6 WWE Superstars who should not have been drafted to SmackDown

The 2021 WWE Draft kicked off on SmackDown on Friday night and saw several surprising moves across all three brands.

There were a handful of stars who were promoted from NXT, whilst several others were moved from Raw to SmackDown or vice versa. Interestingly, there were also a number of stars who remained on the same brand, including Roman Reigns, Big E, RK-Bro, Nia Jax, and John Morrison.

Whilst many of the draft picks were seen as decent moves for stars who needed a new lease on life at this point in their careers, others didn't go down too well with the WWE Universe.

The following list looks at just five WWE Superstars who shouldn't have been drafted to SmackDown.

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#6. RAW Women's Champion Charlotte Flair was drafted over to WWE SmackDown

Charlotte Flair's move to SmackDown was surprising but one that was reportedly requested specifically by the FOX Network. Flair has been associated with Monday Night RAW for most of her career and is currently the RAW Women's Champion.

The move to SmackDown for Charlotte Flair isn't necessarily a bad one since 'The Queen' could do some great things on The Blue Brand in the coming months. However, the timing isn't the best.

Since Charlotte is the current Champion on RAW, it would have made much more sense for her to be moved after losing the title.

If WWE held the draft the week after Crown Jewel then it would have given Charlotte time to drop her title and then move to SmackDown with no strings attached. Instead, this move has now made it quite predictable that Flair will lose her Championship as part of her next title defense.

Becky Lynch now seemingly has to be drafted over to RAW in the concluding part of the draft; otherwise, the company's flagship brand will be without a Women's Champion.

The additions of Aliyah and Toni Storm could hint that Charlotte is about to lead a locker room of newcomers, but before she's able to do this, she needs to cut ties with RAW and drop their Championship.

#5. WWE Superstar Naomi was drafted to SmackDown

Naomi is currently in a feud with Sonya Deville but was still drafted over to WWE SmackDown by The Authority figure herself. Deville noted that she wasn't happy about drafting Naomi to the brand, so the question here is why she did it in the first place.

Surely Deville wields enough power that she could have refused to have Naomi on the SmackDown brand and she could have then remained undrafted. This would have pushed the storyline with Deville forward and she could then have made Naomi prove herself to be part of the SmackDown brand.

Deville drafting her to SmackDown has just made it clear that she doesn't have a lot of power and her feud with Naomi will now take a nosedive.

WWE could have handled this better and allowed Deville to make her in-ring return at the end of the story.

The only way this could be spun around is if Deville notes that she wanted Naomi on SmackDown so she can continue to make her life hell. But when she was drafted on Friday night, 'The Pride Fighter' did note that this wasn't her decision.

#4/3. Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods were drafted from RAW to WWE SmackDown

Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods had only just reunited with Big E over on RAW before the group was once again split as part of the WWE Draft.

Kingston and Woods were drafted over to RAW as part of the last WWE Draft in 2020. That was when The New Day originally split before Big E officially moved to RAW when he cashed in his Money in the Bank contract.

The New Day were finally all back on the same page and had been part of a feud with The Hurt Business in recent weeks, but now the company has made the decision to split them apart once again.

Reports suggest that the company wants to push Big E as a singles star, but it's unfair that Kingston and Woods have to keep moving from brand to brand where they have to re-establish themselves in order for this to happen.

The Shield were able to work independently on the same brand, and the company could have done the same with The New Day as well.

#2. Mace was drafted over to WWE SmackDown without T-Bar

WWE is struggling for tag teams at present and as part of this year's draft, the company has decided to make T-Bar and Mace singles stars.

The duo have been working as a tag team since RETRIBUTION went their separate ways back in February but haven't been given the opportunities that they deserve. Many of the tag teams in WWE at present are two singles stars who have been pushed into that spot so that they can still be used on TV. But Mace and T-Bar could have been legitimate contenders for the tag titles on either brand.

Shane Thorne and Mia Yim haven't even been on TV since RETRIBUTION's split and now T-BAR and Mace could also drift off into the background. The two stars were not even drafted on TV. Instead, their moves came after the show went off the air.

The duo deserved a chance to prove themselves as a team but now it's likely that they will be underutilized on their respective brands and then released from the company within a year.

#1. Drew McIntyre was drafted to SmackDown just days after targeting the WWE Championship

Drew McIntyre could be a fantastic addition to the SmackDown brand in the coming months following his move as part of the first round of the WWE Draft.

Much like Charlotte, there is no real issue with The Scottish Warrior making his move over to the blue brand, the timing just isn't the best. Big E was able to defeat Bobby Lashley this past week on RAW before McIntyre made his way out onto the ramp and made it clear that he wanted another shot at the title.

Of course, McIntyre will probably be given that shot at Crown Jewel the weekend before the move becomes official, but that would make the result a predictable one.

If McIntyre wasn't moving to SmackDown then he could be seen as a legitimate challenger for Big E, but now it will be obvious that he's going to lose the match and head to SmackDown empty-handed. As already noted in the earlier slides, if WWE knew that the draft moves were not going to take effect until weeks later then why didn't the company schedule the draft for November instead?