What we learned from the WWE this week: April 10, 2017

Clearly, the central theme of the week for the WWE was the superstar shake-up. While not going to quite the same lengths as an all-out draft, the shake-up did make the overall content of the week feel fresh and gave us many reasons to look forward to an enjoyable 2017. Raw, SmackDown and NXT all had solid shows this week too, which has left us with plenty to think about, going forward. Here are seven things we learned from watching WWE this week.

#1 Raw is still the flagship show

Fans are split on whether Raw or its sister show SmackDown LIVE, hosts the better in-ring wrestling and story lines. One thing made clear this week, however, is the fact that in the eyes of WWE management, Raw is still the main show. While SmackDown captured the likes of Kevin Owens and Charlotte, Raw managed to steal a lot of SmackDown’s upper mid card talent.

Dean Ambrose, The Miz, Bray Wyatt and Alexa Bliss in their own way added something unique to the blue brand and will all be severely missed. Certainly, in the case of Bliss, Miz and Bray, it almost felt like they were receiving a promotion due to the good work they had been putting in, which just serves to further the idea that a Superstar won’t be taken seriously by the company unless they’re on Raw.