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The 2016 WWE Draft

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By Andrew Snyder

The WWE Draft is done. The landscape has been set for the new "war" in WWE... Raw vs. Smackdown. On one side, we have Stephanie McMahon and Mick Foley running the "Flagship show" in RAW. On the other side, we have Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan running the "underdog" show in Smackdown. Let us look and see how the draft went down and then we will analyze the outcome.

RAW

  1. Seth Rollins
  2. Charlotte - WWE Womens Champion
  3. Finn Balor (NXT Callup)
  4. Roman Reigns
  5. Brock Lesnar
  6. The New Day- WWE Tag Team Champions
  7. Sami Zayn
  8. Sasha Banks
  9. Chris Jericho
  10. Rusev w/ Lana - United States Champion
  11. Kevin Owens
  12. Enzo & Cass
  13. The Club (Gallows & Anderson)
  14. Big Show
  15. Nia Jax (NXT Callup)
  16. Neville
  17. Cesaro
  18. Sheamus
  19. Golden Truth
  20. Titus O'Neil
  21. Paige
  22. Darren Young
  23. Sin Cara
  24. Jack Swagger
  25. The Dudley Boys
  26. Summer Rae
  27. Mark Henry
  28. Braun Strowman
  29. Bo Dallas
  30. The Shining Stars
  31. Alicia Fox
  32. Dana Brooke
  33. Curtis Axel
Smackdown
  1. Dean Ambrose-WWE Champion
  2. AJ Styles
  3. John Cena
  4. Randy Orton
  5. Bray Wyatt
  6. Becky Lynch
  7. The Miz w/Maryse - WWE Intercontinental Champion)
  8. Baron Corbin
  9. American Alpha (NXT Callup)
  10. Dolph Ziggler
  11. Natalya
  12. Alberto Del Rio
  13. The Uso Brothers
  14. Kane
  15. Kalisto
  16. Naomi
  17. The Ascension
  18. Zack Ryder
  19. Apollo Crews
  20. Alexa Bliss
  21. Breezeango
  22. Eva Marie
  23. The Vaudevillains
  24. Erick Rowan
  25. Mojo Rawley
  26. Carmella
RAW Announce Team: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, and Byron Saxton
Smackdown Announce Team: Mauro Ranallo, JBL, and David Otunga

Okay. So on paper RAW looks stacked in comparison to Smackdown, and this in true in terms of depth.  However, I believe the Smackdown main event scene is a bit stronger with Cena/Ambrose/AJ/Orton/Wyatt in comparison to the Rollins/Reigns/Lesnar/?  Their roster is very weak in main event level guys, but very strong on the midcard. I am presuming that Kevin Owens will be in the main event sooner than later due to lack of top level talent.  No doubt that the depth is more apparent on RAW, but they have three hours to fill, while Smackdown only has two hours.  I think Smackdown may end up surprising people in terms of in ring quality.

The true worry for Smackdown is JBL and David Otunga dragging down the show with their announcing.  Otunga should be harmless, but JBL's announce work doesn't work and will clash with Mauro. I am hoping that he proves me wrong, but his awful work on RAW for the past few years doesn't leave me with much confidence. Corey Graves going to RAW is a huge upgrade for the show and he should help get some guys over where JBL couldn't.  

Where do we go from here?  Well, the results of Battleground will show their hand a bit.  My presumption is that Reigns or Rollins will win the title and Smackdown will have to create a new championship. They still haven't announced how championships will work in terms of being brand specific or being defended against superstars of both shows.

The presentation of WWE acknowledging that RAW is the A show and Smackdown is the B show seems a bit dangerous to me. Why would you purposely make a show seem weaker in storyline? Hopefully Smackdown kills it and makes a fresh, fun show that people must see.

The shows seem weak now, because the lower roster guys have been treated poorly, but we should give them the rest of the summer before we truly judge this move.  Good luck, WWE. Please don't mess this up.
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