The Three Best Moves from the 2023 Draft

Several big moves were made during the 2023 WWE Draft and these are the most important three.

This year’s WWE Draft felt needed, right?

With the general malaise hanging over WWE after Wrestlemania 39, or more specifically, Night 2 of Wrestlemania 39, a change of scenery, personnel, and presentation on WWE products was, in this writer’s opinion, incredibly necessary to wash the bad taste of the return of the McMahon era out of everyone’s mouths. A fresh coat of paint. But which brushstrokes from that coat of paint felt the most natural?

Pretty Deadly- To Smackdown

Long kept hidden from the majority of the WWE audience by being featured on the often forgotten, now defunct NXT UK, Pretty Deadly has been the best-kept secret in the WWE tag scene for some time. Walking the line between lovably obnoxious and 2011 Michael Cole levels of annoying perfectly, the duo of Elton Prince and Kit Wilson are the full package, with a great gimmick, and a distinct look, and they are more than capable in-ring. But why is their move to Smackdown one of the best moves?

Simply put, it’s necessary. Their being in the main NXT seemed like a formality, a way to get their names in the minds of the American audience, but if we’re being honest, Pretty Deadly has long been past the need for any “developmental” experience. Not only that, with Maximum Male Models being drafted to Raw, there will be fashion-centered comedy void left behind in the tag scene, as well as a void for a team that can take losses, but never get less entertaining.

SmackDown needed Pretty Deadly. They’ll be following in the footsteps of MMM and Breezango. Plus, new opponents for the Usos. Thank God for that.

Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn-To Smackdown

To carry on the theme from the last entry, the main roster needs more tag teams, and that goes double for the Women’s Tag division, which is, let’s be honest with ourselves, practically non-existent. Thrown-together team after thrown-together team, next to no chemistry between them, feeling more like two individuals than a tag team more often than not, there are very few teams that feel like teams in the Women’s tag division. And then there’s Alva Fyre and Isla Dawn.

While this writer was (and still is) skeptical of changing Kay Lee Ray’s name to Alba Fyre, I have to admit, since her team with Isla Dawn began, the excitement surrounding the former NXT UK Women’s Champion feels through the roof. Those pointless vignettes finally feel like they’re going somewhere, and the former KLR is getting regular screen time. As for Isla Dawn, this feels like a great way to introduce her to the American audience. Much like Pretty Deadly, Dawn’s time in main NXT feels like a formality rather than a necessity, but in a rather short time, I must admit, she’s been given a strong base.

But why is it a good move? As previously stated, the main roster needs more teams, but more than that, the main roster needs a different kind of presence, specifically on Smackdown. In recent months, mostly thanks to the reigns of Ronda Rousey and Liv Morgan, the Smackdown women’s division as a whole has felt like an afterthought. And with Bianca Belair being drafted to Smackdown, she’ll need some strong challengers. As a team, or as individuals, Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn are the exact kind of challenge Bianca needs late in her reign to keep things fresh.

Gunther and Imperium-to Raw

Short of dethroning Roman Reigns, Gunther has down all he can on Smackdown. Boasting an impressive reign of his own with the Intercontinental Championship, 335 days at the time of writing, Gunther has, simply put, run out of viable challengers over on Smackdown. Some might argue that Sheamus should have been the one to dethrone the former WALTER, but that chance has come and gone. WWE is sticking with Gunther’s reign, it seems, until he breaks the Honkey Tonk Man’s record.

This is a great move not only because it keeps Gunther, and therefore Imperium, feeling fresh, it also opens up possibilities for a lot of dream matches and logical feuds. Gunther Vs Rollins. Gunther Vs Bronson Reed, Gunther Vs Gargano. Imperium could have tag classics against Alpha Academy, or renew their rivalry with New Day, or face their ideological opposites in Maximum Male Models.

The possibilities are vast. And that is, arguably, part of what makes all these draft picks a good choice.