2018 WWE Superstar Shake-up
| 2018 WWE Superstar Shake-up | |
|---|---|
 The 2018 WWE Superstar Shake-up logo | |
| Sport | Professional wrestling |
| Dates | April 16–17, 2018 |
| Location |
Hartford, Connecticut (April 16; Raw) Providence, Rhode Island (April 17; SmackDown) |
| League | WWE |
| Teams |
Raw SmackDown |
The 2018 WWE Superstar Shake-up was the twelfth WWE draft, produced by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE between the Raw and SmackDown brands. The two-day event took place on the April 16 and April 17 episodes of Monday Night Raw and SmackDown Live, respectively, on the USA Network in the United States. Raw was broadcast from Hartford, Connecticut at the XL Center, and SmackDown was broadcast from the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island.
Background
On the April 9 episode of Raw, WWE announced a Superstar Shake-up for the April 16 and 17 episodes of Raw and SmackDown Live, respectively. Instead of a traditional draft, the brands' general managers made trades and other deals between their respective talent.[1][2] On April 10, 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]
Selection
Monday Night Raw
The following wrestlers and other personnel changed brands on the April 16 episode of Raw.[4][5]
| # | Brand (to) | Employee (Real name) |
Role | Brand (from) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Raw | Jinder Mahal and Sunil Singh (Yuvraj Dhesi and Gurvinder Sihra) |
Male wrestler and manager | SmackDown | Drafted with United States Championship |
| 2 | Raw | The Riott Squad (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 Roode Jr.) |
Male wrestler | SmackDown | |
| 15 | Raw | Chad Gable (Charles Betts) |
Male wrestler | SmackDown | Announced on WWE's Twitter |
SmackDown Live
The following wrestlers and other personnel changed brands on the April 17 episode of SmackDown Live.[4][8]
| # | Brand (to) | Employee (Real name) |
Role | Brand (from) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SmackDown | Jeff Hardy (Jeffrey Hardy) |
Male wrestler | Raw | Drafted with the United States Championship, which he won by defeating previous champion Jinder Mahal on the previous evening's Raw. |
| 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 Charlotte Flair for the 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 | Cesaro and Sheamus (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 | |
Aftermath
Immediately after being traded to Raw, Jinder Mahal had to defend the United States Championship in an open challenge against any member of the Raw roster. Jeff Hardy answered the challenge and defeated Mahal to win the title, after which Mahal invoked his rematch clause for Greatest Royal Rumble.[5] Hardy went to SmackDown the next night, taking the title back to that brand.
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.
- 1 2 "Get live results from the two-night WWE Superstar Shake-up". WWE. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
- 1 2 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 Wreslting Dot Net. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
- ↑ https://twitter.com/ZackRyder/status/986048044297867264
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uu8AGRz7ySA
- ↑ Powell, Jason. "4/17 Powell's WWE Smackdown Live TV Review: The WWE Superstar Shakeup Night Two". Pro Wreslting Dot Net. Retrieved April 17, 2018.