WWE DRAFT 2024

[jimsteel]

WWE DRAFT NIGHT 1 RESULTS

RAW
Jey Uso
Seth Rollins
Bron Breakker
Liv Morga
Ricochet
Sheamus
Alpha Academy
Kiana James(NXT)
Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn
Ivar
Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark

SMACKDOWN
Bianca Belair
Carmelo Hayes(NXT)
Randy Orton
Nia Jax
LA Knight
The Bloodline(Solo Sikoa, Tama Tonga, and Paul Heyman)
AJ Styles
Andrade
Cedric Alexander
Tehuti Mile(NXT)
Baron Corbin
The O.C(MIA Yim,Gallows+Anderson)

[jimsteel]

NIGHT 2 RESULTS

RAW
IMPERIUM(Gunther+Kaiser)
Damage Control(Dakota Kai,Ilo Sky+Kabuki Warriors)
Braun Strowman
CM Punk
LWO(Rey Mysterio,Dragon Lee,LWO,Zelina Vega+Carlito)
Drew McIntyre
Judgement Day
Ilja Draganov(NXT)
The New Day(Kingston+Woods)
Lyra Valkyrie(NXT)
The Final Testament(Kross,AOP,Scarlett+Ellering)
Bronson Reed

SMACKDOWN
Jade Cargill
Kevin Owens
The Pride (Bobby Lashley, The Street Profits, B-Fab)
Tiffany Stratton
Lagada Del Fantasma(Santos Escobar,Angel Garza,Humberta+Elecktra)
Nakamura
Naomi
Chelsea Green+Piper Niven
Pretty Deadly
Candace Larea+Indi Hartwell
DIY
Blair Davenport(NXT)

[jimsteel]

More coming online

[Sinclair Promotions]

Overall I was very disappointed with the draft this year and I have a few idea's on how to fix it going forward, If they want to do the draft over two days, then there are a few easy ways to increase the drama:

1 - Get rid of mixed brand draft pools. When the draft is on Smackdown then ONLY Smackdown talents are eligible to be drafted, same goes for RAW, only the pre-draft RAW Roster is up for grabs. Over the course of the Draft each brand can select up to 3 NXT talents, so if one brand chooses two on Smackdown, they would only be able to select one more on RAW.

2 - Once the show is over, NXT can use the secondary draft to recoup the talents they lost if they choose so. After that the remaining talents can be drafted to either brand.

3 - Instead of having people come out and make the announcements go back to when Vince and Ric Flair first did the draft and have the GM's go back and forth with the picks each round.
ie: Smackdown selects first and keeps the entire Bloodline. Raw comes back with saying that's a great pick, but you left open your biggest rising star in Jade Cargill, so I'll take her. etc.

By doing this you Guarantee that at least half of each roster is moving from one brand to the other and it will help further freshen up the feel of both shows. The Draft should also start on the Raw after Mania, this way you can use the NXT call ups as surprizes in the draft. What's the point of debuting a Bron Breakker on the Raw after Mania only to move him to Smackdown?

During the remainder of the year I'd say that Raw and Smackdown can also call up 1-2 NXT talents, and if they bring anyone else up during the year they have to compensate NXT by sending a talent back. This should help keep the catering crew someone busy as they could be sent back to NXT to try and repackage or rebuild themselves.

[Vegas]

I really thought this year's draft was very boring and a cluster.

It seemed like there were very few roster changes and I think it is extremely stupid to "draft" somebody to your brand roster who is already on your brand's roster. For example, why is RAW drafting CM Punk when CM Punk is already on RAW? And most of the Draft announcements were just brand talent retention.

I don't think the Draft is a bad concept (and I like the idea of separate rosters for the two brands,) but the Draft should be done in a way that makes sense.

[on_the_edge]

They should try running it like an expansion draft. You can protect a certain number of wrestlers on your roster, they can be announced the week before the draft, and then only draft talent not on your roster.

[Vegas]

May 3, 2024 0:16:20 GMT -5 on_the_edge said:

They should try running it like an expansion draft. You can protect a certain number of wrestlers on your roster, they can be announced the week before the draft, and then only draft talent not on your roster.

Yeah, I was also thinking sort of like an expansion draft. Perhaps all champions (as they were in this year's draft) would be automatically protected plus perhaps one other name (say RAW can also protect CM Punk and Smackdown can also protect AJ Styles.) But then once a name is selected from your roster you can protect one more name for the next round and so forth for the following rounds and that way you are still get a guaranteed mixture of upper, middle, and lower tier talent moving brands as you move down the roster in a logical manner.

It just seems dumb to have the general managers go up to the podium and mostly announce they have drafted talent already on their rosters. The Draft should be about who is joining RAW and who is joining Samckdown and not so much about who is staying on RAW and who is staying on Smackdown.

Another problem with this current WWE format is it somewhat dilutes the Draft for the second night. For example, Smackdown needlessly announcing they have drafted LA Knight who is already on the Smackdown roster anyway automatically eliminated the possibility that he could be moving brands when it came to the second night of the Draft on RAW.

Again I am for a Draft and I like brand specific rosters compared to the way AEW just seemingly throws everybody on a numerically bloated roster together in a disorganized clutter, but the format for the Draft really could be so much better.