WWE Raw: Ranking All 10 New Roster Additions From Worst To Best
New faces: they're here.
The Monday Night Raw edition of the "Superstar Shakeup" exceeded expectations, seeing more high profile talent switch brands than originally expected - even if, to nitpick, there was no real rhyme nor reason for the trades.
The kayfabe explanation for the Shake-Up was to freshen up the rosters in order to alleviate the tedium that comes with repetition.
It doesn't really bode well for this brave new world that that was the only storyline explanation we were given, too. One can only deduce that WWE is as bored as we are.
When the idea was first announced and rumors began to follow, it seemed as if the general plan was for the two shows to switch one, maybe two big names while swapping out a number of midcard talent to give each show a fresh facelift. What we got instead was a major injection of big name performers, with three of SmackDown's top male stars and their premiere female talent changing shows.
We've yet to see how SmackDown fares in response, but judging by the booking of Monday night's show, it's hard to imagine many of the flagship's biggest stars making the jump considering the advancement of their storylines.
Let's take a look at all ten of the Raw additions, and rank them from worst to best based on their expected contributions to their new show...
10. Curt Hawkins
For someone who seemed to be quite content working the independent scene, taking bookings at his own leisure and doing constant shoot interviews with his friends, one can't help but wonder if Curt Hawkins has spent any (or all) of his time regretting his decision to return to WWE.
When it was first announced that the former Major Brother would be coming back to the big stage after several years away, many fans were legitimately excited at the news. Hawkins is a respected worker - even being called on to help prepare The Rock for his return to the ring several years ago - and someone with an obvious passion for the business. With the rosters being split, an experienced hand such as Curt was going to be an obvious asset to the company.
Except, he hasn't been.
For all his alleged ability, Hawkins was reintroduced to WWE audiences with a hybrid gimmick of played-out Chuck Norris jokes and Matt Hady's "Version 1" shtick, and the character bombed immediately and has continued detonating upon every appearance. He's been treated as a joke with no effort made to make us view him in any other capacity.
The move to Raw was an opportunity to adopt a new persona, attitude, look...anything to differentiate him from his corpse of a career on SmackDown. Instead, WWE chose to bring him over to Raw with the exact same gimmick and have him get treated like the jobbiest jobber who ever jobbed. Hawkins makes James Ellsworth look like '89 Ricky Steamboat by comparison and I don't even understand why they elected to move him from one show to the other if he's just going to be stuck with the same pointless character.
There doesn't appear to be any plans for Hawkins based on his introduction to Raw, so what was even the point?