Sami Zayn was in the news on Friday after he was officially added to the SmackDown roster, as part of a continued roster shuffle in WWE. As much as Zayn was signed, the same seems to have happened to Monday Night Raw as it received an equivalent addition in exchange.
LA Knight Joins Raw Roster
The trade is not officially announced by WWE but LA Knight appears on the official WWE site as a Raw Superstar as of Tuesday afternoon. Online rosters are not always up to date, as in the case of Kiana James is still listed as being on Raw, despite being part of Giulia on SmackDown. Nevertheless, the move of Knight to Raw makes sense as it is supposed to be.
The Megastar has been engaged in a hot feud with Seth Rollins and The Vision which has been going on since Money in the Bank in July. The appearance of A Knight on Monday nights guarantees the maintenance of storyline momentum, as fans will be interested in the further development of the plot at Raw.
Clash in Paris Sets the Stage
Knight is not the only one who is after the glory as he will be joined by CM Punk and Jey Uso, who will also challenge Seth Rollins in a World Heavyweight Championship match at Clash in Paris on Sunday, August 31. The odds still make Rollins the most likely winner but with the emergence of LA Knight in Raw, a new turn in the plot may be introduced.
This shift also raises the question of the larger roster strategy as well. It is unknown whether the Zayn-Knight trade will be one time only or the beginning of a series of further trades to come in the weeks to come. The way WWE is approaching these changes may mean that the company has delayed the 2025 WWE Draft which has long restructured the brands.
WWE Draft Uncertainty Continues
News regarding the annual WWE Draft has gone quiet in recent weeks. The last updates suggested WWE might wait for a post-SummerSlam roster shake-up. While there is still time to organize a draft before the season premiere episodes of Raw and SmackDown next month, the timing of Knight’s move seems unusual if a full-scale draft is still planned.
The draft has traditionally been held along with NFL Draft in April in the last two years. In 2019, WWE instead chose to make roster changes earlier in the form of a transfer window. Such alterations should be made because Raw is going to premiere on Netflix in January and SmackDown is going to be extended to three hours on the USA Network at the beginning of 2025.
With the Raw and SmackDown brands still in transition, there will be even more surprises to the roster. This trade between Sami Zayn and LA Knight could be only the starting point of the post-SummerSlam plan of the WWE and leave the audience wondering what will happen next in the Red and Blue teams.
We will keep tabs on any developments of the WWE Draft and other roster changes here on The Takedown on SI.
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