From the moment that WWE announced that they will be holding a draft ahead of the brand split, there was an immense amount of pressure on their shoulders to deliver. And when WWE went a step ahead and held the Drafts on the first SmackDown live show, this pressure doubled.
The long list of permutations and combinations that were possible during the drafts would’ve flashed through the WWE creative team before they came up with what they delivered to us. Though the draft attracted mixed reactions from the WWE fans, there were some moments that were memorable and in this list, we are going to have a run down on them.
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Heath Slater not getting picked
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Heath Slater not getting the pick might sad news for his fans. But if we take a closer look, it opens the door for some huge opportunities. First of all, Heath Slater now has a gimmick. He has announced himself as the hottest free agent in the wrestling business and this could be his ticket to be on both the brands.
Slater, although not anywhere near the main event scene, is still an entertaining act that WWE could use. He could go around proving his worth to both the General Managers every week and produce some interesting segment for the fans. This is a much better and creative storyline for Slater unlike restricting him to the Cruiserweight division.
Charlotte getting drafted in the first round
WWE has been stressing the importance of Women’s wrestling for quite some time now. After their hashtag revolution, the effort slowly wore off, but at the draft, they took a bold step. Charlotte was the second pick for Raw during the draft and this showed how important she has become to the show. She was only behind Seth Rollins in this matter and was ahead of names like Roman Reigns, John Cena, and many others.
This is a good way to start off the women’s division on Raw and having Sasha Banks on the same brand suggests that we could get to see the crowning moment of Sasha sooner or later.
American Alpha is here
American Alpha has been a phenomenon in NXT so far. The team of Chad Gable and Jason Jordan comes in with the perfect blend of charisma and in-ring talent which makes them a team to watch out on the SmackDown brand. I mean, if Kurt Angle wishes that you were part of his team, you know how good you are. Same applies for Gable and Jordan.
American Alpha is a clean babyface team that could get the fans behind them in no time. The other two major babyface teams, New Day and Enzo and Cass are on Raw which makes American Alpha’s route to the top spot easier.
John Cena is picked seventh
Times are changing. While many were expecting John Cena to be a major player in the draft, Cena ended up getting only the seventh spot. Stephanie McMahon had Seth Rollins as her first pick when Shane took Dean Ambrose. The picks of Charlotte, Roman Reigns, Finn Balor and AJ Styles followed before Cena got his call.
This shows that WWE is looking to give importance to the upcoming talent. All of the picks before Cena expect from AJ Styles are Superstars that could carry the burden of WWE in the coming years. Giving all of them a spot above Cena could be WWE’s message to their fans that there is a wind of change coming to sweep us away.
Finn Balor is finally here
After months of teasing, Finn Balor will finally make it to the main roster. Balor was drafted to Monday Night Raw during the drafts and he was also the first NXT pick. Balor, surprisingly, or not, was the third pick for Raw after Seth Rollins and Charlotte. In fact, Balor was ahead of Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns.
This gives us an idea on how WWE will be booking him. He is most likely to be pushed straight into the main event scene and now that Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows are on Monday Night Raw without a leader, it would be great if WWE could bring the ‘real’ club back and team up all three of these guys.
