The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly: 2019 WWE Draft Results (Night One)

It’s time to shake things up again! Let’s take a look at last night’s WWE Smackdown live on FOX!

WWE Friday Night Smackdown 10.11.19

THE GOOD: Opening Match – Starting off with Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns was a great decision. You needed something big to kick off the second week being on FOX. Obviously, we all know ratings and viewership will drop, so it is best to try and lessen the blow. Beginning with a matchup like Rollins and Reigns may do the trick. I like the idea of the matches being for draft picks, even if the actual guys competing don’t really have a reason to care about brand supremacy. For us fans though, it works. Raw winning the first selection was not a shock, as I said the exact same thing earlier in the day on Twitter.

Sooooo Seth Rollins defeats Roman Reigns and picks 'Becky Lynch to Raw' as the first selection, right? #WWEDraft

— Justin Watry (@JustinWatry) October 11, 2019

As for the actual bout, it was good. For the time given of course. Nobody should have expected a throwback to Money in the Bank 2016 or anything. A shame but it may be their last battle for a long time. Now, the ending? Ugh. Too many BS finishes as of late in WWE. Even NXT did it their first week on USA Network after promoting NO BS! Whatever. The cheap finish got us to Raw ‘winning’ without Reigns or Rollins taking a loss. Cop out crap. A means to an end…not the best way to keep returning viewers on FOX…

THE GOOD: Becky Lynch To Raw – Well, I hate to say it but…point for me. Rollins wins one for his girl. How cute. The Man kinda shifted over to the red brand anyways earlier in 2019. I know a lot of folks were looking at all the WWE/FOX ads with her being the focus, but none of that mattered. The Rock and Stone Cole were all over commercials too. Big deal. One of the many instances were the internet is looking for things that just aren’t there. Lynch was never going to the blue brand. Breaking up her and Rollins? Right. Good first pick, as she gets yet another line added to her resume.

THE GOOD: Roman Reigns To Smackdown – He is the Big Dog after all. One of my beloved BOLD picks from January 2019 not only had Reigns coming back to the squared circle but also had him going to Smackdown LIVE. More points for me! I like it.

THE BAD: The OC To Raw – Eh, I don’t know. AJ Styles still seems like a Smackdown Guy to me. Maybe I am wrong? Being the United States Champion is fine. Unless we get Daniel Bryan to Raw and those two tear down the house every week? Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson – who cares? Doesn’t matter.

THE BAD: Bray Wyatt To Smackdown – Um. What? I guess he is done with Seth Rollins? Interesting. If he is not getting the title, maybe it is best to separate them. Or is this something where Wyatt goes to Smackdown but The Fiend stays on Raw? Good luck with that travel schedule. I don’t know. This is one of those wait and see situations.

The GOOD: The Stud To RAW – Drew McIntyre is just WAITING to break out and be THE star of the entire company. Great move putting him on the red brand. He needs to be next in line for Seth Rollins’ Universal Title.

THE GOOD: WWE Draft Presentation – It felt different. Stephanie McMahon gets screen time for the second week in a row. The break down from Renee Young and company, along with the FOX networks getting in their plugs worked for me. You have to recognize this is WWE, so expecting a 100% full board ‘sports presentation’ just isn’t possible, but they tried. An ‘A’ for effort.

THE UGLY: King Corbin VS Shorty Gable – Again? Two men with new names. Same two wrestlers. I didn’t care. Sorry. This is the Natalya vs. Lacey Evans of Smackdown Live.

THE GOOD: Randy Orton To RAW – Yes sir. Too many losses to Kofi Kingston as of late. You knew this was coming. Will The Revival come with him? Probably not. I like this move because he can be plugged in anywhere on the card and fit. Legitimate veteran who can work heel or face.

THE GOOD: Sasha Banks To Smackdown – As discussed on the 411 Foresight Wrestling Podcast. Her and Becky were being separated after their Heck on a Deck clash. That was clear. Are you listening yet folks? Next episode is coming late Saturday on my Twitter account @JustinWatry – might want to start tuning in each week!

THE GOOD: Ricochet To RAW – Didn’t really matter honestly. He is a star no matter which brand he is featured on. Paul Heyman is apparently a big fan, so he has a supporter already behind the scenes. Just no more Mike and Maria story lines.

The GOOD: Braun Strowman To Smackdown Hey! Another January 2019 bold prediction! Point for me. Braun Strowman to Smackdown Live should have happened last year after the WrestleMania 34 tag title debacle. That was the end for him on Raw. He all but wasted the past 12 months doing nothing. I actually have high hopes for him on the blue brand, especially with the FOX platform. Going to be fun reviewing all my bold predictions at the end of the year…

The UGLY: Bobby Lashley To RAW – I suppose his thing with Lana and Rusev just started, so him sticking on Raw makes sense. I just don’t see him going up the card at all. Lashley CAN absolutely be a main event player. On Raw, it has proven to be too crowded. Perhaps he has better odds on the blue brand? I have no idea. Maybe he is just destined to sit in the middle of the card. With Heyman doing the RAW thing, you would think Lashley would be much more relevant.

THE GOOD: Brock Lesnar/Paul Heyman Promo – Hey, remember Kofi Kingston? Ha. It is important to note that Paul Heyman never delivered his patented spoiler line. That points to Cain Velasquez winning the WWE Championship at Crown Jewel. I know, wild. When Heyman says the full spoiler line, it is gold. He was cut off by Rey Mysterio’s music. Just something to note. Personally, I would have held off on this showdown. Cain is way too big of a star to be thrown into an instant match against Brock with only three weeks of build. Seriously. I would have happened Brock stomp Kofi Kingston once more at Crown Jewel and then hype up Cain/Lesnar for Survivor Series or even further down the road. Minor complaint aside, this was good.

THE UGLY: The New Day Entrance – Before we went to commercial, there was The New Day standing backstage like three goofs. Not only was Brock Lesnar (the guy who just ripped out their heart and soul seven days earlier) standing in the ring and none of them cared, but there was the former WWE Champion holding a bunch of pancakes smiling. That five seconds was exactly why Kofi Kingston bombed as a main event act and never got the closing spot on a pay-per-view during that run. I say this as somebody who LOVED his WrestleMania 35 build and his win over Daniel Bryan at the grand stage. That was amazing. Match of the night. One of the best moments of the year…but everything after was a bust. One week later, right back to being the clown of a three person stable tossing out pancakes. At least Jinder Mahal had a slow crawl back to the mid-card.

THE BAD: The New Day VS The OC – No explanation needed.

THE GOOD: Alexa Bliss To RAW – I assumed her and Nikki Cross were going to be broken up after Heck on a Deck. I could be wrong on that of course, but unless it was actually going to lead to a breakup and feud, it wasn’t going anywhere. Good pick. She can be a great solo star or work more with Nikki.

THE GOOD: Lacey Evans To Smackdown She needed to change shows. Whatever the opposite of Nattie and Becky was. Just so happens to be Smackdown. Smart strategy. Could use a fresh start.

THE GOOD: Kevin Owens To RAW – Definitely a surprise. I had not even thought of KO going to the red brand, but it is logical. His feud with Shane McMahon over the past few months ate up a lot of television time. Like Lacey Evans, it felt like he needed a fresh start.

THE GOOD: The Revival To Smackdown – Um yeah. I assume most of the brand champs will stay put. No longer with Randy Orton.

THE BAD: Natalya To RAW – Even though she follows me on Twitter, I am not a fan of this. More of the same. Nothing has changed with Nattie since her great bout versus Ronda Rousey. I would not have placed her on Smackdown with Lacey either. Maybe NXT was the best call?

THE GOOD: The Viking Raiders To RAW – Sure. I just wish the live crowds would actually react to The Vikings Raiders. They are still struggling to show off their NXT best to the RAW audience.

THE GOOD: Lucha House Party To Smackdown – Yes, I am praising a lot of these draft picks. I was at a live event back in March. The Lucha House Party had the crowd rocking! No joke. They are a great live event kind of act. I am always open to them appearing more on TV. Definitely talented and have an easy catchphrase to get the fans into the action. Lots of potential there if you ask me.

THE GOOD: Nikki Cross To RAW – Well, there you go. She was not included with Alexa Bliss, so I guess that means they are done? or maybe friends when it is convenient? Time will tell. As noted above, I could see both sides to the argument.

THE GOOD: Heavy Machinery To Smackdown – Tucky! Tucky!

THE BAD: The Street Profits To RAW – I am only saying BAD until they get in the ring and have a match! Enough of the backstage antics. Get out there in front of the live crowd! It is time.

THE GOOD: Bayley’s New Attitude – Another point for me! I had made a big stink about Bayley changing up her tube men entrance after turning heel. I was told it was all done in sarcasm and delusion. Um, no. Same with Sami Zayn – she had to completely flip the character. I LOVE the new hair and her completely wrecking the tube men. Awesome statement and then she goes down to the ring and start pummeling Charlotte Flair for the Smackdown Womens title.

THE GOOD: Main Event – As I said, the main event was Charlotte Flair vs. Bayley. A rematch from Heck on a Deck. I can’t explain why Charlotte won the title on Sunday only to lose it on Friday. I guess shock value? I can live with a belt changing hands like that every once in a awhile. Sasha Banks was picked for Smackdown LIVE, so her and Bayley were going to be kept together regardless. The victory and post-match promo though just put it all over the top! So good. Kudos to Bayley for really stepping it up since the summer. Does this mean Charlotte is headed Raw? You have to think so. Big moment for Bayley here.

SUMMARY: A much better show than last week’s Smackdown premiere on FOX. If you want to know my full thoughts on that as well as every other noteworthy show from last week, you need to check out the 411 Foresight Wrestling Podcast. Back to tonight, it was mostly positive. Some straight forward draft picks, as well as a couple of surprises. Sprinkle in some Crown Jewel build, solid wrestling, and that is what I would call a good show. All eyes on Monday night…