10 WWE Stars That Benefited From Changing Brands
8. John Cena To Raw (2005)
Cena was going to end up becoming WWE's choice of megastar anyhow, regardless of what show he appeared on.
Pre-draft, Cena was taking up residence as Smackdown's top star, while Batista was slotted as Raw's ace. The month-long switcharoo ended with the two World champions swapping places. The younger Cena was less-injury prone and more charismatic than Batista, so the clear plan was to switch him to the A-show to be the face of the empire.
For better or for worse, Cena's exposure as a Raw mainstay made him a multi-millionaire many times over through merchandise sales, and constant reinforcement as the would-be-Hogan of his generation. Crowds may have soured on his hypocritical platitudes and his overly-cheery demeanor, but moving to Raw certainly afforded Cena his penthouse status.