The Good, The Bad and The NXT: The week's winners and losers in WWE
Thursday 26 April 2018 14:46, UK
The Superstar Shakeup came into full effect this week as the Raw and SmackDown rosters presented their final showdowns ahead of this Friday's Greatest Royal Rumble event, live from Saudi Arabia.
The card is already set for this week's epic show - which is being reported as being around six hours long - but it seems that many stars are already turning their attention to Backlash, which will be the first pay-per-view of the new era for WWE.
Good Week
Ronda Rousey (Raw)
Ronda Rousey has been in impressive form ever since she debuted in WWE in January and then managed to pick up her first win in her debut match at WrestleMania.
Since the biggest show of the year, Rousey has been aligned with Natalya and last week showed that she definitely had her back when she took on Absolution when they attacked her following Natalya's win.
Rousey was on hand once again this week when she made her way to the ring to save Natalya from an attack by Mickie James and easily locked the veteran in an armbar to send out another clear message.
It is now speculated that Rousey could be heading towards her first singles match at Backlash against James, which would definitely be the perfect way for Rousey to continue her dominant streak since James has a wealth of experience in the ring and would be the perfect opponent for the former UFC champion to learn from.
Shinsuke Nakamura (SmackDown)
Shinsuke Nakamura faced AJ Styles at WrestleMania for the WWE Championship, but lost the match and it seems that this frustration has forced him to turn heel.
This week the Japanese sensation debuted a new theme on SmackDown and has been able to send a message to AJ Styles over the past few weeks by low-blowing him every time the duo have met in the same ring.
Nakamura faces AJ Styles for the WWE title once again on Friday night at The Greatest Royal Rumble, but unlike the build-up to their match at WrestleMania, it seems that Nakamura has all of the momentum heading into their rematch and with his new-found persona he could finally be lifting gold on the main roster.
Adam Cole (NXT)
The inaugural North American Champion made his first appearance on NXT since he pulled double duty back at NXT Takeover: New Orleans as he defended his Championship against the up-and-coming Oney Lorcan.
Cole sent the rest of Undisputed Era to the back since he felt that he could defeat Lorcan alone, but the scars from the brutal ladder match in New Orleans played their part in allowing Lorcan back into the match and Cole then relied upon the interference of his team-mates to help him retain his Championship.
Cole successfully defended his title thanks to the Kyle O'Reilly and new member Roderick Strong, and it seems that Strong is proving to be an interesting addition to the team as the Undisputed Era continue to back up the claim that they deserve the titles they currently hold.
Bad week
Apollo Crews (Raw)
Titus Worldwide wasn't sent over to SmackDown as part of the Superstar Shakeup, so it seems that they are now being used as enhancement talent on Raw. This week they were the ones who were used to push Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre's new partnership which also showcased their incredible Claymore/Zig Zag finisher.
Apollo Crews was once a hot commodity on NXT but it seems that in recent years the star has been aligned with Dana Brooke and Titus O'Neil and he is now in freefall on the Raw roster and should definitely have been one of the stars who was moved over to SmackDown so that he could have been given a fresh start.
Asuka (SmackDown)
Asuka had a lengthy undefeated streak that stretched back to her days in NXT until she was defeated by Charlotte at WrestleMania at the beginning of the month.
It seems that since her WrestleMania loss, Asuka is now free to lose matches consistently since she was also handed her first loss on SmackDown in her first sanctioned match since officially moving over in the Superstar Shakeup last week.
Asuka teamed with Becky Lynch against The IIconics but the duo was defeated by Billie Kay and Peyton Royce, who have definitely created waves since they joined the blue brand a few weeks ago.
This isn't a great sign for Asuka's future since she isn't in the Women's championship picture at the moment and has now suffered two losses in the space of a month, when she had previously been undefeated for almost three years.
Johnny Gargano (NXT)
What does Johnny Gargano have to do to rid himself of the shadow that has been following him around now for more than a year?
Gargano thought that he had finally vanquished the demon and the memories of his former best friend Tommaso Ciampa back in New Orleans when he defeated him in their unsanctioned match, but merely three weeks later Ciampa is back and costing him his shot at the NXT Championship and a fantasy match with Aleister Black.
Ciampa once again attacked Gargano from behind as he made his way to the ring before putting him through a table and then forcing him to be stretchered out of the arena and taken to a local medical facility.
It seems that their unsanctioned match wasn't the end of this bitter rivalry since there may well be another chapter in this epic saga in the coming months.
