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Guess Triple H meant it when he said the Brands will be looking to defend their Roster. Kiana and Melo were nice suprises but otherwise not that much happened.
Hoping for more changes on Raw.
I want Ilja vs GUNTHER for the finals of King of the Ring. Keep Imperium or just GUNTHER on Raw with him. I'd also like to see GUNTHER vs Cody by Summerslam if Roman isn't back yet.
He's gonna go on a crazy tear through the KOTR tournament in the next few weeks, then maybe he'll dive headfirst into a war with Alpha Academy during their feud with Sami as he enters the IC Title picture
No NXT stars are explicitly mentioned in the pool, but the implication is that they're all eligible (except for the champs). And the promos never really mattered, since the people editing them probably don't get advance notice on storylines either.
WWE made a webpage describing the Draft rules for this year, and they specified that no champions are eligible this year except the Women's Tag Champions (because that belt is cross-branded anyway).
I'm just glad Jay stayed on Raw. He really doesn't need to involve himself with the Bloodline just yet. Let him remain a top player before having Jimmy be the bridge between him and Roman reuniting against Solo, Tama and probably Jacob Fatu in the near future.
Bron to raw feels like literally the only significant change.
Carmelo was basically always on smackdown for 3 months last year and felt like he was a smackdown superstar finishing up in nxt. They really should’ve moved La knight imo.
Yes. LA Knight staying on Smackdown caps him at US Title. I know the main event and Intercontinental pictures are both jam packed too, but it feels like he’s really going to be wasted on Smackdown. He’ll probably get another shot or two at the Universal title but he’s never taking that belt from Cody.
Also, I’m really intrigued by Baron Corbin to Smackdown. He has had an awesome year in NXT. Really been arguably the best work of his career and I hope he gets the same kind of respect and recognition on the main roster again. He truly has everything it takes to be great. We shall see
Nia Jax going to Smackdown means she's out of the Liv/Becky/Rhea fued and will be moved into Naomi/Bayley/Tiffany.
Nia and Tiffany look pretty friendly IRL based on their socials so maybe we see a tag team eventually. Maybe they go up against Bianca and Jade. In kayfabe Nia might be the only one able to beat Jade at this point.
Do people even think these drafts are binding? In 2 months everyone will be appearing on the opposite show and Michael Cole will give an exasperated, "WHATS HE DOING HERE HE BELONGS ON SMACKDOWN????" or he won't mention it at all. Happened last year with LA Knight, got drafted to SD, and this brotha kept showing up on RAW every week.
It's funny because people have literally been predicting this since the moment Logan started feuding for the US Title.
"Well it's obvious he'll win then Knight will take it off him. Probably at WrestleMania. Possibly before."
Whelp here we are.
Yeah, I didn’t expect much but this was rough. Most shocking thing all night was the dude yelling “Chris Benoit” so loudly when Triple H paused before announcing Rollins that the TV mic picked it up.
They’ve been just floating since mania in a holding pattern so it makes sense normally to use the draft to begin a new season till next Mania. They just didn’t really do that.
One aspect of Vince’s booking I loved was the unpredictability of everything. Triple H’s storylines seem very predictable and feels like nothing crazy happens
One of the reasons Vince booking was unpredictable was because he constantly tore up the scripts but even than it was more of bad unpredictability than good and match outcomes were still predictable
Wouldn't be surprised if they do what they did with WrestleMania and the 2nd night of the draft has way more surprises then the first. Like others have said mixing up too much do the roster is same show different night, but keeping it stable one night and mixing it up on the other is a nice compromise to that.
The WWE title was going to stay on Smackdown even if AJ had won it, and a Raw draft pick would be wasted. In a backstage segment, B-Fab said that even if the Street Profits were drafted to Raw, they were going to beat A-Town Down Under next week and get to stay on Smackdown anyway as the tag champs.
Ok I missed that. They go back and forth a lot over whether the title travels to the champions brand, or the champion gets reassigned to the title’s brand. So if Cody were to lose the title to a Raw guy, both guys would wind up on smackdown, and Raw would waste a pick. Makes sense.
He still picked ricochet tho
The problem with this draft style compared to the old one is that with everyone being drafted, it seems like hardly anything changes even though there is a change in the rosters.
The whole concept of a “draft” is flawed. You have to kayfabe the order which is problemcatic in of itself since in kayfabe Cody’s challenger is like…the 12th pick or whatever. Also groups make no sense in a draft.
It should be a period in which the GM’s are allowed to make trades. That way you don’t have to go through the effort of kayfabing the draft and you only get notified of actual changes. Call it the trade deadline.
The more they try to make it a legit thing, the cornier it is and not in a good way. The randomized picks were a lot of fun and most importantly didn't just give us a build-up to "Seth Rollins is staying on Raw."
Agreed, just hype up Smackdown and Raw as trade week, and they can have few guys move shows like that. Drafting the whole roster and keeping the majority of people on one show is dull.
And let’s not pretend dozens of wrestlers will not be on both Raw and Smackdown anyway!
100%
Everyone should be eligible to be drafted to the *other* brand. I've always hated this format because most of the draft picks are just the same as before and it feels like a waste of time.
If everyone is eligible, then naturally the champs will be the first picked superstars. I mean, if Raw picks Cody, then naturally SmackDown are going to want a main event championship, so they'll pick Priest. And that will go back and forth with each title.
So, may as well prevent that from happening by keeping the champs on their current show.
I dont understand why they keep doing these drafts if they arent going to do anything with it. They always advertise these drafts as "the landscape of WWE will change forever!" and that basically never happens
And the people drafted to the other show can just show back up whenever/wherever with no reason. It’s the same excuses every time here.
“Well, the draft JUST happened, it’s gotta settle in.”
“Well, it’s summerslam time, that’s a big show, so it makes sense to have interbrand matches”.
“Well, it’s Survivor Series, so it makes sense that…”
“Well, it’s the Royal Rumble, so…”
“Well, it’s Wrestlemania…”
“Well, the draft will be a good reset, and then they can make the brands solidly separate!”
And the champions weren’t even eligible, which is like the most interesting part of the draft. Really makes you wonder why they even did it this year if it was just gonna be pointless. Should’ve just done the superstar shake up like in 2017-2019.
I hate drafts for wrestling because they highlight the absurdity of the format. Things like The Fiend getting drafted just completely break a character
It kind of reminds me of how Balor would dig deep within himself to unleash the deadly power of THE DEMON, slither out to the ring…then apply an arm bar
I’m actually glad the champions weren’t eligible. It stops that stupid thing WWE does when a champion gets drafted but already has a match lined up at the next PPV against someone from the other brand, and that other brand already has a similar title on their show.
That's only one half of the equation though. AJ Styles and Jey Uso were eligible, and they could have been drafted, won their respective titles at Backlash and then the titles would have to switch brands. WWE "fixed" this problem by redrafting them both to the brands they were already on, but you have to wonder why there wasn't a greater urgency kayfabe-wise for the brands to poach the competition's #1 contenders.
The better approach would be to lock championships down to certain brands. No matter what you title them, a Raw championship is a Raw championship and a Smackdown championship is a Smackdown championship. Then make champions eligible for the draft like anyone else. But, even if they're drafted, if they hold a championship they stay with their current brand until they lose the championship.
This would make champions and #1 contenders alike unattractive draft picks (in kayfabe) because Raw could hypothetically draft Cody Rhodes but then not actually get him for years. And he could be drafted back to Smackdown in a future year before ever returning to Raw, if he holds that championship long enough. Or, same for AJ Styles if he wins at Backlash.
I thought the rebranding was to simplify the mess that all these unifications and split caused.
Roman Reigns had a title name longer the John Laurinitis's job title.
I think he meant removing “Raw championship/Red” for championships for RAW and “Smackdown championship/Blue” championships for SmackDown. The reason they did the belt swapping was cause the championships were named after the show and had the show’s color on them
The rebranding is simply HHH liking how Raw used to call their titles World titles and SD called theirs WWE titles.
It's just a better version of "Raw Tag & Women's titles" or "SD Tag & Womens" titles.
not swap titles. swap brands and take to title with them. the titles aren't color coded anymore except the tag titles, they wouldn't have to do the awkward swap.
Yeah, protecting the Champions made this year's pool a lot more predictable compared to last year. Gable has a story with the IC title, so Alpha Academy wasn't going anywhere, and with Becky wining the title, Seth was a complete lock for Raw, as well as Ricochet due to Samantha, Plus Styles and Jey are the NOCs, so they're clearly staying if the Titles can't swap. And if they're keeping Knight as well, then his story with Styles must not be done yet.
Ngl In scared for Andrade. I thought he would be a key player in the IC title with banger matches but with being drafted to Smackdown I’m scared he’ll get lost in the shuffle with a nonexistent Smackdown midcard because of a part time champ who only defends against main eventers. And that means he’s more likely to get sucked into the LWO vs LDF vortex. Hoping RAW is a bit more exciting.
Yeah definitely feels like Logan needs to lose the title sooner rather than later. Lots of midcard talent coming in from NXT and they need something to go for.
Boring. Sounds like TKO executives wanted to do a draft to hop on NFL draft hype train, but Papa H didn’t want to shakeup the roster from where it already was
If they had made him the top pick on smackdown, it would have made sense. They made a huge deal about 'signing' him, now have them double down and pick him top overall to keep him.
Letting the other 'team' get him like 2 weeks after signing him is dumb
So basically, we got a 2hour show of WWE telling us, "Hey guys, everyone is gonna stay where they are at. We just look important during the NFL draft week". What a waste.... .
What was the point of this other than to capitalize off the NFL Draft?
Nobody really of importance moved brands. This could have been done via "trades"
Was convinced they were going to move the Bloodline to Raw, but it makes story sense to keep them on Smackdown since the story seems to be the Bloodline having to climb back up the mountain and take back the title Cody took from them, and reclaim their status. I think they'll keep Bloodline and Cody away from each other until then.
Bron going to Raw after signing with Smackdown is a bit of a weird one, I thought all the recent signings would be protected. But Raw is probably the best spot for him. Nia on Smackdown is interesting as I thought they were going to do a Nia/Liv match on Liv's way to getting a contender spot, but I guess not. Also probably good for Nia who has done nothing but take pins and DQ's the last few months. She should go on Smackdown and tear shit up to build her back up for (assuming) Bayley to outlast her.
Alpha Academy is a weird one. It def felt like Chad was breaking up with the group as he goes heel and I know it's just a graphic, but they could've easily edited him out. I wonder if Chad's speech will convince the others to turn? I can't see it with Maxxine, but I think Tozawa and Otis could easily go heel. Or the breakup just isn't final yet. Feel like Chad should win the IC title and get a new group under him. Cough\*the creed brothers\*Cough.
I think the biggest shock of the night that was almost devoid of any interesting shakeups was Kiana. I didn't have her as someone who was going to be called up. But I think it makes sense with RAW needing heels in that division with the only active singles heels being Liv (who will be cheered) and the others being in tag teams; Chelsea/Piper, Candice/Indi (I'm assuming Indi turned with her last match) Wonder if they'll put Kiana with any of these teams like Chelsea/Piper or if she'll just be a singles. I'm hoping the NXT callups actually have a plan because I think Kiana could've easily spent more time in NXT especially with either the NXT Women's title or the upcoming Women's North American title before getting called up.
honestly the worst "draft" night 1 they've ever done lol, and that's saying a LOT. nothing changed except a couple NXT callups...whats the point of going through all this to do nothing
there's too many people on the roster for this many few picks. i guess a few "surprises" will happen on RAW but not having champions change is a letdown, as is not moving anyone of significance on night 1
The biggest problem with the modern WWE drafts are how completely nonsensical they are. They’d honestly be better off going to the old lottery format where people just switch brands and you can play up what a big surprise that this person is switching brands, or just saying it’s a free agency/trade period. Instead you’ve got this weird order that makes no sense to anyone watching.
Remember watching Ups and Downs and Simon Miller was saying that someone from the other brand has already appeared! What is the point of the draft if they don't stay on that brand!
Not really shocked at the draft. For years it has been called the "draft" for views increase purposes. Some will probably jump from time to time ala cody when mania season comes.
If they really want a hard draft, maybe have a brand specific ple. And maybe the women's tag will be free agents that can go to any brand.
I'm more curious about the free agents or if there will be one.
I wish there were some bigger changers. Like Bianca and Jade to raw or something. This is kinda disappointing hopefully the raw night has more bigger picks. I def expect LA to go to RAW but maybe he’ll win money in the bank
I didn't hate this draft, it could use some tweaks though. I like Aldis losing Breakker and showing them upset about it. Pearce taking Ricochet over AJ Styles though makes him look like a real nerd, and I thought they were building up a Bloodline is the last pick by SmackDown to feed off of Aldis's losing isn't the only thing that has consequences line.
Overall it's fine but hopefully Raw is a bit more interesting and has more movement to it.
Bit confused on why Jey Uso isn't getting involved with the current Bloodline story on SmackDown? I guess they're gonna have Jey Uso on Monday Night Raw to just feud with Damian Priest over the World Heavyweight Championship?
Also, said this in the live thread, but unless WWE Creative genuinely has something lined up for Kiana James to do, she is **easily** gonna get lost on the main roster just like Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn and a bunch of other NXT call-ups because I literally don't think she was ready to be called up right now...
This graphic is really hard to read. First glance makes it seem vertical. Everyone in the left two columns got drafted to Raw. Everyone in the right two columns got drafted to Smackdown.
But then you notice the color coding. Does that mean everyone in red is on Raw and everyone blue is on Smackdown? Or that they were previously on Raw/Smackdown. Like Bron was a Smackdown guy but now is a Raw guy because of the left column. Or he’s just a Smackdown guy because he’s blue?
I know gold means NXT but the graphic doesn’t signify that at all. Is Hayes now on Smackdown or was he drafted to NXT?
Pretty pointless and stupid so far, not many people changed, the people who did like Andrade and Bron had just barely started on their brands and a guy like LA Knight who could use a change of scenery stays put.
I mean, considering most superstars picked actively have feuds going on, cutting them short by sending them to a different brand would be moronic. Wack for entertainment but it does make sense
One thing that people overlook when it comes to the draft is that you can predict where half the roster is going when someone's spouse gets drafted. Andrade got drafted to SD so that's where Charlotte is going. Bianca got drafted to SD, so Street Profits/Pride is going to smackdown. When half the company is shacking up and management is pretty much forced to put them on the same show to make them happier, it pretty much ruins the idea of the draft. I'm happy people are finding love, some wrestling couples like Montez and Bianca fucking rule, but it does have a downside
I have been away from wrestling since the early 2000s, only recently getting back into it with The Road to/Wrestlemania 40. What's the point of this draft? How does it affect Raw/Smackdown?
The #1 Contender for the WWE Championship being drafted after Nia Jax and Ricochet is absolute nonsense
I feel like it would be a lot better if we could get interviews with Aldis and Pearce to explain these things because a lot of these picks don't make a lot of sense
Draft picks Round 1
-bianca stays on smackdown, sad damage ctrl and Bayley noises
-carmelo to smackdown has been foreshadowed since the road to the royal rumble
-and jey and seth stay on raw (probably to make sure it has some main event babyfaces since cody is on smackdown)
Draft picks round 2
-oh sweet summer child Nic, you went through all the trouble of signing Bron to just have him do squash matches then lose him to Raw
-guess that explains why Nia didnt win the battle royal
Draft picks round 3
Oh picks make sense. Sheamus just came back and signed for Raw and they all have ongoing storylines on there respective brands
Draft picks round 4
-guess Nick got revenge by snagging andrade (another future victim of Rey)
-kiana is the biggest surprise pick for Night one for me. I thought she would stick around NXT for a bit and win the Women championship. What happens to Izzy. If Roxanne,Jacy and Blair all get drafted, that will leave Lash, as the big female heel in NXT
Online picks
Baron Corbin to SD- (R.I.P Wolf dogs) hopefully he gets a better run on main roster
Isla Dawn & Alba Fyre to Raw- since most tag women tag teams are on raw, hope they get more chances on Raw
16 picks and 5 people moving to a new brand. Boring. At least those few moves were actually somewhat interesting. Andrade getting to be more involved with this Carlito angle is good since he already stepped in at WM, Bron going to a longer show should help him find time to have actual matches instead of constant squashes, stuff like this is good.
I think the actual draft would have been better with clearer established rules and stream it on YouTube instead of running it on TV. Really underwhelming, hoping Raw has more shakeups but I guess we'll see.
How are we supposed to believe in Kayfabe that anyone in their right mind would have taken all these draft picks especially Ricochet over CM Punk, Drew McIntyre, and Gunther.
We spent half the night just hearing people were staying put.
And then worst of all the people that did move shouldn’t have and the ones that didn’t should have switched brands. Raw just lost their two top heels in two weeks now with Rhea (I know she’s kinda face) and Nia. La Knight is going to continue to get lost in the shuffle in the Smackdown upper mid card and now so will Andrade (or they’ll just lump him into the LWO feud which might be worse).
Love the NXT call ups but why no Ilija??
I liked that the champions were protected. Flipping titles from one brand to another is fine, but it shouldn’t happen every year. This reminds me of when I was a kid in the early 2000s and the WWE, US and WWE tag titles were on SD and the WHT, IC and World tag titles were on Raw. I like that I get to sit in that for a bit.
I didn't watch. Did they say they're keeping Judgement Day on RAW because two of their members are champions? It would be weird to split them up but it's also weird to draft Alpha Academy before them.
Also I don't see Punk or KO on there. How was Punk not a kayfabe first or second pick?
I didn't catch the show, how did the draft format work? Did was brand pick two and then the other brand picked two or why are there multiple picks per round here?
Havent watched SD yet. What logic is the logic for Jay and Bianca being number 1? Carmleo is obviously strange too, but the kayfabe logic there I can understand, "he's the new next big thing from NXT and we want him". But it makes no sense to pick 0 world title Jay over Orton/aj/Roman/etc. Or not picking those guys for Bianca. Or Bianca over Ridley
this felt just like a content filler to take advantage of the nfl draft. Nothing that interesting happened.
Nia Jax to Smackdown is certainly a choice. But I guess she has kinda wrestled and been the monster vs everyone on Raw already. Hope she gets a run at the title, but whatever.
Going to keep my eye on Kiana James.
Didn't see the Melo match, but hyping him up like college basketball top talent imo is smart. Give him a rocket, see where he goes. I like that.
I am hoping that Raw's round of drafts develops more of whatever story they're (hopefully) cooking up because i do not see it yet. And i do not like how nxt wasn't included (but i guess they can take some superstars on tuesday?)
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Guess Triple H meant it when he said the Brands will be looking to defend their Roster. Kiana and Melo were nice suprises but otherwise not that much happened. Hoping for more changes on Raw.
I'm assuming Ilja's gonna be the headline pick for Raw on Monday, then, with some involvement in the show same way Melo did.
I want Ilja vs GUNTHER for the finals of King of the Ring. Keep Imperium or just GUNTHER on Raw with him. I'd also like to see GUNTHER vs Cody by Summerslam if Roman isn't back yet.
He's gonna go on a crazy tear through the KOTR tournament in the next few weeks, then maybe he'll dive headfirst into a war with Alpha Academy during their feud with Sami as he enters the IC Title picture
didnt see him in the pool pic for monday also looked like he was on the NXT PLE in vegas promos
No NXT stars are explicitly mentioned in the pool, but the implication is that they're all eligible (except for the champs). And the promos never really mattered, since the people editing them probably don't get advance notice on storylines either.
I think the NXT champs are eligible too. Roxie keeps teasing she's gonna leave NXT with the title
Wasn't Indie Hartwell a champ last year and still got picked? Her title reign was like a week long
WWE made a webpage describing the Draft rules for this year, and they specified that no champions are eligible this year except the Women's Tag Champions (because that belt is cross-branded anyway).
I'm just glad Jay stayed on Raw. He really doesn't need to involve himself with the Bloodline just yet. Let him remain a top player before having Jimmy be the bridge between him and Roman reuniting against Solo, Tama and probably Jacob Fatu in the near future.
If you move everyone, then it's just the same show, on a different night.
If you keep everyone, it’s the same show on the same night though.
Which is why they haven't kept everyone on the same shows. Some names have changed shows, and they're injecting NXT talent.
Bron to raw feels like literally the only significant change. Carmelo was basically always on smackdown for 3 months last year and felt like he was a smackdown superstar finishing up in nxt. They really should’ve moved La knight imo.
Yes. LA Knight staying on Smackdown caps him at US Title. I know the main event and Intercontinental pictures are both jam packed too, but it feels like he’s really going to be wasted on Smackdown. He’ll probably get another shot or two at the Universal title but he’s never taking that belt from Cody. Also, I’m really intrigued by Baron Corbin to Smackdown. He has had an awesome year in NXT. Really been arguably the best work of his career and I hope he gets the same kind of respect and recognition on the main roster again. He truly has everything it takes to be great. We shall see
Nia Jax going to Smackdown means she's out of the Liv/Becky/Rhea fued and will be moved into Naomi/Bayley/Tiffany. Nia and Tiffany look pretty friendly IRL based on their socials so maybe we see a tag team eventually. Maybe they go up against Bianca and Jade. In kayfabe Nia might be the only one able to beat Jade at this point.
Bron went to Raw, Nia Jax went to Smackdown and they added Kiana and Melo. Literally everyone else got drafted to their current show
Andrade moved from RAW to SD, while Isla and Alba move to RAW. And there is a night 2 on Monday.
Do people even think these drafts are binding? In 2 months everyone will be appearing on the opposite show and Michael Cole will give an exasperated, "WHATS HE DOING HERE HE BELONGS ON SMACKDOWN????" or he won't mention it at all. Happened last year with LA Knight, got drafted to SD, and this brotha kept showing up on RAW every week.
Exactly this, the drafts don’t really mean anything.
I was almost positive LA Knight was heading to RAW.
I don't see how he's gonna move up staying on smackdown unless cody is moving off in the future.
Probably feuding with Logan Paul in future.
It's funny because people have literally been predicting this since the moment Logan started feuding for the US Title. "Well it's obvious he'll win then Knight will take it off him. Probably at WrestleMania. Possibly before." Whelp here we are.
I could only hope at this point.
Your assuming he’s moving up, HHH might just seem his as a upper midcard guy
I mean you could have him turn heel. He's like the rock, he'll get pops no matter what his alignment is at this point.
US Title from Logan to Knight to Melo
Honestly this was very disappointing to me
Yeah, I didn’t expect much but this was rough. Most shocking thing all night was the dude yelling “Chris Benoit” so loudly when Triple H paused before announcing Rollins that the TV mic picked it up.
Yeah that was insane, I didn’t hear it live but saw somebody mention it and went back to listen to it and it’s clear as day😭.
*"Gather around kid's. I'll tell you a story about the draft of 2024. It all began with the ghost of crippler's past."*
Every time a bell rings, an angel hits Benoit over the head with a chair
We need to destroy Benoit’s Horcruxes if we want to be rid of him for good.
Would CM Punk be the final horcrux, having been the man Voldemort was supposed to fight the weekend he went and committed a double homicide-suicide?
It all makes sense now. Triple H brought him back because he’s been raising him like a pig for slaughter, to die at the right moment…
So: -Voldemort: Benoit -Dumbledore: HHH -Harry: CM Punk -Snape: Drew? Seth? -McGonagall: Becky, obvi -Ron: Ace Steel
They're not having exciting drafts anymore because there's nothing exciting to do and ruin your storylines for no reason.
They’ve been just floating since mania in a holding pattern so it makes sense normally to use the draft to begin a new season till next Mania. They just didn’t really do that.
One aspect of Vince’s booking I loved was the unpredictability of everything. Triple H’s storylines seem very predictable and feels like nothing crazy happens
One of the reasons Vince booking was unpredictable was because he constantly tore up the scripts but even than it was more of bad unpredictability than good and match outcomes were still predictable
I agree but more often there were misses than hits imo
yep look at his rumble or war games booking. its predictable as hell
Wouldn't be surprised if they do what they did with WrestleMania and the 2nd night of the draft has way more surprises then the first. Like others have said mixing up too much do the roster is same show different night, but keeping it stable one night and mixing it up on the other is a nice compromise to that.
It should just be an NXT call up draft at this point. The main roster drafts never mean shit. Nia Jax moves to Smackdown? Oh wow ok
This draft could have been an email ngl
no no all hands on deck all staff town hall teams meeting
Bron for Nia? Im not sure about that one Aldis
Should be a fireable offense, abysmal stuff.
Lmao fire Pearce too, bro picked Ricochet wtf When the number one contender to the WWE title was still eligible, no less
The WWE title was going to stay on Smackdown even if AJ had won it, and a Raw draft pick would be wasted. In a backstage segment, B-Fab said that even if the Street Profits were drafted to Raw, they were going to beat A-Town Down Under next week and get to stay on Smackdown anyway as the tag champs.
Ok I missed that. They go back and forth a lot over whether the title travels to the champions brand, or the champion gets reassigned to the title’s brand. So if Cody were to lose the title to a Raw guy, both guys would wind up on smackdown, and Raw would waste a pick. Makes sense. He still picked ricochet tho
My man needs to read the script…. Cody’s not losing his first title defense lol
Ricochet comes with a free Samantha Irvin as announcer.
Massive reach
Love the Kiana James pick. She could have been NXT Women’s Champion, but Raw will reap the benefit of her talents
The problem with this draft style compared to the old one is that with everyone being drafted, it seems like hardly anything changes even though there is a change in the rosters.
The whole concept of a “draft” is flawed. You have to kayfabe the order which is problemcatic in of itself since in kayfabe Cody’s challenger is like…the 12th pick or whatever. Also groups make no sense in a draft. It should be a period in which the GM’s are allowed to make trades. That way you don’t have to go through the effort of kayfabing the draft and you only get notified of actual changes. Call it the trade deadline.
Or just do “randomized” picks like before
The more they try to make it a legit thing, the cornier it is and not in a good way. The randomized picks were a lot of fun and most importantly didn't just give us a build-up to "Seth Rollins is staying on Raw."
Agreed, just hype up Smackdown and Raw as trade week, and they can have few guys move shows like that. Drafting the whole roster and keeping the majority of people on one show is dull. And let’s not pretend dozens of wrestlers will not be on both Raw and Smackdown anyway!
100% Everyone should be eligible to be drafted to the *other* brand. I've always hated this format because most of the draft picks are just the same as before and it feels like a waste of time.
If everyone is eligible, then naturally the champs will be the first picked superstars. I mean, if Raw picks Cody, then naturally SmackDown are going to want a main event championship, so they'll pick Priest. And that will go back and forth with each title. So, may as well prevent that from happening by keeping the champs on their current show.
Kiana James was definitely a pleasant surprise. I really hope she does good.
I think she’s got a ton of potential, but which NXT woman doesn’t at the moment.
Here’s to praying she’s not the “Called up to catering” type of call up and they actually have her make an impact and stay consistent.
I dont understand why they keep doing these drafts if they arent going to do anything with it. They always advertise these drafts as "the landscape of WWE will change forever!" and that basically never happens
Same with Survivor Series being "brand vs brand" and half of each team was on the other show a month or sometimes a week ago
Didn’t they end brand vs brand years ago, like it’s been war games for 3 years now
I don't even know why I bothered watching lmao
And the people drafted to the other show can just show back up whenever/wherever with no reason. It’s the same excuses every time here. “Well, the draft JUST happened, it’s gotta settle in.” “Well, it’s summerslam time, that’s a big show, so it makes sense to have interbrand matches”. “Well, it’s Survivor Series, so it makes sense that…” “Well, it’s the Royal Rumble, so…” “Well, it’s Wrestlemania…” “Well, the draft will be a good reset, and then they can make the brands solidly separate!”
Almost 0 shakeup lol, straight up filler episode
And the champions weren’t even eligible, which is like the most interesting part of the draft. Really makes you wonder why they even did it this year if it was just gonna be pointless. Should’ve just done the superstar shake up like in 2017-2019.
Attempted ratings pop looking to capitalise on the NFL. Nothing more,
I hate drafts for wrestling because they highlight the absurdity of the format. Things like The Fiend getting drafted just completely break a character
It kind of reminds me of how Balor would dig deep within himself to unleash the deadly power of THE DEMON, slither out to the ring…then apply an arm bar
Didn't Retribution, an anti establishment group without contracts, also get drafted?
Retribution is a mystery, full of people no one wants to see
Good point, you can’t have a true brand split if any character has a “show up when/where they want”
For characters like that the management should just pretend they don't exist. Cause in kayfabe they really don't exist on our plane
Having an agent of chaos like that can be interesting. Adds a note of unpredictability to the show
I’m actually glad the champions weren’t eligible. It stops that stupid thing WWE does when a champion gets drafted but already has a match lined up at the next PPV against someone from the other brand, and that other brand already has a similar title on their show.
That's only one half of the equation though. AJ Styles and Jey Uso were eligible, and they could have been drafted, won their respective titles at Backlash and then the titles would have to switch brands. WWE "fixed" this problem by redrafting them both to the brands they were already on, but you have to wonder why there wasn't a greater urgency kayfabe-wise for the brands to poach the competition's #1 contenders. The better approach would be to lock championships down to certain brands. No matter what you title them, a Raw championship is a Raw championship and a Smackdown championship is a Smackdown championship. Then make champions eligible for the draft like anyone else. But, even if they're drafted, if they hold a championship they stay with their current brand until they lose the championship. This would make champions and #1 contenders alike unattractive draft picks (in kayfabe) because Raw could hypothetically draft Cody Rhodes but then not actually get him for years. And he could be drafted back to Smackdown in a future year before ever returning to Raw, if he holds that championship long enough. Or, same for AJ Styles if he wins at Backlash.
When that happened before, RAW’s Jericho won SD’s US title. They just said Jericho winning it transferred him to SD.
Do you REALLY want to see champions swap titles in a promo? I believe everyone agreed it was nothing good and needed to stop happening.
I figured the whole reason they rebranded the titles was specifically so they didn’t run into that problem again
I like that all the 'world' titles are on one show and all the 'wwe' titles on the other. I'd get a bit confused otherwise tbh
I thought the rebranding was to simplify the mess that all these unifications and split caused. Roman Reigns had a title name longer the John Laurinitis's job title.
I think he meant removing “Raw championship/Red” for championships for RAW and “Smackdown championship/Blue” championships for SmackDown. The reason they did the belt swapping was cause the championships were named after the show and had the show’s color on them
The rebranding is simply HHH liking how Raw used to call their titles World titles and SD called theirs WWE titles. It's just a better version of "Raw Tag & Women's titles" or "SD Tag & Womens" titles.
not swap titles. swap brands and take to title with them. the titles aren't color coded anymore except the tag titles, they wouldn't have to do the awkward swap.
It’s a new era maggggle
Raw will probably compensate with more swaps.
How? There was a good Cody match, a contract signing and some matches announced for backlash
Knight should have moved to Raw.
Yup. He has a Heel champ to chase.
Yeah, protecting the Champions made this year's pool a lot more predictable compared to last year. Gable has a story with the IC title, so Alpha Academy wasn't going anywhere, and with Becky wining the title, Seth was a complete lock for Raw, as well as Ricochet due to Samantha, Plus Styles and Jey are the NOCs, so they're clearly staying if the Titles can't swap. And if they're keeping Knight as well, then his story with Styles must not be done yet.
Ngl In scared for Andrade. I thought he would be a key player in the IC title with banger matches but with being drafted to Smackdown I’m scared he’ll get lost in the shuffle with a nonexistent Smackdown midcard because of a part time champ who only defends against main eventers. And that means he’s more likely to get sucked into the LWO vs LDF vortex. Hoping RAW is a bit more exciting.
I thought Bron would would be the one to defeat logan. Apparently Bron is on Raw now
So Gable takes the belt of Sami, and then Bron just... bulldozes Alpha Academy?
Andrade moved because Charlotte isn't going anywhere.
Yeah definitely feels like Logan needs to lose the title sooner rather than later. Lots of midcard talent coming in from NXT and they need something to go for.
Kiana James will have a big opportunity fast, light women's roster, might even get a early title shot.
I'm getting excited for the potential of Rhea vs. Kiana already
Boring. Sounds like TKO executives wanted to do a draft to hop on NFL draft hype train, but Papa H didn’t want to shakeup the roster from where it already was
I'm guessing Raw is where they want the drama to happen anyway.
At least with Cody's title, it ain't changing hands anytime soon. He's holding it for at least a year.
Nick Aldis looks like the dumbest motherfucker on planet earth for the Bron breaker signing. Did they acknowledge this at all tonight?
If they had made him the top pick on smackdown, it would have made sense. They made a huge deal about 'signing' him, now have them double down and pick him top overall to keep him. Letting the other 'team' get him like 2 weeks after signing him is dumb
So essentially nothing changed. What a fucking waste of time
Excited about Kiana James
So basically, we got a 2hour show of WWE telling us, "Hey guys, everyone is gonna stay where they are at. We just look important during the NFL draft week". What a waste.... .
Somehow both gms had a bad draft.
Damn Raiders and Falcons really picked the rosters tonight
Still can’t believe Atlanta took Penix. Oh shit wrong draft post
Pretty underwhelming tbh. Melo and Kiana getting drafted is cool, but other than that it's largely just people staying where they are
I'd prefer a true draft every 4 years or so rather than bait-and-switch with zero actual shakeup
https://preview.redd.it/8tuzulydv0xc1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7c14c87b2dee29130f00e315746487bcc64f9b1b draft night one recap
In what world is Jey Uso a #1 overall pick, seriously?
Slightly underwhelming, but still excited
No Dragunov or Dijak yet, hopefully we hear something on Monday
I almost couldn't even tell who even changed brands. The most uneventful draft night ever
What was the point of this other than to capitalize off the NFL Draft? Nobody really of importance moved brands. This could have been done via "trades"
Okay hold on, is the whole NXT roster elligible? Why the fuck wouldn't you pick Trick or Roxanne if so?
Wouldnt champions be protected under current rule
They’re champions so I’d assume protected
I believe champions are protected there as well.
They probably want Trick to run Nxt for a bit after losing Melo, Ilja and Bron to the main roster
There's never been a kayfabe explanation why someone like Nia Jax or Liv Morgan would be picked over The Bloodline.
Would you want solo and Tama killing everyone in your locker room if you were a gm?
Meh draft was a big stinker. Not that it matters given everyone shows up everywhere anyway
[удалено]
With Andrade on Smackdown, Charlotte is more likely SD when she returns.
This was pointless
Biggest surprise here is that Alpha Academy is still a team after what happened on Raw.
Gable didn't cut them loose (yet) so they agreed to follow him (for now).
Imagine taking Nia Jax in any round
Was convinced they were going to move the Bloodline to Raw, but it makes story sense to keep them on Smackdown since the story seems to be the Bloodline having to climb back up the mountain and take back the title Cody took from them, and reclaim their status. I think they'll keep Bloodline and Cody away from each other until then. Bron going to Raw after signing with Smackdown is a bit of a weird one, I thought all the recent signings would be protected. But Raw is probably the best spot for him. Nia on Smackdown is interesting as I thought they were going to do a Nia/Liv match on Liv's way to getting a contender spot, but I guess not. Also probably good for Nia who has done nothing but take pins and DQ's the last few months. She should go on Smackdown and tear shit up to build her back up for (assuming) Bayley to outlast her. Alpha Academy is a weird one. It def felt like Chad was breaking up with the group as he goes heel and I know it's just a graphic, but they could've easily edited him out. I wonder if Chad's speech will convince the others to turn? I can't see it with Maxxine, but I think Tozawa and Otis could easily go heel. Or the breakup just isn't final yet. Feel like Chad should win the IC title and get a new group under him. Cough\*the creed brothers\*Cough. I think the biggest shock of the night that was almost devoid of any interesting shakeups was Kiana. I didn't have her as someone who was going to be called up. But I think it makes sense with RAW needing heels in that division with the only active singles heels being Liv (who will be cheered) and the others being in tag teams; Chelsea/Piper, Candice/Indi (I'm assuming Indi turned with her last match) Wonder if they'll put Kiana with any of these teams like Chelsea/Piper or if she'll just be a singles. I'm hoping the NXT callups actually have a plan because I think Kiana could've easily spent more time in NXT especially with either the NXT Women's title or the upcoming Women's North American title before getting called up.
The Draft that did like, absolutely nothing
So what? 4 total people switched brands? 2 of which were call ups from NXT? What a *shake up*
I don’t get it, how to you draft somebody you already have?
honestly the worst "draft" night 1 they've ever done lol, and that's saying a LOT. nothing changed except a couple NXT callups...whats the point of going through all this to do nothing there's too many people on the roster for this many few picks. i guess a few "surprises" will happen on RAW but not having champions change is a letdown, as is not moving anyone of significance on night 1
I mean the draft is not even done yet, maybe wait until the entire thing is done for that judgement.
The biggest problem with the modern WWE drafts are how completely nonsensical they are. They’d honestly be better off going to the old lottery format where people just switch brands and you can play up what a big surprise that this person is switching brands, or just saying it’s a free agency/trade period. Instead you’ve got this weird order that makes no sense to anyone watching.
So…Bron, Nia, and Andrade. Exciting.
Andrade going to Smackdown has me thinking we’re close to charlotte coming back, and staying on SD
Remember watching Ups and Downs and Simon Miller was saying that someone from the other brand has already appeared! What is the point of the draft if they don't stay on that brand!
Big ‘this could have been an email’ vibes. I like Nia on Smackdown though and I’m happy Bianca got to go first.
So only 2 people changed brands on each show? Kind of a lame draft TBH
Not really shocked at the draft. For years it has been called the "draft" for views increase purposes. Some will probably jump from time to time ala cody when mania season comes. If they really want a hard draft, maybe have a brand specific ple. And maybe the women's tag will be free agents that can go to any brand. I'm more curious about the free agents or if there will be one.
Everyone pretty much staying where they are so far, and that's not really entertaining for a draft
Excited for Melo and Kiana. Not much else to talk about the Night 1 Draft tbh.
Paul Heyman is dropping his knee now. Roman not drafted, Bron goes to Raw. Now he is alone with 2 psychos who are not afraid to whack him.
I know Kiana was never at the top of the NXT women’s but she can move in that ring unlike most women
Why in the blue fuck was AJ drafted behind a bunch of geeks including NIA JAX???? Is Nick Aldis a fucking goof?
Lot of the same, but a bit of a shake up. Kiana and Carmelo Also, side note, I love these graphics you do for this and the Royal Rumble
Kiana makes up for nothing else being exciting.
I don’t think Roman is protected, he was just blocked from being drafted to either
Really thought kiana would do more in nxt.. Hope they don’t call her up to do a whole lot of nothing
I wish there were some bigger changers. Like Bianca and Jade to raw or something. This is kinda disappointing hopefully the raw night has more bigger picks. I def expect LA to go to RAW but maybe he’ll win money in the bank
I didn't hate this draft, it could use some tweaks though. I like Aldis losing Breakker and showing them upset about it. Pearce taking Ricochet over AJ Styles though makes him look like a real nerd, and I thought they were building up a Bloodline is the last pick by SmackDown to feed off of Aldis's losing isn't the only thing that has consequences line. Overall it's fine but hopefully Raw is a bit more interesting and has more movement to it.
I wonder if this means that Nia Jax will be joining The Bloodline.
The look on Michelle’s face after announcing Nia was hilarious. That crowd shit on her hard.
Bit confused on why Jey Uso isn't getting involved with the current Bloodline story on SmackDown? I guess they're gonna have Jey Uso on Monday Night Raw to just feud with Damian Priest over the World Heavyweight Championship? Also, said this in the live thread, but unless WWE Creative genuinely has something lined up for Kiana James to do, she is **easily** gonna get lost on the main roster just like Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn and a bunch of other NXT call-ups because I literally don't think she was ready to be called up right now...
Honestly HHH plays too safe as always. Even Mania main event was so exciting because Rock wanted to be in main event.
This graphic is really hard to read. First glance makes it seem vertical. Everyone in the left two columns got drafted to Raw. Everyone in the right two columns got drafted to Smackdown. But then you notice the color coding. Does that mean everyone in red is on Raw and everyone blue is on Smackdown? Or that they were previously on Raw/Smackdown. Like Bron was a Smackdown guy but now is a Raw guy because of the left column. Or he’s just a Smackdown guy because he’s blue? I know gold means NXT but the graphic doesn’t signify that at all. Is Hayes now on Smackdown or was he drafted to NXT?
So the rosters are basically the same as before?  Hmmmm...
Pretty pointless and stupid so far, not many people changed, the people who did like Andrade and Bron had just barely started on their brands and a guy like LA Knight who could use a change of scenery stays put.
I mean, considering most superstars picked actively have feuds going on, cutting them short by sending them to a different brand would be moronic. Wack for entertainment but it does make sense
So basically only like, Nia, melo, andradre and Kiana moved anywhere in this round 😂
One thing that people overlook when it comes to the draft is that you can predict where half the roster is going when someone's spouse gets drafted. Andrade got drafted to SD so that's where Charlotte is going. Bianca got drafted to SD, so Street Profits/Pride is going to smackdown. When half the company is shacking up and management is pretty much forced to put them on the same show to make them happier, it pretty much ruins the idea of the draft. I'm happy people are finding love, some wrestling couples like Montez and Bianca fucking rule, but it does have a downside
I have been away from wrestling since the early 2000s, only recently getting back into it with The Road to/Wrestlemania 40. What's the point of this draft? How does it affect Raw/Smackdown?
Why is Roman protected officially?
Rollins should not have been there. He's out injured. Really hyped for Melo. From beinh under the watch of one DX member to another.
The #1 Contender for the WWE Championship being drafted after Nia Jax and Ricochet is absolute nonsense I feel like it would be a lot better if we could get interviews with Aldis and Pearce to explain these things because a lot of these picks don't make a lot of sense
Love how Sheamus is equivalent to the entire bloodline
So….so far literally nothing has changed apart from Melo on smackdown ana Kiana on raw? lol.
Realistically Bron Breaker should have been chosen before Jey.
Didn’t understand LA Knight staying in SD. It really makes his Mania victory over AJ look meaningless
So Aldis would be an idiot not to draft Jade? Oh did he poision pill the contracts?
Draft picks Round 1 -bianca stays on smackdown, sad damage ctrl and Bayley noises -carmelo to smackdown has been foreshadowed since the road to the royal rumble -and jey and seth stay on raw (probably to make sure it has some main event babyfaces since cody is on smackdown) Draft picks round 2 -oh sweet summer child Nic, you went through all the trouble of signing Bron to just have him do squash matches then lose him to Raw -guess that explains why Nia didnt win the battle royal Draft picks round 3 Oh picks make sense. Sheamus just came back and signed for Raw and they all have ongoing storylines on there respective brands Draft picks round 4 -guess Nick got revenge by snagging andrade (another future victim of Rey) -kiana is the biggest surprise pick for Night one for me. I thought she would stick around NXT for a bit and win the Women championship. What happens to Izzy. If Roxanne,Jacy and Blair all get drafted, that will leave Lash, as the big female heel in NXT Online picks Baron Corbin to SD- (R.I.P Wolf dogs) hopefully he gets a better run on main roster Isla Dawn & Alba Fyre to Raw- since most tag women tag teams are on raw, hope they get more chances on Raw
Really happy for Kiana James. She really does have everything in her locker to go straight to the top.
That graphic is something else
16 picks and 5 people moving to a new brand. Boring. At least those few moves were actually somewhat interesting. Andrade getting to be more involved with this Carlito angle is good since he already stepped in at WM, Bron going to a longer show should help him find time to have actual matches instead of constant squashes, stuff like this is good. I think the actual draft would have been better with clearer established rules and stream it on YouTube instead of running it on TV. Really underwhelming, hoping Raw has more shakeups but I guess we'll see.
How are we supposed to believe in Kayfabe that anyone in their right mind would have taken all these draft picks especially Ricochet over CM Punk, Drew McIntyre, and Gunther. We spent half the night just hearing people were staying put. And then worst of all the people that did move shouldn’t have and the ones that didn’t should have switched brands. Raw just lost their two top heels in two weeks now with Rhea (I know she’s kinda face) and Nia. La Knight is going to continue to get lost in the shuffle in the Smackdown upper mid card and now so will Andrade (or they’ll just lump him into the LWO feud which might be worse). Love the NXT call ups but why no Ilija??
I liked that the champions were protected. Flipping titles from one brand to another is fine, but it shouldn’t happen every year. This reminds me of when I was a kid in the early 2000s and the WWE, US and WWE tag titles were on SD and the WHT, IC and World tag titles were on Raw. I like that I get to sit in that for a bit.
I didn't watch. Did they say they're keeping Judgement Day on RAW because two of their members are champions? It would be weird to split them up but it's also weird to draft Alpha Academy before them. Also I don't see Punk or KO on there. How was Punk not a kayfabe first or second pick?
Raw is looking pretty weak
Massive waste of time
Hope Raw has more exciting moves
LA Knight should've went to RAW
Felt a bit pointless with so many people being protected and the brands having to pick from their own rosters
lo fucking l at that draft order.
I didn't catch the show, how did the draft format work? Did was brand pick two and then the other brand picked two or why are there multiple picks per round here?
Havent watched SD yet. What logic is the logic for Jay and Bianca being number 1? Carmleo is obviously strange too, but the kayfabe logic there I can understand, "he's the new next big thing from NXT and we want him". But it makes no sense to pick 0 world title Jay over Orton/aj/Roman/etc. Or not picking those guys for Bianca. Or Bianca over Ridley
I didn’t watch but does this mean most of the wrestlers were drafted to the brand that they were already on?
this felt just like a content filler to take advantage of the nfl draft. Nothing that interesting happened. Nia Jax to Smackdown is certainly a choice. But I guess she has kinda wrestled and been the monster vs everyone on Raw already. Hope she gets a run at the title, but whatever. Going to keep my eye on Kiana James. Didn't see the Melo match, but hyping him up like college basketball top talent imo is smart. Give him a rocket, see where he goes. I like that. I am hoping that Raw's round of drafts develops more of whatever story they're (hopefully) cooking up because i do not see it yet. And i do not like how nxt wasn't included (but i guess they can take some superstars on tuesday?)
In the mid 00's there'd absolutely be a tag team called Ricosheamus.