The first RAW to take place after WrestleMania 33 saw the return of Vince McMahon and he came with a huge announcement. Not only did he announce Kurt Angle would be the new RAW general manager (welcome back, Kurt) he announced a Superstar Shakeup will occur between both wrestling shows.
On the April 10 episode of Monday Night RAW, both general managers will swap wrestlers, changing the landscape of both brands.
And while we can speculate about which WWE superstars will be changing sides all day, we’d rather list all of those wrestlers who we know WON’T be swapped during the Superstar Shakeup. Some of these may be obvious, but knowing that these superstars won’t be changing brands could give fans of those respective shows a sense of relief.
CURRENT CHAMPIONS
This is probably the most obvious. Any WWE superstar who is currently holding a title will not be changing brands. When the WWE held their Brand Draft last year, they made a point to split the titles up evenly and created a women’s and tag team titles for SmackDown Live to give those respective superstars their own belts.
Now, unless superstars holding belts are swapped for one another, it’ll be hard to see RAW receiving one of SmackDown Live’s champs.
So, with that in mind, here are the current title holders for both RAW and SmackDown:
SmackDown Live
Randy Orton (WWE Champion)
The Usos (SD Tag Team)
Dean Ambrose (Intercontinental Champion)
Naomi (SD Women’s Champion)
Monday Night Raw
Kevin Owens (US Champion)
Brock Lesnar (Universal Champion)
Hardy Boyz (RAW Tag Team)
Bailey (RAW Women’s Champion)
Neville (Cruiserweight Champion)
CURRENT CHAMPIONSHIP FEUDS
WrestleMania 33 saw a lot of feuds end but there are some that are still continuing post-’Mania. Whether a title change facilitated a rematch/continuation of a feud or not, there are title holders who are currently feuding with another superstar, which won’t see the end until the next pay-per-view after the Superstar Shakeup.
There are some superstars who are also involved in a current feud, even if they aren’t directly wrestling. For example, the Wyatt Family will likely remain intact during Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt’s feud.
There are also belts, like the SmackDown tag team title, that are not currently being featured on television and have no feud going on. So those titles don’t have an ongoing feud. The SmackDown and RAW women’s title also don’t have a number one contender so those are not as clear cut.
So who are the superstars feuding with current champions?
SmackDown Live
Bray Wyatt
Erick Rowan
Luke Harper
Baron Corbin
Monday Night Raw
Chris Jericho
Braun Strowman
Roman Reigns
RECENT CALLUPS/RETURNS
In recent years, the days after WrestleMania see the return of superstars coming from injuries or those who were away from the company. We also get to see callups from NXT make their main roster debuts and this year, we had plenty.
These superstars will remain on the show that they debuted on because, simply, they would have just debuted on that show.
SmackDown Live
Shinsuke Nakamura
Tye Dillinger
Monday Night Raw
Finn Balor
The Revival
So what do you think of this list? Are we way off base or are these superstars safe? Sound off in the comments section below.
