We have now reached the golden week for draft nerds like myself. Not only is the NFL taking center stage for three days starting next Thursday night, but WWE has decided to counter program and book night one of the 2023 WWE Draft a week from today.
Some may question the decision, but it makes perfect sense. With the NFL Draft and NBA Playoffs as competition, WWE needed to come strong with some added incentive to make next week’s SmackDown feel like a bigger deal and get more people to tune in.
Triple H has made some lofty promises for the Draft this year. Paraphrasing his popular nickname, he’s declaring that the upcoming roster shuffling will change the game.
Hopefully between now and next Friday, we’ll find out the rules for the Draft process. Unlike the NFL, WWE tends to change their rules on a year-by-year basis. So look for my comprehensive mock draft next week, once we have a clearer picture of how things will go down.
In the meantime, I’ve compiled a list of Superstars who should be on the move for the betterment of themselves and the shows they’ll call home.
Starting with one of the biggest names available…
Draft Seth Rollins to SmackDown to challenge Roman Reigns
While we don’t yet know which brand has the first pick and which Superstars will be available at the time that pick is made, it’s hard to imagine that FOX is going to be willing to part with its golden goose. Roman Reigns will, and should be, the number one overall pick and will stay a member of the SmackDown roster — presumably with the rest of The Bloodline.
Not that it matters a whole lot, considering it’s been well established that the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion can go wherever he pleases. This pick is more about securing the Tribal Chief a home if and when he drops the titles.
Your guess on who will ultimately be the one to dethrone Reigns is as good as mine. It still feels like Cody Rhodes will be the guy, but don’t over look Seth “Freakin” Rollins.
If you haven’t noticed, Seth is still that dude.
In-ring work, mic work, character work, all of it — he’s as good as he’s ever been, if not better. He’s also more over with the crowd than he’s been in the last five years. But if his creative direction in the weeks since WrestleMania are any indication, WWE has no idea what to do with the guy right now.
This is a man who has done the job the last few years. Putting over the likes of Kevin Owens, Cesaro, Austin Theory, Edge and Cody Rhodes… those last two on a number of occasions. Once again this year, he was overlooked for the WrestleMania main event and booked into a program with Logan Paul.
A great story. A great match. Thankfully he got the win this time around, but you can’t help but be found wanting when it comes to Rollins’ booking. And you can understand his reported frustrations with his recent creative direction.
He dipped his toe back into the United States title picture for a while, but even with Triple H making a concerted effort to elevate that Championship, Rollins feels bigger than that. He wants to be and should be booked like a top guy, which is why the move to SmackDown needs to happen.
WWE currently has a vacancy for its number one babyface position over on Friday nights and there’s no one better to fill that spot than the Visionary.
Drew McIntyre and Bray Wyatt are on a hiatus at the moment and Sami Zayn is locked up in the Tag Team Division. Cody Rhodes could very well be drafted to SmackDown but he’s currently dealing with a Beast of a road block in his quest to get another shot at Roman Reigns. That rematch may still be several months away.
The Tribal Chief needs challengers in the meantime and while the cupboard isn’t entirely bare, no potential challenger has as big a claim to the throne than Seth Rollins.
Paul Heyman can run down the murder’s row of Superstars that Reigns has smashed over the course of his record breaking title run, but you won’t find Rollins’ name anywhere near that list.
It’s been well over a year since Seth was screwed out the Championship at the Royal Rumble and he’s yet to get his rematch. There’s no bigger fight, save for Cody Rhodes, that WWE could put on the books for Night of Champions next month than Reigns vs. Rollins.
Even if Seth is not the guy that WWE has penciled in to beat Roman, he deserves that spot. And from Roman’s perspective, Rollins deserves to be the final hurdle in his quest for 1000 days as World Champion.
The bottom line for Rollins, he needs a new direction, a reinvigorated push, and to be on a separate show from Cody Rhodes so he can shine as the undisputed top babyface. If Triple H really wants to change the game, sending Seth over to the Blue Brand is the move to make.
Draft Kayden Carter and Katana Chance to Monday Night Raw
Don’t look now, but the WWE creative team is slowly starting to build something with its Women’s Tag Team Division. Yes, that’s a bit of a head turning statement because whether it be a lack of interest or effort on the creative front, it’s been a while since this particular division has had more than a little bit of momentum working in its favor.
Despite only being a team for the last several weeks, Raquel Rodriguez and Liv Morgan work well with one another and continue to get better every single week. You can tell they are enjoying their time together, which comes across well on screen, and they are putting in the work behind the scenes to make themselves a legit team in the eyes of audience.
They’ll defend their newly won WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships on SmackDown tonight against Chelsea Green and Sonya Deville. This is another duo that has real promise, even if their chances of winning the gold tonight are slim. Green’s new “Karen” persona is money and Deville has always been great. She’s just been lacking opportunities to showcase her skills since her time as an authority figure came to an end.
It would be awesome to see these two really catch fire, if for no other reason than to get Deville back to where she was in the summer of 2020. One of the fastest rising stars in the company with future Women’s Champion written all over her.
Assuming these two teams stay together longer than a few months, they can be cornerstone pieces of this division along with Damage CTRL (as long as they remain a unit) and Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler, once Rousey is cleared to compete.
Now is the time for WWE to really show they’re invested, and supplement the main roster with additional talent that can bolster the Women’s Tag Team Division. Enter two of NXT’s longest tenured roster members – Kayden Carter and Katana Chance.
Two women who took completely different paths to get to WWE. One, a graduate of the 3D Academy and traveler of the independent circuit. The other, a collegiate gymnast who jumped straight from the American Ninja Warrior course to the WWE Performance Center.
An odd pairing at first, but over time they have molded themselves into an honest to goodness women’s tag team. Time being the operative word. Carter and Chance have been in WWE’s developmental system for five years now and have been teaming together for well over three.
There’s an argument to be made that they should have been moved up some time in 2022, if not sooner, but after 18 months of waiting in the wings, Shawn Michaels and his team finally gave them an opportunity to run with the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championships. Adding a certain level of pedigree to the team that wasn’t there before.
Since dropping the titles at NXT: Vengeance Day, Carter and Chance have been used sparingly on television. Their last appearance came on NXT Lvl Up in a win over Elektra Lopez and Lola Vice. It’s almost like they’ve been in a holding pattern, anxiously waiting to hear their names called on night one or night two of the draft.
This is a fun team that can work heel or babyface. It’s time to see if they can elevate themselves and prove to WWE that they were worth the initial investment the company made five years ago.
Draft Johnny Gargano, Candice LeRae, Dexter Lumis and Indi Hartwell to SmackDown
WWE is a little faction heavy these days, but there’s room for one more. Johnny Gargano, Candice LeRae and Dexter Lumis were all able to say a proper goodbye to the NXT faithful at Stand & Deliver, but their curtain call on stage following Johnny’s unsanctioned victory over Grayson Waller felt like it should have been the final chapter for all parties involved – including Indi Hartwell.
Yes, seeing Dexter carry Indi up the ladder to win her first NXT Women’s Championship was an incredibly emotional spot – seriously if you didn’t shed at least one tear or scream loud enough to draw the attention of your neighbors, you must hate love – but it was as equally shocking to see Indi win the title, because she’s another NXT talent that’s been main roster ready for some time now.
Keeping Indi around while the new crop of young talent developed around her made sense at the time, but Roxanne Perez, Cora Jade, Tiffany Stratton and others have emerged as the new faces of the NXT Women’s Division.
Hartwell winning the gold was a fantastic accomplishment and one that was well-deserved, but anything left for her in NXT feels like a sidequest at this point. She beat the game already. She finished her story. Look for Indi to drop the belt to either Perez or Stratton this Tuesday at Spring Breakin’ and then move on.
Having InDex back together on the same show will only help to raise Dexter Lumis’ stock, who continues to get good reactions on house shows and Main Event tapings, but with Gargano once again out with a shoulder injury, has been left without a creative direction of his own.
Candice LeRae and Indi reforming their pseudo motherdaughter relationship would also add more depth to the Women’s Tag Team Division by bringing in a team, much like Kayden and Katana, that comes with a Championship pedigree.
Reforming a team that comes with at least some audience familiarity would also be a much better starting off point for LeRae as she continues to try and gain traction with the main roster crowds. An easier road to hoe than starting a fresh pairing with someone like Mia Yim or Nikki Cross.
It’s unclear just how long Gargano will be out of action, but as soon as he’s good to go, bringing him back as the patriarch of The Way will give this a group a chance to have one more solid run on Friday nights and get a proper ending to their story.
Instead of getting some grand storyline send off in NXT, The Way was slowly picked apart by a mix of creative and real life circumstances. In just a few months time Austin Theory was drafted to RAW, Candice LeRae became pregnant with Baby Wrestling, Johnny Gargano left the company with Candice not far behind, and Dexter was let go from his contract.
Life is all about timing and now that everyone is back under the WWE umbrella once again, the time is right for a full on reunion. Well, almost.
Theory is going well on his own right now, so keep him on RAW and leave him be. But as for the rest of them, bring them back on SmackDown and make them an integral part of the show.
This is The Way.
What are some moves you would like to see WWE make in the upcoming Draft? You can follow Rick Ucchino on Twitter and subscribe to the Bleav in Pro Wrestling Podcast Channel for more of his work.
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