By Mark Armstrong@MarkArmstrong
It was a big night on Raw with the second annual Superstar Shake-Up commencing here. With WrestleMania 34 now firmly in the rearview mirror, this show (and SmackDown
tomorrow night) would go a long way towards establishing the directions that WWE and its roster will head into as the year progresses, especially following the numerous NXT call-ups and returns across last week’s shows. The big question as ever, though: which performers would be changing brands?
Kurt Angle opened proceedings by welcoming the Hartford crowd to Raw ahead of the Shake-Up, promising some major moves and big surprises. Before he could introduce the
first new arrival, though, Sunil Singh came out to handle the announcement himself, which could only mean that Jinder Mahal, the United States Champion and the Modern-Day MAHARAJA, was now back on Raw, and would be bringing his newly-won prize with him.
Jinder quickly began complaining about the lack of suitable transportation to the arena (he was hoping for a limousine, but was given an SUV instead), and began proclaiming his brilliance while serving Angle with a list of demands, which Sunil amusingly tried to email to Angle via his phone. Kurt’s response that his email address was “kurt.angle@nofrickinway.com” was a classic response, and almost as good as his TNA line from last week.
Kurt then announced that Jinder would have his first match back on Raw with immediate effect, and with the United States Championship on the line. It was essentially an Open Challenge, with any Raw competitor eligible to challenge for the gold. And the opportunity was answered by … Jeff Hardy, to a huge pop.
Jinder took control early, though Jeff would swing the momentum round into his favour, and drilled Jinder with a flying clothesline off the ring apron. After slamming Hardy into the ring post, Jinder regained control of the match, slowing down the pace and grounding the fast-paced challenger. A hard punch to the jaw sparked Hardy on the ring apron, but Hardy rebounded with a Whisper In The Wind. After Jeff knocked Sunil off the apron, Jinder attempted the Khallas, but Jeff rolled out of it into a cover for a close two-count.
Mahal struck with a hard kick, though Hardy this time kicked out at two. Mahal’s Gut Check was countered into another cover by Hardy, and Jeff responded quickly by hitting a Twist Of Fate, followed by a Swanton Bomb for the three-count! In doing so, Hardy became United States Champion for the first time in his career, and raised his first singles title in WWE for almost nine years. It also meant that Hardy became the latest superstar to become a Grand Slam Champion, a club which seems to grow at an incredibly fast rate in recent times.
I thought this was a fun start to the show. Jinder’s roster move makes sense – the chances of Mahal getting another WWE Title run on the blue brand are remote – and though he’s unlikely to reach main event status again on Raw either, fresh opposition should keep the Maharaja in the mix without him being overexposed in the manner that he was on SmackDown last year. Hardy’s title win was a surprise, and it raises questions as to whether he will take the title back to SmackDown tomorrow night, or if Jinder will get a chance to regain his championship on Raw.
Jinder vowed to do so after the match, though his backstage promo with Renee Young was interrupted by No Way Jose, who led Renee away in a dance to Mahal’s further disgust. Yeah, Jinder’s run as a top heel is definitely over now.
Next up, we had Bayley vs. Sasha Banks. This feud had been building for quite some time, and though it was disappointing that they weren’t able to settle their hostilities in a singles match at WrestleMania, it still felt like their match on this show would only be the next chapter in their rivalry, as opposed to the last. Will the two ladies continue their struggle in the coming weeks, or will the spat be brought to a halt by either Bayley or Banks moving to SmackDown in 24 hours? We’ll have to wait and see.
In the meantime, though, we had their latest one-on-one showdown to enjoy. It’s cool to see Bayley receiving superstar reactions again, after that phase which saw The Hugger being booed on a weekly basis last summer, and it’s further evidence that it should be Sasha (whose Boss character is much more suited to villainy anyway) who turns heel as a result of this feud, rather than Bayley. An early slip off the ropes by Bayley was covered for very well by Corey Graves on commentary, who put it down to the emotional toll of their feud. And Bayley quickly recovered, drilling Banks with a nice hurricanrana through the ropes to the floor at ringside.
As with Jinder in the previous match, Banks looked to slow things down, but Bayley rebounded with her mini-Stunner through the ropes and a reverse DDT from the corner
for a two-count. After sending Bayley to the floor and drilling her with a high knee, Banks hit two Meteoras, one driving Bayley into the post on the apron and one off the top rope inside the ring. Banks’ attempts to remind Bayley that she was better than her led to an exchange of slaps and another double-knee attack. Bayley tried to roll Banks up, but Sasha turned her over into the Bank Statement … which was interrupted by the Riott Squad for the disqualification. Ruby Riott, Sarah Logan and Liv Morgan, confirming their move from Raw, pounded both Sasha and Bayley after the bell.
The action was just getting good before the interference from Ruby and co. This likely means more than one heel from Raw’s women’s division will be trading places (Alexa Bliss and Mickie James, I would guess), but it also means that we ultimately didn’t get the resolution to the Bayley-Banks feud on this show. I wouldn’t be surprised if they continued their rivalry on SmackDown via the two of them changing brands tomorrow night, but surely WWE won’t keep the “best friends” apart after the Shake-Up. Whether it’s on Raw or SmackDown, this storyline is far from over.
In a break from the Shake-Up, it was a rematch from last week up next, as The Authors Of Pain battled Heath Slater and Rhyno. The announcers acknowledged that Paul Ellering has been dropped by Akam and Rezar (they abandoned him at ringside following their main roster debut last week). Heath and Rhyno attacked the AOP before the bell, singling out Akam in the ring. In fact, Heath (who’s got kids, you know) and Rhyno had a surprising amount of offence early on, but it didn’t last long. Akam and Rezar quickly took over, and only a tag out to the Man-Beast prevented Slater from taking another sudden defeat. Rhyno nailed Rezar with a belly-to-belly suplex as a final glimmer of hope for an upset, but Akam broke up the cover, threw Slater to ringside (Heath landed hard), and joined Rezar in hitting Rhyno with the Last Chapter for the unsurprising win.
This served its purpose; the action was nothing to shout about, and few will remember this match moving forward. But for Akam and Rezar, victories like this will allow them to slowly establish themselves as the newest wrecking force on Raw, and a title challenge is virtually guaranteed sometime over the next few months. As for Slater and Rhyno, could their originally-makeshift team come a cropper via the Shake-Up? I can definitely see this happening.
The Miz had proclaimed that his guest on Miz TV, another arrival from SmackDown, would change the landscape of the red brand (according to Michael Cole, anyway, and when would he ever lie or exaggerate?). Backed up by The Miztourage, Miz announced “seismic shifts” for Raw, and it turned out to be … Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens. Having failed to obtain jobs last week (they were fired from SmackDown, remember), this technically didn’t make sense. Zayn and KO hilariously gave Miz and pals a huge group hug, followed by Miz’ whopper that Owens, Zayn, Miz, Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel were bigger than the nWo.
Kurt Angle soon interrupted, and as expected, he pointed out that Owens and Zayn weren’t coming over, because they currently aren’t employed by the company. Or was it? Zayn produced a letter – by Stephanie McMahon, allegedly – which supposedly stated that Angle’s handling of the Owens-Zayn situation had been problematic, meaning that the duo would in fact be coming to Raw, much to Kurt’s chagrin.
However, that wasn’t the main focus of the segment. Angle was there to inform Miz that, as per an instruction from Daniel Bryan relayed to Shane McMahon and Paige, he would be moving to the blue brand, clearly to set up the long-awaited Bryan vs. Miz showdown that fans have been anticipating for over 18 months. Bryan still has pull (he only abdicated from his position last Tuesday, to be fair). Miz’ rant that he and the Miztourage would rule SmackDown was quelled by Angle revealing that Miz would not be joined by Dallas and Axel on Tuesday nights, as well as announcing the ten-man main event for this particular show.
On the one hand, it’s a shame that The Miztourage won’t be a thing anymore, since they’re one of the more underrated acts in the promotion for comedy value. On the other hand, though if we’re getting Bryan vs. Miz out of the roster move, then it’s a smart decision; despite the potential of such matches as Bryan vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, it is Daniel’s quarrels with Miz that have never truly been resolved, and now it looks like we’re going to have this saga resolved in the ring.
Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt vs. The Revival marked the final of the Tag Team Eliminator to determine who would face Sheamus and Cesaro for the vacant Raw Tag Team
Championships at the Greatest Royal Rumble. Hardy and Wyatt’s entrance mash-up was unexpected but welcome, but funnier was Sheamus and Cesaro blistering Cole on
commentary over the Nicholas situation at WrestleMania, and correcting Cole when he tried to suggest that they’d never beaten The Revival when, in fact, they knocked off Dash and Dawson a little over a month ago.
Not unlike the earlier doubles match, this contest didn’t last long in one’s memory. The action was watchable enough, but the outcome was obvious, with Hardy and Wyatt
having some momentum as a newly-formed team and The Revival having not had any momentum for a while now. Dash and Dawson did manage to isolate Hardy, but it was solely to set up the Wyatt hot tag (not that this should be a surprise). A Sister Abigail to Dawson and a Twist Of Fate to Dash (assisted by a bridge from Wyatt) earned the
win for the Woken Army, who now face The Bar on April 27 in Saudi Arabia.
Could Matt and Bray capture the titles there? I would predict such an outcome; such a result would boost the Woken Matt character and his new alliance with Wyatt, and
it could even set up a sequel to Ultimate Deletion with Sheamus and Cesaro further down the road. As for The Revival: they should be hoping that they are moved to SmackDown tomorrow night in order to, erm, revive their careers. Backstage after the match, The Bar bumped into Breezango, the latest movers from the blue brand, who of course criticised Sheamus and Cesaro’s fashion choices.
A recap of Ronda Rousey’s beatdown of Stephanie McMahon from last week was next. Somehow, I don’t see Rousey moving to SmackDown in the Shake-Up.
Rousey was here, though, and she was present in Angle’s office for Natalya being unveiled as the next pick (if that’s the right word, since this isn’t a Draft, remember) by Raw. We were also told that Rousey and Natalya were friends going back to Ronda’s training, which will presumably be used to set up a match between them at some point.
Nia Jax was on commentary for the next bout, pitting Ember Moon against Mickie James. Alexa Bliss was supposed to join Nia, Cole and co. at the announcer’s table too, but she was absent for unexplained reasons. In the meantime, there was smooth action going on in the ring: Moon looked confident, hitting a nice dropkick on James early in the match. Alexa was then shown on a split-screen backstage, explaining that she wasn’t on commentary because Nia was there, and tried to portray Jax as a bully, in contrast to how Alexa and Mickie treated Jax prior to WrestleMania.
Back in the ring, James swung the momentum into her favour with a number of rest holds and a neckbreaker. Moon fought back with some strong kicks and a forearm to the
side of the face, before planting James with a variation of a double underhook suplex. The Eclipse finished off Mickie (who took a great forward bump off Ember’s signature move). I’m guessing this was Mickie’s Raw swansong, and as mentioned earlier, I’d assume the same for Alexa too.
Dolph Ziggler’s unannounced arrival (greeted with a 2009 “Oh, My!” by Michael Cole) obviously meant that Ziggler was now also a part of Raw. In terms of feasible
achievements, Dolph has done it all on SmackDown, but it’s likely that he’ll simply operate at the same mid-card level on Monday nights, at best. After once again proclaiming that he was the greatest wrestler to walk the aisle, Ziggler was interrupted by Titus Worldwide. Titus seemed to be trying to recruit Ziggler, but instead Dolph surprisingly unveiled Drew McIntyre, and the two teamed up to wipe out Titus and Apollo. In particular, Drew hit Apollo with the Claymore as Dolph dropped him with the Zig Zag.
A welcome surprise, McIntyre had previously made clear his intentions to chase Andrade Cien Almas (though that was before Almas dropped the NXT Championship to
Aleister Black in New Orleans). Instead, the former Intercontinental Champion is back on the main roster and a Drew-Dolph alliance is something different which should help both to make a bigger impact on Raw than they may have been able to on their own. It’s still unlikely that Ziggler’s star will rise any further, but McIntyre could certainly use such a combo to climb the ranks on Monday nights.
Roman Reigns was out next to promote his Steel Cage match with Brock Lesnar at the Greatest Royal Rumble. After reminding us that Lesnar was again absent despite holding the Universal Championship, Roman vowed to win the title (no surprise there), before being interrupted (how many times have I used that term in this review?) by Samoa Joe for the second straight week. Joe told Reigns that he often brags, but not about getting the job done, because “you haven’t got the job done, and you never will!” Though ostensibly to set up Roman vs. Joe at Backlash, it feels like Joe is currently performing Paul Heyman’s job in telling Reigns how he can’t beat Brock Lesnar ahead of their next showdown (Lesnar and Heyman will be on Raw next week, mind you). Joe then presented clips of the damage Reigns has taken from Brock in previous outings and brawls.
Joe was finished, but Reigns wasn’t, and he challenged Joe to come down to the ring and fight him there and then. Joe approached the ring, but as any heel would, he backed away. He momentarily changed his mind, but again turned back towards the locker room, telling Reigns “I’ll see you at Backlash.” It feels like the seeds are being planted for a long-term rivalry rather than a one-off PPV encounter, given how slow it is progressing at the moment (partly because we have Brock vs. Reigns on April 27 to get through first).
Absolution members Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville surprisingly still entered to Paige’s entrance music, despite her becoming the General Manager of SmackDown last week.
It was Rose in action here against Natalya, who seems to be primed for another push, based on her earlier interaction with Rousey. Natalya started strong, though Deville helped Rose to turn things around, distracting the Canadian for Mandy to nail her with a big knee at ringside. Rose remained on offence with a suplex and a slight variation on an abdominal stretch. Natalya fought back, though, and though Rose avoided the Discus Clothesline, Rose’s attempted follow-up – another high knee – was reversed into the match-winning Sharpshooter.
Sonya levelled Natalya afterwards, and both Deville and Rose continued beating her down, leading to the save from – yes! – Ronda Rousey, to a pretty big pop. Absolution wanted no part of Ronda at first, but Rose convinced Deville to give it a shot and try to fight off Rousey. A few hard punches and a strong takedown was enough to halt Sonya’s planned assault, with Rousey again checking on Natalya afterwards. Absolution to SmackDown, perhaps?
A video aired confirming Baron Corbin’s transfer to Raw. Baron’s career has never really recovered from his failed Money In The Bank cash-in; perhaps he will finally capture a heavyweight crown on the red brand.
Following their confrontation earlier on, Breezango were set to face The Bar. Fandango donned Cesaro’s entrance coat, and kept it on for the opening portion of the match, only removing it to unleash a dance escape from an attempted roll-up by the Swiss Superman. Tyler Breeze tagged in, but took a huge uppercut from Cesaro. Sheamus tagged in to maintain control over Breeze, as did Cesaro who grounded Tyler with a headlock. After Sheamus knocked Fandango off the apron, the Demolition Decapitation by The Bar seemed to polish Breeze off; instead, Tyler kicked out and managed to roll up Cesaro for the shock victory. A fresh start, and fresh momentum it seems for Breezango (at least when Michael Cole, supposedly a babyface announcer, wasn’t calling the babyface tandem goofy).
Backstage, Elias told Renee Young (or Rachel as he called her) that Hartford wasn’t worthy of hosting one of his much-lauded performances. He then addressed Bobby Lashley, who made his WWE return by pounding The Drifter last week, and planned revenge should the two cross paths again. Elias then decided that he would perform a song for Young, but she told Elias that there wouldn’t be enough time. What???
Kurt Angle had mentioned earlier that the babyface squad of Bobby Lashley, Finn Balor, Seth Rollins and Braun Strowman would have a mystery partner to face Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, The Miz, Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel in the main event. Of course, it was going to be another performer previously on SmackDown, and it turned out to be … Bobby Roode! The Glorious One had not been on SmackDown for that long, but barring a heel turn, Roode wasn’t likely to enter SmackDown’s main event picture anytime soon, given the AJ Styles-Shinsuke Nakamura feud and Daniel Bryan’s in-ring return, so perhaps this trade is best for Roode. (Incidentally, I was expecting the fifth member of the team to be Randy Orton; looks like he’s staying put on SmackDown for now.)
Rollins and Owens began the match for their teams. A plancha by Seth to KO on the floor set up the over-used spot of the babyfaces charging into the ring to force the heels to take a step back; it’s one of those go-to moments that WWE uses far too many times when heading to a commercial break. It was Rollins and Axel who were legal when we came back, with Curtis taking a big dropkick from Seth. Roode came in next to work on Axel with a suplex, and then Finn with a double axe handle off the top.
A tag to Strowman was teased, but instead Finn was overwhelmed by the heel side, who took over with repeated tags and assaults in the corner. Miz and Zayn in particular controlled the action, before Balor tagged out to Lashley, who quickly dominated (no pun intended) the offence in his first official Raw match since 2007. His impressive delayed standing suplex on Sami got an encouraging reaction, as did a gorilla press throw to Miz towards the Miztourage on the floor.
From there, it was Owens and then Miz who swung the momentum back towards the heel side, and again the corner was used to isolate the babyface in peril. To further antagonise Bryan ahead of their upcoming feud, Miz drilled Rollins with the “It” Kicks, though it backfired as he tasted a back suplex from Seth. The Miztourage looked to limit the options for a hot tag for Seth, but Strowman ensured that Owens and Zayn couldn’t stop him, leaving the door open for Roode to tag in against Axel. After a flurry of offence and with Miz trying to weaken Roode for a Figure-Four Leglock, Strowman finally tagged in and wreaked havoc in and around the ring. A huge chokeslam on Miz by Braun began the big finishing sequence, with all of the participants exchanging a variety of big moves, all of which culminated in Braun drilling Miz with his Running Powerslam (following Bryan-esque corner dropkicks by Miz) for the win. Of note, Axel and Dallas refused a tag by Miz, making it an all-round terrible night for their former leader.
On the whole, I enjoyed this show. There weren’t any stand-out matches from an in-ring perspective, but there was plenty of important moments, from Jeff Hardy capturing the United States Championship to Drew McIntyre’s unexpected return to Breezango upsetting The Bar. Shows which sees the rosters shuffled around are carried by the multitude of arrivals and departures, and that was the case here, with more than a dozen performers getting some sort of attention across the show. In the meantime, the build to Greatest Royal Rumble and Backlash continued, though the latter seems incredibly insignificant right now compared to the supershow in Saudi Arabia.
Thinking it over, I was surprised that so many of the new faces from SmackDown were heels (and McIntyre is presumably a heel now, having aligned himself with Ziggler).
Really, Bobby Roode was the most high-profile babyface to switch brands, with Styles, Bryan and Orton all staying put. It suggests that the same will apply to SmackDown, in that the majority of those switching to Tuesday nights will be villains. It will be interesting to see how WWE balances up the rosters; we already know that Miz is going to SmackDown, so it remains to be seen as to who else will be joining him for a trade-over.
Overall, then, while this wasn’t a great show by any means, it definitely had its moments, and it will be fun to see what other roster moves come about via the Superstar Shake-Up tomorrow night.
