5 biggest mistakes WWE made with this year's Draft
The WWE Draft, a concept that was created by the company in 2002 to split their (at the time) over-bloated roster into two separate shows between the RAW and SmackDown brands. At the time it made perfect sense; WWE had more than enough talent to split them between the Red and Blue brands. Not only did it allow their main eventers to be split up so they wouldn't be facing each other every single week, but it also allowed WWE to create new stars from the Ruthless Aggression era and beyond.
Over the years, the concept of the WWE Draft has changed shape on multiple occasions. One of the easiest versions to digest featured RAW vs. SmackDown matches on both shows, where the winning brand got a random draft pick generated on the TitanTron. While some people didn't find that concept ideal, it helped diffuse any argument due to logic about why said Superstar went where. It was all "random."
In the last two years, however, WWE went with a new format that wiped both brands' rosters clean and started from scratch. While this could be a good idea in theory it has been executed poorly two years in a row. There have been some fans that have called the latest WWE Draft the worst they've ever done, and that certainly covers a lot of ground.
Today we will break down the five biggest mistakes that WWE made with this year's Draft.
#5 Free Agents being "drafted" by WWE after the actual Draft concluded
The rules of the WWE Draft changes almost every year they have it, and that's totally okay. There is nothing wrong with changing with the times and making the proper adjustments to allow things to make more sense. Despite what WWE creative would like you to believe most times, logic is very important to fans when it comes to their pro wrestling.
So when the company presented the WWE Universe with the rules to the 2020 Draft before night one on Friday Night SmackDown everyone just assumed that WWE would follow their own rules that they laid out for themselves. But unfortunately, that wasn't the case as one of the most intriguing rules they made for themselves was completely tossed aside on Monday evening, hours before RAW went on the air. The rule in question reads as follows:
"Any undrafted Superstars will immediately be declared free agents and able to sign with the brand of their choosing."
This makes complete sense and has been done by WWE in years before great success. One needs to look no further than Heath Slater's free agent storyline in 2016 to realize how great of a story WWE can put together. While this typically wouldn't work for a main event star, someone like Heath could very much benefit from an arc like this.
So much to the surprise of wrestling fans everywhere, supposed free agents Shorty G and the Lucha House Party were both "drafted" by the WWE on social media on Monday night. How does this make any sense? Wouldn't it just have been easier to say they signed these talents to deals instead?
While, yes, it would have been anti-climactic it would have at least made sense and complied with the rules that WWE set for themselves days prior. And at the end of the day, pro wrestling fans just want the product that they're watching to make sense. When WWE can find that balance fans are more forgiving overall and willing to look the other way on other aspects of the show they aren't a fan of.