It is getting that time of the year, Wrestlemania was 6 months ago, NXT is moving to the USA Network, and there is plenty of talk of the WWE holding another draft to shake things up a bit with the idea that both the wrestlers and the writers and other backstage guys are going to be held and more separate from each other with Smackdown moving to Fox in the near future and wanting separate brands to trot out to these networks.
But with all that coming up the Draft/Shakeup/whatever it is being called this year, could use an overhaul. We get it by now and while these things usually aren’t predictable, it is starting to get sour and while there are a few memorable moves and greener pastures for some, others don’t get much of a mention despite changing brands and it starts to feel like it was a waste of time to even bother. Many times those wrestlers get released soon after anyway.
But maybe it is time to do something different, especially with NXT, WWE’s developmental brand, getting the call to start doing a live show for the USA Network. While not EVERY wrestler is going to come out of NXT for the draft, it is still a lot of people added to the mix and with the third brand, a lot of names could be moved around.
So here is my idea. Instead of “drafting” people from one brand directly, how about each brand has to put up a certain amount of names to be drafted. Free Agency. RAW, Smackdown, and NXT have to put 5 names to be drafted by the other two brands and when those names come up, we get to know who they are. you could have mystery names that people don’t expect to be up for drafting like John Cena, Roman Reigns, or whoever else, and then you have names that people kind of expect to get drafted like Chad Gable, Shelton Benjamin, or the Authors of Pain that could use a change of surroundings and possibly go do better things. Each brand has an even field and it won’t be RAW getting a bunch of guys, most of which don’t get used much at all, while Smackdown gets little to nothing out of this and who knows who NXT would end up with.
It would make it more like a sporting event like what the NFL does with many of its players moving around teams instead of RAW having the deck stacked in its favor like what is done seemingly every draft. It also won’t be like RAW and Smackdown bargain shopping for talent and leaving NXT with nothing left.
You could even have wrestlers compete for the opportunity to get drafted. You don’t want to make being drafted seem like a punishment but there may be some wrestlers that want to trade brands. Kevin Owens can’t be happy where he is with the feud with Shane McMahon, so put him in a rumble or a battle royal where the winner could be drafted to RAW or even NXT. Instead of Breezango being sent to RAW or Smackdown, have them wrestle some team to earn it.
These are just a few ideas, We will have to wait and see what the WWE ends up going through with.
