10 WWE Roster Trades That Must Happen In 2017
5. Sami Zayn To SmackDown
If Raw’s writers have proven one thing since the brand split kicked-in, it’s that they have no idea how to create a compelling babyface. Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns are a set of whiny, detestable schoolyard bullies, Enzo Amore has become a crude pervert, and even Sasha Banks sounds like a villainess from time to time. Sami Zayn, meanwhile, might be the most affable competitor on the show’s roster, but he’s little more than a loveable loser at this point, and he deserves better.
If WWE are trying to recreate the Daniel Bryan formula by building support for Sami by having him lose every week, it’s not working. Zayn’s crowd reactions are noticeably quieter than they were a year ago, and he’s not going to make traction without picking-up the odd win here and there. It’s looking increasingly unlikely that he’ll get this opportunity on Raw, and thus, it’s time for a trade.
SmackDown is extremely short on babyfaces, particularly at the highest level. With Dolph Ziggler’s turn, Dean Ambrose and John Cena are left as the top two good guys, but both men dip into questionable shades of grey every now and then. Sami is the opposite: an old-fashioned, white meat babyface who doesn’t have a bad bone in his body. He’d be an immediate standout because of this, and SD’s sharper booking team would surely get the best out of him.