WWE: The Draft (Rules, Rosters, etc.)

[Superstar Sleeze]

That show was so lame to go to live. I didn't watch Raw from before Smackdown didn't miss a thing. Show in person felt like a total throwaway. I'm keeping an open mind. Will watch SD! Because AJ & Cena are my two favorites, but looks like nothing has changed.

[Grimmas]

Raw Roster

Seth Rollins

Finn Bálor

Roman Reigns

Brock Lesnar

Sami Zayn

Chris Jericho

United States Champion Rusev (with Lana)

Kevin Owens

Big Show

Neville

Cesaro

Sheamus

Titus O'Neil

Darren Young (with Bob Backlund)
Sin Cara
Jack Swagger

Mark Henry

Braun Strowman

Bo Dallas

Curtis Axel

WWE Women's Champion Charlotte

Sasha Banks

Nia Jax

Paige

Summer Rae

Alicia Fox

Dana Brooke

WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day

Enzo & Cass

Gallows and Anderson

Golden Truth

The Dudley Boyz

Shining Stars

Smackdown Roster

WWE Champion Dean Ambrose

AJ Styles

John Cena

Randy Orton

Bray Wyatt

Intercontinental Champion The Miz (with Maryse)

Baron Corbin

Dolph Ziggler

Alberto Del Rio

Demon Kane

Kalisto

Zack Ryder

Apollo Crews

Erick Rowan

Mojo Rawley

Becky Lynch

Natalya

Naomi

Alexa Bliss

Eva Marie

Carmella

American Alpha

The Usos

The Ascension

Breezango

The Vaudevillains

Undrafted
Heath Slater

[El-P]

John Cena
Randy Orton
Bray Wyatt
The Miz
Baron Corbin
Dolph Ziggler
Alberto Del Rio
Demon Kane

Holy shit, the roster of boredom of doom.

[Al]

They split Paige and Del Rio. Any other real life couples?

[El-P]

They split Paige and Del Rio. Any other real life couples?

 

Wait, what ? I thought Del Rio was married with children.

[hammerva]

I don't know if they are "real life couples" but more "people that like to have lots of fun with each other". I am guessing the either Del Rio or Paige might have a few of those.

 

They also split Carmella from Big Cass.

[Badlittlekitten]

Where's Luke Harper?

 

Didn't think WWE could get any more boring. Unless there's a dramatic change in philosophy things are looking grim.

[GSR]

Where's Luke Harper?

 

Someone tweeted Meltzer about him and Dave's reply was that he is out injured with a knee injury and will be back later in the year.

 

[Stiva]

I predict that Smackdown, like it always did, will somehow make use of a depleted roster and still be the better show. Hyped to see long American Alpha/Uso matches

[WingedEagle]

One thing that really stood out was how awful and cringeworthy the forced nicknames came off when announcing picks. Unclear if the goal they're tone deaf to it or not, but they don't evoke any kind of babyface or heel reaction in that context. Its just embarrassing.

 

Probably a lot more optimistic about Gable & Jordan on the main roster than I should be based on precedent, but they look to only have one team (Usos) to even work with on Smackdown. That can always change and some new pairings may develop, but initially it looks like a large handicap.

[gordi]

Oh, man... Try to fantasy-book an exciting, compelling PPV card with the SmackDown roster as it stands right now. It's really, really difficult.

[Grimmas]

Oh, man... Try to fantasy-book an exciting, compelling PPV card with the SmackDown roster as it stands right now. It's really, really difficult.

 

Ambrose vs AJ (Title)

Cena vs Miz (IC)

American Alpha vs Bray/Rowan

Usos vs Vaudevillians

Becky vs Bliss

Orton vs Corbin

Kalisto vs Ziggler

Apollo vs Del Rio

 

 

You are right, it is not easy.

[elbrujo138]

Well, for a big time angle this kind of failed. I'm actually getting kind of worried (as a wrestling fan) that this might be the beginning of the end for the company unless they have a big time angle planned to make this work. So fucking boring...

[GOTNW]

There's been talk about WWE dying for fifteen years now. They'll be fine. They're still in their comfort zone. Their biggest problem now is overexposure. A brand split could help here if they went about it that way-keeping Raw guys off Smackdown and vice versa and only had the big 4 PPVs feature talents from both brands. But if they actually fared about fixing these issues they wouldn't need a brand split to do so. Instead we'll get more PPVs, more titles, more content, more of everything we already don't care about. WWE will continue to be incredibly boring until Vince dies and will become even more boring once Stephanie and white feminism take over.

[DMJ]

I'm hoping that one of the ideas they have is to return to some squash matches ala NXT (where the idea of JTTSes has actually helped create buzz about the clear victors (your Corbins or Balors) *and* the jobbers who put them over, such as Breeze, Swann, and Dillinger). I'd go a step further and use locals or generic NXT undercard guys.

 

For example, Orton is boring as shit at times, but I'm not opposed to watching him work a 5-minute squash where he essentially "plays the hits" and murders some jabroni. Then, as Corbin does the same elsewhere on the card for a few weeks, the idea of an Orton/Corbin match would be a bit more appealing. Instead, we'll likely get that match within the first month, cold, and it'll have no intrigue.

 

For another example, yeah, the AA/Usos matches could be good, even great, but would it not be better to build up AA with vignettes and then "exhibition" matches where they just toss around and destroy locals, giving the wider audience a chance to familiarize themselves with their signature offense before we get AA/Usos?

[elbrujo138]

There's been talk about WWE dying for fifteen years now. They'll be fine. They're still in their comfort zone. Their biggest problem now is overexposure. A brand split could help here if they went about it that way-keeping Raw guys off Smackdown and vice versa and only had the big 4 PPVs feature talents from both brands. But if they actually fared about fixing these issues they wouldn't need a brand split to do so. Instead we'll get more PPVs, more titles, more content, more of everything we already don't care about. WWE will continue to be incredibly boring until Vince dies and will become even more boring once Stephanie and white feminism take over.

 

It won't be the first wrestling show that gets cancelled. For some reason I was reading a thread about TINA from 2008/2009 and all the talk was about how Spike supported them and were behind them...and then.....I don´t know about USA dropping the company but WWE are ice cold right now and the big angle kinda sucked.

[drew wardlaw]

Wasn't the reason for the draft in the first place a directive from USA to make smackdown a more competitive show ratings-wise? If that's the case, this seems like a very reasonable outcome, and I'm not really what people were expecting. It seems like a case where wwe put their top 2 talents on smackdown to appease their network then filled the roster with people who don't fit on the flagship show. It seems strange to expect anything more than a half-hearted effort here.

[drew wardlaw]

Oh, and I'm very excited about a potential AJ/Orton feud and even more excited about a potential Heath Slater storyline.

[elbrujo138]

Well , I agree on Heath Slater being fun in his new role. That guy knows his role and makes the most of it.

[GOTNW]

Isn't USA network in a pinch right now? I doubt they can afford to drop their most watched programme.

[El-P]

and will become even more boring once Stephanie and white feminism take over.

 

The Lady Balls era. (yeah, Stephy's "feminism")

[drew wardlaw]

Yeah I think WWE is propping up USA at this point. But I sn't USA/tv deals what's really keeping wwe afloat at this point too? seems like that makes for a weird tension in the relationship.

[elbrujo138]

Isn't USA network in a pinch right now? I doubt they can afford to drop their most watched programme.

I don't know about that All I know is that ratings are in the toilet and that USA are not happy (hence the split) and that WWE are ice cold as a show.

[Iron Anderson]

The best thing to happen to WWE would be for SDL to be cancelled. They take a revenue hit short term but gain in the long term when it comes to presenting the product now and in the future. They have a lot of revenue streams and ain't goin broke anytime soon.

 

They didn't need a brand split to pull off being forced into going live Tuesday nights. If anything they need to keep NXT as a brand strong in growth potential. That coulda tied into going live Tuesdays.

 

A 3hr. RAW isn't to long if presented correctly. Monday Night RAW is all they need.

 

The only way I see a SDL working is if they did a dozen a year on the Thursday night prior to the Sunday PPV. Using it as promotional tool to hopefully create subscriptions/buys. Either that or Sundays the day of the shows themselves.

 

If it were my call RAW would move to Thursday Nights Live.

 

Thu: RAW Fri: Houseshows (Off PPV Week) Saturday: Houseshows (Off PPV Week) Sunday: Houseshows (PPV) Mon: Off Tue: Off Wed: Off

[C.S.]

A transcript of Cesaro's frustrated "shoot" interview (courtesy of Cageside Seats):

 

JoJo: Cesaro, you were drafted in the 6th round to Raw. How are you feeling about all of this?

 

Cesaro: First of all I’m not too happy to be drafted 17th in the 6th round. I had a feeling I should be drafted a little bit higher, I was hoping to be at least top ten. Just looking at the rosters and what the GMs talked about yesterday how SmackDown is going to be the wrestling show and all about in-ring product and all about the Superstars and not necessarily about the GMs and that whole drama, I feel like I probably would have been a better fit for SmackDown. But just like in my career so far here, there’s always a little stumble block or whatever that I have to overcome, so, um... I’m looking forward to being on the flagship product... trying to see the positive, being on the flagship product, WWE Raw, that’s where Cesaro belongs.

JoJo: Speaking of GMs, how do you think that Mick Foley being the General Manager and Stephanie McMahon being the Commissioner - how do you think they’ll co-exist?

 

Cesaro: Honestly, that’s part of the problem, that you just asked me that question because I don’t really care. I think Raw going forward needs to be about the Superstars, it needs to be about the performers in the ring and not about how Stephanie McMahon and Mick Foley co-exist. They need to be there to mediate and make the best show, but that does not need to be the focus. So, the focus should be on the Superstar who got drafted. We have Seth Rollins, we have New Day, we have Finn Bálor coming up from NXT - those are the people we should be here talking about. But we’re talking about Stephanie McMahon and Mick Foley which is annoying to me. A lot of people talk, it’s always a lot of talking and you haven’t heard me talk that much. This is actually great. I can be even able to talk and people can see I can actually speak, you know? My brain can form thoughts that come out through my mouth. The problem is sometimes I stumble the words because I speak five different languages, we know all that, so the thing is I like to speak the language that everybody speaks all around the world, that the WWE Universe loves... that’s the language of wrestling that I do in the ring. That’s what I do best. That’s why I always deliver. Cesaro on Raw.

 

http://www.cagesideseats.com/2016/7/20/12233518/cesaro-shoots-on-the-draft-mcmahon-centric-stories-in-his-post-show-promo

 

UPDATE: Now on YouTube!