10 Worst WWE Roster "Shake-Up" Moves
Sometimes, it hurts to move.
The most exciting part of the annual WWE Drafts is the guaranteed freshness that will ensue. If your viewership was (or is) confined to just one brand, you're about to witness a hefty overhaul, courtesy of the arrivals and departures. Even if you watch all of the WWE programming, the rearrangements are likely to spark plenty of newness for your viewing pleasure.
As an armchair booker, some of the moves will make you nod and smile. Some will leave you curious. Others will make you say, "Why?" Or if you're like the current crop of fan, you offered to sacrifice your household pet to Prophet Kobashi, God of Workrate, in exchange for AJ Styles remaining on SmackDown. Wrestling fans, certainly a passionate crop.
Looking back at the draft results of previous years, you see moves that didn't exactly resonate for one reason or another. Not every move is going to work out, whether it's bad creative, an unfortunate injury, utter fan apathy, or whatever the reason may be. The big plans to flip around certain wrestlers in order to bolster programming don't always work out in WWE's favor.
The forthcoming list will highlight some swaps made by WWE that either backfired, or just simply fell flat.
List is presented chronologically.
10. Splitting The Dudley Boyz (2002)
While there were many questionable decisions in the original split, the most puzzling concerned the continuity of the Draft itself. When Vince McMahon and Ric Flair went back and forth picking talent like captains of a kickball game, there were two instances where a collective group was taken. Flair's second pick for Raw was the nWo trio of Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, and X-Pac. McMahon's fifth pick for SmackDown was Billy and Chuck, the reigning Tag Team champions.
Yet shortly after, Flair chose Bubba Ray Dudley individually, while McMahon picked D-Von seconds later. Why? It was never explained why Flair would want to choose only Bubba, and the move wasn't very well-received. Bubba fared alright as a reliable Raw midcarder, while D-Von foundered as a heel playing the role of corrupt Reverend. The two were smartly put back together on Raw eight months later, giving the brand an established duo.