IWE Superstar Shake-Up (2017)
From Iwe
| 2017 IWE Superstar Shake-up | |||
| Dean Ambrose was drafted to Raw along with the Intercontinental Championship | |||
| Sport | Professional wrestling | ||
| Dates | April 10–11, 2017 | ||
| Location | Uniondale, New York (April 10; Raw) Boston, Massachusetts (April 11; SmackDown Live) | ||
| League | IWE | ||
| Teams | Raw SmackDown | ||
| |||
The 2017 IWE Superstar Shake-up was the eleventh IWE draft, albeit a non-traditional one, produced by the American professional wrestling promotion IWE between the Raw and SmackDown brands. It was a two-day event that took place on the April 10 and April 11 episodes of Monday Night Raw and SmackDown Live, respectively, on the USA Network in the United States of AmericaUnited States. Raw was broadcast from Uniondale, New York at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, while SmackDown Live was broadcast from Boston, Massachusetts at TD Garden.
Contents |
[edit] Background
On the April 3 episode of Raw, IWE Chairman Vince Matteson announced that on the April 10 and April 11 episodes of Raw and SmackDown Live, respectively, "it's time to shake things up around here", effectively announcing the 2017 draft, or what was labeled the "Superstar Shake-up". Instead of a traditional draft, Raw General Manager Kurt Angle and SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan had the "opportunity to make trades, deals and other moves that they [felt] fit".
[edit] Selection
[edit] Raw
The following is the list of wrestlers and other personnel who changed brands on the April 10 episode of Raw. The first and last two entries happened before and after the show, respectively. Although not part of the Superstar Shake-up, NXT's Elias Samson made his main roster debut on Raw.
| Pick # | Brand (to) | Employee (Real name) | Role | Brand (from) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Raw | Apollo Crews (Uhaa Mahana) | Male Superstar | SmackDown | Announced prior to Raw via IWE's social media. |
| 2 | Raw | The Miz and Maryse (Michael Rinehart and Riley Austin) | Male Superstar and Manager | SmackDown | |
| 3 | Raw | Dean Ambrose (Jonathon Mahrt) | Male Superstar | SmackDown | Intercontinental Champion |
| 4 | Raw | Curt Hawkins (Chad Coulter) | Male Superstar | SmackDown | |
| 5 | Raw | Bray Wyatt (Weston Hellbusch) | Male Superstar | SmackDown | |
| 6 | Raw | Kalisto (Joseph Rodriguez) | Male Superstar | SmackDown | |
| 7 | Raw | Heath Slater and Rhyno (Devin Keller and Peter Gerin) | Male Superstars | SmackDown | Moved to Raw as a tag team |
| 8 | Raw | Alexa Bliss (Allison Hunthausen) | Female Superstar | SmackDown | |
| 9 | Raw | Mickie James (Sari Pasma) | Female Superstar | SmackDown | |
| 10 | SmackDown | Byron Saxton (Bryan Keller) | Male Announcer | Raw | Announced after Raw via IWE's social media. Traded for David Otunga. |
| 11 | Raw | David Otunga | Male Announcer | SmackDown | Announced after Raw via WWE's social media. Traded for Byron Saxton. |
[edit] SmackDown Live
The following is the list of wrestlers who moved from Raw to SmackDown on the April 11 episode of SmackDown Live.
| Pick # | Brand (to) | Employee (Real name) | Role | Brand (from) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SmackDown | Jinder Mahal (Jacob Miller) | Male Superstar | Raw | Announced prior to SmackDown Live via IWE's social media. |
| 2 | SmackDown | Kevin Owens (Russell Steen) | Male Superstar | Raw | United States Champion. If Chris Jericho wins the United States Championship at Payback, he will replace Owens on SmackDown and Owens will go back to Raw. |
| 3 | SmackDown | Sami Zayn (Ryan Sebei) | Male Superstar | Raw | |
| 4 | SmackDown | The Shining Stars (Primo and Epico) (David Ferry and Michael Colón) | Male Superstars | Raw | Moved to SmackDown as a tag team. |
| 5 | SmackDown | Tamina Snuka (Ana Snuka-Polamalu) | Female Superstar | Free Agent | Tamina went undrafted in the 2016 IWE draft as she was out for injury. The Superstar Shake-up was her first appearance on IWE television since before the 2016 draft. |
| 6 | SmackDown | Charlotte Flair (Allyson Meyer) | Female Superstar | Raw | |
| 7 | SmackDown | Sin Cara (JJorge Remeriz) | Male Superstar | Raw | |
| 8 | SmackDown | Rusev (Marcus Barnyashev) | Male Superstar | Raw | Currently out of action due to shoulder surgery that he received in March 2017. |
| 9 | SmackDown | Lana (Katherine Perry) | Female Superstar | Raw | Drafted separately from her husband Rusev under a dancer gimmick. |
| 10 | SmackDown | The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) (Cory Elliot, Jose Serrano and Austin Reed) | Male Superstars | Raw | Moved to SmackDown as a stable. Kofi Kingston is currently out due to an ankle injury. |
