16 Wrestlers Struggling After Superstar Shake-Up Roster Moves
With the brand split in effect, WWE tends to burn out several feuds after months of repetition, creating the necessity for some Superstars to be switched around to freshen things up.
The creative team's preferred method of doing this is the annual Superstar Shake-up, where talent is called up from NXT and traded between Raw and SmackDown in an attempt to open up the potential for different storylines that haven't been done in the previous year or so.
For some people, this works well and they will see themselves getting a massive push they wouldn't have received on the other program.
Sometimes, they're a bigger fish in a smaller pond by going from Raw to SmackDown, or they're ready to become part of the larger WWE picture by being a focal point on Monday nights after proving themselves on Tuesdays.
Sometimes, though, things don't quite work out and it starts to look like a trade might have been a bad move to make.
Following the Superstar Shake-up on April 16-17, there are plenty of wrestlers who haven't found their proper footing on their new brands for a variety of reasons.
Let's take a look at some of those who are struggling to survive after being traded to their current shows.
The 6 on the Sidelines
1 of 5
Before we get into the bulk of this list, we should address the folks whose issues aren't that much of a surprise.
Sadly, there are a handful of names who are struggling to be a noteworthy part of the roster just as much as they were beforehand, as they weren't exactly firing on all cylinders before their trades.
For example, The Ascension have been booked horribly for essentially their entire main roster run, despite being the biggest tag team in NXT before being called up. Seeing them be nothing on Raw isn't a shocker.
Mike Kanellis fits the same bill, as he's spent the majority of his WWE career sitting on the sidelines. Since moving to Raw, he's kept that trend up.
Zack Ryder has received no advancement to his career whatsoever, appearing only on Main Event instead of Raw, while R-Truth hasn't appeared on SmackDown in any way other than backstage segments.
The failed attempt to change the Monday Night Rollins slogan to Monday Night Rawley failed to catch on for Mojo Rawley, who went from the Andre the 2017 Giant Memorial Battle Royal winner to quickly fading into obscurity and staying a background player on the red brand.
These wrestlers haven't received any upgrade to their status, which kind of calls into question why WWE bothered to move them.
The Authors of Pain and Sanity
2 of 5
It seemed a guarantee that both The Authors of Pain and Sanity would be moving to the main roster after WrestleMania 34, as they had accomplished all they could on NXT.
Both teams had a run with the NXT Tag Team Championship, feuded with The Undisputed Era and were ready to make the jump to the bigger stage, so when the call-ups happened it wasn't surprising in any way.
However, since the Superstar Shake-up, we've seen Akam and Rezar get introduced and then disappear, while WWE has stopped running promotional material advertising Sanity's supposedly imminent arrival.
It's almost as if the creative team forgot that when calling people up to the main roster, there should be a plan in place for what to do with them rather than bringing them aboard with nothing to do.
If the fear is that it's too soon to have either team win their brand's respective tag titles, it wouldn't hurt to at least showcase them in regular action defeating jobbers to build their credibility.
A feud with a different tag team could be beneficial as well, such as The Authors of Pain being paired with The Ascension, or Sanity clashing with The Usos.
It won't take long before both teams reach a point where fans will have to be reintroduced to them, rendering their moves in the Superstar Shake-up a moot point.
Jinder Mahal and the Singh Brothers
3 of 5
Before the Superstar Shake-up, Jinder Mahal had just defeated Randy Orton, Bobby Roode and Rusev to become the new United States champion at WrestleMania.
It was the second singles title in his career, meaning he had two championships to his name in the span of just a few months after moving to SmackDown Live in April 2017.
This seemed to be a sign he was in store for another push similar to his WWE Championship reign, but that didn't come to pass.
In his first act on the Raw roster, Mahal dropped the United States Championship to Jeff Hardy, who wasn't even on the SmackDown brand at that point.
Now, instead of being in contention for at least a midcard title, if not the Universal Championship, Mahal has been saddled with a feud against Roman Reigns that assuredly won't be looked back on as a fantastic program, since it stinks of filler.
This is because of his failed attempt to qualify for the Money in the Bank ladder match, meaning WWE saw it more important that Mahal could fight and likely lose to the guy who is struggling the most to get the right footing, rather than to be another cog in the wheel of a multi-man affair.
Coupled with this, Mahal's associates Sunil and Samir Singh are clearly so beyond the scope of what WWE cares about at the moment that their profiles on the official roster page haven't even been changed to reflect their move to Raw.
Samir is still injured, which explains his absence, but Sunil is regularly seen with Mahal but strangely there has been no attempt to switch that logo on his page.
Things had been better for The Modern Day Maharaja when he was on the blue brand as this has been a rough month for him.
Sonya Deville
4 of 5
Sonya Deville might seem like an odd choice to single out, but it's with good reason.
As part of the Absolution trio with Paige and Mandy Rose heading into WrestleMania, she had never been the biggest focal point, but she was still a noteworthy member of the roster who showed some potential for upward momentum.
After Paige's official retirement from in-ring competition, both Deville and Rose were moved over to SmackDown, but there would be no reunion for Absolution.
Paige dissolved the group, stating it was over and continually telling Rose and Deville off, be it stopping them from helping each other in matches or shutting them down when they try to act chummy with her.
What's strange is that Rose has been given new music and has a win over Becky Lynch, while Deville's entrance only received a few minor tweaks and she's failed to achieve any success.
Deville has yet to win a match on the blue brand and even lost two Money in the Bank qualifiers, which almost seems like a slap in the face given some others weren't offered a second chance.
Being on the opposite brand to Ronda Rousey was a smart move, but it has yet to yield anything positive for The Jersey Devil.
Sami Zayn
5 of 5
Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn weren't having the best time as far as their storyline went on SmackDown Live for the WrestleMania season, since they were feuding with the two men in control of the show.
Leaving Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan behind should have been a great move for them, but it hasn't turned out quite so good, particularly for Zayn.
At least Owens has a spot in the Money in the Bank ladder match, but Zayn is in a feud with Bobby Lashley that is embarrassingly awful.
Lashley's interview with Renee Young about his sisters wasn't met with much positivity, yet things got even worse with the follow-up segment where Zayn trotted out three men in drag to represent the siblings.
It should go down as one of the worst parts of Monday Night Raw for 2018, proving Zayn isn't in the best spot right now and might have been better off staying on Tuesday nights to avoid doing such things.
When it comes to him—and everybody else on this list, for that matter—we can only hope things will get better as time goes on.
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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