Opinion

Top 5: Superstar Shake-Up Moves WWE Should Make

Published

6 years ago

April 15, 2018

Sasha Banks Daniel Bryan Andrade Cien Almas Seth Rollins WWE Superstar Shake Up Moves

The WWE Superstar Shake-Up is this week, and it’s always an exciting time for the fans watching at home. You never know who will move brands, as the entire roster will be in attendance for both Raw and Smackdown.

But there is a bigger question at hand: Who should move brands?

Here are the Top 5 roster moves WWE should make in the Superstar Shake-Up. These moves include Raw/Smackdown swaps, and an NXT call-up. Read and then hit me up on Twitter @ChairshotGreg with your top moves!

5. Seth Rollins to Smackdown, Jinder Mahal to Raw

Headed into WrestleMania, I long assumed Rollins would be headed to Smackdown to take the mantle of the Blue Brand along with AJ Styles, with Shinske Nakamura heading to Raw. Today I can’t be so sure about the second half, but I still see Seth Rollins moving to Smackdown to lead the march towards WrestleMania 35.

As for Jinder Mahal? WWE is in the midst of a television courtship with Fox, and the diverse appeal represented by Mahal is probably a bigger deal than the internet fan wants to believe. Mahal is also an amazing heel, which is the key to long-term storytelling.

Another hidden reason for Mahal to go to Raw? The Authors Of Pain. Akam and Razar will be without Paul Ellering, presumably because the former doesn’t want the heavy travel schedule. While the Singh Brothers provide a great diversion, AOP won’t be thrown around quite so easily, and with The Maharaja there to do the talking, they can be a serious threat in the neglected tag team division.

4. Andrade “Cien” Almas (with Zelina Vega) to Smackdown

Andrade “Cien” Almas has been brilliant during his NXT run, despite being a bit directionless at the start. Once Zelina Vega showed up, the key piece was no longer missing. Now it’s time to take this act to Smackdown, and keep it intact.

Vega is involved in the Paige movie production, Fighting With My Family, and having her on the brand can be useful. But this is about way more than that.

Almas, a major star as La Sombra in Mexico, has proven he can carry a story to the fans, and they’ve proven they will buy-in. He’s provided some of NXT’s best in-ring performances over the past year, and Vega has been the added element needed to drive his story home.

On Smackdown you have some great potential feuds with Bobby Roode, and NXT-fan dream opponents like Shinsuke Nakamura, AJ Styles (if he doesn’t move) and more.

Billed at 210 lbs, I wouldn’t be against him “dropping five pounds” and sticking around for 205 Live after Smackdown on occasion. The purple brand’s association with Raw has been downplayed to the point that this crossover wouldn’t be a bad thing.

3. The Usos to Raw, The Bar to Smackdown

The Usos earned their way onto the WrestleMania main card, even if it didn’t go so well. Now they’ve earned their way onto Raw, where they can reunite with their blood(line) in Roman Reigns.

Provided, that is, that Reigns doesn’t move to Smackdown!

The Bar was absolutely ravaged at WrestleMania, to the point that I don’t think you can take them seriously. I’d fully expect them to lose to Matt Hardy & Bray Wyatt in Saudi Arabia, and departing for the blue brand.

I’d also expect them to break up. Sheamus vs. AJ Styles and/or Nakamura could be amazing, but the split would most benefit Cesaro. It’s no secret that I love Cesaro, and with Sheamus potentially nearing the end of his career, the time is perfect to push Cesaro.

(Pushing Cesaro, by the way, is a move I won’t ever give up on. Ever.)

2. Sasha Banks to Smackdown, Becky Lynch to Raw

Two of the three women involved in the most important women’s match in WrestleMania history (at WrestleMania 32 with Charlotte Flair) Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch are two of the pioneers of the current Women’s Evolution. And no women are in bigger need of a change of scenery than these two.

Moving her to Smackdown does mean more potential match-ups with Charlotte Flair, a match-up we say far too often on Raw before the last shake-up. But it also provides some great match-ups for Becky Lynch, who has really floundered for the last year on Smackdown.

The move also separates Sasha and Bayley, which is likely to get a blowoff (for now) this Monday on Raw.

Honorable Mentions

Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods to Raw – Believe it or not, this is really Xavier going to 205 Live (as suggested by Chairshot Radio’s PC Tunney), Kofi on Raw, and leaving Big E to have a singles career on Smackdown.
Drew McIntyre to Raw – Drew McIntyre was rushed to the NXT Championship, and almost seems out of place. He didn’t appear on the most recent tapings that I know of, and outside of Andrade has no real reason to be there. I think he could do really well on Raw.

1. Roman Reigns to Smackdown, Daniel Bryan to Raw

Even typing those words, I think I’m crazy. But this one really makes TOTAL sense.

Roman Reigns has spend forever being touted as “The Guy,” but his booking in the end doesn’t prove it. His loss to Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania came three years too late, and now he seems to be lacking any real direction. Samoa Joe stepped up to the challenge, but he doesn’t even get a shot as The Samoan Sex Machine until after Roman challenges Brock inside a steel cage at Greatest Royal Rumble.

In my ideal example, Reigns loses again at Greatest Royal Rumble, coming to Raw to feud with Shinsuke Nakamura and AJ Styles–two men he’s put on amazing matches with in the past (even if Nakamura was in a short dose at the Royal Rumble). Short of disappearing until SummerSlam, a move to Smackdown is appropriate for Reigns.

Daniel Bryan may seem like the heart and soul of Smackdown, but in reality he’s the heart and soul of the entire WWE. Sending him to Raw, especially during the aforementioned television negotiations, makes tremendous sense.

Plus moving Daniel Bryan to Raw puts him in position to complete the story of his return: winning the Universal Championship from Brock Lesnar. It’s the closest you can get to the Yes Movement, and it’s a brilliant call to the fact that Daniel Bryan was supposed to get overwhelmed by Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam 2014, not John Cena.

Who do you think should move? Hit me up on Twitter @ChairshotGreg with your top moves!

Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!

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Opinion

Greg DeMarco’s Good, Bad, & Ugly: WWE Smackdown On FOX (November 3, 2023)

It’s the go-home show for WWE Crown Jewel, and Smackdown is in full force! As is Greg’s Good, Bad, & Ugly review!

Published

1 month ago

November 4, 2023

Greg DeMarco

It’s the go-home show for WWE Crown Jewel, and Smackdown is in full force! As is Greg’s Good, Bad, & Ugly review!

WWE Smackdown On FOX sends us home for the Crown Jewel premium live event, so it has to be strong. But is it? Maybe it’s Good. Possibly it’s Bad? I sure hope it isn’t Ugly.

Let’s find out!

If you haven’t checked out Mitchell’s Results & Review for this episode of Smackdown, go and check it out now!

Good

Roman Reigns & LA Knight In Ring Promo – Last week LA Knight got the better of Roman, so it made sense for Roman to get it all back this week. And he did just that. “Redneck Cosplay of my cousin” was a fantastic line from Roman Reigns, but “I ain’t here to finish something” from LA Knight got a bigger reaction from me. Roman calling himself the megastar was also a phenomenal line. Good stuff all around.
Kevin Owens vs. Austin Theory – Kevin Patrick keeping “The 150 million hit man” schtick going for Austin Theory is so great. Milk that for all it’s worth! “What is your issue with Kevin Owens’ face?” “LOOK AT IT, MAN!” Absolutely brilliant shit. “How’s that feel, idiot?” Grayson Waller should be on commentary every week, for every match. And this match, by the way, was really good. Austin Theory has settled into his current role, showing he understands the WWE cycle. And Owens is Owens.
Backstage Series Of Events – We had the Bianca Belair interview where she was attacked by Damage Ctrl, followed by The Street Profits & Bobby Lashley running into Logan Paul and then B-Fab. Flowed well, no issues for me.
Chelsea Green & Piper Niven vs. Shotzi Blackheart & Charlotte Flair – No surprise that Charlotte Flair was the partner, and no surprise that Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn made an appearance. This was a perfectly fine TV match–didn’t set the world on fire, but also wasn’t Bad or Ugly. This was a step in this story, and an effective one.
The Brawling Brutes vs. Pretty Deadly in a Good Ol’ Fashioned Donnybrook! – Shout out to Sheamus, whose return I look forward to seeing. With Ridge really coming into his own, we’re to the point where all four of these guys range from good to great to fantastic on any given night. Putting Pretty Deadly into any “manly fight” is always guaranteed entertainment. Really, Pretty Deadly in anything is typically guaranteed entertainment. Pretty Deadly picking up the win was not a shock, although I’d have loved to see Butch and Ridge Holland pick up a win here. Given the rules (or lack thereof) of this match, Pretty Deadly basically won clean here.
Rey Mysterio vs. Logan Paul Crown Jewel Weigh-In – A very effective way to pretape something, which saves time as part of a double taping. It was essentially a go home promo, but done in a different way. I liked it. It also smoothly transitions into the rundown of the card by the commentary team, which I always appreciate.
Bianca Belair vs. Bayley – If you know me, you know that Bianca can be hit or miss for me. She can’t “work with anyone,” but she can definitely work with Bayley. Bayley, of course, is money with anything she does. Both women delivered a main event quality match, and no one should complain that Bianca Belair won. She’s challenging for the Women’s Championship in less than 24 canon hours, so she needs to win. Bayley is a made woman, losing here doesn’t hurt her one bit.
“Just Enough Nick” Nick Aldis Usage – Triple H has done an amazing job of establishing Nick Aldis. Three weeks in and he already “belongs.” Much of that is attributed to how Aldis carries himself. But they are also using him to the right degree. It’s not too much, but it’s also not too little. Adam Pearce could miss two weeks of Raw and when he shows back up, it all makes sense. For Aldis, he needs to be very present, but not overbearing or “shoved down our throats.” They have the right balance.

BAD

Solo Sikoa & John Cena In Ring Promo – John Cena, lost voice and all, completely buries Solo Sikoa. He “cooks” Solo, as promised. And, as Cena does, he makes Solo look like crap. Bargain Basement Tazz Rip Off? C’mon man, you’re better than that. But here’s the real problem: what happens if Solo loses? Cena made him look like a loser, and then proves that he is? Solo has to win this match. If he doesn’t, and Cena is gone, then Solo is left out in the cold. And you don’t want to do that to Solo Sikoa at this point of his career.

UGLY

Misstep for Theory – Referencing Halloween as if it hadn’t already happened. You can edit this episode–c’mon, man!
Kevin Owens’ Crotch Chop – C’mon, man! We’re better than crotch chops in 2023.

The Verdict

Good – 8
Bad – 1
Ugly – 2

In all honesty this was a damn good show. Milwaukee showed out considering they’d already seen 2 hours of Smackdown before this was taped. Good on them, and good on WWE for a great go home show for Crown Jewel.

Interesting of note – the pictures for this show that are posted to the WWE website are uploaded in the order the matches and segments were recorded, not the order in which they aired. Just a little tidbit that I found interesting.

Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!

News

Greg DeMarco’s Wrestling Ratings Report: Monday Night Raw (10/30/2023) & WWE NXT (10/31/2023)

Greg DeMarco takes a look at your Monday and Tuesday night TV ratings. What do they mean? Do they matter?

Published

1 month ago

November 2, 2023

Greg DeMarco

WWE NXT Halloween Havoc Night 2 Carmelo Hayes Ilja Dragunov

Greg DeMarco takes a look at your Monday and Tuesday night TV ratings. What do they mean? Do they matter?

Settle in for a look at this week’s ratings for WWE Monday Night Raw and WWE NXT Halloween Havoc Night 2! Both were up against some stiff competition–let’s see how they fared!

WWE Monday Night Raw (October 30, 2023)

Hour #1 – 1.466 million viewers, .44 demo rating, #6 for the night on cable
Hour #2 – 1.450 million viewers, .46 demo rating #5 for the night on cable
Hour #3 – 1.256 million viewers, .39 demo rating, #8 for the night on cable

WWE Monday Night Raw for October 30, 2023 faced some stiff competition on Monday night. You had Monday Night Football as normal–which aired on both ESPN and ABC–along with the usual peripheral shows (Monday Night Football Postgame, Monday Night Football Kickoff, SportsCenter, and the Monday Night Countdown, which factored into the Top 10). 6.851 million people watched Monday Night Football on ESPN, a number that more than doubles when you factor in ABC.

What does it all mean? It means that outside of Monday Night Football–on cable–WWE Monday Night Raw was the top rated show. If you take away all things NFL, Raw finishes #1, #2, and #3 for the night. Viewership did drop off for our 3, but that’s the 10 PM hour that sees kids go to bed and people checking on the Monday Night Football and World Series games.

Speaking of which, that’s another factor to consider–the World Series! 8.126 million people watched the World Series on FOX (not really that good), with another 8.356 million watching Monday Night Football on ABC (yes, more than the World Series) for a decent-at-best Lions vs Raiders match-up.

In summary, it was another successful night for WWE Monday Night Raw, which was the go-home edition of the program. You can check out my Good Bad & Ugly look at Monday’s Raw, where I gave the show an overall “Good” rating. Haven’t watched yet? Give Mitchell’s live coverage a read.

Listen to this week’s edition of Bandwagon Nerds!

WWE NXT Halloween Havoc Night 2 (October 31, 2023)

Entire Broadcast – 674 thousand viewers, .20 demo rating, #6 for the night on cable

WWE NXT (Halloween Havoc Night 2) for October 31, 2023, had to deal with a myriad of external factors this week. First is the most obvious–it was Halloween! Many people had plans, Trick-Or-Treat escapades and more. That right there will be a detriment to any ratings results. Add in two live NBA games, each drawing over a million viewers for TNT. Combine it all together and WWE NXT was the top rated program that wasn’t sports programming on TNT or ESPN. Hell, the entire Top 12 consisted of ESPN and TNT sports programming, plus NXT.

It’s easy to call this a failure since viewership was lost week over week. But that’s very shortsighted. The fact remains that NXT was among the most watched programming for the night, holding its own against live sports and sports-peripheral programming. If you’re WWE and USA Network, you’re nothing but happy with these results.

NXT, of course, featured the second week of Halloween Havoc, headlined by Ilja Dragunov defending the NXT Championship against Carmelo Hayes in the third match of their trilogy. Along with that you had The Creed Brothers in a Tables, Ladders, and Scares (Chairs) match with Angel Garza & Humberto Carrillo, Lola Vice vs. Kelani Jordan in the finals of the Women’s Breakout Tournament, and much more.

I’d call the Tuesday program a ratings success. My Good, Bad, & Ugly review of NXT Halloween Havoc Night 2 is available here, where I called it “Good” overall. If you haven’t seen the show yet, check out Mitchell’s play-by-play.

As the weeks roll on, I will compile some historical data and look more about week-over-week (and beyond) patterns in all of my ratings reports.

Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!