WWE Draft 2019: 11 Superstars that should not switch brands
When it comes to WWE Draft, it is always an exciting time in WWE. Their shows are usually permeated with the invigorating spirit of a fresh start at the beginning of each brand split. The audience is treated with lots of striking surprises in the form of unexpected roster moves and returns on such days.
Not to mention, how captivating for every fan are prospects of seeing favourite or just underutilized Superstars thriving on unfamiliar ground and potentially even reinventing their characters in the process. A successful Draft or a good Superstar Shake-up, without a doubt, maybe enough to revive and rejuvenate a wrestler’s whole career.
Looking at recent examples of such, we can remember the winner of King of the Ring 2019 Baron Corbin, who moved to RAW as a part of the 2018 Superstar Shake-up. Arriving on the red brand, he quickly found his new character as an authority figure and was eventually pushed to the main event picture (being it in coincidence with the fans’ will or against it). Recently returned to the screen, Corbin seems to catch his second breath on RAW as he went on to make history by winning the aforementioned tournament.
Current United States Champion AJ Styles managed to reunite with his The O.C. fellowmates Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows, make his way to the Championship, and come back to being a brilliant heel as he is only after the 2019 Superstar Shake-up.
The Usos, Braun Strowman, and even Heath Slater, to name some more, all served as a great example of character reinvention after they got enough creative attention and TV time thanks to the Draft in 2016.
This list goes on and on as it becomes only harder to argue with how beneficial a fresh brand split or a simple roster move can turn out to be for a wrestler’s career.
Sadly, we have as big of a list of recent roster moves, that seemed to occur randomly and didn’t lead to a given Superstar finding big success too. We can recall (even though it would not be easy considering these wrestlers’ current and past positions on the roster) all the events surrounding Sin Cara and Bo Dallas in 2016, Curt Hawkins and Heath Slater and Rhyno in 2017, Mike Kanellis and the Ascension in 2018, and Eric Young and Naomi in 2019 just to name a few.
Sometimes, a roster change can indeed only hamper a superstar’s existing momentum. It may even distract the company’s creative from any plans on his/her push.
With another Draft awaiting us in the middle of October, let’s take a look at some of WWE’s main roster performers, who should remain loyal to their current respective shows as switching brands would only harm their positions on the card.
As a little disclaimer before we start, I must note, that this list will not include current World, Women’s and Tag Team Champions for the obvious reason of them never switching brands these days.
#11 Erick Rowan
Looking back at his 2019, it’s safe to say, that Erick Rowan is at least in the conversation to become the biggest main roster breakout of this year. Making his return at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view to help Daniel Bryan retain his WWE Championship against AJ Styles, he went on to build an odd alliance with the Planet’s Champion. Together they’ve become a prominent part of SmackDown Live for several months, even capturing the blue brand’s tag team gold on their way.
Lately, Erick Rowan got himself quite a big push coming out of the Roman Reigns 'mystery attacker’ storyline. He even defeated ‘the Big Dog’ in their match at the Clash of Champions 2019, reuniting with his former ally in the face of Luke Harper. Two of them now continue to wreak havoc on SmackDown Live as one of its most featured acts.
Getting this recent push, Rowan surprised many fans with his quality mic work and showed a lot of wrestling potential, both in matches and in brawls outside the ring.
Potentially finishing his story arc with Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan at Hell in a Cell 2019, The Big Red has a good chance at establishing himself on the Blue Brand’s roster the best way he did since the times of The Wyatt’s Family.
Moving him to RAW now can hamper his current push and leave him on the sidelines of an unfamiliar roster without the great storyline background, that he has on SmackDown.