wrestling / Columns

WWE Got The Draft Right…And Wrong?

July 21, 2016 | Posted by Greg De Marco

411Mania’s Greg DeMarco is here to show you how the initial reactions to the WWE Draft are largely overblown, as the promotion got it both right and wrong.

Reactions are fun. They both help and plague nearly every form of scripted entertainment that we have in our world. Reactions have spawned entire industries, such as sports talk radio and online wrestling journalism. (Yes, that’s an industry.)

And on the internet, reactions equal money. Which is a problem—a BIG problem. We react for the sake of reacting, because the hot-take sells. The heavy opinion sells. And I’ve been accused of “hot-taking,” “click-baiting” and contrarianism plenty of times in the five and a half years I have been writing online.

And I can honestly say I am not guilty of any of them.

One promise I always made to you, the reader, as well as to myself is that I won’t try to “sell” you my opinion. My opinion isn’t for sale—it’s 100% legitimate. It comes from 32 years of watching wrestling, ten years of being involved in the business in some capacity, and over five years of writing about it. I evolve, just like wrestling does.

The WWE Draft is going to bring out the hot takes. The opinion columnists that will tell you all of the reasons why the WWE got it wrong in the draft. You’re going to get click bait, too. Those headlines all about why Vince McMahon buried Kevin Owens or why Cesaro is so upset. And finally you’ll get the contrarian, who is here to tell you why the WWE nailed this draft.

The fact is they’re all wrong. The WWE didn’t nail this draft, and they didn’t royally screw it up, either. Just like any major sports draft, which this is modeled after, there are some “rights” and some “wrongs.” And you need to recognize both because both will impact the product for the next twelve months and beyond.

That’s why you have me—Greg DeMarco—411Mania veteran and promoter of PHX Wrestling here to set you on the right path, the path that will allow you to enjoy your favorite pastime again.

Because the WWE got the Draft right. And they got it wrong, too.

RIGHT – Drafting Finn Balor In The First Round
Finn Balor is ready to hit wrestling’s biggest stage—WWE Monday Night Raw—and make an impact. Drafting him in the first round is a step in that direction, because the company knows Balor is a star. And he’s a star that fans have been begging to see on the main roster for a long time…more than any NXT performer.

WRONG – Not Having Balor At Smackdown
Having your name called in the first round of the WWE Draft, as a NXT performer is huge. But there was no reason for Balor to be in Orlando when that happened. We needed his entrance—full on demon—and a victory to cement his debut. I know you can advertise it for Raw, and that’s all fine and well. But you can just a easily advertise his “first Raw appearance” in the same manner.

RIGHT – Drafting Mojo Rawley, Alexa Bliss and Carmella to Smackdown
Some of the NXT picks upset fans more because of who wasn’t picked instead. Rawley, Bliss, Carmella and Nia Jax are some of those names. Fans wanted to see Shinsuke Nakamura (more on that below), Samoa Joe, Bobby Roode, Austin Aries and (above all else) Bayley.

Rawley is going to be in a tag team with Zack Ryder, the best way to use both men right now. Bliss and Carmella are going to round out the company’s second women’s roster, which is very important to Smackdown. Nakamura, Joe, Roode, Aries and Bayley are going to anchor NXT for the coming months. And this is something that, thanks to poor planning on the part of Triple H, the brand really needs.

(Provided Bayley isn’t Sasha Banks’ mystery partner… which I don’t expect she will be. I expect that to be Nia Jax, because as you know she’s The Rock’s cousin.)

And I know some of you are telling yourselves that debuts for Nakamura, Joe and Bayley are being saved for when they can be a bigger deal. Keep telling yourself that—you didn’t seem to mind the way they did Finn Balor!

WRONG – Splitting Up The Wyatt Family
Bray Wyatt is one of the WWE’s most beloved, yet most misused, characters to come along in a long time. He’s insanely over, can cut among as good as some of the best to ever do it, and is highly skilled in the ring. But his character needs followers. He needs consistent backing and he keeps losing that.

The Wyatt Family should have come along with Bray Wyatt, just like Lana with Rusev and Enzo with Cass (See what I did there?). But instead they have seemingly split the family, leaving Bray on his own once again.

Let’s not forget that rolling alone is how he lost his momentum in the first place.

RIGHT – Making Seth Rollins The #1 Draft Pick
It would have been easy to make John Cena, Randy Orton, Brock Lesnar or WWE Champion Dean Ambrose the top draft pick. But for all of the people saying this draft lacked “statements,” drafting Seth Rollins with the first overall pick made a statement loud and clear: Championship or not, Rollins is the man.

Before going out to injury, Seth Rollins was on top of the world. And when he came back, he was placed right back there where belonged. Sure, he no longer has a gold and leather prop to tell us he’s number one, but the draft just confirmed it for us. Given an entire roster at your disposal, you pick Rollins.

And he’s the Superstar who deserved it the most. He’s the best wrestler in the company, and the most entertaining star they have. He SHOULD be the guy you build around, and now he IS the guy you build around.

WRONG – Drafting Roman Reigns…At All
Due to his suspension, the storyline should have been that Roman Reigns was ineligible to be drafted. He misses it by one day—sorry Steph! Instead he returns at Battleground as a mystery, possibly even winning the WWE Championship in the process.

(I know, punishment and blah blah blah…)

Stretch that story out until SummerSlam, where you can do the Shield rematch, with Rollins and Ambrose each trying to bring the title back to their brand. Then Vince McMahon forces Roman to pick, and he finally settles on Raw where he can feud with Seth Rollins. I know it’s rewarding him for a failed test, which is the same thing they’re about to do for Brock Lesnar…except he failed two.

RIGHT – Drafting John Cena And Randy Orton To Smackdown
Today there’s a lot of talk about draft position. Hell, I did it myself with both Finn Balor and Seth Rollins. But outside of the first round, I don’t think it’s that important. I don’t care that John Cena and Randy Orton went in round two, I am just glad they didn’t occupy round one.

But going to Smackdown was important and makes sense. I know many of you want Smackdown to be the “wrestling brand.” Well guess what—like Raw it’s the Sports Entertainment brand. Because that’s the business the WWE is in.

And as much as many hate to admit it, they’re still two of the company’s biggest draws. And since the WWE (and USA Network) is serious about making Smackdown a legitimate show and brand, putting Cena and Orton there is what needed to be done. Raw sells itself, and talent like Seth Rollins, Finn Balor, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn (more on that below as well) have increased star power as a result of them being there.

WRONG – Keeping Kevin Owens And Smai Zayn Together
Okay, whose idea was this? Really, I need to know. So they can be fired.

Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens are a once-in-a-generation deal. They came up together in the independents, rose to prominence as a tag team in Ring Of Honor and beyond, then proceeded to destroy that and ignite one of the business’ best feuds. Ever.

EVER.

They likely will Fight Forever and be inseparably linked until they are inducting each other into the WWE Hall Of Fame. And they deserve it. But to preserve the longevity of their seemingly life-long storyline, they needed to be on separate brands.

And the fact that they’re not is a major oversight on someone’s part.

RIGHT – Not Drafting Heath Slater
I can’t think of a better person to play the “please hire me” character than Heath Slater. He’s always turned any gimmick given to him to gold, and I think he’ll do the same here. I am not worried about his future—he may not win a world championship in his career, but he’ll be in the WWE for many years to come.

And finally…

WRONG – Not Drafting Shinsuke Nakamura
I know what I said in my last column—the WWE shouldn’t draft Shinsuke Nakamura.

But I can also admit that as I was following this draft, the one name I kept waiting for was Shinsuke Nakamura. I can honestly say my original take was wrong. Nakamura belongs on the main roster, and the suspense of him going would have seen the perfect payoff with Daniel Bryan announcing his name in the final round of the live Smackdown episode. Maybe have Bryan close the live broadcast by announcing that he negotiated a final live televised pick, and use it to announce Nakamura. It ends the draft with a bang, and really gets fans pumped for Nakamura’s debut. Despite my original wishes, I cannot help but think this was a missed opportunity.

So there you have it: 10 prime examples of how the draft was both right and wrong. The fact remains that the WWE Draft isn’t as important as what comes next. Both sides have a loaded roster—now they have to execute the right storytelling to maximize what they have. And THAT will determine the real right and wrong of Smackdown’s live draft.

Plugs!
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