The first episode of SmackDown Live finally aired and the WWE Draft finalized the long-awaited brand split. Needless to say, as with any other big decision, not all fans were pleased by the new formation of the Raw and SmackDown rosters. In the WWE Draft, there were a few gratifying moments and then some that left the viewers, scratching their heads. Let’s see what the top 5 things we learned from the draft are!
RAW is always going to be the top dog
Not only is RAW longer, with a larger roster, but it also has most of the titles. The US Title and the IC Title balance each other out but then there’s the Tag Team Championships and the Women’s Title, which are both on RAW. Not to mention the fact that Stephanie’s brand is going to be the home of the Cruiserweight Division, so presumably, it will also introduce a Cruiserweight Championship. Only the WWE Championship is still in favour of SmackDown but that might not last very long.
When you look at the names drafted, RAW holds the biggest of them all. Rollins & Reigns, who are very likely to end up, feuding over the WWE title after Battleground; the New Day and Enzo & Cass; plus the top two female performers in the company – Charlotte and Sasha Banks. In addition to that, they have Brock Lesnar and the top NXT pick – Finn Balor. Just imagine the beautiful feud between Balor and Neville! The pull RAW has with these superstars on the roster puts SmackDown in a rather unfavorable position.
The Shield still rules the WWE
This here is one of the best things about the WWE Draft. Ever since Rollins, Reigns & Ambrose debuted on the main roster, the era of the Shield downed upon us. Together or not, these three have been ruling the company in the last 4 years. In the WWE Draft, that fact was only confirmed.
Now, Rollins and Ambrose are the respective faces of Raw and SmackDown. I think it’s still too early to fully realize the magnitude of the responsibility they’ve been given. However, the first two picks were one of the highest moments for the fans at the WWE Draft. After all, a year ago it would have been Rollins and Reigns in these two spots. The fact that Ambrose is THE face of something is a victory in itself.
However, Roman Reigns is still a force to be reckoned with. He got drafted parallel to John Cena. This cannot have been a coincidence. The WWE knew what they were doing when they booked that. Roman still is THE guy. The fact that he and Rollins are on the same show leads me to believe that the reign of the Lunatic Fringe will end on Sunday and the fate of the championship will be decided by these two.
I only hope that the WWE will do the right thing and they’ll finally allow Reigns to be heel and Rollins to be face. It would be good for both of them.
NXT call-ups leave questions open
Hearing Finn Balor and American Alpha’s names on the WWE Draft made me extremely proud. These two NXT picks deserved to be on the main roster, no questions asked.
However, it was terribly odd that Nia Jax, Carmella and Alexa Bliss got called up, whereas Bayley didn’t. This decision was controversial, to say the least. All the women from Bayley’s generation are already on the main roster and she’s been the face of the Women’s Division on NXT for over a year now. Why she’s been kept off the WWE Draft is a mystery.
My only logical explanation is that the WWE are saving Bayley for Battleground. Sasha will reveal the Hugger as her secret partner and the crowd will give her a huge pop. Hopefully, Bayley was kept out only to come in with a bang.
We are in for a very soft split
All three currently existing singles male titles are being defended at Battleground but after the WWE Draft, in none of the feuds, the #1 contender and the champ are on the same show. Brock Lesnar and Randy Orton are about to face off at SummerSlam but they are also on different brands. That means that the inter-brand competition will be very literal. They won’t only be fighting over ratings but over who owns more titles, too. To accomplish that, RAW and SmackDown need to exchange superstars all the time, in order to keep the title feuds going. Also, the Tag Team Division and the Women Division can’t exist on both shows with one championship for each division, unless talent crosses brand borders.
On top of that, the Shane/Stephanie rivalry is too heavily involved in the brand split to be ignored. They will probably make appearances on both shows and try to screw each other over. Same goes for Daniel Bryan and Mick Foley, the WWE made sure we know these two are competing with each other. Why make it personal, if the two characters won’t clash often along the line?
In general, the split might become more figurative than what we initially thought.
Some people still undrafted
There are a few names, still not drafted, due to a number of reasons. Luke Harper, Tamina, Emma and Tyson Kidd are injured. The Undertaker, Triple H and the Rock only wrestle occasionally, so they fall under special conditions. The bizarre case of Bayley we already discussed earlier. And then, there’s Heath Slater.
For some reason, despite Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel, both having been drafted to RAW, the leader of the Social Outcasts is still undrafted. Does this mean there will be no more Social Outcasts? What a sad thought, knowing how entertaining they were! Either Heath Slater is badly injured, or has really pissed someone off and is now stuck in limbo as a result, or this is going to be a storyline – Slater, baffled by his unknown status, trying to get either show to hire him, constantly appearing on both, in order to get recognition.
In a way, if this turns out to be a gimmick, the situation could become a golden opportunity for Slater to stand out. In fact, it would be much better than what the WWE Draft meant for the Vaudevillians. They got drafted to SmackDown but they were picked AFTER the Shining Stars. Even not having been drafted at all is a lesser offence than that.
What do you think? Comment below with your thoughts, opinions, feedback and anything else that was raised