The 2024 WWE draft concluded on the April 29th edition of Monday Night Raw, and it felt lackluster as not much happened. Many of the top wrestlers on Raw and Smackdown stayed on their respective brands, and it felt like the draft was held when it was unnecessary. The WWE could have put the draft after Backlash 2024, which could have given them a better sense of who should get drafted where.
However, there is still a problem with the WWE draft: people have always gotten “drafted” to shows where they are already on. Although this was seen more in the 2024 draft, it has always been a problem. That’s why the WWE should implement a new draft format, which would include wrestlers from NXT being available.
New Draft Format
WWE should start holding their drafts somewhat like the NBA and NFL do, where they’d be able to pick talent exclusively from NXT.
The current draft format that has been around since 2007 has felt more like a shakeup than a draft. The brands are not drafting talent, instead, they are trading them away to the other shows. Instead of drafting talent that is already on Raw and Smackdown, both brands should have talent compete in matches that would then give the winning superstar a pick for their brand.
This idea was implemented in the late 2000s drafts, where brands were given picks if their wrestlers won a match against the other brand’s wrestlers. This idea would make the draft more interesting as it would reward each brand based on how well they perform and wouldn’t give an exact number of picks to either brand.
Once a match is won, the winning brand could select and draft a talent from the NXT roster. The current format that the WWE has for its draft seems somewhat outdated, and this idea could not only shake things up on both shows but could also allow more NXT talent to be drafted up to the main roster.
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WWE Superstar Shakeup
Although the idea of a WWE draft revolving solely around NXT is a good one, it would require the return of the WWE Superstar Shakeup. The Superstar Shakeup was an idea created by WWE that took place instead of the draft during the late 2010s, allowing superstars randomly picked to be drafted away from one brand to another. This shakeup also included talent from NXT to be picked.
Although the original concept was good, the WWE could not execute it properly and, therefore, got rid of it, bringing back the draft in the process. They made the shakeup too complex with unclear rules, such as the Wild Card. However, it would be good for the WWE to bring it back and use it solely to keep the rosters fresh.
Regarding draft selections, instead of randomly selecting superstars via a generator on the jumbotron, it would be a better idea to revert to how wrestlers were randomly selected in the 2004 draft. In this draft, the commissioners of Raw and Smackdown, Paul Heyman and Eric Bischoff, both selected their superstars using a raffle drum.
Overall, the WWE Draft seems to have reached a point where it’s not necessarily needed. Instead of forcing a draft that results in no significant changes to the roster, the company should try to move in a direction that would result in something meaningful happening to the brands.
About The Author
Shayan Malik has always been an avid fan of sports. He is currently studying sports communication, hoping to take his sports knowledge to the next level. He enjoys writing about combat sports such as MMA, pro Wrestling, and Boxing.
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