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A closer look at the big changes in this year’s WWE Draft

This year’s WWE Draft will likely be remembered for years to come, though not for any positive reasons.

Another WWE Draft has come and gone. Over the years, there have been some highly controversial drafts, and there have been some incredibly boring ones. However, some in particular stand out, whether it be because they are good or bad, and the 2020 Draft stands to be one for the record books. I want to do a run down of this year’s Draft, look at the bigger changes and discuss their possible implications.

A closer look at the big changes in this year's WWE Draft
WWE

Naomi got mentioned in round 2 of the Draft on Friday, which has me relatively excited. Hopefully this signals that they have something for her. At the Royal Rumble she was trending outside of wrestling Twitter into the other Twitterspheres — non-wrestling fans were actually checking her out and retweeting her part of the Rumble. And then that sudden spike in interest wasn’t even bothered with. She had one brief segment the next week then nothing. Especially after that karaoke segment, here’s to hoping they actually let her wrestle.

Bianca Belair also was in round 2 and I’m hoping this means we get to see more of her in the ring. She was one of my favorites when she was in NXT and her role on the main roster as simply “spouse” has been extremely disappointing so far. She deserves so much more. Hopefully she does get more, although her still being on the same show as her husband is not that promising of a sign.

The Fiend going over to Raw is weird, at least when you consider that KO is dealing with Bray currently. Sure, KO’s main target is Aleister Black right now, but the story up to this point is simply that KO is unraveling a larger mystery with Black simply being one stepping stone. So why separate KO and Bray? In the long run it will probably be fine, but still a confusing decision.

Alexa Bliss on Raw is going to be exciting looking at the women she’ll be able to mix up with. Asuka, Charlotte Flair, Nikki Cross, Peyton Royce… I can’t wait to see all of these matches against “Sister Bliss”. I’m even excited to see Lacey Evans and Bliss, if only to see Bliss absolutely destroy Evans.

A closer look at the big changes in this year's WWE Draft
WWE

Rey Mysterio, Dominik Mysterio, and Seth Rollins are all still on the same, albeit SmackDown this time. Just no. No no no no no. I have said time and time again I cannot stand this plot and for some reason it just won’t end. This is getting worse than Corbin vs. Reigns. Now was the perfect time to push Seth toward a different feud, but we are in for more of the same we have been getting since the beginning of summer. At least Murphy is tagging along as well.

The one thing to note, I suppose, is it could be interesting to see how Seth will change now that he’s at SmackDown. His whole thing was to make Raw better, so what will he do on SmackDown? Honestly, probably not change whatsoever and just swap “Raw” for “SmackDown” in his promos but, hey, maybe something interesting will happen?

Tucker and Otis seem to have been split up, and honestly this is confusing. I have no idea what the plan here is. I doubt Otis will be able to do well in singles — he and Tucker play off each other well. And Tucker has now just been left out to dry with this move. Heavy Machinery works extremely well as a tag team, especially since their silly gimmicks fit WWE’s tag division. It doesn’t fit with the singles division as much.

The IIconics are also being split up. While I am always in favor of trying new territory and experimenting with new things, I think a much better progression of this storyline would have been the two finding ways to help each other in their single’s career. Have the two still interact in some manner. But just separating them completely is going to lead to them being midcard at best.

The most confusing thing about the IIconics breakup is that the women’s tag division has literally three teams now, across both brands! Of course, WWE has never been the biggest tag team company, but three? Come on. And The Riott Squad are the only ones over on SmackDown. Does the women’s tag division just mean that little to WWE? I suppose yes, yes it does.

Lucha House Party are also being split up, with Kalisto seeming to be headed for singles competition. This team split actually has me excited. Kalisto has demonstrated time and time again he works hard and can deliver a great match. I am hoping that Vince doesn’t just suddenly forget about him in a couple weeks.

A closer look at the big changes in this year's WWE Draft
WWE

And finally we come to the New Day. I almost don’t believe that this split will last. I honestly believe that there is some plan for this because it just seems too stupid to do without one. New Day is one of the biggest stables WWE has had in recent history. To break them up with out any plan seems insanely stupid.

However, even if there is a plan, this whole ordeal was extraordinarily poorly done. The biggest, most beloved existing stable in WWE should not be broken up with absolutely no pretext to it. If they wanted to break up the group, it should have been done properly. Tension between the group, months of “will they or won’t they”. Perhaps some jealousy or resentment begins to grow when Kofi wins in 2019? Literally anything that gave some narrative weight to it. Simply having Stephanie awkwardly announce it then moving on five seconds later was the absolute worst way to do it.

All in all, this was a pretty odd Draft year. WWE is very clearly looking to push multiple people to singles competition, which, I don’t know if I can say if it’s overall bad or good in the long run. However, WWE did seriously stumble over themselves with a lot of these choices. And the New Day’s breakup is going to be remembered for a long time.

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