LIVE Raw Superstar Shakeup thoughts - April 16, 2018

10:48 - As far as my predictions to go to Smackdown, my guesses are:

• Miz (already confirmed)
• Seth Rollins
• Sasha Banks
• Revival
• Goldust
• R-Truth
• Absolution

Potential moves but might not:

• Braun
• Titus Worldwide
• Elias
• Big Cass

10:44 - Well, it's Bobby Roode, which is fine.  He should do well on Raw (heel turn would be good).  On social media, we've learned that Mike and Maria Kanellis are also coming to Raw.

10:42 - Both Cole and Graves going after Coach (who I'm not sure I even enjoy) regardless of what he says is borderline uncomfortable. Like, Balor wears black, blue, red, gray......I wouldn't say he wears blue "every night."

10:38 - If not Orton, I go with Roode.  Unless they do something massive like switch AJ over, and then swap the World titles.  I just don't see them doing that, though.

10:37 - Final guess.  Orton is the final trade to Raw from Smackdown.

10:18 - Looks like Natalya is the token person who switches shows and turns, which is a good thing.  People need to freshen up their characters.

Also, according to WWE's social media, Ascension is now on Raw.  I STILL can't get over how they bungled these two.  Let's hope they have an honest shot on a new show (though I doubt it).

And, as predicted, Corbin switches as well.

10:02 - Did Cole just refer to Backlash as "the first co-branded Pay-Per-View"?  A week after WrestleMania?

9:53 - Why on earth would they think it would be good for McIntyre to pair him up with Ziggler?

And hey, we have all of 3MB back on Raw together.....

9:49 - Funny thing is, I've always said I thought Ziggler and Paige would make a great heel pair (similar to Ziggler and Vickie or Ziggler and AJ), but I guess that's not going to happen.  Can't imagine Ziggler makes a big impact here.

9:41 - Mickie James did an awesome job with that finisher.  Made it look like a killer move.

9:36 - Ember Moon may very well have the best theme music in WWE right now.

Also, I kinda hate that they turned Nia Jax into this super smiley, happy, friendly babyface.  Why does WWE do this with every monster who turns face?

9:27 - "There's no theme.  Everything just clashes."  It's not as if the Fashion Police were doing anything of substance on Smackdown, but I see this as another Slater and Rhyno situation.  They had a nice little place on Smackdown but will now just job a whole lot on Raw.

9:18 - Yeah, I definitely see the Revival going to Smackdown, then.  Nothing for them on Raw.

9:17 - To be fair, "we don't set the bar, we are the bar" is a fairly basic catch phrase that should be easy to understand.

9:10 - For what it's worth, I think I see the losers of this match going to Smackdown.

Also, according to WWE's social media pages, Zack Ryder has been traded to Raw.  With that in mind, I see Mojo staying on Smackdown.

9:04 - So there you have it, Miz is going to Smackdown (good move), Bryan is staying on Smackdown (also good), and Miztourage stays on Raw (bad for them).  So again, aside from Riott Squad, every single person traded is somebody who swapped brands the year prior.

So a big babyface is heading to Raw.....I'm guessing it's Orton.

8:58 - Also, for what it's worth, I'm guessing Miz and the Miztourage get traded to Smackdown to give closure to the Bryan/Miz storyline.

8:57 - I like that Cole is bringing up the logic gap here.  Another pair of people that switched brands last year.

8:52 - Since Miz is making the announcement and it's being built up as a big thing, I think there's an unfortunately good chance that Daniel Bryan gets traded to Raw.  If that happens, be prepared for a long rant.

Unfortunately, who else is there on Smackdown that could be considered a big deal?  AJ Styles, of course, but that means they trade Brock (or Roman) to Smackdown to get the Universal title there.....and I don't see them doing that.  Who else dose that leave?  Orton?

Unless this is a heel tease, and it's a midcarder like Roode or Rusev.

8:41 - As predicted, the Riott Squad moves to Raw (which means -- for now anyway -- both Alexa Bliss and Liv Morgan are on the same brand.....which makes me a happy man -- give them a segment together!)  I'm guessing Absolution moves to Smackdown.

8:20 - I could conceivably see Hardy get traded to Smackdown to bring the US title back there (and keep IC on Raw), but it would create one of two logistical issues:  Either the trades were already agreed upon and Hardy was already selected to go to Smackdown.....but then why would Smackdown give up their US title without getting something in return?  Or the trades are still ongoing....in which case, why would Raw give up their US champion?

Oh yeah, and either Bayley or Sasha (probably Sasha) is totally going to Smackdown.

8:16 - Two years in a row they've swapped the US and IC titles (presumably).  And for that matter, two years in a row Mahal has switched brands.  To his credit, he went from a post-show trade last year to the opening trade this year.

8:07 - For what it's worth,  I was going to predict Jeff Hardy to move to Smackdown.  I could see him winning the title tonight.  If he doesn't, I still see him going to Smackdown, I think.

8:03 - If Mahal is coming to Raw, I'm guessing Rollins is going to Smackdown (which would be a good thing).  Logistically speaking, it wouldn't make sense for one show to give up their champion without the other.  With that in mind, I can imagine Orton moving to Raw as well.

7:36 - Okay, so the Superstar Shakeup is starting in about twenty minutes.  Let me tell you what I think we'll see, what I hope we'll see, and what I hope we DON'T see.  Let me also just say how much more I like the Superstar Shakeup than the Draft Lottery, because there's a logical reason why certain swaps happen (the year that the WWE and World Heavyweight Champion both just so happened to switch was a stretch, but it's easy to buy that the Intercontinental and United States Champions were traded for each other).

I'm HOPING this year we see Smackdown get some love.  Last year I incorrectly stated that I thought Smackdown got the better of the two sides.  I was way off on that.  Here are the trades I could see happening, which I do hope happen:

Since tonight focuses on people from Smackdown moving to Raw, here's what I could see happening:

Baron Corbin to Raw:  Seems kinda lost in the shuffle over on Smackdown.  Needs some new scenery.

The Usos to Raw:  They've gone through pretty much everybody on Smackdown, and the Raw division needs some fresh faces.  For what it's worth, this would sort of disappoint me.  I like that they found their own identity on Smackdown.

Mojo Rawley to Raw:  He's doing next to nothing on Smackdown.

Charlotte to Raw:  Sadly.  Very, very, sadly.  I'm of the mindset that you keep her and Ronda far, far away from each other.  But I see Charlotte as the "big name" they take from Smackdown.

Naomi to Raw:  Just to keep her and the Usos together.

I could also potentially see:

Bobby Roode to Raw:  He's seemingly been written out of the United States Championship storyline, so he's got nothing holding him to Smackdown.

Riott Squad to Raw:  To move Absolution to Smackdown to reunite with Paige, perhaps?  If nothing else, it would make sense from a kayfabe perspective.

What I could see them doing, but I really don't want them to:

Daniel Bryan to Raw:  They stripped him of his General Manager status.  They gave us the match against AJ.  It does FEEL like they're getting everything out of the way to move him to Raw (plus, Smackdown ALWAYS loses a big name.....and I don't see it being AJ -- as champ -- or Nakamura).  I just see no benefit to moving Bryan to Raw.

More than anything, this just shows how depleted Smackdown's roster is.  When you consider AJ is champ (and likely not moving), Nakamura is probably staying because they just made that feud interesting, and Orton is probably staying because he's feuding for the US title, there really are NO big names for them to even lose other than Bryan.  Very sad.