RAW Deal: The post-WWE Draft special

After many years of demanding it from an overstocked WWE roster, we’re finally back to where we were. The brands have been split again. The company has produced its own new competition from within. 2016, what a time to be alive.

But for all the possible excitement a new WWE status quo would bring, it sure didn’t seem that way from last Tuesday’s WWE Draft. Seems as though in trying to provide a sports-like feel to the Draft, the company’s forgotten exactly how to provide any sort of excitement, and just how to actually stage a draft that looks like two actual sporting entities competing against each other.

Perhaps the biggest complaint about the whole Draft is how it seemed to make very little actual sense. Suspension of disbelief is supported by logic and realism, and there was very little of that here. For example, champions took too long to be drafted in general, and some NXT picks didn’t even make sense within the kayfabe context they’ve set up for the third brand itself. I’ll explain some more of these in better detail a little later.

The commissioners and general managers are allowed a little room for error to make their decisions seem more human and spontaneous, and these things are also devices of their own through which new, compelling stories are created, but when you’re openly flouting logic that almost everyone in the fanbase understands—even when you’re forcing new narratives from their mold—you end up damaging what you need people to believe.

In the end, the 2016 WWE Draft was one of the oddest drafts ever. It was the most transparent staged draft in WWE history; transparent in the sense that an acute enough fan would immediately see that Shane McMahon, Stephanie McMahon, Daniel Bryan, and Mick Foley were not drafting kayfabe athletes and stars, but rather Vince McMahon and Triple H (and whoever is also involved in running the show) were assigning people to fill needs. The worst part is, we don’t even see those needs right away—but that’s a story I’m willing to watch unfold.

Let’s take a closer look at some of these picks and break them down.

Possibly Best Steal of the Night: WWE Champion Dean Ambrose

This isn’t really praise on Ambrose’s individual merits as a WWE Superstar, but rather praise on what seemed to be one of the few intelligent moves by Team SmackDown. Yes, the hype for Seth Rollins is real and Ambrose could use a little more work in his work, but kayfabe-wise I can’t see how not picking the biggest champion in the company makes sense if you have the first pick. This means either Ambrose is losing the title at Battleground on Sunday, or they’re creating a new world title for RAW—or Ambrose is retaining the title and keeping it with SmackDown.

Actually, the lack of set rules surrounding the top championships in each division (WWE, Women’s, Tag Team) doesn’t help the valuation here. They’ve yet to address it—if they are addressing it by Monday—but for now, SmackDown has the kayfabe ace here. Assuming they go with it how I expect them to go with it (and I could still be wrong) Ambrose is likelier to lose it to a fellow SmackDown guy.

Sleeper Best Pick of the Draft: AJ Styles to SmackDown

What else needs to be said? RAW got guys like Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, Cesaro, Finn Balor, and Brock Lesnar, but let me tell you upfront that they’re going to miss the presence of AJ Styles. Believe that.

Biggest Reach: Nia Jax to RAW

In a move that totally confounded even hardcore fans of NXT, Nia Jax going to RAW, even after all the top ladies have been chosen, makes zero sense at all. Here’s the thing—we get that these picks can happen just to create this narrative where values are bumped up for whatever purpose (especially in a predetermined setting) but WWE is totally exposed when Jax wasn’t even booked as a dominant player in the NXT Women’s division. Sure, she steamrolls over her opponents, but she’s failed to capture the championship in all her chances. That’s not really the best look when you’ve got women like Bayley and current champion Asuka waiting in the wings. And on that note…

Worst Miss: Shinsuke Nakamura

Here’s the thing. I understand that WWE’s narrative is exactly whatever it wants it to be at any given moment. I’ve begrudgingly accepted that it means NXT will always be treated as the developmental system even though its wrestling and storytelling rivals that of whatever happens on the main roster. But when you’ve got a guy who has long been touted on many corporate-owned channels as one of the best signing coups they’ve ever gotten (meaning it was an effort to make him a big deal even with the casual audience), how do you not even consider picking Shinsuke Nakamura?

He’s no unproven nobody like a Nia Jax. Denying his existence and the size of his stardom—regardless of how much they need him in NXT—is exactly the kind of ignorance that ruins suspension of disbelief.

Strangely enough, the answer didn’t lie in drafting Nakamura. The best way to address his orbit and his necessity down in Full Sail at the same time would have been to set some sort of rule that NXT General Manager William Regal got to keep a handful of roster members protected from both McMahons drafting. Sure, that would probably have stopped Finn Balor from getting drafted, but I can already think of a workaround story where Balor begs Regal to let him be eligible for the draft. This stuff really just writes itself, and it’s sad that WWE doesn’t even try.

Worst Slip: Cesaro

Cesaro fired off a rather amazing mellow shoot promo (interesting choice of words I never expected to write there) on the circumstances of his drafting. While I don’t think he should have been drafted too high from where he was, I do agree that considering who went before him, he should’ve been drafted higher.

I mean, take a look: Randy Orton (who has been injured for the better part of a year), Baron Corbin (whose spot only makes sense if the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal victory actually meant something), Big Show (currently not very relevant), Dolph Ziggler (forever losing), Neville (recently injured, didn’t really do much before that), and Natalya (not the best woman on the roster). Granted, Cesaro hasn’t won much either, but surely he’s on better standing than half these guys?

Let’s hope that promo doesn’t get him into actual trouble. All right, that’s enough Draft talk for today. Everything else, I’m willing to wait and watch unfold. For what it’s worth, despite RAW coming away with the stronger draft (which is great for us as they seem to be the crew that’s coming to Manila), I don’t believe SmackDown lost that much at all.

TJ Perkins finally makes his WWE debut

If you’re a Filipino wrestling fan at all and still haven’t caught the second episode of the Cruiserweight Classic, what the hell are you waiting for? TJ Perkins’s WWE debut is everything I was expecting it to be, and that’s not a bad thing at all. He certainly isn’t the cruiserweight you were expecting him to be, and even if you saw his highlight reel, I bet a lot of you would still be blown away at just how savvy he moves in the ring, and how well he blends the technical style and high-flying.

My only concern with him now is that I just wish he tied all these things together in a way that makes some more sense, psychology-wise, but I can’t complain too much. His movement is a joy to watch, with very little wasted movement—much like his idol (and mine), Eddie Guerrero. – Rappler.com

Do you listen to podcasts? Would you want to listen to a local podcast about pro wrestling? If the answers to those questions – especially that last one – are yes, then you should check out the cleverly-named Smark Gilas-Pilipinas Podcast, featuring Mellow 94.7 DJ and PWR General Manager Stan Sy, wrestling writer and Wrestling God Romeo Moran, and all-around multimedia person and former voice of PWR Raf Camus! This week, they break down the Draft and everything that’s been happening—Brock Lesnar’s drug test failure, former superstars suing WWE for concussions, and, well, Taylor Swift!