2017 Is Turning Out To Be One Of The Craziest Years In WWE History
WWE is finally getting a welcomed change. Things are “shaking up”, if you will.
Last year’s Brand Draft divided the rosters of wrestlers and kicked in motion something that is now finally paying off. After 2017’s Superstar Shakeup and the aftermath of Wrestlemania, it’s important to look at where WWE will go from here.
Rosters:
MOVED TO RAW-
Apollo Crews, Miz/Maryse, Dean Ambrose, Curt Hawkins, Bray Wyatt, Kalisto, Rhyno & Heath Slater, Elias Samson, Alexa Bliss, Mickie James
MOVED TO SMACKDOWN-
Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Epico & Primo, Jinder Mahal, Tamina Snuka, Charlotte, Rusev, Sin Cara, The New Day (Kofi Kingston, Big E, and Xavier Woods)
Now that the Superstar Shake-up is completed, the rosters seem set. While a number of wrestlers switched brands, there is only a few notable changes.
Dean Ambrose and Bray Wyatt going to RAW is extremely refreshing. Also, putting Mickie James and Alexa Bliss on Monday Night’s seems like a genius choice. Debuting Elias Samson during this time is smart as it instantly puts his name in headlines. Sadly, a few “shakeup spots” were wasted on picks like Curt Hawkins and the Slater/Rhyno pairing.
Moving Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, and Charlotte will only help each wrestler shine. Monday Night Raw is where so many can get lost in the shuffle and I think Smackdown will eat up their talents. Also, imagine the Kevin Owens and Shinsuke Nakamura feud! Speaking of Nakamura, he made his long awaited debut on the main roster following ‘Mania. He’ll prove to be the best NXT call-up ever.
Champions:
Wrestlemania 33 put in place the pieces that would be the current state of WWE Champions. The WWE Heavyweight Title and Universal Title both changed hands that evening, while the undercard more or less stayed the same.
The Superstar Shakeup put the Intercontinental Title on Raw when Dean Ambrose was drafted. It also caused Kevin Owens to bring the U.S. Title to Smackdown. The switches were obvious but instantly changes up the respective midcards.
Both Women’s Titles now have some fresh faces to combat for them as Alexa Bliss can take on Bayley, and Charlotte will easily dominate Smackdown. Also, expect to see Nia Jax be the Raw Women’s Champion within the year!
Tag Team wrestling for WWE still seems to be one of the weaker spots. Returning Hardy Boyz adds something fun to RAW but it seems temporary. Hopefully the amazing team of The Revival can become the brand’s main team. Smackdown was doing okay with their tag division but The New Day will only be a great foil to the brand’s more serious teams.
Feuds & Friendships:
Feuds:
Surprisingly, all the major feuds ended at Wrestlemania 33.
On the Monday Night RAW side, the top feud going forward seems to be Samoa Joe vs Seth Rollins. But I expect the impending Bray Wyatt and Finn Balor feud to trump all the rest. One of the biggest and brightest moments from Raw’s Superstar Shakeup episode is Braun Strowman annihilating Roman Reigns and setting up a great revenge for Reigns.
One of the funniest Superstar Shakeup moments was Kevin Owens thinking he was clear of his past by switching to Smackdown…only for enemy Sami Zayn to be drafted as well. The rest of Smackdown’s drama was cleared up from Wrestlemania 33 but a lot of new foes are being made. Love seeing Dolph Ziggler and Shinsuke Nakamura start a feud as Ziggler will be the best showcase of Nakamura’s “strong style”.
Friendships:
No tag teams were forced to split. No real pairings were torn apart. The Superstar Shakeup didn’t hurt any friends but did put some new faces in front of each other. Seeing The New Day on Smackdown is going to open up a whole new door to some amazing work.
There’s also hints that Alexa Bliss will be using Nia Jax as the muscle to her mouth. The women’s division needs a bit more pairings so this seems like a perfect fit. But, Smackdown seems like it’s every women for herself. Both shows have very different takes on their females and that’s great!
The Future:
Instead of being stagnate, the future of WWE is actually looking brighter.
The rise of NXT and the WWE Network started changing things but it wasn’t until the build of Wrestlemania 33 that I noticed the true shift. A lot of fresh faces shining while older names are starting to put over newer ones. It seems like the influence of Triple H’s new era is making itself known. Thankfully NXT won’t suffer as bad with the main roster stealing their talent and the main roster is using NXT’s big names as their next headliners!
What do you think? Does the landscape of WWE in 2017 look good?
Let me know in the comments below!
