4 WWE Superstars who benefitted from changing brands

Jinder defeated Orton to win the WWE Championship

When the brand split was first announced in 2002 after the acquisition of WCW and ECW, there was a lot of excitement and curiosity about how this decision will impact the careers of the WWE superstars. In the years that followed, the blue and red brands saw many iconic storylines and unforgettable matches until 2011 when WWE decided to combine both the rosters.

In 2016, the second brand extension happened and since then there have been two Superstar Shake-up’s which saw some of the top wrestlers such as Dean Ambrose and Kevin Owens switching brands as WWE wanted to freshen things up in search of new storylines.

The 2019 Superstar Shake-up will take place on April 15 and 16 with the McMahon’s expected to make some significant trades between them. Many wrestlers in the past whose characters had become boring because of stale feuds and pointless storylines had benefitted immensely by switching brands. This list consists of four wrestlers who became very famous after changing brands.

#1 John Cena (Smackdown to RAW, 2005)

Ever since John Cena made his debut in SmackDown and put on a good performance against Kurt Angle, many believed that he will become the face of the company. John Cena’s popularity steadily rose as his “Doctor of Thuganomics” character became a big hit among the fans.

But his career defining moment came on June 6, 2005, when he moved to RAW from Smackdown after ending his feud with JBL. He initially received mixed reactions from the crowd during his feud against Kurt angle as his “babyface” persona did not impress everyone.

There were doubts about his capability as an in-ring performer but his WrestleMania 23 match against Shawn Michaels proved everyone wrong. On the RAW after WrestleMania 23, he and Shawn Michaels wrestled for almost an hour and it remains one of the most unforgettable moments in the history of this company.

His feud with Edge, Randy Orton and CM Punk during his time as the face of the red brand will forever remain etched in the memories of millions of WWE fans.