The 2016 brand extension was always going to be a big deal for WWE. With ratings low and USA network unhappy with SmackDown ratings, WWE pulled a rabbit out of the hat and announced the WWE Draft and brand extension.
There was much hype in the weeks leading upto it from the selection of the comminssioners and GM’s, where each Superstar would end up and to possible NXT call-ups.
With the dust settling after the much hyped WWE Draft, its time to take a look at the big winners from draft night. Which Superstars improved their standing following the brand extension?
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#5 Bray Wyatt
Bray Wyatt might have gotten split up from the Wyatt Family but that can only be a good thing for his singles career. He got drafted to SmackDown behind Ambrose, AJ Styles, Cena, Orton and he will get the opportunity to hang around the main event scene, especially with Cena going down the part-timer way and Orton being as injury prone as ever.
The New Face of Fear finally has finally been freed from Strowman and Rowan bumbling around and dragging him down. With the lack of depth on the SmackDown roster, Wyatt has the chance to establish himself as one of the faces of SmackDown.
#4 American Alpha
American Alpha getting called up to SmackDown was one of the brightest moments in the Draft for the blue brand. The pop from the crowd was enormous on the night and the only thing that could have made it better was if American Alpha came out for a quick match to introduce themselves to the fans who might not be familiar with them.
However, American Alpha are big winners from Draft night either way, and they’ll definitely be positioned as the faces of SmackDown’s tag-team division. As huge fans of Gable and Jordan, I can’t wait to see them in action on a more regular basis. There’s no doubting that they’re one of the best tag-teams in the world right now.
#3 Finn Balor
Finn Balor was the first call-up from NXT and he was drafted at #5 in the first round of the draft to a huge ovation from the fans at Worcester, MA. He was drafted ahead of some of the biggest names in WWE like Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns and John Cena which is a huge deal for the demon and being picked so early can only mean that there’s a huge push waiting for him.
The top of Raw’s card is stacked but Balor has the ability and popularity to break through and become a main event star.
His time in NXT was extremely successful and he’s currently the longest reigning NXT champion of all time. Another point to note is that Balor and 2/3 of The Club are now on Raw while Styles in on SmackDown. Could we finally see the emergence of Balor Club?
#2 AJ Styles
When fans heard rumours of AJ Styles signing with WWE at the beginning of January, a lot of them worried that Styles would be buried by Vince and co. like so many others before him who’d made their names elsewhere. However, that hasn’t been the case.
It is clear now that WWE management and Vince are really high on Styles and he’s was drafted #4 in the draft above John Cena and Roman Reigns.
Styles has won every major title in professional wrestling with the exception of the WWE titles but now that he’s one of the faces of SmackDown, it’s all but inevitable that he’ll hold the SmackDown title sooner rather than later.
#1 Raw
Monday Night Raw was definitely the big winner from Draft night. The cards were stacked in their favour from the beginning with Raw receiving 3 draft picks for every 2 of SmackDown’s picks and Mick Foley and Stephanie McMahon took advantage of this to the fullest.
As of this moment, Raw has the better tag-team division (New Day, Enzo and Cass, The Club), a better women’s division (Sasha Banks, Charlotte, Nia Jax, Paige) and a stacked midcard (Owens, Zayn, Rusev, Jericho, Cesaro) not to mention the likes of Brock Lesnar.
When you add the fact that Raw also has the new Cruiserweight Division and the star power of Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns, Raw’s roster just blows SmackDown out of the water at this point. There’s no doubt whatsoever as to which brand won the draft.
