With three months of the new brand extension under our belts, WWE Smackdown Live has five great talents who could help Monday Night RAW.
The brand extension has caused a major shift in WWE. While Monday Night RAW has been the flagship show and staple in WWE, Smackdown Live has provided better programming. RAW has lacked strongly in depth, despite having an abundance of draft picks and the privilege to pick first in every round.
RAW has the tools and the foundation to be a great show. Unfortunately, they are lacking in depth in certain areas to make them great. Smackdown Live, on the other hand, has a great surplus in stars in both the women’s and singles division.
The Red Brand has had issues with injuries on their show, which has caused the limited depth in talent. With stars such as Finn Balor and Paige both gone with injuries along with others, the show has struggled to stay competitive with Smackdown Live.
With Smackdown having such depth, there are some stars on the roster that could be moved over to Monday nights to help even up the brand split. These talents could quickly come over to the Monday nights and help Team Red have a stronger show.
With this in mind here are five stars from Smackdown Live who could help Monday Night RAW close the gap on their Tuesday night rivals.
WWE.com
5. Natalya
A major issue the Red Brand has had is the lack of star power in the women’s division. While the show has three top stars in Bayley, Charlotte and Sasha Banks, there is a major drop in talent after them.
RAW was hoping to have Paige on the roster, but due to her suspensions and injury, she will be gone until sometime next year. Nia Jax still has issues in the ring, and Alicia Fox and Summer Rae are nothing more than jobbers.
Smackdown Live, on the other hand, has a very deep division in regards to talent. They have solid veterans and newcomers who have potential. One of their ring veterans is Natalya. The Queen of Hearts was the second woman drafted by the Blue Brand.
However, with the emergence of Carmella and Alexa Bliss along with the Naomi and the return of Nikki Bella, Natalya has been underutilized on Smackdown Live. With openings in the division on Monday Nights, a move to Team Red should happen for Natalya.
Natalya could easily enter a feud with either Sasha Banks or Bayley. Adding her could break up the revolving door of having Charlotte feud between Bayley and Sasha Banks. Natalya can also be the veteran that the division lacks on Monday nights.
With the Blue Brand not using the former Divas champion the way she should be utilized, now is the time to move her over to RAW.
wwe.com
4. Kalisto
When the brand extension was announced it was revealed that the cruiserweight division would be returning as a RAW exclusive division. However, a multitude of issues has caused the division to be lackluster.
The division has had issues in developing stars to root for and create personalities for the character. Over on Smackdown Live, they have a cruiserweight who could instantly help improve the division, Kalisto.
Kalisto has had an up and down career in WWE thus far. Thought by many to become the next Rey Mysterio, The Lucha Dragon has done nothing since the brand extension. An injury has shelved in and when he returns it should be for RAW.
Kalisto switching over would be easy to do as they could say his contract on Smackdown ended while he was injured and RAW came in and signed him. He would easily give the cruiserweight division a boost.
With former accomplishments such as being a two-time United States Champion, Kalisto brings a legit talent to the division. Along with his ability to help the cruiserweights, the former NXT Tag Team Champion can also help the tag division.
Kalisto’s former tag partner, Sin Cara, was drafted to RAW during the brand extension. The two could easily reunite and enter the tag division by feuding with The Shinning Stars and Gallows and Anderson.
With Kalisto’s pedigree, he would a major help and addition to the struggling cruiserweight division on Monday nights.
3-2. Maryse and The Miz
Another problem that RAW has is the lack of their mid-card. The brand has mid-card stars like Sami Zayn, Cesaro, and Sheamus but they haven’t used them to their potential. However, on Smackdown Live their mid-card has been a key part as to why the show has been better.
One of those stars who has helped RAW’s mid-card is the combination of The Miz and Maryse. They have become two of the biggest steals in the draft so far. The A-List couple brought the Intercontinental Championship to Tuesday nights and helped bring relevance back to the belt.
Their recent feud with Dolph Ziggler was one of the best programs the WWE has had in recent memory. Miz and Ziggler stole the show at No Mercy, having the match of the night, and made the Intercontinental Championship relevant again.
The two are set to battle one more time to conclude their rivalry, with the feeling that Ziggler will once again win. However, this would leave Miz and Maryse with nothing to do.
There was a belief that the former Tough Enough star could feud with Daniel Bryan, resulting in a match at WrestleMania. However, it seems that Bryan will not be able to clear the physical to get back in the ring, thus eliminating those plans.
With that in mind, The Miz and Maryse would be better off heading to Monday nights. Miz could easily enter feuds with the likes of Sami Zayn, Cesaro, or one batting Roman Reigns for the United States Championship.
As much as WWE has tried, they still can’t get Reigns over with the fans. A great idea would be pairing him against the most hated star in WWE, which could finally help get Roman over with the fans.
With their program with Ziggler coming to an end soon, it might be time for The A-List Couple to bring their talents over to the Flagship Show.
Courtesy WWE.com
1. John Cena
Whether you love him, or you hate him, one thing has certainly been true, RAW just isn’t the same without John Cena. The Face that Runs the Place was taken by Smackdown Live with their third pick in the draft.
More from Daily DDT
Smackdown was able to continue the feud of the year between Cena and AJ Styles by drafting him. Since being on Tuesdays, however, Cena has been mostly putting over the likes of Dean Ambrose and Styles.
Cena has also been on the show sporadically as he has been splitting his time between WWE and his outside ventures. Even though he wouldn’t be on Monday nights every week, he would be better off there than on Smackdown.
RAW has a lot of up and comers in the main event picture like Seth Rollins and Kevin Owens, but they lack a guy who has been on top for a long period of time. Cena could instantly fill that void.
Also with Finn Balor out with an injury until mid-2017, Monday nights is lacking a top tier face to carry the brand. While WWE has been trying with Rollins, it hasn’t clicked just yet. With Roman Reigns being hated by a majority of the fans, he’s not an option either.
Cena could easily return to Monday nights and battle the likes of Rollins and Owens. His return to the red brand could also create interesting match-ups with Roman Reigns and a returning Balor.
Even though John Cena has been a great help to Smackdown Live, he is much more needed on Monday Nights. The flagship show has felt the void of Cena since he has been gone. With interesting match-ups between The Leader of the Cenation and The New Era stars, he needs to return to RAW.
This article originally appeared on 
