Grading the SmackDown roster following the 2024 WWE Draft: The American Nightmare's show, future of tag team division & more
SmackDown kicked off the night one of the 2024 WWE Draft, selecting Bianca Belair first overall. With champions protected, former titleholders were likely to be first picks on each night of the Draft.
The event offered up little in terms of a huge movement of non-titleholders, making for a rather by-the-numbers Draft. NXT lost seven stars over two nights, but three of those stars have had time on the main roster.
Did the blue brand come out on top after all of the selections? Here are grades for SmackDown's roster following the 2024 WWE Draft.
#3. There's new blood atop the tag team division
SmackDown Tag Teams: Austin Theory and Grayson Waller (c), The Street Profits, The O.C., Pretty Deadly, #DIY, The Bloodline, Legado Del Fantasma, Cedric Alexander and Ashante Adonis
RAW's tag team roster is full of former champions, but only three duos on SmackDown have hoisted tag team gold. A-Town Down Under (Waller and Theory) joins The O.C. (Karl Anderson/Luke Gallows) and The Street Profits as former titleholders.
Joining those teams are #DIY, Pretty Deadly, Legado Del Fantasma, and the team of Alexander and Adonis. All but the latter have the potential to be future champions as Adonis and Alexander have had but one match as a team.
The X factors are Pretty Deadly, The Bloodline, and #DIY. Kit Wilson and Elton Prince excel at comedic shenanigans while Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano are made up of foundational former NXT Champions. The Guerillas of Destiny reformed in WWE at Backlash. Any of those three duos could finish the year with the belts.
Grade for SmackDown's tag division: B-
#2. Bayley leads the SmackDown women's roster
Women's division: Bayley (c), Bianca Belair (Tag Team Champion), Jade Cargill (Tag Team Champion), Nia Jax, Tiffany Stratton, Naomi, Chelsea Green/Piper Niven, Candice LeRae/Indi Hartwell, Blair Davenport, Tegan Nox, Elektra Lopez, B Fab, Michin
Of the 15 drafted competitors, the new-look women's division has four women who have held singles gold. Two of those 15 women, however, don't regularly compete (B Fab and Elektra Lopez).
After Backlash, the top three women on SmackDown - Bayley, Belair, and Cargill - are all champions. Moving Damage CTRL to RAW should open up new feuds. Nia Jax and Tiffany Stratton could be challenging Bayley in the coming months and either could wrest the title from her.
Naomi is a trusted veteran but the rest of the division is either tag teams or untested/unpushed stars like Tegan Nox, Michin, and Blair Davenport. Any of those three could be bigger players with pushes and crowd support.
The division is top-heavy with a clear divide between performers who will always be pushed and everyone else.
Grade for SmackDown women's division: B-
#1. A new top star for WWE's New Era
Men's Division: Cody Rhodes (c), Logan Paul (c), AJ Styles, LA Knight, Randy Orton, Bobby Lashley, Kevin Owens, Shinsuke Nakamura, Andrade, Santos Escobar, Carmelo Hayes, The Bloodline (Solo Sikoa, Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa), Baron Corbin, Apollo Crews, Giovanni Vinci
The men's division has five stars who have won singles gold. The other four veterans will all challenge Cody Rhodes at some point. Behind those former titleholders are a handful of future main eventers.
Carmelo Hayes has already shown he's a World Champion waiting in the wings. With the right booking, the same could be true for Andrade, Santos Escobar, and Solo Sikoa. It will be interesting to see how Baron Corbin and Giovanni Vinci fit into the new roster.
While RAW has several factions, the blue brand boasts three primary groups - the Bloodline, Legado Del Fantasma, and The Pride. The faces will form temporary partnerships like that of Orton and Owens to battle them.
Grade for men's division: B-