5 WWE Raw Superstars destined for a push after the 2019 Superstar Shake-Up

The 2019 WWE Superstar Shake-Up saw 16 Superstars move to Monday Night Raw, including AJ Styles, The Miz, Rey Mysterio and The Usos.

In the months leading up to WrestleMania 35, much of WWE’s programming on Monday nights was dominated by rivalries involving babyface Superstars including Finn Balor, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns, while heel trio Baron Corbin, Bobby Lashley and Drew McIntyre also featured prominently.

Now, with 16 new names on Raw and with plenty of fresh feuds and opponents in the pipeline, it looks as though we could see some interesting storylines developing on the red brand over the next few months.

Last year, for example, Rollins emerged as the biggest fan favourite on Raw after his Intercontinental Championship triumph at WrestleMania 34, while Alexa Bliss re-established herself as one of the top female Superstars in WWE when she cashed in her Money In The Bank contract on Nia Jax.

Looking ahead to the upcoming months of WWE programming, let’s take a look at five Raw Superstars who are destined to receive a push in the near future.

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#5 Andrade

It took a long time for Andrade to receive the spotlight as a member of the SmackDown Live roster after he joined the brand from NXT in the 2018 Superstar Shake-Up.

When he finally stopped losing relatively meaningless matches against the likes of Rusev and Daniel Bryan, the Mexican began to establish himself as one of the most impressive in-ring performers in all of WWE during his multiple matches against Rey Mysterio in early 2019.

The two rivals looked on course to face each other at WrestleMania 35 after their one-on-one match at Fastlane was cancelled in March. However, Mysterio ended up facing Samoa Joe at ‘Mania and Andrade competed in the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal instead, which means that we could potentially see the new Raw recruits renew their rivalry on the red brand.

In the long-term, with more time and opportunities on Monday nights, “El Idolo” is bound to be given the chance to showcase his talents in lengthy matches on three-hour episodes of Raw throughout the year.

#4 Baron Corbin

One year ago, Baron Corbin moved to Raw and rejuvenated his stale “Lone Wolf” character by becoming an evil authority figure on Monday nights. Although he was unpopular, there is no denying that he emerged from the 2018 Superstar Shake-Up as one of WWE’s breakout stars.

Fast forward to now and, following his victory over the retiring Kurt Angle at WrestleMania 35, it looks as though WWE will capitalise on Corbin’s triumph by making his heel character even more insufferable than it was before ‘Mania. If not, then it would seem like a major waste to have Angle lose to somebody who is not going to benefit from the win in the long run.

Looking ahead to what plans WWE could have for the former acting Raw GM, it would not be a surprise to see him enter – and possibly even win – the Money In The Bank ladder match in May. He won the briefcase in 2017 and failed with his WWE Championship cash-in, but the Corbin we see now has improved a lot since two years ago.

#3 Bray Wyatt

Bray Wyatt has not appeared on WWE programming since his tag team run with Matt Hardy came to an end after SummerSlam 2018.

The former WWE champion appears to have been cleared to return for several months – he made his in-ring comeback at live events last November – but he was surprisingly absent from on-screen storylines in the build-up to WrestleMania 35.

Creepy vignettes have been shown on Raw and SmackDown Live in the last couple of weeks to promote Wyatt’s return, so it is safe to assume that he will be back on our screens sooner rather than later and he will receive his first major singles push in over a year.

The last time Wyatt featured prominently as a singles competitor, his four-month rivalry with Finn Balor was unresolved after he fell ill before what was expected to be their final meeting at TLC 2017. He then feuded with Matt Hardy for the next four months, including an Ultimate Deletion match at the Hardy Compound, before they became tag partners.

#2 Sami Zayn

Sami Zayn underwent surgery on both of his shoulders in 2018, ruling him out of in-ring action for 10 months.

The former NXT champion finally made his comeback the night after WrestleMania 35, four months after WWE began airing vignettes for his return, and he quickly turned against the WWE Universe by claiming he had not missed any of the fans, or the “toxic WWE environment”, during his lengthy absence.

The heel side of the Raw roster has become very stale in recent months, with Baron Corbin, Bobby Lashley and Drew McIntyre forming an unusual alliance which is built less on friendship and more about their mutual dislike of WWE’s top babyfaces.

Moving forward, we desperately need to see more high-profile singles heels on Monday nights, so it is inevitable that Zayn will fill that void and become one of WWE’s most featured bad guys in the coming months.

#1 Naomi

From Dana Brooke to Luke Harper, we have seen several WWE Superstars speak up on social media about their lack of opportunities in recent months, and Naomi added her name to that list shortly before WrestleMania 35 when she tweeted that she will no longer be “humbly silent” about being overlooked by the company.

The former Funkadactyl is one of the few female Superstars to have enjoyed success at WrestleMania, having won the SmackDown Women’s Championship at WrestleMania 33 and the Women’s Battle Royal at WrestleMania 34, but it is alarming that she has not been involved in a one-on-one title match in over 18 months.

Excluding the injured Nia Jax and Ronda Rousey, the post-Shake-Up Raw women’s roster now reads as follows: Becky Lynch (Raw Women’s champion), Alexa Bliss, Alicia Fox, Dana Brooke, Lacey Evans, Naomi, Natalya, Ruby Riott, Sarah Logan, Sasha Banks, Tamina, Zelina Vega.

With so few Superstars on the roster with title experience, perhaps we will see Naomi become a serious contender for the Raw Women’s Championship over the next year.