Night two of Vince McMahon’s WWE Superstar Shake-Up is over. While no clear trades between the brands were made, a fairly even talent swap between team Red and Blue took place.
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Smackdown Live had to re-load in a big way Tuesday after Raw picked up Dean Ambrose, the Miz, Bray Wyatt, and Alexa Bliss on Monday night. Arguably, Smackdown may have not gained as many marquee stars as Raw, but they certainly gained a lot of new faces to work with.
The landscapes of both brands have shifted dramatically this week and one of Smackdown’s biggest pick ups may not even stay with the brand after the next pay per view.
In total, ten big roster moves were made on Smackdown Live. Scroll down to see our grades for each of the new stars on the Blue Brand and check here to see our grades for Raw.
Kevin Owens
Kevin Owens was a much needed addition to the roster after Raw took Dean Ambrose and the Intercontinental Championship to Monday nights. However, there’s still a chance that Owens could get shipped back to Raw if he loses the US title to Chris Jericho at Payback. As much as I love Jericho, Owens is greatly needed on Tuesday nights. In one night, he’s already made the US Championship seem more valuable than Randy Orton’s WWE Championship.ย
A
Charlotte Flair
Smackdown’sย women’s division was in desperate need of star power after losing Alexaย Bliss. Charlotte will give the blue brand a ton of credibility and in turn Smackdownย will give her feuds that don’t include Sashaย Banks and Bayley.ย
This is a solid A+
Tamina Snuka
Love seeing Tamina back on the roster, but hate that she was brought in as the punchline to Shane O’ Mac’s trolling of the Smackdownย audience. Oh well, that will all be forgotten soon and hopefully Taminaย canย do for the Snukaย legacy what Charlotte has done for the Flair’s.
C
The New Day
Could not be happier to see The New Day get a fresh start on a show that doesn’t have the time to overexpose them. Hopefully this will lead to some of the members actually getting a singles push. They all have the talent to be top stars and Big E could make a huge run at the top of the card if given the freedom to do so.
A +ย
Rusev
Unfortunately Rusev’sย shoulder injury prevented him from making an immediate impact on Smackdown, but he should provide a big boost when he eventually does return. Perhaps no one needed to get away from Raw more than the Bulgarian Brute. Since losing the United States Championship to Roman Reigns last summer, he’s been booked more like Santino Marella than a serious threat to a major championship. Rusevย might fit perfectly in feuds with AJ Styles, Randy Orton and Luke Harper.ย
A+
Lana
WWE announced that Lana will not only be joining Rusevย as a member of the roster, but will actually be a part of the Smackdownย in-ring women’s division. By all accounts the Ravishing Russian has been impressive in her time in the ring at NXTย live events, so we look forward to seeing what she can bring to Team Blue.ย
B
Sin Cara
Sin Cara is still employed by the WWE. I did not realize that until last night. Can’t imagine him making much of an impact on the roster or getting much TV time.ย
D-
Shining Stars
This would have gotten a solid D, but Primo and Epico made a big first impression on Smackdown when they attacked American Alpha Tuesday night. Dressed in street clothes, it appears The Stars have ditched their travel agent gimmick and gotten a really cool finisher to boot. I’ll give it a chance.ย
C+
Jinder Mahal
One night after giving Finn Balor a concussion, Jinderย Mahalย got doused with beer by Rob Gronkowski and took a loss to Mojoย Rawley. It basically looks like Jinderย will be stuck in the angry foreigner gimmick regardless of which brand he shows up on.ย
C-
