It doesn’t take a Mel Kiper to tell you Triple H didn’t want any major shake-ups on his roster and to many, the WWE Draft had to feel a bit underwhelming. Aside from a few NXT call-ups and two stars on the rise jumping ship, the Draft was more about retaining than rearranging. However, there will absolutely be a benefit to both the brand and the stars that did move and it’s worth dabbling into the details.
WWE Raw
RAW did indeed stay the course for Mondays as they retained their main stars in Seth Rollins, CM Punk, Drew McIntyre and Jey Uso, but they did create some interesting ripples in adding several factions.
WWE RAW GM Adam Pearce also kept hold of all of The Judgment Day while adding LWO and The Final Testament. The latter may be the set of stars to greatly benefit from the move as Karrion Kross along with Scarlet initially established themselves as stars in NXT. However, Kross was horribly repackaged in his first main roster call-up during the Vince McMahon era and both were later released.
Kross and Scarlet packed a punch in their return via SmackDown. Despite that, the duo found themselves lost in the shuffle once again before forming The Final Testament with AOP and Paul Ellering. The group remained around the midcard as they ultimately lost to The Pride at WrestleMania 40 in a Philadelphia Street Fight.
Now being on Mondays, it’s a different day and different platform for The Final Testament and they could eventually have some interesting adversaries on the brand, including Priest and The Judgment Day, but with a “Wyatt 6” burgeoning in the wings, Kross and his crew can finally find themselves in a deserved top spot.
We already got to witness Ilja Dragunov in action and he already set himself apart from many on the main roster as he took out Ricochet in the first round of The King Of The Ring tournament. He’ll undoubtedly be a major player on Mondays as he’s capable of being a force, but has also shown the ability to fight from underneath. Lyra Valkyria was another name to be embedded in the brand as she defeated Dakota Kai and got the badge of approval from Becky Lynch earlier in the night.
With RAW on its way to Netflix in 2025, a lucha legend like the aforementioned Mysterio will be an invaluable addition to the brand, but they also acquired a top rising star in Bron Breakker. There’s been early teases of Breakker’s first feud being with Sheamus and he’s a name that’s carved through the crop down in NXT. Probably the biggest backing has come from recent WWE Hall Of Famer Paul Heyman as ‘The Wiseman’ has been an unofficial advocate for the son of Rick Steiner.
As far as the tag division is concerned, RAW lost a key team in #DIY, but they found a dark horse pick in New Catch Republic, but perhaps one of the low-key greatest moves may be Raw roping in social media standout Dijak, who rejuvenated his identity back down in NXT.
WWE SmackDown
SmackDown was the show to get a big time boost from the stipulation that none of the champions can jump ship as they hold onto the business’ biggest babyface in Cody Rhodes. Anything can change before 2025 turns, but if Cody keeps grounded on SmackDown, Netflix will be without ‘The American Nightmare’ and that’s huge for USA Network when SmackDown makes the move over.
Like RAW, SmackDown kept its biggest names with The Bloodline, Bianca Belair, Jade Cargill, AJ Styles, Randy Orton and Kevin Owens. Roman Reigns remains a wild card, but with Solo Sikoa staking his claim for the family, it’s likely we’ll have a major confrontation as 2024 carries on.
As far as rising talent, it’s clear Triple H is well-aware of the limitless ceiling of Carmelo Hayes. Not only was he a top pick for SmackDown, but Carmelo was immediately put into the fire going up against Rhodes in the main event.
The women’s division has Bayley, Cargill, Belair, and Tiffany Stratton, but did acquire a new dominant name in Nia Jax. Initially, the show would seem like they’d have an uphill battle by losing Damage CTRL, but Piper Niven, Chelsea Green, Indi Hartwell and Candice LeRae can certainly fill those spots.
That being said, some stars may see new horizons on SmackDown with one name being Shinsuke Nakamura. While he was an excellent heel on RAW, Nakamura was consistently made to lose on the brand as he helped build Cody Rhodes for WrestleMania.
Baron Corbin could get some new beginnings on the blue brand as he found revitalization down in NXT, particularly his teaming with Bron Breakker. It will be intriguing to see if SmackDown makes use of him as a heel or babyface, but he’s got some understated potential to be a player down the line for SmackDown.
Who ‘Won’ the 2024 WWE Draft?
Was there really a winner of the WWE Draft? It depends on how one frames it. If you’re going from acquisitions, WWE RAW stood out by securing surefire future star names like Breakker and Dragunov, but also got superstar support with Rey Mysterio.
However, if you look at who won by retaining talent, SmackDown undoubtedly got the edge by keeping hold of Rhodes, Stratton, The Bloodline and Orton. It’s telling for for what the tone may be as WWE programming makes its way to new channels in 2025.
Despite the fresh match-ups in the men’s, women’s and tag divisions on Raw and SmackDown, the general consensus is that this year’s WWE Draft was underwhelming. That said,