I've certainly been critical of WWE the last few years as have many others. I want to like WWE product and I've actually chose not to write about it until I'm feeling good about it again. There are far too many people hating on the company right now and I didn't want to be on that bandwagon, but last night was a bridge too far. The WWE Draft was a failure on so many levels and here's why.
Let's start with the illogical talents that were left in NXT like Shinsuke Nakamrua and Samoa Joe. I could name others, but let's look at these two. Nakamura might only be a big star in the eyes of the hardcore audience, but let's be real he's a bigger star than Nia Jax or Curtis Axel. He's a guy that will at worst put on a show stealing match every time he goes out. Samoa Joe is the NXT champion. Isn't it logical to select the company's champion? I fail to see how that doesn't make him good enough.
WWE painted itself in a corner by drafting NXT guys. What they could have done to calm every hardcore fan down was have a statement read before the draft announcing a protected list of guys that HHH has chosen given upcoming events. This would have helped out the entire draft dramatically. Then everything would have made a bit more sense. As it stands we are supposed to think that all four GM's thought that Nakamura guy is nothing compared to Alexa Bliss.
The first big problem that I think this draft created was having no top babyface on Raw. I think the WWE basically has two top baby's right now. Cena and Ambrose. Each one of those guys, love them or hate them, is a passable top baby right now. If WWE thinks Roman Reigns is passable then they need to talk to Booker T who stated last night the crowd hates Roman Reigns. Without that one top top guy to create a big pop every now and again what's going to keep Raw compelling?
I realize that Balor and Zayn will probably get pushes and there are some strong face teams like New Day and Enzo and Cass, but you need someone to anchor that spot immediately. The suggestion is there will be a double turn, but how does that fit with the overbearing Stephanie. She hates Roman and loves Seth. I can't see that all changing. Lesnar is also falling into a weird spot. His PED scandal is going to shake the confidence people have in him and I doubt he can be a face going forward.
People were not feeling fulfilled enough to watch three hours of Raw each week as it was with all almost all of these stars. How can it be expected with that big of a void on top that things will be even better now? That's why not having that safe top baby on Raw is a big blunder.
The draft process itself was annoying. Raw was giving a major picking advantage in each round. Why was that really necessary? They could have easily done that on the bottom half of the draft to overload the Raw roster. There was no reason to make it so blatant. The funny part was on the post show both sides were getting three picks a round. It's just typical WWE logic.
On what planet is John Cena drafted that low? He's been the WWE's biggest draw for years now and I realize that they want to push new people, but it just doesn't make any sense for him to go that low. I like AJ, but I would have swapped him and Cena's draft position. You can make a case for the three guys that went ahead of Cena. Ambrose and Rollins could be Champions after this Sunday and Brock has to stay on their flagship show. Roman falling was simply do to his suspension and them not wanting to glorify him.
I can't see how you let Cena go that low. The rationale is too weak and WWE is poking the stick at people with brain power when they do such illogical things. I think you could have also made the case for Cena and Charlotte swapping positions. I don't think Smackdown will be a success because they have Cena. I think they will be because they have 2 hours to fill.
Stephanie was hard to handle last night as she usually is. It's like enough is enough already, but I've got equal issues with Mick Foley. This guy was bashing WWE last summer and calling them out for poor programming. Now the product is far worse, but his family and himself have jobs at WWE now and he's suddenly the most positive guy in the room. I've lost a ton of respect for him.
The Women's division was shattered last night. WWE definitely have enough women to have the best Women's division going, but they don't have near enough built up for it to be split over two shows. I would have allowed all the women to be on both shows or put them 100% on Raw to fill that 3 hour show with more unique content.
They stated that the Cruiser-weights are exclusively going to Raw, but then they allowed Kalisto to be drafted to Smackdown. What sense does that make? Why not put him in a spot where he can excel? It seems like they threw darts a board with a lot of these picks or I guess Vince really wants him to put that tall guy Baron Corbin over.
Cesaro gave a pure shoot interview. If it wasn't a shoot then I'm not sure what writer thought to have him say what he said. Cesaro is dead on, if you don't let him speak for better or worse he will never get over. Also how is he supposed to get better. When guys like Nakamura and Cesaro talk I don't expect them to be like Tom Hanks. They are foreign and that's something that makes them unique. The WWE is missing the target with their thinking on this.
There were zero surprises last night. We didn't see a Kurt Angle get drafted or someone from ROH. As the picks kept coming in it became apparent nothing like that was going to happen. Perhaps they will make up for this by bringing in some new free agents, but I get the sense there will not be many.
So in the end what show got the better roster. I would say on paper both rosters have talent and Smackdown despite the picking system did pretty well. The difference here is that the shows aren't equal in length. Raw is three hours and they needed a much stronger baby face on top and a much deeper roster. I just don't think that roster can carry the three hours where Dean, AJ, Cena and Orton with the younger talents will have zero problem doing it on Smackdown.
Raw is setup to fail, but WWE won't let that happen. They will hit the panic bottom once the initial buzz has worn off and ratings start dropping hard against Monday Night Football. It defeats the whole purpose of what they are doing, but it's going to happen.
I would have stacked Raw with all the top talent including Dean, Cena, and AJ. I would have sent Balor and the cruiser-weights over to Smackdown with Orton, Zayn and Owens. I would have went really young and fresh on Smackdown. I would use DB for several appearances to prop the show up. I would have had Nakamura and Joe sent to Smackdown. I would have sent 6 guys down to NXT to replace the 6 brought up. I would have made NXT about new faces like Aries and Roode. I would have signed Jay Lethal away from ROH as soon as I could.
I would have gone with a safe roster for Raw to keep the ratings stable and gambled hard on the young talent in Smackdown. I would have embraced the two hour format, the younger stars, with a mix of a few vets and tried to develop guys like Zayn, Owens, Balor, and Nakamura into something really big. I think that's the path to long term ratings success on both shows.
One final note. Why not have HHH drafted at least to Raw last night. He just main evented WM32. Why not at least toss him in the mix to stir up people? I just think it highlights the lack of vision the WWE has right now. I think Smackdown will do well, but for what this brand split was supposed to accomplish for WWE, it's going to fail...badly.
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