WWE is back at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada for night two of the Superstar Shake-up.
For the first time since 2016, AJ Styles isn’t a member of the SmackDown roster. He moved to Raw on night one of the Shake-up. Night one also saw The Miz, NXT Tag Team Champions The Viking Experience, Cedric Alexander, Andrade & Zelina Vega, Rey Mysterio, The Usos, Naomi, Eric Young, Lacey Evans, Ricochet, Aleister Black, and EC3 join Raw.
SmackDown’s additions will be confirmed tonight. WWE is hyping that Vince McMahon will make an appearance on the show to announce “the biggest acquisition in SmackDown Live history,” though further details on who it will be have yet to be revealed. Paige will also appear tonight after it was teased last week that she’s bringing a new team to the women’s tag division.
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New members of the SmackDown roster —
Intercontinental Champion Finn Balor
Ember Moon
Bayley
Kairi Sane
Lars Sullivan
Buddy Murphy
Elias
Roman Reigns
Liv Morgan
Chad Gable
Apollo Crews
Mickie James
Heavy Machinery
New members of the Raw roster (announced on Monday) —
The Miz
NXT Tag Team Champions The Viking Experience (formerly known as War Raiders)
Kairi Sane has been called up to the main roster, but she isn’t teaming with Io Shirai.
After teasing that Paige would be bringing a new team to the women’s tag division, it was announced on tonight’s SmackDown that Paige will be representing Asuka & Sane. Paige called them the next Women’s Tag Team Champions.
Asuka, Sane, Bayley & Ember Moon defeated Women’s Tag Team Champions The IIconics (Peyton Royce & Billie Kay), Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville in an eight-woman tag match on SmackDown. Sane pinned one half of the Women’s Tag Team Champions, with Asuka hitting a reverse DDT on Royce and Sane giving Royce the InSane Elbow to get the win.
Bayley and Moon moved from Raw to SmackDown in the Superstar Shake-up.
Sane was a one-time Women’s Champion in NXT. She also won the 2017 Mae Young Classic, defeating Shayna Baszler in the finals.
Sane challenging for Baszler’s Women’s Championship is airing on this week’s episode of NXT. The stipulation is that Sane can’t challenge for the title again if she loses.
The Superstar Shake-up continues as SmackDown takes place from the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada tonight.
The Shake-up started last night on Raw and saw AJ Styles, The Miz, Naomi, The Usos, Eric Young, Rey Mysterio, and Andrade & Zelina Vega move to Raw. Tonight promises changes to the SmackDown roster.
Vince McMahon is set to make a rare appearance on SmackDown tonight to announce what WWE is hyping as the “biggest acquisition in SmackDown Live history.”
The Hardy Boyz defeated The Usos to win the SmackDown Tag Team titles last week. WWE.com is teasing that a new tag team will debut to challenge the new champions.
Paige also promises to debut a new tag team tonight as the next possible challengers for Women’s Tag Team Champions The IIconics.
Plus, WWE Champion Kofi Kingston is scheduled to appear as well.
Our live coverage begins at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
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Kevin Owens came down to the ring to host The Kevin Owens Show. He got a huge reaction from his hometown crowd. They even broke into an “Oui” chant. He spoke in French and got a huge reaction from the crowd. Owens noted that Vince McMahon’s going to announce the biggest acquisition in SmackDown Live history.
Owens then introduced his guest WWE Champion Kofi Kingston. Kingston got a huge reaction. He came out with Xavier Woods. Byron Saxton pointed out that Big E’s injured. The fans broke into a big “Kofi” chant.
They discussed Kingston’s journey to WrestleMania and his victory over Daniel Bryan. Owens congratulated Kingston and the fans gave him a standing ovation. Kingston thanked the fans and called himself the champion in French. This got a huge pop and another “Oui” chant.
They talked about Big E not being around and his injury. Woods was upset that the Raw roster got most of the guests for Up Up Down Down. Woods demanded that Tyler Breeze better be on SmackDown by the end. Owens noted that New Day takes on Rusev and Shinsuke Nakamura later.
Owens asked to be the third member of New Day and changed his name to Big O. The fans loved this idea. Woods noted Owens just got back from injury and they do a lot of groin movements. Owens swiveled his hips and the fans popped. Kingston asked the fans if they want to see Owens join. They broke into another “Oui” chant. They gave him a New Day t-shirt. The segment was good and the crowd was super hot.
Rusev and Nakamura were watching in the back. Cesaro approached and asked to team up with them to take on New Day and Owens. The match is official for later tonight. There was no mention of Sheamus.
Intercontinental Champion Finn Bálor made his SmackDown debut.
Intercontinental Champion Finn Bálordefeated Ali
They started off with a fast-paced exchange that ended when Ali hit a dropkick. Bálor slowed the pace down and worked over Ali’s arm. Ali fought back and sent Bálor to the floor with a hurricanrana. He followed up with a suicide dive. Back from break, Bálor was firmly in control.
Ali avoided a charge in the corner and briefly took over. Bálor hit the sling blade but Ali rocked him with a superkick for a near fall. Bálor avoided a tornado DDT and hit a double foot stomp. Ali fought back and hit a hurricanrana off the top for a two count. Ali went for the 450 splash but Bálor moved. He hit the running dropkick and the Coup de Grace for the win.
Bálor and Ali shook hands after the match.
In the back, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods found Kevin Owens. They told him it was time for his initiation. He had to break Big E’s pancaking eating time. Owens started eating a plate of pancakes.
Another promo aired of the puppet popping out of the box followed by sinister laughter.
In the back, Owens finished eating the pancakes and is an official member of The New Day.
Charlotte Flair defeated Carmella (w/R-Truth)
Flair missed a big boot and Carmella hit a superkick for a near fall. They fought at ringside near the Women’s Battle Royal trophy. Carmella hit a crossbody off the barricade. She scored a two count back in the ring. Flair fought back but Carmella pushed her head first into the second turnbuckle.
Flair dropped Carmella on the apron and hit a big boot to take over. Flair used a dragon screw over the second rope. She threw Carmella into the barricade. Carmella fought back and hit a superkick. Flair used a chop block on Carmella’s injured leg and locked on the Figure Eight for the win.
After the match, R-Truth checked on Carmella. She was selling the injury when Lars Sullivan’s music hit. Truth hit a flying forearm but it barely moved Sullivan. Sullivan then hit the Freak Accident on Truth.
Sullivan then turned his attention to Carmella who was terrified. The referee took her out of the ring and to safety. Sullivan hit a running sit out powerbomb on Truth.
Raw and SmackDown Woman’s Champion Becky Lynch made her way down to the ring. She has a big announcement to make that has to do with the Superstar Shake-up. The fans broke into a big “Becky” chant. She mentioned again that she defeated Ronda Rousey at WrestleMania. The fans broke into a “Becky Two Belts” chant.
Lynch said it doesn’t matter who she faces because she’ll beat them. She pointed out that both belts allow her to go to either brand looking for a fight. Ember Moon interrupted making her SmackDown debut. Lynch warned Moon not to interrupt The Man. Moon is looking to make a name by defeating the woman that beat Rousey.
Bayley interrupted making her SmackDown debut. Bayley got a mixed reaction. Lynch asked her if she wanted a hug. Bayley said she got all her hugging out of the way yesterday. Bayley talked about winning the tag titles with Sasha Banks. The fans started booing Bayley. Bayley’s a single competitor again and has her eye on two other belts.
The Woman’s tag team champions The IIconics made their way to the ring. They mocked the babyfaces but were interrupted by Paige. She got a huge reaction from the fans.
Paige noted the fans would have more fun if the IIconics actually defended the belts. Paige started talking about the new team she’s representing when Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville interrupted. Rose thanked Paige and Deville noted it was the reunion of Absolution.
Paige isn’t representing them. She introduced her new tag team of Asuka and Kairi Sane. Asuka and Sane ran into the ring. Everyone started brawling except for Lynch. She stood in the corner and then stepped out of the ring. The babyfaces cleared the ring of the heels.
Bayley, Ember Moon, Asuka & Kairi Sane (w/Paige) defeated Mandy Rose, Sonya Deville, and The IIconics
Moon was firmly in control but Bayley tagged herself in. The fans booed Bayley as she entered. The heels took over and isolated Asuka in their corner. Asuka fought back and took out Rose with a hip attack. Asuka and Sane used a series of double team moves on Rose. Bayley hit a dive onto the heels. Moon followed up with a cross body to the floor.
The heels regained control by isolating Bayley on their side of the ring. Asuka got the hot tag and ran wild. She nailed Peyton Royce with a hard dropkick. Asuka had the match won but Rose broke up the pin. Everyone then hit a big move. Bayley was booed again when she hit the Bayley to Belly on Deville. Asuka hit the inverted DDT on Royce and Sane hit the Insane Elbow for the win.
Backstage, Kevin Owens did Big E’s introduction for the New Day. Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods helped Owens with the intro.
In the back, Buddy Murphy introduced himself and announced that he’s coming to SmackDown Live. The fans popped big for his announcement.
The New Day & Kevin Owens defeated Cesaro, Shinsuke Nakamura and Rusev (w/Lana)
The heels were briefly in control but the babyfaces took over. They isolated Nakamura in their corner and Owens hit the cannonball. The heels took back over by isolating Woods. Nakamura hit a sliding German suplex on Woods. Rusev choked Woods on the second rope and Lana slapped him.
Woods climbed to the top turnbuckle but Nakamura rocked him with a kick. He attempted a superplex but Woods fought back. He pushed Nakamura off and hit a missile dropkick. Kingston got the tag and ran wild on Cesaro. Kingston went for a cross body but Cesaro caught him. Kingston slipped out the back and hit the SOS for a near fall.
Cesaro got the big swing on Kingston and locked on the Sharpshooter. Owens broke it up with a superkick. Owens got the hot tag. He launched Kingston over the top rope wiping out everyone on the floor. Kingston hit the Trouble in Paradise on Rusev and Owens hit the Stunner for the win.
In the back, Vince McMahon watched the match. He announces the biggest acquisition in SmackDown Live history next.
Another promo aired of the dolls. It ended with the doll in a rocking chair with sinister laughter.
Vince McMahon made his way to the ring for his huge announcement. He said it’s nice to be back in Montreal. The fans broke into a “You Screwed Bret” chant. McMahon talked about the new superstar coming to SmackDown. McMahon said he’s charismatic and very talented. McMahon then introduced Elias.
Elias praised McMahon for naming him the biggest acquisition in SmackDown history. He talked about all the interruptions with his past performances. He said he’s happy to be on SmackDown but not happy to be in Montreal. Elias began his song when Roman Reigns interrupted making his SmackDown debut. The fans popped for Reigns at first but he did get a bit of a mixed reaction. Reigns nailed Elias with the spear.
McMahon got in Reigns’ face so he gave McMahon the superman punch. The fans popped big for that. Reigns grabbed the mic and called SmackDown his yard. The fans popped again and gave him a better reaction by the end of the segment. Reigns ran back in the ring and gave Elias a second spear.
Night two of this year’s Superstar Shake-up is taking place tonight, and WWE is hyping that Vince McMahon will be making an appearance on the show.
WWE has announced that Vince will reveal the “biggest acquisition in SmackDown LIVE history” tonight. Further details on who it will be have yet to be revealed.
SmackDown lost AJ Styles, The Miz, Andrade & Zelina Vega, Rey Mysterio, The Usos, Naomi, and Eric Young to Raw in night one of the Superstar Shake-up. NXT Tag Team Champions The Viking Experience (formerly known as War Raiders), 205 Live’s Cedric Alexander, Lacey Evans, Ricochet, Aleister Black, EC3, and Lars Sullivan were also added to Raw.
As was teased last week, Paige is bringing a new team to the women’s tag team division on tonight’s SmackDown.
WWE is back at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada for SmackDown tonight. The venue also hosted last night’s episode of Raw.
WWE’s post-WrestleMania rosters started to come into focus as the Superstar Shake-up began last night.
For the first time since the 2016 brand split, AJ Styles is a member of the Raw roster. He teamed with Universal Champion Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns in last night’s main event, defeating Bobby Lashley, Baron Corbin & Drew McIntyre.
The NXT Tag Team Champions were called up to Raw, with War Raiders getting new names. They’re now The Viking Experience. Hanson’s name is Ivar, and Rowe’s name is Erik.
The Miz, Cedric Alexander, Andrade & Zelina Vega, Rey Mysterio, The Usos, Naomi, Eric Young, Lacey Evans, Ricochet, Aleister Black, EC3, and Lars Sullivan were also added to Raw on last night’s show.
SmackDown’s additions will be announced tonight. WWE is back in Montreal, Quebec, Canada for the final night of the Shake-up.
The post-WrestleMania rosters for Raw and SmackDown will begin to take shape as night one of this year’s Superstar Shake-up is held tonight.
The Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada will host both nights of the Superstar Shake-up. Tonight will see wrestlers move from SmackDown to Raw, and recent call-ups from NXT will also officially be assigned to brands.
Ricochet, Aleister Black, Lacey Evans, EC3, Nikki Cross, Heavy Machinery, and Lars Sullivan have recently been called up from NXT and should find homes on Raw or SmackDown this week. They’ve been able to appear on both shows in storyline since coming up to the main roster.
This Superstar Shakeup could give an indication of what SmackDown’s roster will look like when the show comes to Fox, though it’s always possible that WWE will make more changes between now and when SmackDown premieres on Fox this October.
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New members of the Raw roster —
The Miz
NXT Tag Team Champions The Viking Experience (formerly known as War Raiders, now Ivar & Erik)
Cedric Alexander
Andrade & Zelina Vega
Rey Mysterio
The Usos
Naomi
Eric Young
Lacey Evans
AJ Styles
UPDATE —
WWE.com lists that the following wrestlers also joined Raw after they appeared on Monday’s show:
For the first time since the 2016 brand split, AJ Styles is a member of the Raw roster.
Styles moved to Raw in this year’s Superstar Shakeup. WWE had been hyping that Roman Reigns & Universal Champion Seth Rollins would be teaming with a partner coming over from SmackDown tonight. It ended up being Styles, and they defeated Baron Corbin, Bobby Lashley & Drew McIntyre in the main event of this week’s Raw.
The match ended with Styles hitting the Phenomenal Forearm on Lashley and pinning him. Rollins hit the curb stomp on Lashley and Reigns gave Lashley a spear before the finish.
Styles was a two-time WWE Champion during his time on SmackDown, with his second reign with the title lasting over a year before he lost it in November 2018.
Here’s the full list of wrestlers who joined Raw in the first night of the Superstar Shakeup:
The Miz
NXT Tag Team Champions The Viking Experience (formerly known as War Raiders, now Ivar & Erik)
Cedric Alexander
Andrade & Zelina Vega
Rey Mysterio
The Usos
Naomi
Eric Young
Lacey Evans
AJ Styles
UPDATE —
WWE.com lists that the following wrestlers also joined Raw after they appeared on Monday’s show:
WWE uploaded a video today announcing that the 2019 Superstar Shakeup will take place on Monday, April 15 and Tuesday, April 16. The Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada will host those Raw and SmackDown episodes.
The Superstar Shakeup is again being held the week after the post-WrestleMania editions of Raw and SmackDown.
Like with the local advertisement that aired in Canada, today’s WWE video at one point called this the “first-ever international Superstar Shakeup.” That may just refer to the fact that it’s taking place in Canada.
This will be the third year in a row that WWE has had a Superstar Shakeup. They’ve featured some wrestlers changing brands between Raw and SmackDown after the end of WrestleMania season, and last year’s Shakeup also included wrestlers from NXT being called up to the main roster.
While both shows retained some of their core pieces, the rosters for Raw and SmackDown have been transformed since WrestleMania.
The days after WWE’s biggest show of the year saw Bobby Lashley, The Authors of Pain, Ember Moon, and No Way Jose join Raw, while Peyton Royce and Billie Kay debuted on SmackDown and Paige was announced as the show’s new general manager. And that was just the prelude to this year’s Superstar Shakeup, which saw dozens of wrestlers switch brands.
Raw added Jinder Mahal (with Sunil Singh), The Riott Squad (Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan & Sarah Logan), Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn, Zack Ryder, Breezango, Natalya, Mojo Rawley, Dolph Ziggler, Drew McIntyre, Baron Corbin, Mike Kanellis, The Ascension, Bobby Roode, and Chad Gable.
The Miz’s move to SmackDown was announced on Monday, then Jeff Hardy, Absolution (Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville), Samoa Joe, SAnitY (Eric Young, Alexander Wolfe & Killian Dain), Big Cass, Asuka, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson, Cesaro & Sheamus, R-Truth, and Andrade “Cien” Almas & Zelina Vega joining the show was revealed the next night.
SmackDown replaced its losses from Monday as the Superstar Shakeup came to an end last night.
Jeff Hardy, Absolution (Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville), Samoa Joe, Big Cass, Asuka, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson, Cesaro & Sheamus, and R-Truth joined The Miz in moving over from Raw. It was also announced that Andrade “Cien” Almas & Zelina Vega and SAnitY (Eric Young, Alexander Wolfe & Killian Dain) are coming up to the brand from NXT.
Big Cass made the most immediate impact, with him laying out Daniel Bryan with a big boot and causing the main event to end in a disqualification. Shinsuke Nakamura also interrupted the match, low blowing AJ Styles and refusing to explain his actions once again.
Two nights of trades and call ups have left Raw and SmackDown looking completely different.
Overall, nineteen new additions are heading to Raw, while SmackDown adds seventeen people to their roster. In addition, six people have been called up from NXT, along with the Authors of Pain, Ember Moon, No Way Jose and the IIconics who were called up last week.
Asuka, R-Truth, The Bar and Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas (with Zelina Vega) rounded out the Superstar Shakeup. Asuka made the save for Becky Lynch and Charlotte after a beatdown from the IIconics and Carmella, while R-Truth did a skit with The New Day and Tye Dillinger. Meanwhile The Bar, Almas and Vega all cut cell phone video promos hyping their move to SmackDown.
Here are the full list of people who have jumped ship:
The male members of SAnitY are coming up to the WWE main roster.
A video hyping the group’s arrival aired on SmackDown tonight, with Eric Young voicing it over and saying the only thing they care about is chaos. It was later noted that it would be Young, Alexander Wolfe, and Killian Dain debuting.
They’re the second act from NXT to be included in this year’s Superstar Shakeup. Former NXT Champion Drew McIntyre, who suffered a torn bicep when he dropped the title to Andrade “Cien” Almas last November, was added to Raw and aligned with Dolph Ziggler.
The Authors of Pain, Ember Moon, and No Way Jose debuted on Raw last week, with Peyton Royce and Billie Kay coming up to SmackDown.
SAnitY won the NXT Tag Team titles from The Authors of Pain in August 2017 and dropped them to The Undisputed Era in November. They were one of the teams that were involved in the Tag Team title match/Dusty Rhodes Classic finals at TakeOver: New Orleans earlier this month, which was won by Undisputed Era when Roderick Strong turned against Pete Dunne.
Young and Dain had matches at NXT’s television tapings last week.
The United States Championship is already back on SmackDown.
After defeating Jinder Mahal for the title on Raw last night, Hardy became the second wrestler to move to SmackDown in this year’s Superstar Shakeup. Hardys’ appearance tonight was the first time he’s been on SmackDown since 2009.
In his first match since joining the brand, Hardy defeated Shelton Benjamin with a Swanton Bomb. That came after Benjamin cut a heel promo where he said he never needed Chad Gable, claiming to be hacked when he praised Gable as a partner on Twitter. Benjamin said he talked to Paige and asked her to send him competition, which brought out Randy Orton before Hardy entered.
Hardy defending his US title against Mahal is scheduled for the Greatest Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia on April 27th. Orton was supposed to face Mahal for the championship at Backlash on May 6th but could end up challenging Hardy instead.
The Miz was the first person to join SmackDown in this year’s Shakeup.
Date: April 17, 2018 Location: Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence, RI
The Big Takeaway —
Aside from the Miz, the following have been added to Smackdown: Samoa Joe, US Champion Jeff Hardy, Asuka, Big Cass, Andrade “Cien” Almas, Zelina Vega, R-Truth, Cesaro & Sheamus, Sanity (apparently without Nikki Cross), Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows, and Sonya Deville & Mandy Rose.
This means that AJ Styles, Daniel Bryan, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Samoa Joe are all on the same brand, while Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose remain together on Raw. Finn Balor remains on Raw as well.
While a program with the Miz seems imminent for Bryan, he also appears to be in line for a feud with Big Cass, who attacked him at the end of the show. (It’s also possible Cass ends up with Miz.)
Show Recap —
The show started with a recap of what happened last week with Shinsuke Nakamura and AJ Styles (and Daniel Bryan). Tom Phillips announced a sell-out crowd.
AJ Styles came out to kick things off. Louds chants for Styles. He said we can find out a lot about a man through his failures and now we know a lot about Nakamura. Styles said he was successful at WrestleMania, while Nakamura failed. He said Nakamura wasn’t just an artist, he was a con artist. The crowd loudly chanted for Styles, but a few others chanted for Nakamura.
Styles said he wanted to celebrate with the fans but all he could think about was getting retribution. He also got the chance at a real dream match with Bryan but Nakamura ruined that, too. Styles wasn’t leaving the ring until Nakamura came out. He said Nakamura may have forgotten how to speak English, but he was here for a fight and called him a two-faced coward.
Aiden English and Rusev came out instead and the crowd chanted for Rusev Day. English sang a song to let Styles know that Nakamura wasn’t here and took a shot at Rhode Island. Despite the cheap heat, he asked the crowd what day it was and the crowd loudly yelled “Rusev Day.” Styles challenged Rusev to a fight and he accepted.
Non-title match: WWE Champion AJ Styles defeated Rusev (w/Aiden English) via DQ (0:27)
Styles immediately got Rusev in the Calf Crusher so English interfered for the quick disqualification. They put the boots to Styles until Bryan ran out to make the save. They sent the heels packing and the crowd chanted “Yes.”
Paige approached Shane McMahon backstage and wished him a “happy shakeup.” Paige quoted Teddy Long and announced a tag match, playa, for the main event tonight. Shane also confirmed Miz would be returning to Smackdown thanks to a request from Bryan. Paige and Shane each did the Teddy Long dance.
Shelton Benjamin came out and the announcers explained that Chad Gable was sent to Raw. Benjamin acknowledged his tweet about Gable being an inspiration partner, but claimed his Twitter account was hacked. He said he didn’t need Gable, Gable needed him.
Benjamin said he was owed championship matches and called himself one of the biggest threats on Smackdown. He spoke with Paige earlier and asked her for competition.
Randy Orton’s music hit and he made his way down the ramp. As Orton entered, his music stopped and he stopped walking. Jeff Hardy’s music hit and he entered for the match instead. Orton appeared surprised by this.
Non-title match: U.S. Champion Jeff Hardy defeated Shelton Benjamin (8:20)
Hardy won with the Swanton Bomb. The crowd loved Hardy. The last time these to wrestled was just over nine damn years ago, also on Smackdown.
The Miz cut a selfie promo and asked if the crowd if they would like to see Daniel Bryan punch him in the face. The crowd cheered, but Miz revealed he wasn’t in Providence, he was in Los Angeles with Maryse and his daughter. Miz said he would debut next week and he would kick Bryan’s ass. Before he could quite finish the sentence, Maryse cut him off and asked he watch his language (around their daughter).
Carmella will have a ‘Mellabration tonight.
They announced via a graphic that Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose have been added to Smackdown.
Luke Harper (w/Erick Rowan) defeated Jey Uso (w/Jimmy Uso) (0:51)
Jimmy and Rowan got involved on the outside and the match ended quickly after Harper hit Jey with a discus clothesline for the win. Rowan blatantly put his hands on Jey during the match (after Jey attempted a suicide dive), but it was somehow not a DQ. This was lame.
The Usos tried to fight back afterwards but Harper and Rowan laid them out. They were about to do worse, but Naomi ran out and pleaded with them to stop. They left. (Harper and Rowan appear to have their first names back.)
Samoa Joe is on Smackdown.
Samoa Joe defeated Sin Cara (1:36)
Joe won quickly with the Coquina Clutch. After the match, Joe said his mere absence on this show means everyone has had it easy and everyone on the roster is convinced that they are better than they are. He said now he has the opportunity to put Bryan to sleep, to de-fang Orton, and decimate AJ Styles.
Joe said Brock Lesnar would beat Roman Reigns again, and Joe would put the big dog out to pasture for good. Joe then said something about winning the Intercontinental title and Universal title (if Reigns somehow beats Lesnar). Joe was great here, although the bit about the IC title was confusing.
They aired a quick video package for SAnitY, who will be debuting on Smackdown.
Renee Young asked Bryan why he helped AJ Styles. Bryan said he respects AJ Styles and Styles was on the list of guys who motivated him to come back because he was the best. Bryan wanted to prove that he hadn’t lost a step in their match last week, but Nakamura ruined that. Bryan knew he would get a chance at Styles one day. Big Cass interrupted, mocked Bryan’s height and wondered what all the fuss was about. The crowd popped pretty big for Cass.
‘Mellabration
The crowd chanted “you deserve it” but Carmella shut them up for jumping on the bandwagon. She bragged about beating Charlotte Flair, who she called one the greatest women wrestlers in WWE history. Some fans cheered and she told them to shut up. She said last week wasn’t just one of the biggest moments in the history of the women’s evolution, but in women’s history in general. She cut to a video package for her title win.
Carmella said she would miss Frankie (the briefcase) but was happy to have Cleopatra (the belt). She continued yelling until Charlotte interrupted. Charlotte said Carmella only has the briefcase because of “that chinless freak” and she only has the title because of Billie Kay and Peyton Royce.
Charlotte wasn’t mad because she knew the dirtiest player in the game and congratulated Carmella for capitalizing on the opportunity, but warned her that staying at the top is harder than getting there. The IIconics (that’s how they spell it) interrupted.
Royce did her impressive Charlotte impression and they laughed. They said last week’s moment would last forever, and it was all because of them. They called the future iconic. Charlotte went after them but they beat her up. This was a mess. Becky Lynch ran out to make the save and they quickly went to commercial.
Charlotte Flair (w/Becky Lynch) defeated Billie Kay (w/Peyton Royce)
Charlotte won with the Figure Eight. It started during commercial (and went through another commercial) but the match was probably about 9 minutes.
Kay, Royce and Carmella attacked Charlotte and Lynch afterwards until Asuka made the save. Asuka gave Royce a German suplex, then Kay received a kick from Lynch, a chop from Charlotte, and a high kick from Asuka.
Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows have been added to Smackdown.
The Bar have been added to Smackdown, announced via a selfie promo.
Backstage, the New Day were walking backstage (Big E was being carried around by a white guy). Big E commented, “Sheamus sucks.” They ran into R-Truth, who is now on Smackdown. Truth was confronted by Tye Dillinger. They teased dissension, but then did a wacky handshake. They were all excited and Truth announced they were all together on Monday Night Raw. Woods let him know it was Tuesday and they were on Smackdown. Truth said, “my bad” and said he would see them tomorrow.
Andrade “Cien” Almas and Zelina Vega are coming to Smackdown. They did a recap of the roster moves and Nikki Cross was not included when they showed Sanity.
They plugged the Greatest Royal Rumble throughout the show, focusing heavily on the Undertaker vs. Rusev casket match.
WWE Champion AJ Styles & Daniel Bryan defeated Rusev & Aiden English via DQ (12:33)
Early on, Styles tried a Calf Crusher on English and Bryan tried a Yes Lock on Rusev, but both heels escaped the ring, leading to commercial just over two minutes into this match.
The heels worked over Styles after a break until he hit a Pele kick on English and made the hot tag. Bryan ran wild on Rusev with fists, a running clothesline and corner dropkick. He went for the Yes Lock but English broke it up. Bryan sent him out of the ring and gave Yes kicks to Rusev.
Bryan nailed Rusev with the running knee, seemingly to set up the win. However, Nakamura suddenly appeared and gave Styles a low blow. Bryan realized what happened, but when he turned around, Big Cass appeared and gave him a big boot and the referee called for the bell. Nakamura smugly backed up the ramp and Cass posed over Bryan.
Before the show ended, Young tried to interview Nakamura on the ramp but he told her, “No speak English.”
The first night of the Superstar Shakeup ended with Raw having 19 new arrivals.
Jinder Mahal, The Riott Squad (Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan & Sarah Logan), Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Zack Ryder, Breezango (Tyler Breeze & Fandango), Natalya, Dolph Ziggler, Drew McIntyre, Mojo Rawley, Baron Corbin, The Ascension (Konnor & Viktor), Mike Kanellis, Bobby Roode, and Chad Gable were the wrestlers who came to Raw last night.
While most of those names moved over from SmackDown, McIntyre was called up from NXT. He returned from a torn bicep and aligned with Ziggler to attack Titus Worldwide.
The Miz was also announced as going to SmackDown last night.
Elsewhere on Raw, Jeff Hardy won the United States title from Mahal, Matt Hardy & Bray Wyatt defeated The Revival in the tag team eliminator finals, and Samoa Joe confronted Roman Reigns for the second straight week.
