Ever since the Brand Split happened, SmackDown Live has billed itself as the land of opportunities for all its stars. Smackdown’s wrestling oriented programming has been attracting stars from Raw who believe that they are not being used correctly on the Red Brand of WWE.
Back In September, we saw former World Champion Jack Swagger abandoning the 'A show' and moving to SmackDwon Live. This week's edition of Raw also teased a brand switch for former NXT Champion Sami Zayn, and now it looks like another former champion has made his mind to move to the Blue Brand.
Following the double victory of New Day on Raw, former Intercontinental Champion Curtis Axel tweeted that he was inspired by the win of the Raw Tag Team Champions and teased a brand change:
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As seen in the tweet above, Axel claimed that he was going to take the IC title held by SmackDown's Miz and officially announced his desire for the same.
His tweet has led to many speculations on what he could mean by making it official. Many are seeing it as a signal that the former Nexus member is on his way to leave Raw to join the Blue brand.
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On the topic of wrestlers switching from Raw to Smackdown, Jack Swagger was originally drafted to Raw during the Brand Extension Drafts. However, following a defeat from Jindar Mahal during the September 12th Episode of Raw, it was revealed that Swagger's Raw contract was on the verge of expiration.
The following night, he showed up at SmackDown Live and revealed that he had signed an exclusive contract with the show. Although switching brands did not prove to be a profitable move for Swagger.
Following the switch, he got engaged in a feud with Baron Corbin leading to a match between the two at No Mercy. Not only did Swagger end up on the losing side of their match at the PPV, but he has not been seen on WWE Programming ever since.
Fans are hoping that if Curtis Axel does move to SmackDown, he will end up emerging as a legit contender on the show instead of falling into the same predicament as Jack Swagger did.
Here’s a clip of Curtis Axel’s match against Braun Strowman on this past week’s Raw:
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