5 Major Mistakes WWE Made With The Superstar Shake-up

4. Trial Separation

Becky Lynch
WWE.com

WWE were keen to promote the usual 'anyone can move' malarkey ahead of this year's shake-up, but few trades actually made use of the potentially chaotic circumstances.

Shelton Benjamin and Chad Gable - a pairing stuck together with chewing gum when Jason Jordan went off to Raw to deal with his daddy issues - were pulled apart at their weak seams despite only just recently getting over. Why waste this gimmick on a duo with gas in the tank?

Titus Worldwide have been a long-abandoned punchline on Monday Night Raw for so long that they were somehow deigned as being below new blue brand refugee Dolph Ziggler on the WWE totem pole. How, logically, can Apollo Crews think affiliation with Titus O'Neil has helped his career?

Meanwhile, Sheamus and Cesaro look to have exhausted most or all opponents thanks to a largely prosperous last 18 months. The time - if not now - was very soon for the 'Swiss Superman' in particular to have another bite of the cherry as a solo star. Sheamus wasn't likely to prosper, but coming off the best main roster run of his career would have given him the best possible chance.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett