2017 WWE Superstar Shake-up

The **2017 WWE Superstar Shake-up** was the eleventh draft produced by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE. It was a two-day event that took place on the April 10 and April 11 episodes of *Raw* and *SmackDown Live*, respectively, on the USA Network in the United States. *Raw* was broadcast from Uniondale, New York at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, while *SmackDown Live* was broadcast from Boston, Massachusetts at TD Garden.

## Background

On the April 3 episode of *Raw*, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon announced that on the April 10 and April 11 episodes of *Raw* and *SmackDown Live*, respectively, "it's time to shake things up around here", effectively announcing the 2017 draft, or what was labeled the "Superstar Shake-up". Instead of a traditional draft, Raw General Manager Kurt Angle and SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan had the "opportunity to make trades, deals and other moves that they feel fit".

## Selection

### *Raw*

The following is the list of wrestlers and other personnel who changed brands on the April 10 episode of *Raw*. The first and last two entries happened before and after the show, respectively. Although not part of the Superstar Shake-up, NXT's Elias Samson made his main roster debut on *Raw*.

### *SmackDown Live*

The following is the list of wrestlers who changed brands on the April 11 episode of *SmackDown Live*. The first entry happened before the show.

#### Notes

* Only one tag team was broken up as a result of the Superstar Shake-up, which was The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt moved to Raw while Erick Rowan remained on SmackDown).
* Although not part of the Superstar Shake-up, NXT's Elias Samson made his main roster debut during the Superstar Shake-up on the April 10 episode of *Raw*.
* The Intercontinental Championship moved to Raw while the United States Championship moved to SmackDown. Despite the results of the Raw-exclusive pay-per-view Payback on April 30, 2017, the United States Championship will remain on SmackDown while the winner of the match will come to SmackDown and the loser will go to Raw. Payback will also feature a match between SmackDown's WWE Champion Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt, who moved to Raw. WWE has not revealed whether or not the stipulation for that match will be the same as the U.S. Championship match, or if the WWE Championship will move to Raw if Wyatt wins.

## Response

WWE had explained that the general managers of Raw and SmackDown could make trades and deals amongst their talent. Adam Silverstein of CBS Sports commented on this, stating that there was no explanation on who was traded for who or what deals were made. Instead, the performers just appeared on the show and declared that they were now part of that brand. Silverstein also commented on how there were matches that were scheduled for Payback, which is supposed to be a Raw-exclusive pay-per-view, and now there will be a couple of SmackDown wrestlers appearing there as a result of the shake-up since the matches were scheduled prior to the event. He said the feuds for those matches should have ended at WrestleMania 33. Silverstein said that WWE at least explained what would happen to the winner of the United States Championship match, something they have yet to do for the WWE Championship match should Bray Wyatt win.

Brian Mazique of *Forbes* stated that the Superstar Shake-up felt like Major League Baseball's Winter Meetings, and that it added "much-needed freshness after WrestleMania." Mazique also expressed excitement over the potential feuds that could come from the shake-up, such as Bray Wyatt and Finn Bálor on Raw and AJ Styles and Kevin Owens on SmackDown, if Owens stays on SmackDown. Josh Barnett of *Sports Weekly* stated that the fate of SmackDown's tag team division is now up to The New Day, as the division had been foundering for quite some time.

The April 10 episode of *Raw* garnered a rating of 2.35, which was down from the post-WrestleMania *Raw* of the previous week, which had a 2.62 rating. The April 10 broadcast averaged 3.429 million viewers, which was down from the 3.767 million average viewers of the previous week. The April 11 episode of *SmackDown Live* saw a rating of 2.14, which was up from 2.02 the previous week, and was *SmackDown Live*'s highest rating since the brand split in July 2016. The April 11 broadcast had a total viewership of 3.1 million viewers.

## References

1. ↑ WWE.com Staff (April 3, 2017). "Mr. McMahon announces WWE will "shake things up" next week on Raw and SmackDown LIVE". *WWE.com*. Retrieved April 4, 2017.
2. ↑ Keller, Wade (April 3, 2017). "KELLER'S WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW 2/3: The most remarkable opening ten minutes of Raw in history, perhaps, as crowd berates Reigns". *Pro Wrestling Torch*. Retrieved April 3, 2017.
3. ↑ WWE.com Staff (April 10, 2017). "SmackDown LIVE Superstars come to Raw in wild Superstar Shake-up". *WWE.com*. Retrieved April 10, 2017.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 WWE.com Staff (April 11, 2017). "WWE Superstar Shake-up 2017 results: Get roster changes for Raw and SmackDown LIVE". *WWE.com*. Retrieved April 11, 2017.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Keller, Wade. "KELLER’S WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW 4/10: Superstar Shakeup begins with two Smackdown wrestlers coming to the ring, full report". *Pro Wrestling Torch*. Retrieved April 10, 2017.
6. ↑ "Apollo Crews arrives on Raw as part of the Superstar Shake-up: Exclusive, April 10, 2017". *WWE's Official YouTube Channel*. April 10, 2017. Retrieved April 10, 2017.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Byron Saxton learns he is going to SmackDown LIVE: Raw Fallout, April 10, 2017". *WWE's Official YouTube Channel*. April 10, 2017. Retrieved April 11, 2017.
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Keller, Wade. "KELLER’S WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT 4/11: Superstar Shake-up Night 2 details". *Pro Wrestling Torch*. Retrieved April 11, 2017.
9. ↑ "Jinder Mahal seeks WrestleMania retribution on Mojo Rawley: April 11, 2017". *WWE's Official YouTube Channel*. April 10, 2017. Retrieved April 11, 2017.
10. ↑ Silverstein, Adam (April 11, 2017). "WWE Superstar Shakeup: List of roster changes to SmackDown and Raw". *CBS Sports*. Retrieved April 12, 2017.
11. ↑ Mazique, Brian (April 12, 2017). "WWE Complete Raw And SmackDown Roster Analysis After Superstar Shakeup". *Forbes*. Retrieved April 12, 2017.
12. ↑ Barnett, Josh (April 12, 2017). "5 things we think we know after WWE Superstar Shakeup, plus all the moves". *Sports Weekly*. Retrieved April 12, 2017.
13. ↑ "WWE Raw rating for the April 10 Superstar Shakeup edition". *Pro Wrestling Dot Net*. April 11, 2017. Retrieved April 12, 2017.
14. ↑ Keller, Wade (April 12, 2017). "Smackdown Rating: Superstar Shake-up leads to ratings surge, bigger for Smackdown than Raw (w/Keller’s Analysis)". *Pro Wrestling Torch*. Retrieved April 12, 2017.