Daniel Bryan and 5 WWE Superstars Who Should Have Been Traded in Roster Shake-Up

The 2018 Superstar Shake-up saw dozens of WWE names switch brands, with a few even being called up from NXT, but not everyone who should have moved ended up in a new place.

There is no denying management did a great job mixing things up. Switches such as Samoa Joe and Jeff Hardy were surprising, and the return of Big Cass came out of nowhere.

While 205 Live was left out of the Shake-up, the cruiserweight division has benefitted from some additions like Hideo Itami and Buddy Murphy, both of whom already feel like major players in the division.

The possibilities for new storylines and feuds give the creative team a lot of options, but they could have had even more with a few specific changes.

Let's take a look at some of those who would have benefited from being drafted during the Superstar Shake-up.

Seth Rollins

Seth Rollins has been on Raw ever since the initial draft following the brand split in 2016. If anyone could benefit from a change of scenery, it's him.

The Architect has done everything there is to do on Monday night. He has been a universal, intercontinental and tag team champion along with being in numerous main event storylines.

Giving him the IC title opens up the door for some interesting feuds, but there are several SmackDown Superstars he has yet to face.

Shinsuke Nakamura comes to mind as someone the WWE Universe would love to see mix it up with Rollins, and nobody could resist seeing him go one-on-one with Daniel Bryan.

Rollins will be fine on Raw, but it's hard to imagine him finding his way back to the main event scene as fast as he would on SmackDown. 

Daniel Bryan

Bryan's return to the ring has been the feel-good story of the year, but WWE has done surprisingly little to capitalize on it.

The company made a new shirt for him, put together a few nice videos and stuck him in a tag team match at WrestleMania 34 with Shane McMahon against Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn.

Bryan's media appearances were minimal and barely promoted by WWE, but when John Cena has a new movie coming out, management plugs it left, right and center.

Bryan should have been appearing on all the big talk shows to discuss how he worked with doctors to return, he should have been put into a better match for his first time back in the ring, and he should have been drafted to Raw.

Putting him on the flagship show would have allowed WWE to capitalize on all of the press he was getting after he announced his return, but he was kept on SmackDown.

Having been the SmackDown Live general manager for the past two years is a good reason to keep him with the blue brand, but it would have been nice to see him get some new opportunities on Raw.

At least WWE brought The Miz to SmackDown so we can watch Bryan get revenge for all of the verbal abuse he took from The A-Lister during episodes of Talking Smack.

Bayley

WWE dropped the ball on what could have been an epic feud between Bayley and Sasha Banks, and now it's stuck trying to piece together a storyline between the two on the fly.

Had Banks turned on Bayley at the right time, WrestleMania could have featured a grudge match between the two women who stole the show multiple times at NXT TakeOver events.

The Hugger needs a fresh start. She would have had it on SmackDown, but WWE opted to keep her on Raw where she will likely have to wait a long time before getting another shot at the Women's Championship.

She would have had a whole new group of rivals to face on SmackDown with the likes of Charlotte, Carmella, Becky Lynch and Naomi.

Bayley is a talented wrestler with a unique gimmick, but if WWE doesn't use her the right way, she will never reach her full potential. 

AJ Styles

AJ Styles has been the heart and soul of SmackDown for a long time. It feels like it's time for him to see what he can accomplish on Raw.

He has already held the WWE and United States titles twice each, so the only thing left for him to do on the blue brand is win the Tag Team Championships, but it doesn't look like WWE is going to give him a partner. 

Moving to Raw would have allowed Styles to feud with Superstars such as Rollins, Finn Balor, Roman Reigns and even Brock Lesnar.

The Phenomenal One is one of, if not the best performer in all of WWE right now. You would think the company would want him on the show more people watch every week.

Sin Cara

WWE has quite a few Superstars under the 205-pound mark who are not part of the cruiserweight division, but there is one man whose absence makes absolutely no sense.

Sin Cara is the epitome of what the cruiserweight division is supposed to be, but instead of hanging out with The Lucha House Party or fighting Cedric Alexander for the title, he is on SmackDown jobbing to Samoa Joe.

When the character was originally introduced to the WWE Universe in 2011, a lot of effort went into building him up through video packages and early victories.

Once the mask was transferred from Luis Urive to Jorge Arias, he was never booked the same way. He had some minor success with Kalisto as The Lucha Dragons, but that was it.

He is the one masked luchador not working in the cruiserweight division, and unless WWE has some big plans to use him for a storyline at a specific time, it makes no sense for him to be left out.

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Who do you think should have switched brands during the Superstar Shake-up?