Who will move during the 2019 superstar shakeup?
We're now on the road to WrestleMania 35, but as Triple H said this week: "the machine never stops." Many are already looking past the big show on April 7th and trying to figure out what the year after it will bring. This means the superstar shakeup and a reshuffling of the rosters on Raw and SmackDown, and some big names from NXT arriving on the main roster.
Both shows have their problems, though SmackDown is currently in a better position. One thing WWE will need to take pains to avoid this year is having one show come out too far ahead of the other. In 2017, Raw got the better end of the bargain in the shakeup. In 2018, SmackDown did. As a result, the show that got the short end of the stick suffered for a year. The goal of this year's shakeup should be to maintain a balance of power between the two shows, keeping their divisions strong and setting up feuds that will make both worth watching.
How might WWE attempt to do this? By switching these superstars to the opposite brand, or with these call-ups from NXT.
To Raw: AJ Styles
SmackDown might be "the house that AJ Styles built," but that name is too apt, because it's more than evident that Styles has done everything there is to do on the blue brand. His possibilities have been exhausted and Raw desperately needs life in its main event picture. There's nobody better to be one of the stalwarts in the Universal Championship scene than AJ Styles, where exciting counters with Raw's top superstars like Seth Rollins and Drew McIntyre would naturally await.
A match with Seth Rollins, in particular, would be a dream that many fans have had ever since Styles arrived in WWE and could easily be a SummerSlam main event.