Night one of the 2021 WWE Draft has come and gone and there have been some questionable choices from the team behind the most hotly anticipated draft in the wrestling world. All these moves won’t come into effect until after Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia in a few weeks.
The main thing to discuss is who was drafted where who was left undrafted and what this means for the landscape of WWE moving forward. I have some very strong opinions, as always, so let’s see how Smackdown and Raw look after last night’s SmackDown Live on Fox.
Who was Drafted on Night One of the 2021 WWE Draft?
Roman Reigns along with Paul Heyman will remain on Smackdown with Brock Lesner declaring himself a free agent. Big E will move to Monday Night RAW as the WWE World Champion. While WWE Raw Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair will be making the move to Smackdown, former WWE Smackdown Women’s Champion Bianca Belair will make the move to RAW.
Drew McIntyre will be making the move to Smackdown while RAW Tag-Team champions, RK-Bro will remain on RAW. In the biggest shock of the night, The New Day, Kofi Kingston, and Xavier Woods will be moving to SmackDown, making this the second time they will have been split up from Big E.
Edge is making the move to RAW while Happy Corbin and his new tag-team partner Madcap Moss will be staying on Smackdown. The odd couple Tag-Team of Nikki A.S.H. and Rhea Ripley will be keeping the Women’s Tag-Team Championships on RAW. The team of Hit Row, which consists of Isaiah “Swerve” Scott, Ashante “Thee” Adonis, Top Dolla, and B-Fab will be moving on from NXT to Smackdown while Keith “Bearcat” Lee will remain on RAW.
Despite Naomi appearing on both RAW and Smackdown in the last year, she will be making Smackdown her permanent home for the next year. The Mysterios will be moving back to RAW after a year on the blue brand, Jeff Hardy has been drafted to Smackdown while Austin Theory is making the move from NXT to RAW, leaving behind his The Way teammates.
Who was Drafted on Talking Smack and Where Did They Land?
On Talking Smack, it was announced that Akira Tozawa, Doudrop, Drake Maverick, John Morrison, Nia Jax, R-Truth, Reggie, and T-Bar would be remaining on RAW. Making the move from Smackdown to Raw is Alpha Academy, Zelina Vega, Apollo Crews, and Commander Azeez.
Toni Storm will remain on SmackDown, being joined by former RAW superstars Drew Gulak, Mace, Mansoor, and Mustafa Ali. Aliyah is finally making the move from NXT to the main roster, heading for the blue brand.
What is WWE Doing With The New Day?
Let’s talk about The New Day for a second. After almost a year apart, with the team of Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods supporting Big E and his singles run from afar, we finally got a reunited The New Day when E cashed in his Money In The Bank briefcase.
Here we are a year later, with another draft under our belts and WWE has yet again disappointed the fans. People love The New Day as a force of nature and being together. You can have a WWE World Champion who is both fun and can also beat the hell out of you —-the two aren’t mutually exclusive. I don’t understand what they are so frightened of. Big E has worked his way up to the top of the card while being one of the best in-ring performers and well-liked wrestlers in all of WWE.
My solution for this obvious problem would be for The New Day to win the RAW Tag-Team Championships from RK-Bro before the 22nd of October. This would ensure their status as RAW superstars, with them having leverage to broker a deal for the team to stay together. Make this an angle, make it feel authentic, and please WWE stop messing with something that isn’t broken.
Is the Bloodline About To Gain Another Member?
Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman are staying on Smackdown with the Bloodline as one of the most formidable forces in WWE. Isn’t it about time they added a new member? It’s looking very likely that The Usos will also be staying on SmackDown when Night 2 of the 2021 WWE Draft comes to RAW on Monday.
All of this considered, there are two championships that the Bloodline needs to focus on so they can hold all the gold. One, in particular, might be within their reach. Former two-time SmackDown Women’s Champion, Naomi has been drafted to the blue brand, and with Paul Heyman hinting at a new member and being Jimmy Usos’ wife could she be the one to bring more Championships to The Bloodline?
I am hoping so and I think a lot of fans are too. There is a clear Charlotte Flair fatigue in the WWE Universe and despite Becky Lynch still being as popular as ever, it still doesn’t feel right how she won the championship at SummerSlam. What a surprise it would be for everyone if Naomi came out and beat the Man and the Queen while elevating up-and-coming talent like Shotzi Blackheart, Tegan Nox, Liv Morgan, and Toni Storm, or whoever is on the Smackdown roster come the end of Monday.
Naomi has been a solid worker for over a decade with widespread appeal that extends past just wrestling fans. She is what this division desperately needs right now.
Toni Storm Stays on Smackdown in the 2021 WWE Draft
Toni Storm should be and needs to be the cornerstone of the Smackdown Women’s division moving forward and Liv Morgan should be by her side at least for the next few months. The big fear is with huge names such as Charlotte Flair and possibly Becky Lynch being on SmackDown, Toni could get lost in the shuffle. This can not happen. Flair and Lynch don’t need a championship to tell compelling stories, they have moved past that.
In all fairness neither does Toni, but she is new to the main roster viewers and a championship run or even just chasing the title will give her something to really sink her teeth into. You’ve also taken Bianca Belair away from the blue brand so now is the time to build new stars heading into Royal Rumble season. With WWE moving the two women who succeeded at WrestleMania to Raw while panicking and putting both belts on already established stars, it feels like WWE has no idea what they are doing with the women’s division.
And it’s felt that way for a while, with Becky gone, Charlotte gone, Bayley injured, Sasha out and then an injury to Asuka the women’s division was looking very thin. They rushed back their four horsewomen, minus Bayley, panicked about their championships, and called up new women only to use them sporadically while ignoring the other women who have always been there, what are we doing here WWE?
WWE needs to use their women’s division correctly, and get more women’s matches on the card while also giving these talented athletes something to do that doesn’t revolve around their looks or belittling each other for things they can’t control or make them who they are.
In conclusion, do better WWE.
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