Throughout 2025, there has been a lot of roster turnover with several WWE stars leaving Monday Night Raw to head to Friday Night SmackDown.
With 2026 around the corner, it will be interesting to see who might be next to leave the red brand to shake things up on SmackDown.
Here are seven WWE Raw stars to potentially leave the show.
7. The War Raiders (Erik & Ivar)
To start 2025, The War Raiders were the World Tag Team Champions, sitting atop of the Monday Night Raw tag team division.
After losing the gold to The New Day at WrestleMania 41, Erik and Ivar have seen their roles diminished on WWE programming.
The War Raiders are still one of the best tag teams in the company today and deserve to be highlighted against some of the great duos.
With the Raw tag team division lacking, it might be best to freshen up the SmackDown scene by adding The War Raiders to the mix with Los Garza, Fraxiom and Street Profits would help them gain some of the spotlight again.
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6. Rusev
Since returning to WWE in April 2025, Rusev has been trying to regain his place in the company through pure brute strength and aggression.
Over on Monday Night Raw, fans have seen him clash with the likes of Sheamus, Penta and Dominik Mysterio.
Unless the company has plans to move him up to the main event scene against CM Punk and Roman Reigns on Raw, Rusev could benefit from heading to Friday nights and helping to bolster their upper card.
Rusev would give SmackDown a fresh, new contender for Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes or even simply answering the United States Championship Open Challenge against Ilja Dragunov.
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5. Sheamus
Sheamus recently suffered a shoulder injury that saw him pulled from the Last Time Is Now Tournament.
Depending on how long he is sidelined, “The Celtic Warrior” could be coming back to a totally different picture on Monday Night Raw.
After being on the brand since his return earlier this year, Sheamus might need to freshen things up a bit and get a new environment to explore.
With SmackDown needing new main event talent, Sheamus would be intriguing on Friday nights where he could have some potential “bangers” with the likes of Sami Zayn, Rey Fenix or his longtime friend and rival Drew McIntyre.
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4. Lyra Valkyria
Lyra Valkyria has had one of the best years of her career, firmly establishing herself on Monday Night Raw in the women’s division.
Becoming the first ever WWE Women’s Intercontinental Champion, Valkyria was given the responsibility of establishing herself as a rising star for the fans to watch.
Lyra Valkyria has put on memorable bouts with Bayley and Dakota Kai before putting on one of the best WWE feuds of 2025 with Becky Lynch to solidify the gold.
With the new year fast approaching, Valkyria might need to leave Monday Night Raw and try her hand in a new environment like SmackDown where she could continue to climb the ladder and potentially challenge for the WWE Women’s Championship.
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3. Bayley
Over the past few months, fans have watched Bayley experience a split personality of sorts as she continues to forge a partnership with Lyra Valkyria.
Feeling lost and alone after being removed from WrestleMania 41 and missing out on WWE SummerSlam 2025, Bayley looked at herself and realized she had two voices pulling at her.
Wanting to once again get to the top of WWE, Bayley might need to head back to Friday Night SmackDown where she can pursue the top prize on the brand and prove herself to be a formidable challenger for Jade Cargill.
After finding success on SmackDown as its world champion just over a year ago, Bayley may recapture that success upon a return.
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2. Penta
Ever since making his WWE debut in January 2025, Penta has taken the company by storm with his unique blend of lucha libre in-ring exploits and charismatic showmanship.
When both he and his brother Rey Fenix left All Elite Wrestling earlier this year, many fans believed that they were destined to be teamed with one another in WWE.
However, the company has chosen to keep them separate since Fenix signed in April and joined the SmackDown brand.
Now that they have reunited in Lucha Libre AAA, it would make a ton of sense for WWE to have Penta leave Raw and head to SmackDown where the Lucha Brothers could join the tag team division with The Wyatt Sicks, Motor City Machine Guns and DIY.
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1. The Judgment Day (Dominik Mysterio, Finn Balor, JD McDonagh, Roxanne Perez and Raquel Rodriguez)
The Judgment Day have been one of the cornerstones of Monday Night Raw since forming in 2022.
From Dominik Mysterio’s reign as WWE Intercontinental Champion to dominating the tag team division for the men and women, The Judgment Day have shown the company their worth and that they can be relied upon.
Wanting to freshen things up just a bit, Monday Night Raw might need for this dominant stable to move to spread the wealth to Friday Night SmackDown.
Joining a brand that includes The Wyatt Sicks and The MFTs, fans might see an exciting faction warfare with The Judgment Day finally leave WWE Raw once and for all in the near future.
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