I may be in the minority on this, but I enjoyed Night 1 of the 2020 WWE Draft overall. For whatever reason, I wasn't as pumped as I normally am for Draft day going in, but that might be because WWE has had so many Superstars inexplicably switch shows this year that it almost rendered the Draft irrelevant. Despite that, I liked most of the moves that were made on Night 1, but it wasn't without its flaws.
While I appreciate that we didn't get shots of the USA Network and FOX "executives" feigning excitement backstage in the "war rooms" over landing The Lucha House Party and Natalya, we still have no idea who is making these picks. I realize Stephanie McMahon is the one announcing them, but without general managers, the Draft concept gets a bit more confusing. Yes, there's Adam Pearce, but his role has never been properly explained, so I doubt anyone cares whether he's involved in the drafting process storyline-wise. Nonetheless, Night 1 provided some surprising moments as well as moves most of us expected. Here's my full analysis of each round and who went where, as well as where I think the few Superstars who went undrafted will wind up. I'll have a full recap of the Night 2 results up early next week as well. Round 1
GSM's Analysis: McIntyre and Reigns staying put on their respective shows shouldn't come as a shocker to anyone. There was no reason to swap the top titles like last year. McIntyre has been wisely positioned as the face of Raw all 2020 long, while Reigns has been doing fantastic work on SmackDown lately as "The Tribal Chief" with Jey Uso. Raw Women's Champion Asuka staying put was also logical seeing as how she's essentially replaced Becky Lynch as the female face of WWE, especially with Charlotte Flair out for the time being. She's run through a ton of women on the Raw roster, but the Draft will bring and has brought some fresh female faces to the flagship show, so I'm not worried whatsoever about her running out of competition to work with. Rollins being sent packing to SmackDown was probably the most interesting and exciting development of the first round for me, seeing as how he's been Monday Night Rollins since the start of the second Brand Split over four years ago. In fact, he was Raw's premiere pick in the 2016 WWE Draft as well as last year (for Night 2), so this provides a welcome change of scenery for him. As long as he can escape his never-ending rivalry with Rey and Dominik Mysterio soon, he should be a fantastic fit for Friday nights. The Hurt Business rounding out Round 1 by remaining on Raw was a pleasant surprise. Not that they're still on Raw but rather that they were picked so high in the Draft. Then again, I guess I should have expected that given it includes four men who have been firing on all cylinders recently as well as the United States Champion. I mean, who would have ever thought that Shelton Benjamin would be a Round 1 draft pick in 2020? Crazy! In all seriousness, I'm happy they're on Raw as it gives me hope we'll potentially see Lashley vs. Brock Lesnar once The Beast Incarnate inevitably returns. Also, Hurt Business vs. The New Day? Sign me up! Round 2
GSM's Analysis: I couldn't help but laugh when it was announced that Styles was returning to Raw, simply because it's probably because he wants to get as far away from Paul Heyman as humanly possible. He's made it quite clear in recent months that he absolutely despises Heyman, so I'm sure he wasn't too thrilled when Heyman followed him to SmackDown to manage Roman Reigns. That has to be the only reason for the move, just because Styles just returned to SmackDown mere months ago and it felt premature to put him back on Raw, where he didn't do his best work last year coming into 2020. That said, Styles vs. Drew McIntyre for the WWE Championship sounds phenomenal on paper. The rest of Round 2 was all about the women, which was cool. After spending the first three or four years of her main roster career on Raw, I really liked Banks moving to SmackDown last year and thus I'm happy she's staying put. Now let's just hope Bayley isn't going anywhere either and that their feud over the SmackDown Women's Championship will last beyond Hell in a Cell. Joining her on the blue brand is Bianca Belair, who only just arrived on Raw in April but has done nothing of note in the last six months due to being overlooked and relegated to Main Event duty. Fingers crossed being sent to SmackDown will give her the opportunities she deserves. Meanwhile, Raw snatched up Naomi as well as the WWE Women's Tag Team Champions Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler. Now, you might be wondering why either show would give a crap about picking a pair of champions that can travel between brands anyway, and it's because Jax and Baszler will be property of Raw once they lose those titles. I couldn't care less about Jax remaining on Raw, but Baszler has a ready-made program with Asuka at some point, so I'm glad we're likely getting that eventually. Naomi never had a real run on Raw because of how she had to take time off in mid-2019 and returned on SmackDown this past January, so I'm fine with that as long as she too is more prominently featured in the title picture than she has been on SmackDown in 2020. Round 3
GSM's Analysis: I was honestly stunned when I saw Ricochet was picked at the top of Round 3. That isn't to say he doesn't deserve it or isn't talented because he absolutely is, but he hasn't been booked as anyone special in the last year, so seeing is believing as far as WWE giving him a real shot at super stardom on Raw going forward. I would have preferred him moving to SmackDown for a fresh start and to get away from The Hurt Business, but oh well. Jey Uso staying on SmackDown was logical as he's currently in the midst of an excellent rivalry with Roman Reigns over the Universal Championship and him going to Raw would have made it even more obvious he isn't winning at Hell in a Cell. In fact, I hope Uso and Reigns both being on the blue brand means we'll soon see them join forces, though that could be coming a little later down the road. Mandy Rose remaining on Raw was pretty predictable considering she was traded there a month ago, so her moving back to SmackDown would have been a waste of that initial "trade" (you know, the one SmackDown never got anyone in return for). Normally, I'd be happy about Rey Mysterio being back on SmackDown as that's always where he's been a better fit compared to Raw, but him and Dominik going to Friday nights means their storyline with Seth Rollins isn't over and that's awful news as it ran its course months ago. Plus, Dominik should arguably be in NXT right now for further development, but if Rey wants him around so they can win the tag titles together eventually, then that's understandable. Speaking of tag teams, Miz and Morrison moving to Monday nights was an interesting choice. Miz has literally switched shows every year since 2016, and personally, I would have kept him on SmackDown and moved Morrison to Raw. If WWE is insistent on keeping them as a tandem, then they need to be handled properly and not made to look like enhancement guys every week. Round 4
GSM's Analysis: The biggest development of the Draft this year, or at least so far, was that The New Day have been separated. Raw picked Kingston and Woods immediately after they won the SmackDown Tag Team Championship from Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro, and SmackDown selected Big E. Now, let's address the elephant in the room before discussing why I think this is a positive. Why the hell would Raw want just Kingston and Woods and not Big E, as they were all eligible to be picked as a trio? If Big E was selected first, then I'd almost understand it, but that wasn't the case, and even then, both brands should want all three guys on their roster. That didn't make any sense to me. With that out of the way, I'm actually all for the idea of New Day going their separate ways for now. No, they haven't broken up (it's not like someone turned heel on the other two), but they're expanding. Kingston and Woods can go to Raw and win those tag titles for the first time since 2016, while Big E can carve out his own singles path. He's already off to a strong start. Not to mention that I could do without seeing yet another New Day six-man tag team match for a while as those have been done to death since 2014 (beyond the one coming up next Friday, of course). As for the rest of the round, Dana Brooke? Seriously? How she got picked over Murphy, Mickie James or Drew Gulak is beyond me. I realize Raw wants to bolster its women's division, but I thought that was stupid, especially since Brooke was just traded to Raw recently, so it felt like a waste. Raw also got Angel Garza, and while I would have loved to have seen him on SmackDown, hopefully he goes back to being a singles competitor on Monday nights. Take what I said earlier about New Day and apply it to the situation with Otis. It's ridiculous that SmackDown wouldn't want Tucker, too, given that they're eligible to be picked together. Heavy Machinery never got to win a pair of tag titles and that makes me sad. It also speaks volumes that Mr. Money in the Bank was practically picked last, meaning even the executives know for a fact that isn't cashing in that contract successfully. Once he fails to wins the title, what then? Breaking up Heavy Machinery is a mistake in my opinion. Round 5
GSM's Analysis: Round 5 took place on Talking Smack on Saturday morning. It was basically what the supplemental draft was on WWE.com years ago, and I expect the same to happen on Raw Talk after Raw on Monday night. It didn't really matter where Carrillo ended up because I don't think WWE will do much of note with him either way, but I interpreted this as him being drafted to Main Event, because that's the only place he'll be competing primarily I have to assume. The same can be said about Gulak and Tucker, unfortunately. Gulak was drafted from 205 Live to SmackDown a year ago and was largely used as an enhancement talent until linking up with Daniel Bryan earlier this year. Bryan taking time off over the summer was the worst thing that could've happened to Gulak, who hasn't been spotted on SmackDown a ton lately. He's actually been involved in the 24/7 Championship picture on recent Raw shows, so the move to Monday nights was inevitable. If that's what WWE has planned for him, he's doomed. As for Tucker, I'm holding out hope WWE has something else in mind and that he'll go back to the blue brand along with Mandy Rose so they can both be reunited with Otis. Sadly, I'm guessing that's not where the angle is going and that WWE simply has no plans for any of these people because Vince McMahon is so high on Otis. Breaking up Heavy Machinery is incredibly dumb as Tucker will either be a mainstay on Main Event or not appear at all. Otis won't fare much better once he loses that briefcase or the title shot. At least Kalisto, who is a two-time United States Champion and Cruiserweight Champion, may do a bit better on his own on SmackDown. His heel turn could be interesting and freshen up his character, but I could also see a scenario where WWE puts him back on 205 Live because that show has been dying a death for over a year, so time will tell. Undrafted
GSM's Analysis: Poor Dorado and Metalik. Similar to The New Day and Heavy Machinery, SmackDown only wanted one member of The Lucha House Party and not the entire team. That's pretty crappy, but I can't say I'm surprised since they've been teasing a split in recent weeks, anyway. I thought it would be Kalisto going to Raw, but it looks like Dorado and Metalik might be headed to Monday nights instead. Putting almost every tandem on the opposite brand accomplishes nothing since we'll just be getting the same matches, so we'll see how that shakes out.
Also, poor Mickie. Dana Brooke got picked before her, and in my opinion, James has way more value. Yes, she's older, but I'd rather see her in the Raw Women's Championship picture over Brooke, though I assume Brooke will positioned in a team with Mandy Rose for the foreseeable future. SmackDown needs more women, and James never got a real run there last year due to getting injured before she could re-debut on the blue brand, so that's probably where she'll wind up. Finally, if I could draft the former Chad Gable to another promotion, I would. He has been utterly wasted on his own the last year and I'm not even sure switching him over to Raw is the answer. SmackDown is my preferred brand for him, but if he stays on Friday nights, he has to ditch the dumb Shorty G name. I realize he probably isn't leaving the promotion any time soon, but can we please use this as an excuse to get him in NXT? That would be wonderful. Please and thank you.
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