5 people who could be the Jinder Mahal of the 2018 Superstar Shake-Up

The WWE Superstar Shake-Up isn’t just for fans’ entertainment – it also represents the opportunity for the men and women of Raw and SmackDown Live to revive their careers against new opponents on a different brand.

In 2017, there was no better example of this than Jinder Mahal, the former 3MB member who regularly struggled for television time on Raw before he moved to SmackDown Live and won the WWE Championship within six weeks.

With the 2018 Shake-Up on the horizon, let’s take a look at five WWE Superstars who could be the surprise package of this year’s roster changes.

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#5 Tye Dillinger

Tye Dillinger has teased a heel turn recently

Tye Dillinger was one of the most popular Superstars in NXT towards the end of his time with the brand, so it’s a little disappointing that he seems to have been lost in the shuffle on SmackDown Live since joining the main roster in April 2017.

“The Perfect Ten” was involved in a United States title Triple Threat match against AJ Styles and Baron Corbin at Hell In A Cell last October. However, since then he has only appeared sporadically on SmackDown Live, while he has occasionally tested out a heel persona at live events.

There are plenty of ways WWE could decide to use Tye moving forward, with an on-screen heel turn or move to Raw potentially on the horizon, so there’s every chance he could finally get his first extended run of television time after the Shake-Up.

#4 Mike Kanellis

Mike Kanellis' only meaningful storyline was with Sami Zayn

Mike Kanellis made his first televised WWE appearance in six months when he took part in the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 34. Before that, his last on-screen match came way back in October 2017 against Bobby Roode on SmackDown Live.

It’s fair to say that Mike and Maria’s “Power of Love” gimmick wasn’t the best way to introduce them to the WWE audience, but was it really that bad that Mike deserved to be restricted to just six televised matches in nine months?

The Shake-Up gives the most unlikely of performers a chance to shine on a new brand, as we saw last year with Jinder Mahal, so perhaps the former IWGP Tag Team champion will undergo a career revival if he moves to Raw.

#3 Sonya Deville

Sonya Deville (left) has been very impressive recently

New SmackDown Live GM Paige will surely be interested in recruiting the two women she brought to the main roster, Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville, in next week’s Superstar Shake-Up.

The two Absolution members have already been involved in one title match since their November 2017 call-up, facing Alexa Bliss, Sasha Banks, Bayley and Mickie James for the Raw Women’s Championship at Elimination Chamber, and more title opportunities should come their way in the next year.

Deville has been particularly impressive in the last few months and it wouldn’t be too much of a surprise if she’s in the reckoning to challenge for a title, or even win the Money In The Bank contract, following the Shake-Up.

#2 Chad Gable

Chad Gable is currently teaming with Shelton Benjamin

Chad Gable is widely considered to be one of WWE’s best in-ring performers, yet he has spent 99 percent of his time with the company in tag teams with Jason Jordan and Shelton Benjamin.

Now, as good as some of the tag matches with Jordan and Benjamin have been, isn’t it about time WWE gave the 2012 Olympian an extended run as a singles competitor?

Gable has significantly evolved as a character in the last year, and if WWE decides to split him from Benjamin, there’s every chance that the former American Alpha member could be the breakout star of the Shake-Up.

#1 Curt Hawkins

Curt Hawkins moved to Raw in the 2017 Shake-Up

When the 2017 Superstar Shake-Up took place, it was obvious that WWE swapped certain Superstars like-for-like across the two brands. For example, Dean Ambrose went to Raw because Kevin Owens went to SmackDown Live, while Alexa Bliss joined the red brand because Charlotte Flair moved to the blue brand.

It might seem crazy at this point to suggest that Curt Hawkins could emerge as the surprise package of this year’s Shake-Up, but when you take into account that he was considered a like-for-like swap with Jinder Mahal when the rosters changed last year, then anything is possible.

Will Hawkins, currently on a 190-match losing streak, win the WWE title? Absolutely not, but he could easily build up a ton of momentum if the winless run is mentioned more frequently on WWE programming after the Shake-Up, culminating in him finally getting a big win!