5 Trades that should take place between RAW and SmackDown
SmackDown just lost one of its biggest babyfaces in the brand-split era in WWE. Roman Reigns defeated Daniel Bryan, essentially ending Bryan's tenure on the Blue brand. After failing to defeat Reigns, Bryan agreed to leave SmackDown and the brand is now without one of its biggest stars.
Losing Bryan hurt SmackDown on several levels. He had some backstage influence and pushed for some underutilized stars. His in-ring storytelling is among the best in WWE history. Bryan is also one of the most natural babyfaces in WWE history.
Now that he is gone following his loss to the Tribal Chief, SmackDown needs to add some new good guys to its ranks. In terms of male singles stars on the Blue brand, the biggest faces are Big E, Kevin Owens, Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro. Cesaro is finally getting a decent push into the main event after a decade of service in the mid-card. He'll also probably fall to Reigns but is one of the remaining faces.
Owens has feuded with a lot of people on the blue brand, including Seth Rollins, Reigns, Sami Zayn, Apollo Crews and Aleister Black. He needs a reboot to best utilize his skills.
When Edge comes back to WWE, will it be on RAW or SmackDown? Will he be a face or a heel? When he was last seen (at WrestleMania 37), he had briefly turned to the dark side because of Daniel Bryan's involvement in his match.
Since SmackDown needs some fresh faces for its roster, some trades should take place between the two brands. The WWE Draft took place in October of 2020, but some stars have fizzled out regarding feuds since then.
Here are five trades that RAW and SmackDown should make.
#5 Ricochet joins SmackDown as Murphy goes to RAW
Ricochet hasn't been used much on RAW lately, even though it has three hours to fill. The most recent episode of RAW saw MVP show up multiple times over three hours. He's obviously an important star as he manages Lashley, but he didn't need to show up in every other segment of the show.
As mentioned in the introduction, SmackDown needs some new faces. Ricochet is a fantastic face due to his exciting in-ring style. Apollo Crews will also need some new challengers if minimal additions are made to the roster. RAW had two new faces show up this week, so SmackDown should also have some new stars. Whether that happens or not is up in the air until Friday.
Murphy is just like Ricochet in that he has a fast-paced and exciting in-ring game. He isn't being used at the moment but should be kept away from both Rollins and the Mysterios and get a fresh start on RAW. Murphy can stay a heel or can operate as a face if traded to RAW.
Both he and Ricochet need fresh starts and trading spots on their respective brands would accomplish that.