This year’s WWE Superstar Shake-Up officially began on Monday Night Raw, and it is set to continue tonight on SmackDown Live . As reported by The Inquisitr , a number of big names moved over to Monday nights, and there will be some who leave for the blue brand in return. Rumor has it that one current champion was actually set to move over to Raw on Monday night and something held him back, but that plan appears to still be in place.
According to The Wrestling Observer , by way of IW Nerd , WWE United States Champion Samoa Joe was backstage at Raw and set to move there in the Superstar Shake-Up. It appears as if Joe was extremely sick with the flu and could not participate in the segment that was written for him in the script.
Joe had to be removed from the plans for the show and he was not moved to Monday Night Raw as scheduled. When he came out, Joe was going to interact in some way with Braun Strowman, which makes sense as the two clashed on SmackDown Live last week.
If this move were to have happened, it almost certainly would have confirmed WWE Intercontinental Champion Finn Balor moving to Tuesday nights. Despite Joe’s sickness having him written out of Raw , it appears as if the move is still going to happen.
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter , by way of ComicBook , is reporting that that move is still going to end up happening even though Samoa Joe missed Monday’s show. It is obvious that WWE wanted this move to happen, and it was absolutely no one’s fault that Joe was sick and couldn’t participate.
If Joe does still end up moving to Raw with the United States Championship, it almost certainly means that Balor will take the IC Title to SmackDown Live . That kind of even trade would need to happen in order for each show to have a secondary championship on the brand.
The Inquisitr reported that Vince McMahon is prepared to make an announcement which will signify the biggest acquisition in the history of SmackDown Live . It’s not known if that will have anything to do with Samoa Joe, but anything is possible.
The 2019 WWE Superstar Shake-Up has already seen a number of big-name stars move brands and even called up from NXT , but it is far from over. Tuesday night on SmackDown Live , the moves will continue, but rumor has it that Samoa Joe is still on his way over to Monday Night Raw before all is done.
