| 2018 WWE Superstar Shake-up | |
|---|---|
 The 2018WWE Superstar Shake-up logo. | |
| General information | |
| Sport | Professional wrestling |
| Date | April 16–17, 2018 |
| Location | Hartford,Connecticut (April 16) Providence,Rhode Island (April 17) |
| Overview | |
| League | WWE |
| Teams | Raw SmackDown NXT (outgoing only) |
← 2017 | |
The2018 WWE Superstar Shake-up was the twelfthWWE draft, produced by theAmerican professional wrestling promotionWWE between theRaw andSmackDownbrands. Instead of a traditional draft, changes between the brands were made behind the scenes, with moving wrestlers simply appearing on a brand's show or announced via WWE's website or social medias. The two-day event took place on the April 16 and April 17 episodes ofMonday Night Raw andSmackDown Live, respectively, on theUSA Network in theUnited States.Raw was broadcast fromHartford, Connecticut at theXL Center, andSmackDown was broadcast from theDunkin' Donuts Center inProvidence, Rhode Island.
TheWWE Draft is an annual process used by the Americanprofessional wrestling promotionWWE while abrand extension, or brand split, is in effect. The original brand extension occurred from 2002 to 2011, while the second and current brand split began in 2016. During a brand extension, the company divides its roster into brands where the wrestlers exclusively perform for each brand's respective television show, and the draft is used to refresh the rosters of the brand divisions, typically between theRaw andSmackDown brands.
In2017, WWE rebranded the draft as the Superstar Shake-up to replace the traditional draft the company had done in2016. On the April 9, 2018 episode ofMonday Night Raw, WWE announced another Superstar Shake-up for the April 16 and 17 episodes ofRaw andSmackDown, respectively. Instead of a traditional draft, the commissioners and general managers of Raw and SmackDown made trades and other deals behind the scenes between their respective talent, which also included the promotion and drafting of wrestlers from theNXT brand.[1][2] On April 10,Paige, who had retired from in-ring competition the previous night, was introduced as SmackDown's new general manager. She replacedDaniel Bryan, who returned to being a full-time wrestler.[3]
The following wrestlers and other personnel changed brands on the April 16 episode ofRaw.[4][5]
Color at the top indicates the brand color ofRaw as to Night 1 of the draft taking place on Raw separate from Night 2 of the draft taking place onSmackDown separate from the color blue that represents thebrand SmackDown.
| # | Brand (to) | Employee (Real name) | Role | Brand (from) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Raw | Jinder Mahal andSunil Singh (Yuvraj Dhesi and Gurvinder Sihra) | Male wrestler and manager | SmackDown | Drafted with theUnited States Championship. |
| 2 | Raw | The Riott Squad (Ruby Riott,Liv Morgan, andSarah Logan) (Dori Prange, Gionna Daddio, and Sarah Bridges) | Female stable | SmackDown | |
| 3 | Raw | Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn (Kevin Steen andRami Sebei) | Male tag team | Free agents | Owens and Zayn were (kayfabe) fired from SmackDown on March 20, 2018 for assaulting SmackDown CommissionerShane McMahon, and failed to regain their jobs atWrestleMania 34. They were given a chance to win a single contract in a match against each other onRaw the day after WrestleMania, which ended in a double countout. They were ultimately both signed to Raw contracts as free agents by Raw CommissionerStephanie McMahon the following week. |
| 4 | SmackDown | The Miz (Michael Mizanin) | Male wrestler | Raw | |
| 5 | Raw | Zack Ryder (Matthew Cardona) | Male wrestler | SmackDown | Announced his transfer onTwitter[6] |
| 6 | Raw | Breezango (Fandango andTyler Breeze) (Curtis Hussey and Mattias Clement) | Male tag team | SmackDown | |
| 7 | Raw | Natalya (Natalie Neidhart-Wilson) | Female wrestler | SmackDown | |
| 8 | Raw | Mojo Rawley (Dean Muhtadi) | Male wrestler | SmackDown | Announced on WWE'sYouTube channel[7] |
| 9 | Raw | Dolph Ziggler (Nicholas Nemeth) | Male wrestler | SmackDown | |
| 10 | Raw | Drew McIntyre (Andrew Galloway IV) | Male wrestler | NXT | |
| 11 | Raw | Baron Corbin (Thomas Pestock) | Male wrestler | SmackDown | |
| 12 | Raw | Mike Kanellis (Michael Bennett) | Male wrestler | SmackDown | Announced on WWE's Twitter |
| 13 | Raw | The Ascension (Konnor andViktor) (Ryan Parmeter and Eric Thompson) | Male tag team | SmackDown | Announced through WWE'sInstagram |
| 14 | Raw | Bobby Roode (Robert Francis Roode Jr.) | Male wrestler | SmackDown | |
| 15 | Raw | Chad Gable (Charles Betts) | Male wrestler | SmackDown | Announced on WWE's Twitter. Separated from his tag team partnerShelton Benjamin. |
The following wrestlers and other personnel changed brands on the April 17 episode ofSmackDown.[4][8]
Color at the top indicates the brand color ofSmackDown as to Night 2 of the draft taking place on SmackDown separate from Night 1 of the draft taking place onRaw separate from the color red that represents thebrand Raw.
| # | Brand (to) | Employee (Real name) | Role | Brand (from) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SmackDown | Jeff Hardy | Male wrestler | Raw | Drafted with theUnited States Championship, which he won by defeating previous championJinder Mahal on the previous night'sRaw. Separated from his brother andHardy Boyz tag team partner,Matt Hardy. |
| 2 | SmackDown | Absolution (Mandy Rose andSonya Deville) (Amanda Saccomanno and Daria Berenato) | Female tag team | Raw | |
| 3 | SmackDown | Samoa Joe (Nuufolau Seanoa) | Male wrestler | Raw | |
| 4 | SmackDown | Sanity (Eric Young,Alexander Wolfe, andKillian Dain) (Jeremy Fritz, Axel Tischer, and Damien Mackle) | Male stable | NXT | Nikki Cross was also a member of the stable inNXT, but was not called up. |
| 5 | SmackDown | Big Cass (William Morrissey) | Male wrestler | Raw | The Superstar Shake-up was his first appearance on WWE television since his injury in August 2017. |
| 6 | SmackDown | Asuka (Kanako Urai) | Female wrestler | Raw | Asuka had challengedCharlotte Flair for theSmackDown Women's Championship after winning the2018 Women's Royal Rumble, and had been appearing on both shows in the weeks prior toWrestleMania 34. |
| 7 | SmackDown | Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson (Andrew Hankinson andChad Allegra) | Male tag team | Raw | |
| 8 | SmackDown | Cesaro and Sheamus (Claudio Castagnoli andStephen Farrelly) | Male tag team | Raw | Cesaro and Sheamus challenged for theRaw Tag Team Championship atGreatest Royal Rumble two weeks later, which they lost. |
| 9 | SmackDown | R-Truth (Ronnie Killings) | Male wrestler | Raw | |
| 10 | SmackDown | Andrade "Cien" Almas andZelina Vega (Manuel Andrade and Thea Trinidad) | Male wrestler and female manager | NXT |
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On Raw, after being drafted with the United States Championship, Jinder Mahal immediately lost the title to Jeff Hardy and failed to win it back at theGreatest Royal Rumble. He then had a short feud withRoman Reigns as well as a storyline withKevin Owens andBraun Strowman.The Riott Squad (Ruby Riott,Liv Morgan, andSarah Logan) made their debut by attackingBayley andSasha Banks. Over the following year, they feuded with the likes ofThe Bella Twins (Brie Bella andNikki Bella) andRonda Rousey, with each member unsuccessfully facing Rousey for theRaw Women's Championship, and Morgan and Logan also challenged for the inauguralWWE Women's Tag Team Championship.Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn lost their initial match onRaw and had a short feud with Braun Strowman and the returningBobby Lashley. Later in the year, both suffered injuries, requiring them to take time off, subsequently disbanding their team. Both returned in early 2019, but with Owens on SmackDown while Zayn remained on Raw. Shortly after the Superstar Shake-up,Zack Ryder injured his knee, taking him out of action for several weeks. After his return, he reignited his feud withMojo Rawley. After moving to Raw,Natalya became a fan favorite and had a storyline with Ronda Rousey and a short feud with Ruby Riott.Dolph Ziggler andDrew McIntyre formed a tag team and feuded withSeth Rollins. Ziggler went on to win theIntercontinental Championship, and the two also won theRaw Tag Team Championship before McIntyre turned on Ziggler. In mid-2018,Baron Corbin was made theConstable of Raw by the brand's commissionerStephanie McMahon and eventually became the Acting Raw General Manager afterKurt Angle was forced to go on vacation by Stephanie. He also feuded with Braun Strowman in the later half of the year. Although he was moved to Raw,Mike Kanellis primarily appeared onMain Event and was eventually moved to the205 Live brand along with his wifeMaria Kanellis.Bobby Roode andChad Gable eventually formed a tag team and later won the Raw Tag Team Championship.
After moving to SmackDown, bringing the United States Championship back to the brand, Jeff Hardy feuded withRandy Orton andShinsuke Nakamura, dropping the title to the latter. Before moving to SmackDown,The Miz lost the Intercontinental Championship to Seth Rollins atWrestleMania 34. He had two rematches to regain the title, at Greatest Royal Rumble andBacklash, but failed in both attempts, and later in the year, reignited his feud withDaniel Bryan. After former Absolution leader and new SmackDown General Manager Paige made it clear that she would not show them special treatment,Mandy Rose andSonya Deville dropped the name Absolution but remained a tag team. Although tensions rose between the two, they challenged for the inaugural WWE Women's Tag Team Championship. Despite moving to SmackDown,Samoa Joe had an opportunity at the Intercontinental Championship at the Greatest Royal Rumble, but lost. He also faced Raw'sRoman Reigns at Backlash, but also lost that match. He then entered into a feud withAJ Styles over theWWE Championship, and although unsuccessful at gaining that title, he won the United States Championship before the year's end.Big Cass immediately began a feud with Daniel Bryan that he ultimately lost before being released from his WWE contract in June.Asuka began a feud withCarmella over theSmackDown Women's Championship that she ultimately lost, however, she eventually won the title before the year's end.Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson earned an opportunity for theSmackDown Tag Team Championship atMoney in the Bank, but failed. Before moving to SmackDown,Cesaro andSheamus were granted an opportunity at the Raw Tag Team Championship at the Greatest Royal Rumble, but failed to win the titles. They then officially changed their team name toThe Bar, previously a nickname, and began a pursuit for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship, which they eventually won.R-Truth eventually formed a partnership with Carmella and the two would go on to winMixed Match Challenge Season 2. After moving to SmackDown,Andrade began a feud withSin Cara. The Hardy Boyz eventually reunited; in mid-2018, Matt Hardy went on hiatus, but when he returned in February 2019, he returned on the SmackDown brand and reunited with Jeff.Nikki Cross was eventually called up in December 2018, but did not rejoinSanity and appeared on bothRaw andSmackDown.