What’s the story?
Wrestling Observer’s Bryan Alvarez stated on his podcast that someone within the company told him that the roster “shake up” is like a mid-season draft. Later this year, though, WWE will have a full draft. It is unknown at this time if WWE would be planning on doing a roster shake up or draft next year, though.
In case you didn’t know...
WWE had its first draft when SmackDown went live last year. The WWE Champion at the time, Dean Ambrose, was shipped to Smackdown. Other big names that moved were AJ Styles, Randy Orton, John Cena, Dolph Ziggler, and The Miz. Nobody went from SmackDown to Raw because SmackDown was not its own brand at the time.
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The heart of the matter
WWE is planning on having a full draft sometime this year. It was originally rumoured that the WWE draft would take place sometime in the summer time. However, since the shakeup was not a plan at that time, Alvarez said that WWE will likely move it back to around September-October.
What’s next?
Tonight is WWE’s first edition of the Superstar shakeup. The shakeup will happen on Monday Night Raw and finish the following night on SmackDown Live. Before Raw has even begun, WWE informed their fans that Apollo Crews will be going to Monday Night Raw.
SmackDown and Raw’s GMs will make trades and negotiate through the night. It is rumoured that AJ Styles will be going to Monday Night Raw, and Charlotte will be going to Smackdown. It is unknown how many people will be moved to a different brand.
Author’s take
The roster shakeup after WrestleMania and then a full draft a few months later is a great idea. It is something WWE should always do from this point on. WrestleMania is supposed to be the culmination of the feuds of that WWE year, and there is no better way to start a new year by shaking up the rosters and adding new faces to the main roster via calling up wrestlers from NXT.
The same can be said for Summerslam. Before the draft, WWE struggled at putting together fresh matches and feuds. By virtue of the draft and callups, WWE fans were able to see fresher matches and feuds last year. Seeing that WWE does not have an off-season, it is essential for them to keep the product as entertaining as possible.
Although the shakeup and draft will not fix all of WWE’s potential static problems this year, both are good steps in the right direction.
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