What’s the story?
In the last iteration of the brand split, the WWE draft was a huge night on the wrestling calendar. It featured significant changes to both rosters and resulted in a rejuvenated product. As reported by Cageside Seats, there could be some marquee names switching brands in the WWE draft that will take place after the Showcase of the Immortals.
In case you didn’t know...
The last three drafts of the previous brand split era were all held in the month of April, a few weeks after WrestleMania that year. Those drafts consisted of interpromotional matches between representatives from each of the brands. The winners of those matches would earn a draft pick for their brand.
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Usually, in the previous drafts, there was an average of 4 draft picks per brand on television, with a supplemental draft happening the next day. In those drafts, the picks were made based on a randomizer instead of the General Managers of the shows selecting superstars.
The heart of the matter
As we previously reported, a rumour that has been floating around for a few weeks now has been that of Roman Reigns being the number one overall pick in the 2017 WWE Draft, sending the Big Dog to the blue brand. In the report from Cageside Seats, those talks are still on, but now also mention the possibility of AJ Styles moving to Raw after WrestleMania. The report also states that there may be other big names switching brands in the upcoming draft.
What’s next?
As of this moment, the 2017 Draft is not yet scheduled. Rumours have stated that the belief is that the draft would take place sometime in June.
Author’s take
The moves of the aforementioned superstars make sense, to be quite honest. As AJ Styles is currently embroiled in a feud with the Smackdown LIVE Commissioner, Shane McMahon, it would seem like the Phenomenal One switching brands would be in his best interests after WrestleMania.
As for Roman Reigns, the move to Smackdown may do him some good from a character standpoint. SmackDown’s writing has been great since the brand split, and they’re doing very well with what little they have. A move for the Big Dog may lead to something of a character reinvigoration for the former WWE Champion if the SmackDown writers are allowed to have a little bit of leeway with how Roman is booked.
Several other Superstars would also benefit from a move to a different brand, such as Sami Zayn and Cesaro just to name a few.
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