Breaking Down WWE Raw, SmackDown's Women's Divisions After Superstar Shake-Up
The Superstar Shake-Up engulfed WWE television this past week, generating intrigue as to which performers would end up on the flagship and who would seize the opportunity that comes with placement on SmackDown Live.
Few divisions saw greater upheaval than the women, who saw a handful of female competitors shuffled from one brand to the other.
Raw gained to former champions in the form of Mickie James and Alexa Bliss, two vindictive heels hellbent on capturing gold and making the lives of Bayley, Sasha Banks, Nia Jax and anyone else unlucky enough to encounter them a living hell.
SmackDown Live replaced those two women with the returning Tamina and the arrival of Charlotte, who strutted onto the stage with the class, pomp and arrogance of a peacock.
Both brands benefited from the wealth of talent they acquired, but which is set up to be the best as 2017 marches on?
Find out now with this breakdown of both show's women's divisions, the week's best acquisition and a definitive answer to that very question.
Raw
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Gone is Charlotte, the queen heel in the Raw women's division, and in her place are Alexa Bliss and Mickie James. It is fitting that the red brand received two Superstars for the second-generation competition, especially given just how dominant a presence hers was every Monday night. A five-time women's champion who was at the center of rivalries with Becky Lynch, Bayley and Sasha Banks at different points over the last year, hers is a star difficult to replace.
In Bliss and James, though, the brand receives two villains of differing strengths.
Bliss is a superb character actor. She has the facial expressions and body language of an arrogant, bratty heel. Her in-ring game is still developing, but as a complete performer, she is more than capable of getting over and staying over on wrestling's flagship show.
James, on the other hand, is a critically acclaimed wrestler. Her exploits between the ropes are well-documented. Earning early recognition for a superb storyline involving Trish Stratus back in 2005, she built a legacy for herself through her work with Melina, Victoria, Michelle McCool and Beth Phoenix.
Recently, her matches with Lynch and Asuka have proved she still has the in-ring acumen to thrive during this, the women's revolution in WWE.
The interesting thing about Bliss and James' moves to Raw is the fact that WWE Creative did nothing to bolster the babyface side of the division. Bayley is the current women's champion, but with Sasha Banks slated to turn heel any day now, that leaves Dana Brooke as the only other babyface on the roster.
What that does is create a situation in which James must turn babyface or the entire division will revolve around a single babyface. As we witnessed with Charlotte as a heel throughout 2016, it is an effective booking strategy but one that grows stale after a while.
The one silver lining for the company is that Bayley is the type of Superstar around whom an entire division can be built. She is a beloved heroine. She generates sympathy and can get fans to invest emotionally in her journey to sports-entertainment greatness.
Whether working with the unstoppable force Nia Jax, cocky brat Bliss, conniving villainess James or attitudinally vicious Emma, she can succeed in the same way Steve Austin, The Rock and John Cena did by being the babyface whom heels are built up to face.
Her connection to the audience is that strong.
SmackDown
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The addition of Charlotte to the SmackDown Live women's division elevates that brand significantly.
The most heavily pushed female performer over the last two years, the second-generation star lends credibility to a division rife with character. The five-time champion joins SmackDown women's champion Naomi, "Lass Kicker" Becky Lynch, "Queen of Hearts" Natalya, Carmella, Tamina and Nikki Bella in what is one of the more eclectic mixes of talent in the company.
What Charlotte brings to the division, more than anything, is experience in high-profile matches.
She has competed in Iron Man matches, waged war inside Hell in a Cell and captured gold on wrestling's grandest stage. She has greatness in her blood and an incredible in-ring chemistry with Lynch, whom she could work with to bring the brand its latest, greatest rivalry.
Her mat-based skill set and submission arsenal would also mesh well with Naomi's dynamic offensive move set. Working over the established knee injury would generate sympathy for the popular babyface and make Charlotte look even more ruthless, relentless and unlikable than she already is.
Simply put, Charlotte's arrival creates a plethora of fresh matches and gives the SmackDown women's division a lead villainess for its quality babyfaces to work with.
The one negative of Charlotte's arrival is that it will make it more difficult for the underrated Carmella, already saddled with a terrible storyline involving James Ellsworth, to break out and enjoy any modicum of success.
There is also the wild card in the form of Lana, who joins real life husband Rusev on the Tuesday night show.
Hardly an experienced in-ring competitor, she does have all of the makings of a lead heel. Whether or not she is allowed to expand upon her strong character work by taking to the squared circle is the biggest question. If Tuesday's video package is any indication, she will be arriving with her own character, ready to make an impact in the division.
The beautiful thing SmackDown accomplished was keeping its roster intact while adding one key piece. Rather than a major upheaval that switched up multiple competitors, it added a single marquee name and strengthened its division as a result.
Therein lies what the blue brand does so well. It takes the few opportunities presented to it and utilizes its talent to the best of its ability. The result is a focused show with characters that fans can relate to and invest in. That will not change with Charlotte bringing added attention and increased interest in the underrated division.
Best Acquisition
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Charlotte to SmackDown is the easiest choice here.
A big fish in a medium-sized pond thanks to the lack of championship resumes on the blue brand, Charlotte can be the face of the women's division, a role in which she has thrived previously.
The legitimacy she will bring to competitors such as Naomi and Carmella, and the matches she will work with Natalya and Becky Lynch, will benefit the entire division. The fresh matches and storylines at WWE Creative's disposal will lead to a better, fresher product.
The daughter of wrestling royalty, Charlotte could easily fill the role of a babyface. Or, if necessary, she could move fluidly between the two roles, enjoying a "shades of gray" persona that was neither entirely good or bad. Instead, she would be focused solely on being the champion.
Regardless of what position she finds herself in, Charlotte is a valuable asset to a show that relies heavily on the female roster to provide content on a weekly basis.
Which Division Is Better Off Following Superstar Shake-Up?
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The lack of babyface help behind Bayley hurts the Raw division significantly in the wake of the Superstar Shake-up.
Without depth behind her, the division faces the possibility of repetition or staleness, something it has been accused of in the past, when Charlotte and Sasha Banks were the two women shoved to the forefront and programmed against each other far too often.
SmackDown does not have that problem.
If Charlotte vs. Naomi gets too repetitive, Becky Lynch slides into the latter's spot and a new rivalry is born. If the brand runs out of viable babyfaces, Charlotte is adaptable enough to turn and combat Natalya, Carmella or Tamina hen necessary.
It is that adaptability and the blue brand's identifiable characters built over the last eight months that helps it surge ahead of the flagship show as home to the premiere women's division in sports entertainment.
