women are former NXT Women's Champions. They'll be the ones to take the tag titles off the IIconics. And then, they'll be the de facto champions for months, giving both women the dominant, main roster exposure they deserve.

From: NXT

To: Raw

This is a perfect move, and it's already reaping benefits. Evans is already deep in a Money in the Bank feud with Becky Lynch and a developing rivalry with Natalya. Evans seems fast-tracked for Raw success, and her snooty, blue-blooded Southerner schtick is a perfect contrast to the other women's character work. She probably won't take the Raw title off Lynch on her first attempt. But a title run is definitely happening somewhere down the line.

From: NXT

To: Smackdown

This was a great idea. Sullivan would have blended with all the other monster heels on Raw. A run on Smackdown will assure his dominance until his inevitable, climactic showdown against Roman Reigns.

From: Raw

To: Smackdown

WWE jobbed out The Riott Squad on the Road to Wrestlemania. So Liv Morgan should be thanking her lucky stars that she got away from that entire situation by moving to Smackdown, where she has the chance to get a fresh start. Her former stablemate, Sarah Logan, might have been the performer with slightly more potential. But in the end, it didn't really matter who made the move, so long as one of them made it.

From: Raw

To: Smackdown

This is not a good move. James was a better fit on Raw, where she had great chemistry with Alexa Bliss. And with Bliss starting up her next run at the world title, she could have used a veteran like James in her corner to run interference.

From: Smackdown

To: Raw

This was a great idea. The Miz had nothing left to do on Smackdown, and with his new babyface persona, he can take on multiple monster heels on WWE's flagship show. There are lots of possibilities. And although The Miz has moved brands many times, he is the type of character that can fit in wherever he goes.

From: Smackdown

To: Raw

Naomi has a great entrance. She has a great look. She's athletic as hell. But she needs deeper characterization (her jealousy angle with Mandy Rose seemed incredibly forced), and some of her signature moves, like her repeated kicks and her Rear View, are too gimmicky to be taken seriously. Give this woman a feud and move set that matches her underutilized potential, and she's be a consistent contender.

From: Smackdown

To: Raw

Rey Mysterio is in the twilight of his career; his likely purpose for sticking around is to put over younger performers. Mysterio will do a great job of this, no matter what brand he's on.

From: NXT

To: Raw

A fantastic NXT performer with endless potential, Ricochet needs to split from Aleister Black as quickly as possible. He's needs some signature babyface wins to establish himself as a singles star. And the longer he languishes in this odd-couple tag team, the more his hype diminishes, and the smaller his window of opportunity becomes. It's always harder for the smaller guys to get over, and this delayed singles push isn't helping.

From: Raw

To: Smackdown

This move makes perfect sense. Roman Reigns has already squared off against every relevant superstar on Raw. And a move to Smackdown takes Roman out of any possible confrontation against current Universal Champion Seth Rollins, who Roman has already faced countless times.

From: Smackdown

To: Raw

This had to happen. The Usos were dominating the Smackdown tag team division, unopposed. And as good as The New Day versus The Usos is, we didn't need to see yet another chapter in their long-standing feud. Raw will give The Usos a greater selection of deserving opponents. And let's hope they turn heel again; they're decent faces, but they're even better as villains.

From: NXT

To: Raw

What a horrible, horrible name change. They went from The War Raiders to The Viking Experience? This is how WWE kills careers; it sounds like when you go to the zoo, and you pay extra money to feed or pet the animals: The Dolphin Experience! The Sea Lion Close Encounter! Ivar and Erik are two phenomenal, physical wrestlers, who deserve the chance that The Ascension and The Authors of Pain did not receive. But they're not off to a good start.

Note: In the past week, the War Raiders name was changed to The Viking Experience then to The Viking Raiders.

From: Smackdown

To: Raw Smackdown

Zelina Vega has both the mic skills and the in-ring ability; she pulled off a hurricanrana on Finn Balor on the April 15 episode of Raw. She's proof that pro wrestling managers are still viable in 2019. A full-time wrestling career for Vega is more daunting; she'll need to form a tag team to get some hype going.

Note: Zelina is back on Smackdown again.