10 WWE Superstars who benefitted the most from the WWE Draft
The WWE Draft has always been very exciting for both fans and Superstars. WWE moves its Superstars around to different brands regularly, allowing them to keep the product fresh. It also gives the company the chance to build some first-time rivalries and call up some talent from WWE NXT.
The WWE Draft started in 2002, but it didn't become an annual event until 2004-2011. After WWE hadn't held one in four years, the WWE Draft returned in 2016 and NXT became a part of the event for the first time. The black and gold brand has been providedRAW and SmackDown with some of the best wrestlers ever since.
The WWE Draft allows the most amount of Superstars to move between brands, and the company made this an annual event to ensure that fans stay interested.
Over the past five years, the WWE Draft has had a major impact on RAW, SmackDown, and NXT as several WWE Superstars have gotten into rivalries for the top titles soon after switching brands. This shows that moving Superstars around is a good idea, and many have seen their fortunes change following the draft.
With that in mind, let's take a look at the 10 WWE Superstars who’ve benefitted from the WWE Draft since 2010.
#10. Heath Slater got a push after the 2016 WWE Draft
Throughout his WWE tenure, Heath Slater remained a part of various tag teams and factions. Slater was a part of The Nexus, 3MB, The Social Outcasts, and Slater-Gator among other teams until 2016.
During the 2016 WWE Draft, Curtis Axel, Adam Rose, and Bo Dallas were drafted while Slater was the only Superstar from their faction, and the only active Superstar in WWE, who wasn't drafted.
After cutting a heartfelt promo, Slater faced other wrestlers for weeks to win a contract, but he was defeated. His “I got kids” gimmick got over with the fans who started chanting “We want Slater” at events he didn't appear on.
Slater eventually signed with WWE SmackDown and formed an unlikely partnership with Rhyno on the blue brand. The two men emerged victorious in the finals of a tag team tournament at Backlash, defeating The Usos to become the inaugural WWE SmackDown Tag Team Champions.
The two men held the title for almost three months, and it became one of Slater’s best runs with WWE.