WWE Roster Changes: Superstar Shakeup Results for Raw, SmackDown
WWE’s annual post-WrestleMania “Superstar Shakeup” is in the books, after 16 new additions to the Raw roster were confirmed on Monday night and 14 people moved to SmackDown on Tuesday night.
The biggest move was Roman Reigns switching to the blue brand after being a fixture on Raw ever since the 2016 brand split. Reigns will headline SmackDown as it prepares to move to a new night and new network (Fridays on Fox) in October.
The Shakeup also solidified the main-roster position of the group of NXT call-ups that had been floating between brands for the past several months, as well as adding new blood from NXT in the form of Kairi Sane and The Viking Experience (the reigning NXT Tag Team Champions formerly known as War Raiders).
The movement wasn’t entirely complete after SmackDown, either. With Intercontinental Champion Finn Balor going to SmackDown, United States Champion Samoa Joe was supposed to move to Raw but an illness forced him to be written off of Monday’s show, Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer reported. Joe was finally confirmed as part of the Raw roster on the April 22 episode.
After being announced as members of the Raw roster, WWE’s website was quietly updated to shift Andrade and manager Zelina Vega back to SmackDown, and Aleister Black (Vega’s real-life husband) appears on the SmackDown side as well.
See the full list of transactions below.
Moving from Raw to SmackDown
• Roman Reigns
• Finn Balor
• Ember Moon
• Bayley
• Elias
• Liv Morgan
• Chad Gable
• Apollo Crews
• Mickie James
Moving from SmackDown to Raw
• The Miz
• Rey Mysterio
• Jimmy and Jey Uso
• Naomi
• Eric Young
• AJ Styles
• Cesaro
Moving from 205 Live to Raw
• Cedric Alexander
Moving from 205 Live to SmackDown
• Buddy Murphy
Moving from NXT to Raw
• The Viking Experience, Erik and Ivar (formerly War Raiders, Rowe and Hanson)
• Ricochet
• Lacey Evans
• EC3
Moving from NXT to SmackDown
• Aleister Black
• Kairi Sane (teaming with Asuka and managed by Paige)
• Heavy Machinery (Otis and Tucker)
• Lars Sullivan
