5 realistic contenders to move to WWE Raw in the 2019 Superstar Shake-Up
The 2019 WWE Superstar Shake-Up will take place on the April 15-16 episodes of Raw and SmackDown Live in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Last year, a total of 15 Superstars/teams moved to Raw when WWE mixed up the rosters after WrestleMania 34, with AOP, Ember Moon and Drew McIntyre among those to join the red brand from NXT.
The Superstar who has had the most success since swapping Tuesday nights for Monday nights last year is arguably Baron Corbin. Granted, the WWE Universe has not exactly taken kindly to seeing the 2017 Money In The Bank winner on their screens every week, but his career has progressed massively as an authority figure and prominent heel on WWE’s flagship show.
On the contrary, former WWE champion Jinder Mahal has been nowhere near the title picture since leaving SmackDown Live, while Mike Kanellis moved to 205 Live in October 2018 after failing to compete in a single match on Raw.
With the 2019 Shake-Up on the horizon, let’s take a look at five realistic contenders who could move to Raw a week after WrestleMania 35.
#5 Rusev & Lana
Rusev will team with makeshift tag partner Shinsuke Nakamura to face The Usos, The Bar and Aleister Black & Ricochet in a Fatal 4-Way match for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship at WrestleMania 35.
If “The Bulgarian Brute” wins, he will become a Tag Team champion for the first time in his career. If he loses, he will set a new record of 18 pay-per-view losses in a row (he currently holds the record of 17, joint with The Great Khali).
Now, unless your name is Curt Hawkins, nobody wants a PPV losing streak like that, especially a Superstar like Rusev who made a name for himself in WWE by winning match after match for an entire year before finally losing on the grand WrestleMania stage to John Cena.
Things have gone downhill for the three-time United States champion ever since he joined SmackDown Live. The only positive during his time on the blue brand was the ‘Rusev Day’ phenomenon, but it’s safe to say that WWE did not take full advantage of it.
Now a heel again, perhaps it is time for Rusev, along with Lana, to have a fresh start on Monday nights.