WWE Draft 2019: RAW vs SmackDown – which brand won on Day 1?
WWE Draft 2019 kickstarted on this week’s Friday Night SmackDown. While some Superstars were retained by their original brand, others were moved to a new roster. Becky Lynch was announced as the No.1 draft pick overall and she will continue to rule the RAW women’s division.
As per the rules, RAW could pick three Superstars for every two Superstars picked by SmackDown. To kickstart the show, Universal Champion Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns locked horns while representing RAW and SmackDown respectively.
However, their match was interrupted by The Fiend who emerged from underneath the ring and took out Rollins with a Mandible Claw. As a result, The Architect won via disqualification and RAW got the opportunity to go ahead of SmackDown for their Superstar picks.
There were a total of twenty names including six factions who discovered their fate at the T-Mobile Arena last night. Here we have discussed each brand and their draft picks to determine the winner on the first day.
RAW
The red brand retained RAW Women’s Champion Becky Lynch who was also the No.1 pick in the WWE Draft this year. The first round also saw the likes of The OC and Drew McIntyre stay back on RAW.
Other Superstars who will continue to be on the RAW roster included Ricochet, Natalya and Bobby Lashley. Both Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross were separately drafted to RAW which opens questions about the future of their tag team.
Kevin Owens and Randy Orton are the two Singles Superstars who will bid adieu to the blue brand as they are now set to move to RAW. Additionally, the Street Profits have officially been announced as part of the RAW roster, thereby making them the only NXT call-up of this draft so far. They will join The OC (AJ Styles, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson) and The Viking Raiders in the RAW tag team division.
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