WWE Draft 2019 vs. 2020: 6 Superstars who dropped the most places

Big E and Kofi Kingston (left); Zelina Vega (right)
Big E and Kofi Kingston (left); Zelina Vega (right)

A total of 66 WWE Superstars and tag teams were drafted to either RAW or SmackDown during the 2020 WWE Draft.

WWE’s male World Champions, Drew McIntyre and Roman Reigns, were drafted in the #1 and #2 spots on the first night of this year’s Draft, while The Fiend Bray Wyatt and Bayley occupied those positions on the second night.

Interestingly, many WWE Superstars who featured in high positions in the 2019 Draft were unable to reach those heights again in 2020.

Seth Rollins and AJ Styles both fell three places from last year, but that is nothing compared to the drop that some of their WWE colleagues have had in the space of just 12 months.

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In this article, let’s take a look at six WWE Superstars who fell 13 places or more in the 2020 Draft in comparison to last year.


#6 WWE Draft 2019 vs. 2020: Big E dropped 13 places

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WWE Draft 2019: Big E (Night Two, WWE SmackDown - #4 pick)

Big E’s high position in the 2019 WWE Draft is largely down to the fact that he was associated with his fellow New Day members when the roster changes took place.

Kofi Kingston lost the WWE Championship just one week before the WWE Draft.

If he kept hold of the title for seven more days, there is a good chance that Big E, Xavier Woods and Kingston would have been selected as SmackDown’s first-choice pick.

WWE Draft 2020: Big E (Night One, WWE SmackDown - #17 pick)

The following Superstars were drafted to SmackDown ahead of Big E: Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Sasha Banks, Bianca Belair, Jey Uso, and Rey Mysterio & Dominik Mysterio.

With the exception of the up-and-coming Belair, who received a surprisingly high draft pick (#9), there can be few complaints about Big E's 2020 placing.

The big news involving Big E is that he has been separated from Kingston and Woods after six years together on WWE television.

Kingston and Woods were drafted as the #16 pick on WWE RAW, which means they dropped 12 places from last year’s Draft.

#5 WWE Draft 2019 vs. 2020: Natalya dropped 17 places

Natalya and Lana's alliance is over
Natalya and Lana's alliance is over

WWE Draft 2019: Natalya (Night One, WWE RAW - #15 pick)

Natalya had just finished feuding with Becky Lynch over the WWE RAW Women’s Championship when the 2019 WWE Draft took place.

The Queen of Harts was also involved in a non-title rivalry with Lacey Evans around that time.

She defeated The Sassy Southern Belle in a Last Woman Standing match on RAW four days before the Draft began.

WWE Draft 2020: Natalya (Night Two, WWE SmackDown - #32 pick)

Unlike 2019, Natalya had not been considered a serious title contender heading into the 2020 roster changes.

She lost six tag team matches in a row with Lana, including a defeat against Dana Brooke and Mandy Rose on the second night of the Draft.

It looked as though Natalya might become a free agent after her name was not read out by Stephanie McMahon. However, it was later announced during RAW Talk that the former WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion had been drafted to SmackDown as the #32 pick.

Her tag team partner, Lana, was drafted to RAW as the #31 pick.

#4 WWE Draft 2019 vs. 2020: Aleister Black dropped 19 places

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WWE Draft 2019: Aleister Black (Night Two, WWE RAW - #10 pick)

Aleister Black was one of many Superstars with untapped potential who appeared in a high position in the 2019 WWE Draft.

Cedric Alexander (#11), Humberto Carrillo (#13), Mustafa Ali (#14), and Buddy Murphy (#16) were also drafted on the second night of the 2019 Draft, and all five Superstars have gone on to feature more prominently on WWE television over the last year.

WWE Draft 2020: Aleister Black (Night Two, WWE SmackDown - #29 pick)

Although Black has been involved in lots of storylines since being picked at #10 in 2019, he is no longer the undefeated singles Superstar that he was 12 months ago.

The former WWE NXT Champion has racked up some high-profile losses against the likes of Seth Rollins and Kevin Owens in 2020, which might explain why he was picked at #29 in this year’s Draft.

That being said, it is still surprising that he was drafted after Superstars including R-Truth (#23) and Titus O’Neil (#26).

#3 WWE Draft 2019 vs. 2020: Erik dropped 20 places

Ivar (left) and Erik (right)
Ivar (left) and Erik (right)

WWE Draft 2019: Erik (Night One, WWE RAW - #16 pick)

One of the biggest moments from the second night of the 2019 WWE Draft came when The Viking Raiders defeated Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode to win the WWE RAW Tag Team titles.

Erik and Ivar had been confirmed as WWE RAW roster members three days earlier when they were selected at #16 on the first night of the Draft.

The former WWE NXT Superstars were selected ahead of several other tag teams in their Draft Pool, including Lucha House Party, Heavy Machinery, The Street Profits, and The B-Team.

WWE Draft 2020: Erik (Night Two, WWE RAW - #36* pick)

With Ivar injured and not involved in either Draft Pool, it is no great surprise that Erik went undrafted on the second night of the 2020 Draft.

The additional draft picks on RAW Talk came to an end after the #35 pick (Arturo Ruas). However, it was later announced on WWE’s social media platforms that Erik was no longer a free agent and he had been drafted to RAW.

This means he did not get a draft pick number, but his number would have been at least #36 if another round of draft picks were announced on RAW Talk.

#2 and #1 WWE Draft 2019 vs. 2020: Andrade & Zelina Vega dropped 31+ places

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WWE Draft 2019: Andrade & Zelina Vega (Night Two, WWE RAW - #5 pick)

With all due respect to Andrade and Zelina Vega, their position at #5 in the 2019 WWE Draft seemed very high at the time.

The second Draft Pool in 2019 was not as strong as the first night, but it was still alarming that they were chosen ahead of Daniel Bryan, the Women’s Tag Team Champions (The Kabuki Warriors), the SmackDown Women’s Champion (Bayley), and the Intercontinental Champion (Shinsuke Nakamura).

WWE Draft 2020: Andrade (Night Two, undrafted - #40* pick)

In one of the biggest shocks of this year’s Draft, Andrade did not even get drafted as part of the second Draft Pool.

As of the time of writing, the former WWE United States Champion is a free agent.

Four undrafted Superstars were drafted after WWE RAW went off the air, taking the total number of picks from the second Draft Pool up to 39. That means Andrade is going to be the #40 pick, at best, when he joins his next brand.

WWE Draft 2020: Zelina Vega (Night Two, WWE SmackDown - #36* pick)

The second night of the 2020 Draft featured lots of late female draft picks, including Peyton Royce (#28), Lana (#31), Natalya (#32), and The Riott Squad (#34).

Zelina Vega’s move to WWE SmackDown was announced on social media after RAW, which means she has dropped at least 31 places from 2019.

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Edited by Amar Anand
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