How NXT Can Be the Base of WWE Draft

There has been some conversations about a brand extension in WWE, which would mean a WWE Draft that could benefit superstars being brought up from NXT.

The idea of what the WWE would look like if Shane McMahon was able to defeat the Undertaker at WrestleMania 32 on April 3 has created some talk about having a brand split that was done between 2002 and 2011. It’s a bit of a hypothetical topic, but one that has started to be mentioned by WWE superstars – including Kevin Owens during an interview with Mundo Deportivo.

Now having a brand split would mean there should be some form of the WWE Draft between Raw and SmackDown, which would provide the WWE to build some of the mid-card talents to evolve to the main event talents that has lacked some depth just noticed if you would look at the list of inactives on the WWE’s injury report.

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And while it is good to have some of the superstars from the main roster placed into the draft mix, this would be one of the best ways to start introducing the casual WWE fan to the NXT superstars. Let’s face it, part of the problem with having stars move from NXT to the main roster has been the lack of hype seen for their debuts to get the casual fans excited.

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Long gone are the vignettes that would air for the weeks leading up to a new talent’s debut on Monday Night Raw. But what if we could have vignettes for rookies who were eligible for the WWE Draft every year? That would get the WWE fans to want to start watching the NXT shows every week and start reading up on talents they could soon be watching on Monday and Thursday nights.

Think of how the NFL has a draft where the best college football players are scouted, go through a combine workout where they are graded and then there is a draft. In the weeks leading up to the official WWE Draft, there can be a segment of Raw where the fans go over the previous episode of NXT and maybe talk about a few talents that might be considered top picks to be called up.

The WWE can easily produce an episode of Raw where the managers of Raw and SmackDown take turns on the stage announcing their selections that would have their debut matches that night. It could provide some excitement around the NXT development brand, which would allow fans to also want to subscribe to the WWE Network so they can watch the show.

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Now in terms of how many NXT stars should be eligible for the draft, there might be some concerns with having too many talents brought up each year at the WWE Draft. It would be bad to call up a large number of talents and possibly purge the top developmental stars and weaken the NXT brand that has developed a cult following of its own.

To offset only having a few NXT stars bring brought to the main roster every year, the WWE creative team can find a way where each brand has to submit a certain number of talents that are eligible for the draft. In fact, one option could be similar to how the NFL allows each team to apply a franchise tag on at least one player who is about to leave as a free agent; Raw and SmackDown can apply a franchise tag or two on certain superstars they don’t want to risk losing.

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In the end, the concept of a brand split allows for a chance to bring back the WWE Draft; which will shake things up a bit and also provide a better road for debuting the talents called up from NXT in a way that fans would actually get more excited for seeing what they can do.