The 2017 WWE Superstar Shake-up was the eleventh WWE draft, albeit a non-traditional one, produced by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE between the Raw and SmackDown brands. It was a two-day event that took place on the April 10 and 11 episodes of Monday Night Raw and SmackDown Live, respectively, on the USA Network in the United States. Raw was broadcast from Uniondale, New York at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, while SmackDown Live was broadcast from Boston, Massachusetts at TD Garden.
Video 2017 WWE Superstar Shake-up
Background
On the April 3 episode of Raw, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon announced a "Superstar Shake-up" for the April 10 and April 11 episodes of Raw and SmackDown Live. Instead of a traditional draft, the brands' general managers made trades between their respective talent and other deals.
Maps 2017 WWE Superstar Shake-up
Selection
Raw
The following wrestlers and other personnel changed brands on the April 10 episode of Raw. The first and last two entries happened before and after the show, respectively.
SmackDown Live
The following wrestlers changed brands on the April 11 episode of SmackDown Live. The first entry happened before the show.
Notes
- The only tag team/stable broken up as a direct result of the Superstar Shake-up was The Wyatt Family: Bray Wyatt moved to Raw while Erick Rowan remained on SmackDown.
- The Intercontinental Championship moved to Raw while the United States Championship moved to SmackDown. Prior to the Superstar Shake-up, United States Champion Kevin Owens was already scheduled to defend the title against Chris Jericho at the Raw-exclusive pay-per-view Payback on April 30, 2017. At Payback, Jericho defeated Owens for the title and transferred to the SmackDown brand. Payback also included a non-title match between SmackDown's WWE Champion Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt, who moved to Raw.
- On June 14, 2017, it was revealed that John Cena, who had been on hiatus since WrestleMania 33, became a free agent during the Superstar Shake-up. He returned on the July 4 episode of SmackDown, stating that he would appear for both brands.
Reception
WWE had explained that the general managers of Raw and SmackDown could make trades and deals amongst their talent. Adam Silverstein of CBS Sports commented on this, stating that there was no explanation on who was traded for who or what deals were made. Instead, the performers just appeared on the show and declared that they were now part of that brand. Silverstein also commented on how there were matches that were scheduled for Payback, which was supposed to be a Raw-exclusive pay-per-view, but due to the shake-up, a couple of SmackDown wrestlers appeared there since their matches were scheduled prior to the shake-up. He said the feuds for those matches should have ended at WrestleMania 33. Silverstein said that WWE at least explained what would happen to the winner of the United States Championship match, something they did not do for the WWE Championship match. The reason for this was because Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt's match was a non-title match, which was not initially clear when the match was scheduled.
Brian Mazique of Forbes stated that the Superstar Shake-up felt like Major League Baseball's Winter Meetings, and that it added "much-needed freshness after WrestleMania." Mazique also expressed excitement over potential feuds, such as Bray Wyatt and Finn Bálor on Raw and AJ Styles and Kevin Owens on SmackDown. Josh Barnett of Sports Weekly stated that the fate of SmackDown's tag team division is now up to The New Day, as the division had been foundering for quite some time.
The April 10 episode of Raw garnered a rating of 2.35, which was down from the post-WrestleMania Raw of the previous week, which had a 2.62 rating. The April 10 broadcast averaged 3.429 million viewers, which was down from the 3.767 million average viewers of the previous week. The April 11 episode of SmackDown saw a rating of 2.14, which was up from 2.02 the previous week, and was SmackDown's highest rating since the brand split in July 2016. The April 11 broadcast had a total viewership of 3.1 million viewers.
Aftermath
During and following the events of the Superstar Shake-up on Raw, Braun Strowman injured new Raw member Kalisto after he had lost to him in a dumpster match. In the women's division, new Raw members Alexa Bliss and Mickie James participated in a fatal four-way match, which Alexa won to become the number one contender for the Raw Women's Championship at Payback; she subsequently defeated Bayley at the event and became the first woman to win both the Raw and SmackDown women's championships. New Raw members The Miz and Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose reignited their old feud from SmackDown over the title. Apollo Crews joined with Titus O'Neil and later Akira Tozawa, Curt Hawkins continued his role as a jobber, but claimed that everyone who defeats him becomes a star. Bray Wyatt ended his feud with Randy Orton at Payback and began a feud with Seth Rollins. Also, Dash Wilder of The Revival, who debuted along with his tag team partner Scott Dawson on the April 3 episode of Raw, suffered a jaw injury, which took him out for several weeks. NXT's Elias Samson debuted on the April 10 episode of Raw and later shortened his ring name to Elias.
On SmackDown, AJ Styles defeated Baron Corbin and new SmackDown member Sami Zayn to become the number one contender for the United States Championship at Backlash. New SmackDown member Charlotte Flair became the number one contender for Naomi's SmackDown Women's Championship. Their title match ended in a no contest after both women were attacked by The Welcoming Committee (Natalya, Tamina, and Carmella with James Ellsworth); Charlotte subsequently turned face. The Shining Stars changed their ring name to The Colóns and had a short feud with American Alpha. Jinder Mahal continued his mini-feud with Mojo Rawley from WrestleMania 33 and subsequently defeated Randy Orton for the WWE Championship at Backlash; he received help from the NXT's The Bollywood Boyz (renamed to The Singh Brothers, Sunil and Samir, respectively), who were promoted to SmackDown. At Payback, Chris Jericho defeated Kevin Owens for the United States Championship, subsequently moving Jericho to SmackDown. The New Day challenged The Usos for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship at Money in the Bank. For several weeks, Lana was promoted as "coming soon" in vignettes showcasing her in a new gimmick. She made her first official appearance for the brand on the June 6 episode of SmackDown and challenged Naomi for the SmackDown Women's Championship at Money in the Bank. Her husband Rusev appeared in WWE.com videos and demanded a WWE Championship match at Money in the Bank, but did not appear until the July 4 episode of SmackDown, when he confronted the returning John Cena, setting up a flag match at Battleground.
References
Source of article : Wikipedia
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