Rumor: Samoa Joe Moving to WWE Raw Despite Missing Superstar Shake-up Episode

By the end of this week's Monday Night Raw, many fans had noticed that the WWE had not switched [...]

By Connor Casey

By the end of this week's Monday Night Raw, many fans had noticed that the WWE had not switched any of SmackDown Live's current champions over to Raw as part of this year's Superstar Shake-up. This comes as a bit of a surprise, given that the United States and Intercontinental Championships have moved brands multiple times since the brand split was reinstated back in 2016. But even though Raw's final haul at the end of this week's show did not include current United States Champion Samoa Joe, all signs point to him appearing on the Red Brand very soon.

According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Joe was in Montreal for this week's episodes of Raw and SmackDown but had his television segment on Raw scrapped due to illness. WrestlingNews.co followed up that report by saying Joe was supposed to interact with Braun Strowman, which makes sense given that Strowman appeared on SmackDown Live last week and got into a brawl with the reigning champion.

If Joe was meant to be on Raw, that likely means that Intercontinental Champion Finn Balor will make the move to SmackDown tonight. The former NXT and Universal Champion has been a member of the Raw roster since first being called up from developmental in 2016.

Raw's acquisitions on Monday included AJ Styles, The Miz, Andrade, Zelina Vega, Rey Mysterio, The Usos, Naomi, Cedric Alexander, The War Raiders (now The Viking Experience), Lars Sullivan, EC3, Lacey Evans, Aleister Black and Ricochet. Given that the WWE sent five of the recent NXT call-ups to Raw, fans will likely see Nikki Cross and Heavy Machinery join SmackDown tonight.

The company also promised to kick off the show with a massive acquisition, presented by Vince McMahon.

"After an exciting first night of the 2019 Superstar Shake-up, things are only going to get crazier tonight on SmackDown LIVE," WWE.com's preview for the show read. "WWE Chairman Mr. McMahon has promised to reveal the biggest acquisition in SmackDown LIVE history tonight. What major name will be joining Team Blue? Find out as the Superstar Shake-up continues on SmackDown LIVE."

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