Vince McMahon on the April 3rd episode of ‘Monday Night Raw.’ (WWE.com)
Next week on WWE programming, the 2017 draft will take place. Well, actually, this is being referred to as a “superstar shake up,” but it’s effectively another draft. So when exactly is this happening?
According to WWE.com, the superstar shake up will be a two-night event, beginning on Monday Night Raw at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Monday, April 10th. Some changes will be revealed during the course of Raw, while some changes will be revealed during the course of SmackDown.
It seems, however, that this won’t be a full drafting ceremony that takes up most of the show but that the trades will simply be announced throughout the regular programs.
“We’ll find out how the ‘shake-up’ affects Team Red on Monday night, with more changes coming to light on Tuesday night during SmackDown LIVE,” the WWE.com official preview states.
So what is this superstar shake up, exactly? Well, this won’t be like past WWE drafts in which who goes where is conceivably random. It also won’t be another situation in which who goes where is decided by matches.
Rather, the general managers of Raw and SmackDown, Kurt Angle and Daniel Bryan, will be making trades among themselves; presumably, these deals will be complete by next week, and Raw will be the venue in which everything is announced, not the venue in which everything is determined.
It sounds like the commissioners of the shows will also be involved in some capacity, though. On Talking Smack this week, Shane McMahon suggested that he is working with Daniel Bryan on this. He also threw some shade at Stephanie McMahon, implying that this trade is only happening because she is “daddy’s little girl” and because SmackDown has become better than Raw and Vince McMahon wants to level the playing field.
Check back in on Monday for updates regarding the WWE superstar shake up.