5 WWE Draft picks that were instantly reversed

Modified Oct 05, 2020 06:06 GMT

Some high-profile Superstars were drafted back-and-forth almost immediately.

#4 John Cena to SmackDown (WWE Draft 2011)

Another false dawn for SmackDown during the WWE Draft came in 2011, as John Cena appeared to return to the Blue brand after six years on RAW. However, the 16-time World Champion ended up being both, the first and the last pick of the televised portion of the WWE Draft.

Cena was drafted back to RAW at the end of the night, effectively killing any hopes of SmackDown sizing up to WWE's flagship show. This was supposedly done to swerve the fans, but not every swerve is a good one. This ended up being the last WWE Draft for five years.

SmackDown was still pretty solid in 2011, with the legendary rivalry between Randy Orton and Christian leading the way. Stars like Wade Barrett, Cody Rhodes, and Daniel Bryan got the opportunity to shine on the undercard as well. However, the brand split ended during the summer, and the Blue brand eventually became 'RAW Lite'.

John Cena's teased return to SmackDown would have been a major boost for the show at a time where they desperately needed star power. WWE would have been better off without even booking Cena to move shows at all in 2011, instead of baiting fans into believing he would actually leave RAW at the peak of his powers.

Edited by Kaushik Das