7 WWE Superstars who did not live up to their 2019 Draft positions

The 2020 WWE Draft is set to take place across two nights on the October 9 episode of WWE SmackDown and the October 12 episode of WWE RAW.

WWE has not yet announced the rules of this year’s WWE Draft, but it is safe to assume that the roster changes will follow a similar pattern to last year.

In 2019, 20 WWE Superstars and tag teams were assigned to either RAW or SmackDown on the first night of the WWE Draft. The brand picks were announced in rounds of five Superstars, with RAW selecting three Superstars for every two Superstars that SmackDown selected.

Three days later, another six rounds of draft picks were revealed on the second night of the WWE Draft on RAW, with 30 Superstars and tag teams finding out whether they had been assigned to the red or blue brand.

In addition to those 50 brand assignments, WWE also announced the brand destinations of another 18 Superstars and tag teams on The Bump and via the company’s website.

Now, one year on from those draft picks, let’s take a look back to find out which seven Superstars did not live up to their high positions in the 2019 WWE Draft.

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#7 and #6 WWE RAW: Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson (Round 1 draft pick)

The O.C. joined forces on WWE RAW in 2019

In fairness to Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, there is no way that they would have been chosen in the first round of the 2019 WWE Draft if they were not aligned with AJ Styles as part of The O.C. at the time.

But, as per the rules of last year’s roster changes, all three members of the group were allowed to be selected as one draft pick, which meant RAW snapped up The O.C. as pick #3 on the first night of the WWE Draft.

Needless to say, things did not exactly go as planned for The Good Brothers on RAW. Granted, they won the WWE Tag Team World Cup at Crown Jewel 2019, but their time on the brand was cut short when they were released in April 2020 as a cost-cutting measure due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

If anybody said during the 2019 WWE Draft that a first-round draft pick would be let go by the company six months later, it would have been difficult to believe.

#5 WWE RAW: Ricochet (Round 2 draft pick)

Ricochet made his WWE main roster debut in February 2019

Like Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, Ricochet did not fare too badly on WWE RAW in the first few months after the 2019 WWE Draft.

The One and Only had started to establish himself as one of the top babyface singles competitors on the brand, resulting in him challenging Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship at Super ShowDown in February 2020.

Unfortunately, ever since that dominant loss against Lesnar, Ricochet has never been the same.

At the time, he seemed worthy of being chosen by WWE RAW in the second round of the WWE Draft (pick #8, ahead of Braun Strowman and Alexa Bliss), but that position looks too high when you take into account what has happened in the last 12 months.

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#4 WWE SmackDown: Lacey Evans (Round 3 draft pick)

Lacey Evans feuded with Becky Lynch after WrestleMania 35

Lacey Evans was selected by WWE SmackDown as the #12 pick in the third round of the 2019 WWE Draft.

The former marine participated in a high-profile storyline with Becky Lynch just a few months before the WWE Draft took place, so she did not look out of place in the #12 position after the roster changes were announced.

Now, on reflection, it is surprising that she was picked ahead of the likes of Kevin Owens (#13) and Natalya (#15).

Evans was even selected ahead of The Revival (#14), the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Champions at the time of the WWE Draft.

#3 WWE RAW: Andrade (Round 1 draft pick)

Andrade (w/Zelina Vega) was chosen as the #5 pick by WWE RAW on the second night of the 2019 WWE Draft, with only Seth Rollins, Brock Lesnar, Charlotte Flair and The New Day chosen before him.

This meant he was selected by the Red brand ahead of Daniel Bryan and Asuka & Kairi Sane, as well as SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley, and then-Intercontinental Champion, Shinsuke Nakamura.

Given his high placing in the WWE Draft, it looked as though Andrade would go on to receive a huge push in the months that followed the roster changes.

However, while El Idolo did feature prominently on television in late 2019/early 2020, it is fair to say that he did not live up to his #5 draft position.

The highlight of the Mexican’s last 12 months came on December 26, 2019 when he defeated Rey Mysterio for the WWE United States Championship at Madison Square Garden.

Since losing the title against Apollo Crews in May 2020, Andrade has mostly featured in tag team storylines alongside Vega and Angel Garza.

With those Superstars no longer by his side, the former WWE NXT Champion looks set to go it alone as a singles competitor again over the next few months.

#2 WWE RAW: Rusev (Round 2 draft pick)

Rusev received his release from WWE in April 2020

Rusev was involved in a love triangle storyline on WWE RAW with Bobby Lashley and Lana around the time of the 2019 WWE Draft, so it was inevitable that he was going to be drafted permanently to the red brand.

Although many people disliked the storyline, Rusev was arguably one of the top babyfaces on WWE RAW when the controversial angle began to wind down in January 2020.

The problem, however, is that there was no follow-up to the storyline, which meant The Bulgarian Brute was left without a manager and without a meaningful rivalry during the first few months of the year.

As the #8 pick on the second night of the 2019 WWE Draft, there is no way that anybody would have expected Rusev to receive his release just six months later. But, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, that is exactly what happened.

The man behind the Rusev character, Miro, teased for several months that he was done with wrestling and he wanted to focus on his new career as a Twitch streamer.

While he has indeed continued to stream on Twitch, Miro is already back in the wrestling business as a member of the AEW roster.

#1 WWE RAW: Humberto Carrillo (Round 3 draft pick)

Humberto Carrillo has not appeared much on WWE RAW lately

With all due respect to Humberto Carrillo, his name stands out more than any other Superstar from the 2019 WWE Draft.

It was somewhat surprising that the former 205 Live roster member was included in the WWE Draft at all, so it was definitely a surprise when he was chosen by WWE RAW as the #13 pick in the third round.

The following Superstars were all selected after Carrillo on the second night of the WWE Draft:

-- Murphy (#16)

-- Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode (#17)

-- Jinder Mahal (#18)

-- Samoa Joe (#21)

-- The Miz (#22)

-- King Corbin (#24)

-- Rey Mysterio (#26)

-- Liv Morgan (#30)

Murphy and Liv Morgan hardly appeared on WWE television in the months leading up to the WWE Draft, so it is understandable that Carrillo was picked before them.

Looking at those other names, it is difficult to think of a logical reason why the up-and-coming Superstar was selected ahead of four former WWE World Champions, as well as the man who had just won the King of the Ring tournament.

After last year’s lofty position, it will be interesting to see where Carrillo ends up in the 2020 WWE Draft.