Credit: WWE.com

WWE Superstar Shake-Up 2019: Bobby Lashley and 8 Stars in Need of a Brand Change

Anthony Mango

Monday will bring with it the start of the 2019 WWE Superstar Shake-up, wherein some wrestlers from Raw and SmackDown will be traded and a few men and women from NXT will be called up to the main roster.

This freshens up the available feuds. New opponents can be paired off, and some Superstars can enjoy a change of scenery.

Even if the only differences in the sets are logos and colors, there are still reasons why someone may work better on one show. SmackDown still operates as the land of opportunity for lesser stars to have more of a chance to step up, but there's one less hour per week to work with.

Meanwhile, Raw never seems to change from focusing on a handful of big stars. For those lucky enough to be on that list, it's the best place for them to succeed. For everyone else, even three hours of TV time to fill doesn't mean they will have room to spread their wings.

Now more than ever, the Superstar Shake-up will have major consequences that WWE must keep in mind. It will have a direct impact on SmackDown's move to Fox in October, as the wrong changes could kill the brand's star power.

Let's take a look at the wrestlers who are in need of moves during this year's Superstar Shake-up.

An Important Note About Trades

Credit: WWE.com

Before suggesting a trade, it's important to address one of the inherent flaws of the Superstar Shake-up, which is that every move's success is dependent upon multiple factors.

Come Monday night, there will be Superstars moving over from SmackDown who will make it seem as though Raw is far too stacked and nobody is left on the blue brand, which will be rectified the following night to a certain extent.

If too many people move from one brand to another, both shows will have the same Superstars feuding, and it will defeat the event's purpose. However, if too few people move, the same lack of progress will occur.

Likewise, any move can be cancelled out by another. Roman Reigns could move to SmackDown to avoid taking the top spot from Seth Rollins, only to have AJ Styles go to Raw and run into the same problem.

Every suggestion on this list runs a chance of WWE doing something that renders it moot because of heel and face turns or the company's lack of interest in pushing certain people.

NXT can be raided and seem empty until it heals itself. Raw might seem overloaded with star power until SmackDown pushes certain people.

None of what occurs on Raw and SmackDown will make any sense for at least several weeks.

Bobby Lashley to SmackDown Live

Credit: WWE.com

As they are holding titles, we can assume Rollins and Finn Balor will stay on Raw. In that case, Bobby Lashley needs to get away from them and go to SmackDown.

He's faced both of them far too many times for fans to become invested in any future feuds for either title.

On SmackDown, though, he has a number of fresh opponents waiting for him—if they don't move over to Monday nights, that is.

Lashley could have his best possible match in WWE when paired with AJ Styles. He and Kevin Owens have unfinished business too.

A feud with Rey Mysterio that plays on Lashley's strengths as a powerhouse against Mysterio's smaller frame, agility and speed writes itself. Similarly, Ali could wrestle that style of match with The All Mighty.

He could be a top contender for Kofi Kingston's WWE Championship too, and the promos between the rest of The New Day and Lio Rush would be entertaining.

Shinsuke Nakamura to Raw

Credit: WWE.com

In an effort to counterbalance Lashley's move to SmackDown, Shinsuke Nakamura should transition over to Monday nights.

His tag team with Rusev has never been a good idea and will never bring about something great, so splitting them up would benefit both stars. They can go their separate ways in the singles divisions and get back on track.

In doing so, Nakamura could start strong on Raw by feuding with Balor over the Intercontinental Championship. Those two should have great chemistry together in the ring, and the Irishman's extended time in Japan could help overcome the language barrier.

He would also be a great opponent for Roman Reigns somewhere down the line, as well as Rollins, with or without the WWE Championship being a factor.

In all this time, Nakamura has yet to change his red outfits to blue, and that may be a sign that Raw will be a better spot for him.

Chad Gable to 205 Live

Credit: WWE.com

While the focus will always be on Raw and SmackDown, the only thing stopping WWE from shining some spotlight on 205 Live is a reluctance to bother with that brand. But being treated like an afterthought is never going to help it grow.

There's no chance this move happens, but it would be smart for WWE to switch Chad Gable over to 205 Live to help kill three birds with one stone.

First, it would end his lackluster partnership with Bobby Roode. That makeshift team was a sorry use for both of them, and it needed to end before it even began. Their heel turn won't help them, either, so WWE should cut to the chase and break them up.

Second, moving Gable into a singles role on a show that doesn't have a deep roster means he would finally have a higher position than he will ever have on Raw or SmackDown.

His best hopes of being a midcarder came in June 2017, and he's never reached those heights since.

Third, his role as an established star would boost the 205 Live roster, as fans of quality in-ring action who like what Gable can produce will want to tune in to see what he has to offer when the gloves are off.

This isn't going to happen, but it should. So when Gable is no better off than he is now come the end of 2019, it will make WWE's failure to do something hurt even more.

Tyler Breeze to 205 Live

Credit: WWE.com

Similar to Gable's situation, Tyler Breeze is in a situation wherein something drastic has to change in order to get his career back on track, as he's been squandered on Main Event for far too long.

Whenever Fandango is able to return to action, he can reunite with Breeze to reform The Fashion Police, but that gimmick is likely past its expiration date, and it would be better for Prince Pretty to go out on his own.

The problem with that is how Raw has far too many others, such as Apollo Crews and Mojo Rawley, who are also struggling to find their spots. Even on SmackDown, he would likely be used as a jobber.

He's billed at 206 pounds, which means nothing, as WWE could simply start billing him as 205. Then, he can go to 205 Live and be a standout star in a division that desperately needs more utility players, as well as some fresh faces.

He could win the championship, and he would be one of the division's better talents on the mic.

A move to 205 Live could be the last chance for Breeze to find his footing in WWE before he would be out of options and possibly need to go elsewhere. Somewhere, somehow, he should capitalize on his potential, and that isn't going to happen on Raw or SmackDown with the low ceiling WWE has put above him.

Various Possible Women's Division Trades

Credit: WWE.com

WWE has remained vague about just how everything will work now that Becky Lynch holds both the Raw and SmackDown Women's Championships.

Will she defend each one separately at random times? Will she be forced to compete twice per pay-per-view? Are the belts unified, meaning if she were to lose, her challenger would also be dual champion?

Without any clarification as to how that will work, we're left wondering if there will even be a point to the brand split at all with the women's division, as both Lynch's titles and the Women's Tag Team Championships may be co-branded.

If that's the case, there isn't a brand split for the women's division, as everybody will hop back and forth to fit whatever story WWE wants to tell.

However, if both titles are defended separately and everything is supposed to return to the way it was, just with the same person as champion on two brands, that leaves room for some swapping.

In that scenario, Ember Moon would benefit from a trade to SmackDown, hopefully in place of Carmella, who is better suited to playing around on Raw with the dance-break gimmick because that show has an extra hour to fill.

If Nikki Cross ends up on Raw, it would be good to send Natalya to SmackDown to give the blue brand another in-ring babyface and someone like Asuka an opponent to work with.

Last but not least, since it seems Lacey Evans may end up on Raw, Alexa Bliss should move to SmackDown. Not only would she be on the same touring schedule as her partner, Buddy Murphy, but she would also stand out as a top heel (or babyface, if WWE decides to turn her).

Braun Strowman to SmackDown Live

Credit: WWE.com

With Rollins, Reigns and Balor on Raw and Aleister Black and Ricochet possibly going to Monday nights, it's safe to say Braun Strowman would continue to be overlooked as a potential universal champion.

He's come so close many times, but for some reason, even when the only other option was to have Brock Lesnar sit at home with the title, WWE still opted to not put the belt on Strowman.

It would be counterproductive to stay on the A-show if he's never going to be the guy, so a move to SmackDown could give him a chance to fill that role, especially if Styles is out for a decent amount of time because of his recent injury.

SmackDown has no monster babyface, and Strowman could feud with Daniel Bryan, Randy Orton, Rusev and others, including Samoa Joe, which was teased on Tuesday's episode.

If he stays on Raw, there's a good chance his main role on the roster for 2019 and into WrestleMania 36 is to be Lars Sullivan's whipping boy and the guy who loses to Drew McIntyre and Baron Corbin to make them look good for Reigns and Rollins.

Aleister Black to SmackDown and Ricochet to Raw

Ricochet is even conveniently wearing red. Credit: WWE.com

On a whim, Aleister Black and Ricochet were thrown onto the main roster with seemingly no goal in mind other than to generate some buzz. After being put in numerous tag team matches together, they quickly became featured players in the tag team division.

But we all know WWE Chairman Vince McMahon has no interest in tag teams and that the real money is in singles competition, where both Ricochet and Black are more than capable of making their mark.

Going solo will end their tag team affairs, but since they failed to win all three tag titles in the same week, there isn't much room for them to go anywhere in that division anyway. Neither The Hardy Boyz nor Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder seem set up to lose to Black and Ricochet anytime soon.

Black makes more sense to go to SmackDown, if not just because his wife, Zelina Vega, is on that roster. Plus, Ricochet has a different style to someone like Reigns on Raw, and it wouldn't make much sense for him to be on the same brand as Mysterio and Ali.

These two will find success no matter where they go and will easily be front-runners to win midcard gold sometime in 2019, if not the WWE and universal titles before next year's WrestleMania. But they will have a harder time reaching those milestones if they aren't split up to separate rosters.

Bray Wyatt to SmackDown Live

Credit: WWE.com

Based off the post-WrestleMania teases, it doesn't seem as though any changes will be made to Bray Wyatt's character, as he's still presented as a cackling and twisted person who will probably still even use the phrase "Follow the buzzards."

If that is true and he keeps the same gimmick with some minor tweaks, like his new haircut, there's no reason to want to see him face Reigns, Rollins and Balor and bog down Raw with things we have seen before.

Working under the plans of what has been presented already on this list, Wyatt could have an interesting feud with not only Black, based on their dark characters, but also former Wyatt Family underling Strowman.

He's yet to be paired off with Owens, Mysterio or The Miz, and since Wyatt is so evil, he would contrast Kingston's uber-positive title reign nicely.

                     

Anthony Mango is the owner of the wrestling website Smark Out Moment and the host of the podcast show Smack Talk on YouTube, iTunes and Stitcher. You can follow him on Facebook and elsewhere for more.

   

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