The 2017 WWE Superstar Shake-up was the eleventh WWE draft – and the first to be rebranded as the Superstar Shake-up – produced by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE between the Raw and SmackDown brands. Instead of a traditional draft, changes between the brands were made behind the scenes, with moving wrestlers simply appearing on a brand's show or announced via WWE's website or social medias. It was a two-day event that took place on the April 10 and 11 episodes of Monday Night Raw and SmackDown Live, respectively, on the USA Network in the United States. Raw was broadcast from Uniondale, New York at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, while SmackDown was broadcast from Boston, Massachusetts at TD Garden.
Background
The WWE Draft is an annual process used by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE while a brand extension, or brand split, is in effect. The original brand extension occurred from 2002 to 2011. During a brand extension, the company divides its roster into brands where the wrestlers exclusively perform for each brand's respective television show, and the draft is used to refresh the rosters of the brand divisions, typically between the Raw and SmackDown brands.
In mid-2016, WWE reintroduced the brand extension, dividing their main roster between the Raw and SmackDown brands, represented by the shows of the same name, with a commissioner and a general manager appointed for each brand. During the 2016 WWE draft in July, the commissioners and general managers drafted wrestlers to compete exclusively on their respective brands. The following year on the April 3, 2017 episode of Monday Night Raw, WWE Chairman and chief executive officer Vince McMahon announced another draft. The 2017 draft was rebranded as the Superstar Shake-up and scheduled for the April 10 and April 11 episodes of Raw and SmackDown Live, respectively. For the 2017 Superstar Shake-up, instead of a traditional draft, the brands' commissioners and general managers made trades and other deals behind the scenes between their respective talent. During the 2016 draft, NXT wrestlers were eligible to be drafted, and although some NXT wrestlers debuted on Raw and SmackDown during the 2017 Shake-up, these were not considered part of the Shake-up.
Selection
Raw
The following wrestlers and other personnel changed brands on the April 10 episode of Raw. The first and last two entries happened before and after the show, respectively.
SmackDown
The following wrestlers changed brands on the April 11 episode of SmackDown. The first entry happened before the show.
Notes
The only tag team/stable broken up as a direct result of the Superstar Shake-up was The Wyatt Family: Bray Wyatt moved to Raw while Erick Rowan remained on SmackDown. The Intercontinental Championship moved to Raw while the United States Championship moved to SmackDown. Prior to the Superstar Shake-up, United States Champion Kevin Owens was already scheduled to defend the title against Chris Jericho at the Raw-exclusive pay-per-view Payback on April 30, 2017. At Payback, Jericho defeated Owens for the title and transferred to the SmackDown brand. Payback also included a non-title match between SmackDown's WWE Champion Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt, who moved to Raw. On June 14, 2017, it was revealed that John Cena, who had been on hiatus since WrestleMania 33, became a free agent during the Superstar Shake-up. He returned on the July 4 episode of SmackDown, stating that he would appear for both brands.
Reception
WWE had explained that the general managers of Raw and SmackDown could make trades and deals amongst their talent. Adam Silverstein of CBS Sports commented on this, stating that there was no explanation on who was traded for who or what deals were made. Instead, the performers just appeared on the show and declared that they were now part of that brand. Silverstein also commented on how there were matches that were scheduled for Payback, which was supposed to be a Raw-exclusive pay-per-view, but due to the shake-up, a couple of SmackDown wrestlers appeared there since their matches were scheduled prior to the shake-up. He said the feuds for those matches should have ended at WrestleMania 33. Silverstein said that WWE at least explained what would happen to the winner of the United States Championship match, something they did not do for the WWE Championship match. The reason for this was because Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt's match was a non-title match, which was not initially clear when the match was scheduled.