WWE: Draft wasn’t over the top, but it did what it needed to do

The Oct. 14 edition of Raw was the final night of the draft that has shaken up the foundation of the WWE on both major brands moving forward.

Last night was night number two of the WWE Draft in response to SmackDown’s debut on FOX and for the first time in months, fans now know which brands their favorite Superstars are actually on without having to wonder who will show up on what brand thanks to the bogus wild card rule that was implemented earlier this year.

The draft began last Friday night and it told fans how things would proceed.  For each round of the draft, the red brand got three picks compared to the blue brand’s two picks considering Raw is three hours long.

Night one saw the likes of Bray Wyatt, Becky Lynch, Sasha Banks, AJ Styles/The O.C., Kevin Owens, Roman Reigns, Randy Orton, Bayley, and others solidified as to what brand they would be on.  Last night saw more of the same with many superstars staying put, but others making the change of brands.

This draft was operated as more of a real sports-like draft with both the USA Network and FOX vying for the superstars they wanted on their respective brands.  Last night’s portion of the draft saw the likes of Brock Lesnar, Seth Rollins, Daniel Bryan, Charlotte Flair, The New Day, The Miz, and others find out their future workplace.  There are still plenty of undrafted free agents available and more is bound to come out of these proceedings as well.

Booker T even teased a big trade that could go down on the draft panel during Raw last night.  So, as a whole, the draft did what it needed to do.  It changed a few major superstars’ brands while keeping many on the brands that they had been on.  It’s hard to say which brand won the draft considering both brands picked up countless major superstars.  Raw’s roster now has Rollins, Styles, Lynch, Orton, Lashley, Mysterio, Flair, and others, which is a solid roster any day.

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The blue brand has the likes of Lesnar, Reigns, Wyatt, Strowman, The New Day, Bayley, Banks, and others.  That’s a star-studded cast of characters that should help shape Friday nights moving forward.  This draft wasn’t earth-shattering by no means and it didn’t really provide any big shockers, but it was effective enough in the end.  Both brands left the proceedings in good shape and they should both improve in the coming days even more.

But the best thing that this draft did was get rid of the wild card rule that had been confusing fans for months.  This rule was introduced months ago by Vince McMahon as a rule that would allow four superstars to show up on their opposite brand from week to week, but after a while, it ended up feeling like 10 superstars took part in this.  You never knew who was on what brand and things got so confusing.  It basically ignored the brand format, but thankfully, it’s over with.

Superstars will remain on their specific brands moving forward with the wild card rule a thing of the past.  So, by just getting rid of the wild card rule alone, this draft was a success.  There weren’t any major shocking transitions and many of the moves in the draft were what everyone expected, but most were necessary moves.  It was safe to assume from the start that the champions of their respective brands would end up on their specific brands.

It might not go over perfectly with the entire WWE universe, but this two-night draft was a needed change to get things back on track and distinguish just who’s on what brand with Raw and SmackDown now on two separate networks.