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**Evil Vito** · 04-27-2016, 09:57 AM

Here's how I would break things down:

First off, Shane remains in charge of Raw. It is a complete slap in the face of a major WrestleMania stipulation but since WWE doesn't seem to care about that, neither will I. I just think a heel authority figure in charge of Raw has been done to death. A face in charge of the flagship is a change of pace from the normal tropes we are used to. That leaves The Authority to take control of SmackDown.

The World Heavyweight Champion, Women’s Champion, and Tag Team Champions are exempt from the draft and free to appear on both shows. This just makes sense because it doesn’t limit divisions to one show and also doesn’t require creating a second set of all of those titles, which would just devalue everything. I’m also imagining that with Raw being an extra hour, even if they wanted to portray the brands as “equals” it’s nice that they could toss in, say, a New Day segment/match to help fill time even if New Day are primarily feuding with a team on SmackDown at that particular moment.

I’d also assume that Brock Lesnar and The Undertaker are considered to be exempt from the draft for “contractual reasons”, because honestly they aren’t going to be there for most of the year anyway. This means when they iron out their next plans for those guys they can bring them back on whatever show they need to.

An official draft would be held and it would be similar to the first draft that happened in 2002: each brand gets 10 selections on the main show and the rest of the brands are decided afterwards via lottery. The picks would be announced at different points throughout the show but I’d presume the first 10 picks per brand (in alphabetical order) end up as:

Raw: AJ Styles, Apollo Crews, Bray Wyatt, Cesaro, Chris Jericho, John Cena, Kevin Owens, Intercontinental champion The Miz, Sami Zayn, Sasha Banks

SmackDown: Alberto Del Rio, Baron Corbin, Becky Lynch, Dean Ambrose, Dolph Ziggler, United States champion Kalisto, Randy Orton, Ryback, Seth Rollins, Sheamus

Other than Cena and Rollins being the first picks for their respective brands, the order in which everyone else is taken is probably irrelevant but in a back and forth draft it would make sense to see the rosters wind up in a way that looks like they’re trying to one-up each other. Each brand gets a champion, each brand takes one of the fast rising women’s wrestlers, each brand takes an impressive rookie, etc.

On Raw I definitely wanted Cena and Styles to be on the same show as that I think can be a money match for the red brand within the year. I’ve also kept guys that have current tension with each other (Zayn/Owens, Miz/Cesaro, etc.) on that show so they can continue feuding over the next several months. I think Jericho will eventually leave again in the fall when it’s time to start a new Fozzy tour but at this stage you can pair him with anybody, maybe even somebody who is a part of the lottery draft.

Rollins needs to be on the same show as Triple H because let’s be real, Rollins will be over as fuck when he comes back and there’s no way Hunter isn’t going to want to eventually have a match with him. If they need to go back to the “Triple H gets a bunch of heel cronies to help The Authority” at some point there are plenty of options for that with Sheamus, Ryback, and Corbin all being guys I could see being paired with Hunter at some point. I also would heavily push Kalisto and make the US Title actually seem worth a shit, he’s got everything they could want to be the next Mysterio.

As for the draft lottery – I can’t be bothered to do a full breakdown but I’d imagine you’d wind up with a fairly even split of tag teams and women on both shows rather than making it one-sided. Off the top of my head I’d definitely make sure Gallows and Anderson go to Raw to be able to keep interacting with Styles (especially if/when Balor comes up). I’d also make sure Strowman and Rowan end up on Raw to stay with Bray.

If you want to make it seem like an actual lottery you’d probably need to break up a few teams to put across the randomness but that’s not a big deal. Harper is out until September but could be drafted to SmackDown as he’s good enough to return and thrive without Wyatt. I’d toss Sin Cara on Raw to break up the Lucha Dragons because I think their presence only impedes Kalisto’s ability to grow. I think it’s implied that Konnor and Adam Rose are already split from their respective groups with Viktor joining The Social Outcasts but you could make that official by just putting them on a different roster before they get released. If I’m honest I’d also consider splitting The Dudley Boyz via the draft agian so that Bubba can start doing his Bully Ray schtick, but that means D-Von has absolutely nothing to do.

Oh and one last thing – most NXT call ups would probably start on Raw because, again, they have an extra hour to fill so debuting guys there just makes things more convenient. It also gives Shane a reason to brag as he's raiding Triple H's baby in NXT. Balor and Joe would be the next guys in line to come up most likely.

04-27-2016, 09:57 AM	#20
Evil Vito President of Freedonia Posts: 58,329	Here's how I would break things down: First off, Shane remains in charge of Raw. It is a complete slap in the face of a major WrestleMania stipulation but since WWE doesn't seem to care about that, neither will I. I just think a heel authority figure in charge of Raw has been done to death. A face in charge of the flagship is a change of pace from the normal tropes we are used to. That leaves The Authority to take control of SmackDown. The World Heavyweight Champion, Women’s Champion, and Tag Team Champions are exempt from the draft and free to appear on both shows. This just makes sense because it doesn’t limit divisions to one show and also doesn’t require creating a second set of all of those titles, which would just devalue everything. I’m also imagining that with Raw being an extra hour, even if they wanted to portray the brands as “equals” it’s nice that they could toss in, say, a New Day segment/match to help fill time even if New Day are primarily feuding with a team on SmackDown at that particular moment. I’d also assume that Brock Lesnar and The Undertaker are considered to be exempt from the draft for “contractual reasons”, because honestly they aren’t going to be there for most of the year anyway. This means when they iron out their next plans for those guys they can bring them back on whatever show they need to. An official draft would be held and it would be similar to the first draft that happened in 2002: each brand gets 10 selections on the main show and the rest of the brands are decided afterwards via lottery. The picks would be announced at different points throughout the show but I’d presume the first 10 picks per brand (in alphabetical order) end up as: Raw: AJ Styles, Apollo Crews, Bray Wyatt, Cesaro, Chris Jericho, John Cena, Kevin Owens, Intercontinental champion The Miz, Sami Zayn, Sasha Banks SmackDown: Alberto Del Rio, Baron Corbin, Becky Lynch, Dean Ambrose, Dolph Ziggler, United States champion Kalisto, Randy Orton, Ryback, Seth Rollins, Sheamus Other than Cena and Rollins being the first picks for their respective brands, the order in which everyone else is taken is probably irrelevant but in a back and forth draft it would make sense to see the rosters wind up in a way that looks like they’re trying to one-up each other. Each brand gets a champion, each brand takes one of the fast rising women’s wrestlers, each brand takes an impressive rookie, etc. On Raw I definitely wanted Cena and Styles to be on the same show as that I think can be a money match for the red brand within the year. I’ve also kept guys that have current tension with each other (Zayn/Owens, Miz/Cesaro, etc.) on that show so they can continue feuding over the next several months. I think Jericho will eventually leave again in the fall when it’s time to start a new Fozzy tour but at this stage you can pair him with anybody, maybe even somebody who is a part of the lottery draft. Rollins needs to be on the same show as Triple H because let’s be real, Rollins will be over as fuck when he comes back and there’s no way Hunter isn’t going to want to eventually have a match with him. If they need to go back to the “Triple H gets a bunch of heel cronies to help The Authority” at some point there are plenty of options for that with Sheamus, Ryback, and Corbin all being guys I could see being paired with Hunter at some point. I also would heavily push Kalisto and make the US Title actually seem worth a shit, he’s got everything they could want to be the next Mysterio. As for the draft lottery – I can’t be bothered to do a full breakdown but I’d imagine you’d wind up with a fairly even split of tag teams and women on both shows rather than making it one-sided. Off the top of my head I’d definitely make sure Gallows and Anderson go to Raw to be able to keep interacting with Styles (especially if/when Balor comes up). I’d also make sure Strowman and Rowan end up on Raw to stay with Bray. If you want to make it seem like an actual lottery you’d probably need to break up a few teams to put across the randomness but that’s not a big deal. Harper is out until September but could be drafted to SmackDown as he’s good enough to return and thrive without Wyatt. I’d toss Sin Cara on Raw to break up the Lucha Dragons because I think their presence only impedes Kalisto’s ability to grow. I think it’s implied that Konnor and Adam Rose are already split from their respective groups with Viktor joining The Social Outcasts but you could make that official by just putting them on a different roster before they get released. If I’m honest I’d also consider splitting The Dudley Boyz via the draft agian so that Bubba can start doing his Bully Ray schtick, but that means D-Von has absolutely nothing to do. Oh and one last thing – most NXT call ups would probably start on Raw because, again, they have an extra hour to fill so debuting guys there just makes things more convenient. It also gives Shane a reason to brag as he's raiding Triple H's baby in NXT. Balor and Joe would be the next guys in line to come up most likely.