As the Wrestlemania 35 fallout continues, the Superstar Shakeup was the top story this week…
Superstar Shakeup
This Superstar Shakeup was sometimes exciting, sometimes surprising, and often times less than completely clear. I tried to keep track of the moves during the broadcasts on Monday and Tuesday nights, but ultimately had to go check out the complete list posted on WWE’s website which included moves which were never mentioned on air either night. This is the list, as best as I can tell, of the new roster assignments (as well as a couple which I assume are happening but were never mentioned anywhere).
New Raw Superstars: The Miz, Ricochet, Aleister Black, The Viking Experience (formerly known as War Raiders), Cedric Alexander, Andrade, Zelina Vega, Rey Mysterio, The Usos, Naomi, EC3, Eric Young, Lacey Evans, AJ Styles
The most talked about story of the night was the new names given to the former War Raiders, but if we can get past that the bigger story is that Raw suddenly has an excellent tag division again. Over the course of the 2 night shakeup we also saw both Sanity and the Riott Squad disbanded, leaving me to wonder if perhaps Sarah Logan will soon be joining her real life husband as part of the Viking Experience.
Possible addition: Samoa Joe (w/US title)- Joe was reportedly scheduled for a segment on Raw but had to miss it due to a severe bout of flu. We know that Balor is taking the IC title to SDL, so I assume the US title and its holder need to move to Raw to maintain the balance of titles.
New Smackdown Superstars: Finn Balor (w/IC title), Lars Sullivan, Ember Moon, Bayley, Kairi Sane, Buddy Murphy, Elias, Roman Reigns, Heavy Machinery, Chad gable, Apollo Crews, Mickie James, Liv Morgan
Balor will have no shortage of incredible challengers for the IC title on Tuesday nights, but I’m curious what kind of impact the arrival of Reigns will have at the top of the card. How long can the Kofi Kingston party keep rolling with the Big Dog now taking over the yard? It will also be interesting to see if Asuka’s WWE career can be salvaged now that she has Kairi Sane as a partner and Paige as a mouthpiece.
Possible addition: Nikki Cross- She was originally called up with the crop of fresh talent that spent the last few months unassigned to a specific brand. She was not mentioned in any of the shakeup broadcasts or reports, but since all of the other married couples got to stay together in the shakeup I assume she will land on Smackdown with her husband Killian Dain. Personally, with Sanity officially dissolved, I would love to see Cross and Dain working together as a duo. I always loved the moments in NXT where she would be in full on crazy mode while he (or sometimes another Sanity member) would calmly hold her back.
Injury Report
As reported last week, former Raw Womens Champion Ronda Rousey suffered a broken hand during the main event of Wrestlemania. She’s scheduled to undergo surgery on the hand this week with a timetable for healing unknown at this point. She was planning to take time off after Mania anyway, so this doesn’t impact any immediate plans. However, WWE’s creative team does have her tentatively penciled in for a rematch against Becky Lynch at next year’s Wrestlemania. Those plans could change regardless of Rousey’s injury status though.
Shortly after publication last week came yet another addition to the post-Mania injury list. It sounds like this has been an issue that has been building for some time, but Nia Jax will be taking time off to get surgery on both knees. There’s no word on a recovery timetable, but this type of thing usually takes 9 months or more to rehab. It’s possible we won’t see Jax again until next Wrestlemania season at the very earliest.
When Cesaro offered his services as the 3rd man alongside Rusev and Nakamura for a tag match on Smackdown, many fans were asking “where’s Sheamus?” It turns out the Irishman suffered a concussion the previous week in the same match that put Big E on the shelf. There’s no word on a timetable for his return.
Daniel Bryan is also rumored to be injured currently, but details on his situation have not yet been revealed.
Assorted News and Notes
Ronda Rousey has confirmed that in addition to her time healing from injury she will also be taking the long-rumored break to start her family. Ronda posted a photo of herself and husband Travis Browne on Instagram along with #impregnationvacation. There’s no knowing for sure when or if Rousey will return to WWE, but it should be fairly easy to toss a star of her stature back into the mix whenever that may be.
A special broadcast has been announced for the WWE Network on Sunday called “The Shield’s Final Chapter.” It’s being promoted as the final team up of Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns. It was announced months ago that Ambrose had decided not to sign a new contract with WWE and that his existing deal was set to expire this month. The special is set to air live on the Network at 9:30 EST on Sunday April 21. They have not announced who the opponents for the match will be.
NXT News
One of the big topics this week has been the questionable nature of some name changes given to superstars. Well get ready for another as Punishment Martinez has now been given the WWE moniker Damien Priest. He’s only made one televised appearance for NXT under the Punishment name, so it shouldn’t be too hard for those who haven’t already been following his career to jump on board with Damien Priest. It’s certainly better than Rowe and Hanson’s sudden Raw debut as Erik and Ivar, The Viking Experience.
A trio of new arrivals to the PC were officially announced this week. The 1st is Kushida even though we already saw him signing his contract during Mania weekend. Joining the Japanese star is another indy standout who has long been rumored, Shane Strickland. Those who watched Lucha Underground will remember Strickland as the masked Killshot in that promotion. As with several other superstars before, his LU contract is likely what stood in the way of Strickland signing with WWE sooner. Last up in this new class is Humberto Garza jr. Garza has plenty of familial ties to the business as the nephew of Hector Garza and cousin of current 205 Live superstar Humberto Carillo.
Worlds Collide
The one hour Worlds Collide special filmed during Fan Axxess Wrestlemania weekend is now available on WWE Network. This particular special features current stars of the NXT roster in matches against NXT alumni. They open the show with an ok match featuring Kassius Ohno against Aiden English.
The show really picks up in the 2nd match though with a solid big man battle of Dominik Dijakovic vs Luke Harper. Not counting the Andre Battle Royal (which technically took place after this taping), this was Harper’s 1st televised match since returning from the injury list. The former Bludgeon Brother is looking a bit slimmer but every bit as strong as ever. The crowd was also quite hyped to see big Luke back in action finally and their energy helped elevate the match an extra notch above what was already pretty darn good.
Next up was a tag match between two teams who have plenty of history from their days in NXT together. Sanity’s Wolfe & Dain battled Undisputed Era’s Fish & O’Reilly. These 4 men are incapable of having a bad match, but with no big stakes on the line this just couldn’t compare the wars they fought against one another in the past.
The fourth and final match of the special featured another member of the UE, Roderick Strong, going one on one against a former NXT fan favorite Tyler Breeze. It’s a solid match between a pair of underrated and sometimes underutilized performers, but the crowd is shockingly uninterested. I thought there were a lot more matches announced for these tapings, so it’s possible we’ll see more specials like this in the coming weeks.
Another Worlds Collide special went up on the Network after NXT on Wednesday, but I’ve not yet had time to watch it. Look for my thoughts on that one in next week’s report.
Departures
Luke Harper has officially requested his release from WWE. Harper had found great success during his time with the Wyatt family and the Bludgeon Brothers, but with both Wyatt and Rowan now doing their own things he was left sitting on the sidelines waiting for creative to give him a new direction. After months of sitting on the shelf he returned Wrestlemania weekend for a match at Axxess and a spot in the battle royal. Personally, I thought the Axxess match against NXT’s Dominik Dijakovic was excellent and had hoped the warm reception of the fans might lead to new momentum for Harper. Alas, at 39 years old, the big man can’t really afford to just sit around waiting for his shot anymore. WWE has yet to announce that the release has been granted, but IF it is big Luke could easily find success elsewhere in the wrestling community.
Another underutilized worker who may be on his way out the door is Alexander Wolfe. Eric Young was quietly moved over to Raw via a Superstar Shakeup graphic on Monday night signaling the end of the once dominant Sanity faction. Killian Dain seems to be remaining on Smackdown and posted a message thanking his former stable mates for the time they spent together. A little while later came a similar message from Wolfe which ended “goodbye WWE.” It’s unclear at this time if the German wrestler’s contract was up, if he simply requested his release, or if WWE decided to cut him for some reason.
Movie News
A new trailer was released this week for the Fast & Furious franchise spin-off Hobbs and Shaw. The film is led of course by Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson and Jason Statham reprising their roles from previous entries in the Fast franchise. Roman Reigns also has a role as the brother of Johnson’s Hobbs character. Unfortunately this is the kind of trailer that basically gives away the entire movie, but as with most films in this franchise I’m sure it will still be a fun ride even if we do already know the destination.
Elsewhere in Hollywood, John Cena is reportedly close to taking on an as yet unknown role in the 2nd Suicide Squad film. This follow up to the hit and miss Suicide Squad is set to be directed by fan favorite James Gunn and feature a mostly new team of characters for the squad. Given his obvious physical stature, many fans are speculating that Cena might be in line for the role of King Shark.
PPV Event Plans
Money in the Bank May 19
Extreme Rules July 14
Summerslam August 11
Wrestlemania 36 ideas:
Lastly, with Wrestlemania 35 now in the history books and Mania 36 set to take place right here in the Tampa Bay area, I thought I would ask my friends and colleagues what dream matches they might like to see at Raymond James Stadium. The answers get interesting…
Gene wants to see the Usos vs the Revival, which I agree would be a master class in tag team wrestling. David G. would like to see Seth Rollins and Ricochet tear down the house in a TLC match. David also agrees with my stance that the battle royal matches should actually mean something and lead to pushes for their winners. Bunnie and Allison both really want to see the long teased 4 Horsewomen vs 4 Horsewomen battle. Sadly, I’m beginning to fear that may never come to fruition.
Robert B. just wants to see the Pirate Princess Kairi Sane featured in some way when WWE takes over the home of our very own Buccaneers. Bill C. would like to see a mixed tag match that does not feature the usual gender rules. I think perhaps Andrade and Zelina vs Gargano and LaRae could make that work. Finally, Nick wants an intergender match between Charlotte Flair and AJ Styles, because why not?!
I’m sure this is a topic I will revisit frequently over the next year, so comment with your ideas and perhaps I’ll include them in a future article.
