Back in early 2023, I wrote about an independent wrestling promotion near and dear to my heart, Northeast Wrestling, and how a string of shows they produced from 2022 to 2023 set the standard for storytelling on the indies and left me coming back for more every month. As someone who has closely followed N.E.W. for a decade and a half, this was the most excited I had ever been to be a fan of the product, which is saying a lot considering the high quality of content they've produced in that time.

An eight-month-long hiatus put a halt to their hot momentum at the end of 2023, but N.E.W. returned with a bang in April with their Hat City Havoc II event, headlined by N.E.W. Hall of Famer's Brian Anthony's bittersweet retirement match. I was curious to see if the company's creative direction would pick up right where it left off and it surely did not disappoint.

I had to wait and see what went down on Night 2 to determine whether the 2024 WWE Draft was a success or not, and honestly, we won't know for sure until months down the road when the fresh feuds and storylines start to take shape. But in a nutshell, it wasn't necessary, at least not in the way WWE attempted to execute it.

Look, I love the WWE Draft. I always have. It was one of the first major editions of Raw I was a fan for when I got into wrestling in 2008. I was partial to the "battling for brand picks" concept, as goofy and as illogical as it was, and it's evolved quite a bit since then. As I already made clear in my Night 1 analysis, I didn't think the rosters should have drastically changed this year, which is why they probably should have done something different instead such as trades between the general managers. That would have made more sense so fans weren't left as underwhelmed or disappointed.

Night 2 was a bit better than Night 1. It was almost the exact same format, mind you, but way more Superstars switched brands, including a handful of familiar faces from NXT. Thus, anyone arguing that everyone stayed where they were is wrong, but it is true that there wasn't that much movement toward the top of the card. On the whole, I didn't have any major complaints regarding the moves that were made (aside from the questionable order of picks at times), but it is safe to say Raw walked away with the stronger roster. Then again, when is that not the case?

Here's my round-by-round analysis of every pick made during Night 2 of the 2024 WWE Draft.

The 2024 WWE Draft is technically the first under Paul "Triple H" Levesque since Vince McMahon was back in the creative fold for last year's, and Night 1 didn't exactly send the message that much will be changing with the rosters even in the "new era." Personally, I enjoyed it for what it was as I always do, but I can't dispute the fact that it was fairly uneventful in terms of the moves that were made.

Here's why I didn't have an issue with that, though: The rosters as they are at the moment shouldn't be drastically altered because of the existing stories that still need to play out. We'll see what happens on Night 2 and I'd surely hope there are more meaningful moves made then, but a majority of the Superstars who should be switching shows aren't in the main event scene. Doing trades between the general managers instead of a formal draft would've made more sense in this case.

As far as the execution of the Draft itself this year, it was a definite improvement over past years. It was wise to announce the eligible pools for each night ahead of time, it always bothered me that they rarely did that. More involvement from the GMs would be nice, as well as clarification for NXT picks/call-ups, but above all else, the biggest positive was exempting the current champions (not including the WWE Women's Tag Team Champions who float between brands). Keeping them where they are is part of why it didn't feel like there was anything super shocking on Night 1, but that's fine by me. They need to keep that rule for future installments.

Here's my round-by-round breakdown of Night 1 of the 2024 WWE Draft and my analysis of each pick.

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.

WWE has been long overdue for a roster shakeup. The last installment of the Draft took place in October 2021, over 18 months ago. In that time, Triple H assumed creative control of the company, which led to the rules of the Brand Split being completely ignored. They weren't exactly enforced prior to that point, but the Brand Split is essentially deemed dead by end of last summer. If there was ever a time to bring it back, post-WrestleMania season made the most sense, so I'm glad they waited until now to hold the Draft.

Night 1 is in the books as of Friday's SmackDown, and although it was an eventful evening, I wouldn't go so far as to say it was a success, at least not yet. In short, a lot of mind-boggling picks were made for Raw and SmackDown, but the biggest problem with the format was that there were no authority figures making the selections, just guest presenters for each round. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed seeing Rob Van Dam and others, but why would they ecare about who goes where? In the past, we were told the decisions were largely made by "network executives," and that was ridiculous as well. Bringing back general mangers would be a simple solution.

The picks themselves were questionable, to say the least. I'll get into each round momentarily, but I was left with more questions than answers, and not in a positive way. Are we in for yet another silly belt swap with the women's championships with Bianca Belair taking the Raw Women's Championship to SmackDown? Are Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns really going to separated for good? How will the NXT titles be dealt with? Sure, I was shocked by multiple draft picks, but shocking isn't always what's best in these sorts of situations. Maybe Night 2 will clear things up, but I wasn't left overly optimistic once Night 1 concluded. On the bright side, no tag teams or stables were split (is that a first?), so that was refreshing.

Triple H mentioned that the new rosters will go into effect after the Backlash pay-per-view, which takes place on Saturday, May 6. Apparently talent can be traded, but WWE hasn't done that too often. The first four rounds were televised on Friday's SmackDown with additional draft picks taking place on The SmackDown LowDown the following Saturday morning and a handful of stars declaring themselves as free agents. Below, you'll find my in-depth analysis for all of the Raw and SmackDown selections. My Night 2 analysis should be up sometime this coming week.