8 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE Raw (20 Jan - Results & Review)

Downs…

3. The Never-Ending Transfer Window

WWE has two distinct, separate rosters, with wrestlers locked in as part of Raw or SmackDown, thus making it exceedingly rare for superstars from different brands to ever interact… except that they do it all the time.

In recent months, superstars have been moving back and forth between the red and blue brands as easily as people riding public transit, shuttling between shows with nary a concern. Survivor Series saw wrestlers show up on both programs repeatedly, and that has only accelerated during the past several weeks due to the nebulous “transfer window”.

Opened in early December, the transfer window has served as a plot device to allow wrestlers to move between Raw and SmackDown almost weekly for no discernible reason other than they might be kicking the tires on a different brand.

A couple of acts, such as Braun Strowman, the Wyatt Sicks, Logan Paul. and now Bayley, have actually switched shows, but Nia Jax simply wandered onto Raw, had a match on Monday night, and then got a Women’s World Championship match for Saturday Night’s Main Event against Rhea Ripley despite still being part of SmackDown.

If WWE can’t be bothered to enforce distinct brands for months at a time, then why pretend to have them at all? Set the ground rules, stick by them, and act like the billion-dollar juggernaut you are, rather than feeling like the WWE of the 2000s and 2010s with the transfer window.