4 WWE superstars who benefited from the Superstar Shake Up and 3 who did not

The Superstar Shake Up has come and gone and some people are still talking about particular things that did or did not happen.

Who thought that the War Raiders would be called up, have their team name changed and their own first names changed in one fell swoop?

Many names were rumored to be moving from Raw to SmackDown and vice versa and many names from the other brands (NXT, NXT UK, 205 Live) were also thought to be getting new homes.

While some predictions came to fruition and some did not, the moves that did happen were not 100% to the benefit of everyone in WWE.

Some superstars got new homes with better opportunities (Finn Balor, the Usos) while others switched brands and may struggle to stand out (Liv Morgan, Eric Young).

Since the Superstar Shake Up will obviously always be a mixed bag, here are four WWE superstars who benefited from the moves made and three superstars who were actually hurt by the shake-up.

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#1 Benefited - the Universal Championship scene on Raw

Reigns moving to SmackDown opens up each man to be the top face of their own show

One thing that was truly frustrating regarding the Universal Championship once it was taken off of Kevin Owens' waist was that it was either held by a placeholder part-timer (Goldberg) or held hostage by a sporadically appearing 'Beast'.

While Brock Lesnar held the title, he routinely faced the same challengers in Roman Reigns, Braun Strowman and Samoa Joe.

Strowman and Joe were made to lose, but the constant need to crown Reigns as the golden boy - even though he already was that - actually hurt a huge portion of the Raw roster.

Wrestlers like Bray Wyatt, Strowman, Bobby Lashley and Rusev were routinely used to get Reigns over even more while also stymieing any chance any wrestler not named Reigns would have at becoming Universal Champion.

There is also the thought that had Reigns not been forced to leave due to illness that Rollins wouldn't even be holding the title.

So the fact that Reigns is on SmackDown now opens up the possibility for any number of people to be able to get a run with the Universal Championship.

Only a few might get title runs, like Rollins, the Miz and Drew McIntyre, but at least they won't have to be filtered through the usual process of whose turn it was to lose a feud to Roman Reigns.

#2 Did not benefit - Sanity and Eric Young

Sanity has only been mismanaged since debuting last year

I don't know if the members of Sanity accidentally ran over Mr. McMahon's cat or didn't give him a gift on Valentine's Day, but the fact is, few former NXT success stories have been treated worse on the main roster than Sanity.

They debuted last year during the Superstar Shake Up and were simply announced. They did later make a small impact by attacking the New Day, but that should have been their first exposure on the main roster, not an actual admittance that they were on SmackDown in a graphic.

But after that debut, they were basically absent from TV all year and only really dragged out when an extra tag team was needed (Survivor Series).

When the lack of a chance on SmackDown became apparent, of course it was going to lead to some discontent from fans and the members of the faction alike.

Well, during the shake-up, not only was Young shipped to Raw by himself, but Alexander Wolfe seemed to hint at a goodbye to his 'brothers' and WWE.

Had the group been even been booked half as good as they were in NXT, then they probably would have been a little happier.

But a chance to make a truly formidable and dangerous stable on the main roster was missed due to ignoring the performers in Sanity.

#3 Benefited - Finn Balor

Balor's last match on Raw was a loss to Andrade but his first match on SmackDown saw him defeat Ali in a great match

When Finn Balor was on Raw, there were obviously huge plans for him as he was the golden boy of Triple H in NXT.

Things kept going great for Balor as he was drafted to Raw and became the inaugural Universal Champion.

But during the match for the title he got hurt, and ever since then, it appeared as if Mr McMahon lost all his faith in Balor.

He did get two runs as the Intercontinental Champion, but those things only happened because of Roman Reigns' departure and Seth Rollins moving up to challenge Brock Lesnar.

Since he had been practically living in the shadow of the face Shield during his time on Raw, he was never going to be treated as one of the top faces on that show.

And although he was moved to SmackDown with Reigns, he still has a chance to be one of the top faces on the show along with Reigns and Kofi Kingston.

The spectre of Reigns will still be looming over Balor, but with Rollins out of the way, he might have a better chance.

He is still the IC Champ and will hopefully have a long reign, but a lot of fans are hoping for a main-event title run.

#4 Did not benefit - Liv Morgan

The blue-tongued member of the Riott Squad is now a former member

Of all the members of the Riott Squad, Morgan is the one who needed the group the most. Ruby Riott was an established singles star before the group was formed for the main roster.

Riott's great in the ring and has an alternative look to the barbies like Mandy Rose and Lana. Sarah Logan actually wrestled in a lot of death-matches before even signing with WWE but held her own on NXT.

Logan was the muscle of the Riott Squad and is someone who could stand alone with her own gimmick.

Morgan was new to the sport when signed to NXT, but a lot of superstars start out that way nowadays.

She took a lot of seasoning in NXT and didn't seem like someone who was ready for a main-roster call-up back when the squad debuted.

But putting her with the group was like when Roman Reigns was placed with the Shield - despite not making a name on the indie scene he'd be able to grow as a performer and learn on the job with the more experienced Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose.

Separating Morgan from the group hurts her more than the others because she is the least technically ready member of the group.

Maybe she grew leaps and bounds over the last year, but it would have made more sense for it to have been Logan or Riott due to their experience.

#5 Benefited - AJ Styles and Roman Reigns

The Face that Ran the Place on SmackDown challenged the Big Dog for the WWE Championship back in 2016

Throughout the brand split, Styles has been the top face on SmackDown while Reigns was the top dog on Raw.

While Reigns didn't always hold the top prize on Raw, he was always challenging for it or about to challenge for it. It was inevitable.

And once Mr McMahon realized just how great Styles actually was, he was booked as the top guy on the blue brand with two long reigns as WWE Champion.

Since each man had feuded with practically every superstar on their respective shows, short of turning one of them into a heel, the best thing to do was to have them switch places during the shake-up.

That's exactly what happened and now, each man will have the chance to forge their paths on new shows and have new and exciting feuds.

They may not become champions right away but it's only a matter of time before each man is challenging the respective champions on their new shows.

While Styles likely has to battle with Rollins for top face supremacy, it's the rest of the top faces on SmackDown that will likely have to suffer once 'the Chairman' decides he wants to put the WWE Championship back around the waist of the Big Dog.

#6 Did not benefit - WWE Championship scene on SmackDown

Kofi Kingston and Daniel Bryan had some classic encounters this year while battling for the WWE Championship

As noted on the previous entry, while it's good that both Reigns and Styles get changes of scenery, those currently in power on both Raw and SmackDown will eventually have to face 'the Big Dog' and 'the Champ Who Runs the Camp'.

With Reigns moving to SmackDown, they will now have to deal with what the Raw face scene had to deal with - playing second fiddle to Reigns.

Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins often had to be shifted down the card in order for Reigns to be maintained in the spotlight.

The same happened to Finn Balor, even if he did get a couple of matches for the Universal Championship against both Lesnar and Reigns.

But what those guys faced on Raw, Balor, Kofi Kingston and the rest of the main-event scene might have to now endure.

Balor will have a chance to shine a little brighter on SmackDown due it focusing on better action rather than storyline nonsense.

The biggest challenge will be for how long someone other than Reigns is given time on the top because it is literally only a matter of time before Kingston or someone else is replaced by Roman Reigns.

It's not all his (Reigns) fault, but 'the Chairman' will likely revert back to the tactics he has used when he booked 'the Big Dog' to constantly be the babyface who overcame the odds during his pursuits of the Universal and WWE Championships while on Raw.

#7 Benefited - Ember Moon and Bayley

Several new faces will help to freshen up the SmackDown Women's Division

Just as Reigns will likely revert back to being the top guy on SmackDown, the conventional thinking was that the same thing will likely happen with Charlotte Flair and the women's division.

Becky Lynch isn't going to hold onto both titles until SummerSlam and the fact is, due to all the posturing during the shake-up, Raw's division needs Lynch more than SmackDown's.

Raw virtually lost Bayley, Mickie James, Morgan, Ember Moon, Nia Jax, Ronda Rousey and Sasha Banks due to the shakeup, injury or other reasons.

That left it devoid of a lot of credible ladies to be Raw Women's Champ. So now that the women on the blue brand are in better shape, it will lead to a lot of great matches.

Bayley has often been booked like an afterthought, even when she did have a run as Raw Women's Champion.

And Moon has had future champion written all over her, but playing second fiddle to Ronda Rousey and then getting hurt only halted her momentum.

Even with Flair in the division, they'll likely be the face challengers once Flair again becomes champion.

Moon is a diamond that they cannot ignore for much longer unless they want her to become one of the next people to request a release.

Bayley may or may not be disgruntled due to losing the Women's Titles, but she at least stuck around and is back in the singles division and may even be turned heel.

They just have more potential on the blue brand and even though it was already stacked with Flair, Asuka and the developing acts of Fire and Desire and the IIconics, the matches and feuds should only improve on SmackDown going forward.