 The 2023 WWE Draft is officially in the books. Was it "truly game-changing" as Triple H alluded to when he announced the two-night event last month? The answer is a resounding no, but that doesn't necessarily mean I was unhappy with the results. In fact, I enjoyed it on the whole, probably because I wasn't expecting anything massive to begin with, not to mention I tend to enjoy the annual roster shakeups. That's despite the fact they almost always end up meaning nothing because the company can't stay committed to doing an actual Brand Split. Nonetheless, Night 2 was largely solid, at least in my book. There were definitely some questionable choices made on Night 1, but I was left a little more optimistic after Night 2. Everyone that was eligible on both nights was either drafted to Raw or SmackDown, or was declared a free agent. The status of some Superstars is unclear each year, but I'm glad that wasn't the case with this year's installment. Aliyah might be the only person who apparently isn't hurt but wasn't eligible. Otherwise, everyone else's name was called at some point. The champions have evened out, but my biggest question still remains: Are we getting a title swap with Bianca Belair and Rhea Ripley or not? Belair remains Raw Women's Champion despite being a member of the blue brand and vice versa with Ripley. Both will be in action at Backlash, but Belair's match is with a fellow SmackDown star in IYO SKY, so it's not as if dropping the belt to her would solve the problem. I maintain that rebranding the belts would be the way to go, but I doubt WWE agrees and thus both women will have their reigns interrupted soon, which is especially a travesty for Belair who is days away from becoming the longest-reigning Raw Women's Champion ever. Between the two brands, unlike in past years, I don't really feel strongly about one roster over the other post-Draft, and that's a positive. WWE tends to stack one show with stars and shaft the other one, so I'm happy that wasn't the case this year. I think many people can benefit from where they've been slotted depending on how the booking goes, but that's honestly the key: if the booking can pick up again, then new stars can be made. The debut of the World Heavyweight Championship helps, but it's also a matter of how they handle it. Either way, I'm excited to see who thrives on their respective show. Six rounds for Night 2 were televised during Monday's Raw with additional draft picks taking place on Raw Talk immediately afterward. Raw obviously ended up with more picks because it's a three-hour show compared to SmackDown's two hours. Per the rules, free agents can appear on both brands. As previously noted, the new rosters will officially got into effect starting next Monday, May 8th. Here's my in-depth analysis of every pick from Night 2 of the 2023 WWE Draft. Round 1
GSM's Analysis: With Bianca Belair taking the Raw Women's Championship to SmackDown, Ripley bringing the blue brand's SmackDown Women's Championship to Raw only made sense. Now we wait and see if they do a belt swap, but rebranding both brands would be a far better solution and fix this issue for the future. What I didn't expect was Ripley being the first pick for Raw over Rollins, but that's an awesome endorsement of her and a testament to the top talent she's become. Speaking of The Visionary, at one point, I was really hoping he'd go to SmackDown to settle his score with Roman Reigns and just get a fresh change of scenery, but I knew that wasn't going to happen once his wife Becky Lynch got drafted to Raw during Night 1. On the bright side, this cements him as the frontrunner to win the new World Heavyweight Championship at Backlash. I honestly can't imagine who else it would be. SmackDown scored Theory and Flair in this round. Flair needed to end up on the same show as Belair so they can feud when Flair returns from her hiatus/vacation, so that was the right move. It's one of the biggest women's feuds WWE hasn't done yet. Theory should feel like a bigger deal for being picked first by SmackDown on Night 2, but he just doesn't and that's due to his abysmal booking as of late. He's been treated like an afterthought for so long that it's hard to care, but maybe he'll be booked better on SmackDown and restore importance to the star-spangled prize. Round 2
GSM's Analysis: I have mixed thoughts on Zayn and Owens going to Raw. On one hand, they're away from The Bloodline, who they have feuded with ad nauseum. On the other, once they lose the tag titles, they're on a brand with a ton of big babyfaces. I'm skeptical they're going to be anywhere near the main event scene where they belong. And no, Owens should not turn on Zayn again or vice versa. That would be quite silly. As noted, they're away from The Usos, who are staying on SmackDown. That feud is finished. For some reason, WWE didn't make all of The Bloodline eligible, so I feared The Usos would be drafted to Raw. Thankfully, that was not the case. I really hope they lose at Backlash so we can move the Bloodline saga along. It won't if they remain dominant. Judgment Day and LWO ended up on separate shows as well and that's fine by me. They've had a wonderful feud, but it was time for them to move in different directions. Round 3
GSM's Analysis: The WWE Women's Tag Team Championship can be defended on either brand, so Morgan and Rodriguez going to Raw won't matter much right now, but I'm looking forward to seeing them work with Ripley when they're no longer champs. Both women have history with Ripley and the matches can be great. Asuka hasn't been seen since her loss at WrestleMania 39, so maybe she can rekindle her rivalry with Belair upon her return. Otherwise, I have no idea what else she can do. She's accomplished essentially everything in WWE. New Day heading back to Raw is whatever since they could have challenged for the tag titles regardless of what brand they were a part of. If and when Big E is cleared to compete again, it's safe to say he'll be joining them on Monday nights. Meanwhile, Brawling Brutes staying on SmackDown makes me sad knowing we won't get to see Sheamus unseating Gunther for the Intercontinental Championship. It should have happened at WrestleMania and WWE didn't pull the trigger. Sheamus' pursuit of the prestigious prize will have to wait until at least next year it looks like. Round 4
GSM's Analysis: If Logan Paul wasn't drafted (and understandably so because WWE can use him on both brands wherever they see fit), why would Stratus be drafted? She's a part-timer as well. I know she's currently embroiled in a rivalry with Becky Lynch, but I doubt she'll be sticking around beyond that, so it felt pointless for her to be included. Rousey and Baszler going to Raw was fine so they could get away from Flair, but neither of them feel remotely special at the moment and I don't know if a run on Raw will help boost their stock at all. SmackDown selecting Kross and Knight was very disappointing. Yes, SmackDown needs at least a few heels, but those guys in particular belonged on Raw with the World Heavyweight Championship. There's no upward trajectory for them on Friday nights so long as Reigns is Undisputed WWE Universal Champion, and I don't see that changing any time soon. They'll be fine members of the midcard, but I believe they have higher ceilings than that. Maybe feuds with Edge, AJ Styles and Bobby Lashley could make their stints on SmackDown worthwhile. Round 5
GSM's Analysis: The best part of this round was easily Pretty Deadly being called up to SmackDown. I mean, they had to be considering they were "killed off" of NXT last week by Tony D'Angelo and Channing "Stacks" Lorenzo. If you haven't watched their work in NXT or NXT UK, they're a very entertaining tandem that I think can do well in WWE's tag team ranks. An eventual feud with Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens has potential in my opinion, but I wouldn't shoehorn them into the title picture too quickly. I like Reed going to Raw seeing as how the red brand currently doesn't boast a ton of high-profile heels. He isn't one at the moment, but he can be in due time. What I don't like is that this means his feud with Bobby Lashley is already over, and that's a shame because I was digging it. It also means there's no chance he wins the United States Championship in that Triple Threat at Backlash. Double bummer. I'm a Shotzi fan, but drafting her in the fifth round was questionable considering she hasn't done anything at all on the main roster in the last two years. She's since been split from Natalya, but I assume they'll find another random partner for her on SmackDown because WWE will have no idea what else to do with her. Braun Strowman and Ricochet could have been on either brand and it wouldn't have mattered, but at least they're sticking together because they've been a fun team so far. Round 6
GSM's Analysis: I was curious if Alpha Academy would be broken up, and if not, if they would stay on the same show as Maximum Male Models because that storyline has been a guilty pleasure of mine in recent months. Thus, I was satisfied to see Alpha Academy remain on Raw with Maximum Male Models. I would still like to see Chad Gable get a serious singles push, though. Boogs on SmackDown is a choice. I truly don't have much else to say about that one. He and Elias had quality chemistry as buddies, but as I'll discuss in the next section, I don't know if that's the plan going forward. Much like on Night 1, the televised NXT picks were saved for the final round. I was pleasantly surprised Chance and Carter were picked by Raw after SmackDown secured the NXT Women's Tag Team Champions on Friday. They were overdue for a call-up and are a welcome addition to the main roster's women's tag team scene. You can put Grimes in that category of overdue call-ups as well. He's been off television since October because the plan was always to move him to Raw or SmackDown but there wasn't a plan in place for him. I actually appreciated that they waited until the time was right, and now he can thrive on SmackDown. He had an excellent run in NXT and got over as a babyface, so fingers crossed he can achieve similar success on SmackDown.
GSM's Analysis: Okay, a ton of names here. As you can tell, SmackDown only got Tamina and Waller in this round. I'm glad the Tamina pick wasn't televised, but why wasn't Waller's, especially over Shotzi or Boogs? Despite that, Waller has grown a ton in NXT and was main roster ready. He's not main event material yet, which is why I like him on SmackDown because he can work with all of the popular babyfaces the blue brand now has. He'd likely be lost in the shuffle on Raw.
Brooke, Cross and Tozawa are not difference-makers and I can almost guarantee you they will be working Main Event primarily. Li and Nox might suffer the same fate, but they're better than that and deserve a chance. Niven will hopefully get more television time soon and a significant push because it's been inconsistent so far. I really don't know why Moss and Emma were drafted to Raw since Moss already failed to beat Gunther for the Intercontinental Championship, but maybe the heel turn will help. Whatever happened to that, anyway? Most people probably weren't aware of this, but Los Lotharios were quietly moved to Raw months ago and have received zero television time. That should change, but I'm not holding my breath. Gargano's main roster run has been underwhelming and injuries have hindered whatever momentum he had, but WWE really needs to get going with him once he's healthy. We'll see if a reunion with The Way will boost his spot on the card, but comedy is the last thing he needs at this point. Other call-ups included Indus Sher and Odyssey Jones to Raw and Xyon Quinn to free agency. Indus Sher didn't have much of a run in NXT, and I have no interest in Mahal continuing to be a part of their act, but they can be the monster heel tag team the main roster needs, somewhat similar to the role Authors of Pain had years go. Jones could have used more time in NXT, but with more development and seasoning, I think he can go far in WWE. He certainly has the charisma for it. As for Quinn, he's been pulling Level Up duty for many months, so declaring him a free agent was puzzling. Expect to see him popping up every once in a while on Raw and SmackDown doing jobs when needed. Triple H announced Lesnar as a free agent at the start of Monday's Raw, and since that was already the case, I have no idea why he was eligible in the first place. Elias being among the free agents is weird seeing as how he's been associated with Boogs for months, but that doesn't mean they can't still interact. Corbin as a free agent makes perfect sense given where his character has been slotted on the show since being dumped by JBL earlier this year, and maybe we can see him back in NXT eventually. Lastly, Alexander and Benjamin not being picked by either brand is disgraceful. They're too talented of a team to be sitting on the sidelines without a permanent day. Put them on SmackDown, reunite them with Lashley as The Hurt Business, and call it a day, please.
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