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If WrestleMania is the end of WWE's year-long season, the annual Superstar ShakeUp is the beginning of another. With one half of WWE's annual re-set now complete, the RAW brand has been drastically altered, as it heads forward on the long march toward WrestleMania 36.
Some of professional wrestling's biggest names have now moved up to WWE's Monday night staple show transitioning from SmackDown Live, 205 Live, and NXT. The moves will have serious ramifications going forward.
While one would hope that everything was positive, it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows on tonight's edition of RAW. Join us as we examine the very best, worst, and downright ugliest moment in this special Superstar ShakeUp edition of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.
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The Good - RAW Is Phenomenal
AJ Styles has been a SmackDown Live mainstay since making his WWE debut at the 2016 WWE Royal Rumble.
Styles had become so synonymous with the blue brand that he has even earned the moniker, "The face that runs the place," and recently engaged in a WrestleMania 35 feud against Randy Orton for brand supremacy.
Styles would go on to win the match leaving many to speculate that he would be staying put on SmackDown Live.
Fast forward two weeks and the landscape has been drastically altered. SmackDown's favorite son is now RAW's newest Superstar. Styles made his shocking RAW debut teaming alongside RAW's two most famous Superstars in Roman Reigns and Universal Champion Seth Rollins.
Styles did not disappoint either and made an instant impact. The former WWE Champion proved integral in the trio's bout against Drew McIntyre, Bobby Lashley, and Baron Corbin, even scoring the deciding pinfall victory over Lashley.
Seth Rollins shouldn't get too comfortable with his new partner, however. If Styles taught us anything in his three plus year SmackDown Live career, it's that he won't be held down. Styles should be expected to be an immediate contender to Seth Rollins' Universal Championship.
The match would be fitting, as Rollins often credits Styles as being one of the first major stars to take notice of him becoming a major motivator in his professional wrestling career. Styles bested Rollins way back in 2006 on the independent scene.
After his victory, he was sure to give the young Seth Rollins high praise and gave him credit for his part in what Styles then considered, "The match of my life."
The Good - Sami Zayn: Puppet Master
Sami Zayn may have had the Superstar ShakeUp's most memorable moment and he didn't even set foot in a wrestling ring.
Zayn was Alexa Bliss' guest on a special Superstar ShakeUp edition of Moment of Bliss and oh, how he pulled the strings. The master manipulator made his way out to roaring adulation and a hero's welcome from his hometown Montreal fans.
As the exuberant crowd roared in approval, Zayn made sure to play his entrance theme a whopping three times, accompanied by an increasingly unstable Sami Zayn dance routine. He then led the Montreal faithful in several chants, all in French.
Zayn had the crowd eating out of the palm of his hand. He was Hulk Hogan in Madison Square Garden circa 1987.
Then Zayn pulled the strings. Ever the heel, he masterfully turned things on his hometown crowd. He pontificated about how much he loved Montreal, but then quickly added, "It's the people I can't stand."
Zayn continued,
"If I'm being honest, I really didn't want to be here tonight....the whole thing is just funny because 9 months ago I would have looked forward to coming out and receiving this kind of response, but now the cheers make me a bit sick."
He then put on his best Sigmund Freud and accused the crowd of projecting their failures on to him. In the matter of moments, Zayn transformed a welcoming home town crowd into a rabid hate-filled audience hell bent on seeing Zayn get what was coming to him, only this time the Quebecers in attendance would be left disappointed.
Alexa Bliss reminded Zayn, "These are your people," but the master heel was having none of it.
He answered,
"I was born here, but these are not my people. I don't even live here. I moved to sunny Orlando, Florida. I chose to leave Montreal before just like I'm choosing to leave Montreal right now."
Uh-oh! Canada's favorite son has now become an American.
As Zayn announced his departure, the crowd sang the familiar refrain, "Na na na, na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye." Zayn replied simply with, "Go to hell." He then satisfyingly dropped his mic and made his triumphant exit.
The Bad - WWE Spoils The Usos RAW Return
In a moment more deserving of the bad category than perhaps any other in the history of this column, WWE absolutely ruined The Usos return to RAW.
As Chad Gable and Bobby Roode made their way to the ring clad in their customary royal blue robes, bold text appeared on the bottom of the screen. The text was unusual. It didn't match Gable & Roode and instead read: The Usos.
Instead of correctly identifying the duo as Bobby Roode and Chad Gable, the duo were announced as none other than The Usos.
What happened next is deserving of a Razzie. Gable and Roode declared themselves the best tag team in the world and issued an open challenge.
The only problem was that the entire audience, along with millions at home watching on television, knew that the team to answer the open challenge would be none other than The Usos because unbeknownst to Roode and Gable, WWE had already mistakenly made the announcement.
In what may go down as the worst surprise in wrestling history, The Usos made their way to the ring. The Montreal crowd should have responded accordingly, but instead, crickets.
The Usos' arrival was a foregone conclusion and the surprise was ruined, spoiled by an editor that can't tell the difference between The Usos and Chad Gable & Bobby Roode. For shame!
The Ugly - "The Viking Experience"
Where do we begin with this one? NXT's most feared tag team has a new name and it isn't good. It's ugly.
Originally War Raiders, WWE saw it fit to change the name to War Machine, which apparently was more pleasant to the delicate ears of WWE's cultured fan base. It wasn't a major change, so most hardly noticed, but now that the duo are on the main roster, there are share holders to think about and advertisers that apparently take issue with the word "war."
Apparently simulated violence is OK, but a nickname with the "w" word might get people to think a little too much and thinking is bad. When people think, they don't spend their money. They ponder the complexities of Donald J. Trump in the WWE Hall of Fame and propaganda partnerships with the Saudi government. We can't have any of that.
The WWE did this once before to the Bushwackers. It's hard to imagine, but the lovable WWE Hall of Famers were once the most feared duo in wrestling, ruthless in the ring, and known for their brutality. They almost always drew blood. Vince McMahon took one look at the New Zealand natives and thought, "Bushwackers." Once they arrived in WWE, they were turned into lovable children's cartoon characters.
Like it or not, War Machine is getting The Bushwacker treatment and are being transformed into children's dolls, tee shirts, and inevitable WWE Network programming about their viking lifestyle. Before you blink your eyes, there will be Viking cookbooks and wearable horns. Let the marketing ploys begin and enter The Viking Experience.
No, they aren't a cruise line in competition with Norwegian Cruise Ships. Nor are they a new ride at your favorite amusement park. This isn't a Jimi Hendrix album, either. This is the best tag team in NXT and they may have just jumped the shark in their RAW debut.
The Viking Experience was just as brutal in the ring, the same team they've always been, but something was missing.
With a name more fitting of over the top 1990s WWF characters like The Bararian and The Berzerker, War Machine became Vince McMahon's latest cartoon. The name was hated and universally panned, as wrestling fans took to social media to voice their displeasure.
The most feared duo in wrestling instantaneously became a terrible punchline, a cruel joke to all those who adored them in NXT and on the independent circuit. Over night, one of the most promising teams in wrestling became The Ascension.
To add insult to injury, the pair are also no longer Hanson and Rowe. In their place stand Ivar and Erik. Somewhere Triple H is crying and Vince McMahon is laughing at his son in law's expense, laughing all the way to the bank.
Ex WWE writer blasts Liv Morgan HERE
