WWE Draft 2023: 5 mistakes made by WWE (and how they can be fixed)
The 2023 WWE Draft is officially in the record books. Roman Reigns was the obvious first choice by SmackDown. Solo Sikoa and Paul Heyman, however, were also included in that selection.
Several big moves did go down, like Imperium moving to RAW with the Intercontinental Champion, Gunther. That meant that United States Champion Austin Theory was going to SmackDown.
RAW officially selected the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens. With so many great tag teams on the roster, will those titles be separated so each brand has titles to pursue?
While several moves during the WWE Draft made sense, there seemed to be some missed opportunities over the two nights. Here are five mistakes WWE made in the 2023 WWE Draft and how they could be fixed.
#5 Several familiar rivals from RAW are now rivals on SmackDown
Rhea Ripley and Bianca Belair switched brands as champions, but several RAW feuds were carried over during the 2023 WWE Draft. The latter has battled Damage CTRL since last August, but all four stars have moved to SmackDown. Had WWE broken up Damage CTRL, this wouldn't have been a big problem.
Asuka and Charlotte Flair also joined SmackDown. Flair and Bayley have feuded many times in the past. The same holds for The Queen and Asuka.
The number of title wins has made most of Flair's actions less impactful. It would be better for everyone if she stayed out of the title scene. It would also give her some more character depth.
The moves were clearly made with Flair vs. Belair as an endgame. All that likely means is that the rest of the women in blue brand will continue to fall behind Flair and The EST of WWE.
#4 Some of the NXT selections were questionable
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Pretty Deadly, Cameron Grimes, and Grayson Waller were all Night 2 picks. All three of those acts are ready for the main roster. Waller is among the best talkers but would have been better suited for RAW with LA Knight on the blue brand. Pretty Deadly rivals the New Day with its entertaining presentation.
Grimes has been a ready-made prospect since his NXT debut. Odyssey Jones was a supplemental pick but only recently came back from injury. He still needs to learn to use his size against smaller opponents and cut promos. Ilja Dragunov, Tyler Bate, or Axiom could have been selected instead.
Calling up both current women's champions also put NXT in a strange spot for the following few shows. WWE should not have drafted titleholders but instead drafted other stars. If they wanted to promote those particular performers, then title changes should have happened before the WWE Draft.
#3 There weren't any tag team breakups in the WWE Draft
One huge storyline going into any draft is the possibility of a tag team being separated. It was teased for Street Profits, Damage CTRL, and Alpha Academy.
Montez Ford has broken out as a singles star over the last five months. It wouldn't have been out of left field if he and Angelo Dawkins went their separate ways. The same goes for Maxxine Dupri, Otis, and Alpha Academy.
Otis could have stayed on RAW with Dupri as a model, while Gable could have been drafted to SmackDown. Damage CTRL could have had Bayley and Dakota Kai drafted as a team, with IYO SKY going to SmackDown. That would have freshened up all three performers.
#2 The NXT Women's Division had both champions selected
Two of the most questionable picks of the WWE Draft took place at the end of Night 1. Both the NXT Women's Champion, Indi Hartwell, and the Women's Tag Champs, Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn, were drafted.
All three are ready for the main roster, but only won the titles at Stand & Deliver in early April. Had they been discussed as draft picks, then perhaps they shouldn't have captured the gold. It lessens their title reigns while also putting the NXT roster in a weird spot.
Katana Chance and Kayden Carter challenged the champs to a title match after Fyre and Dawn were picked. Coincidentally, Chance and Carter were then drafted to RAW. An easy solution would have been to either not draft Fyre and Dawn or just draft Carter and Chance.
It leaves the tag team titles in a strange spot unless they are to be unified with Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez's titles.
#1 There was little drama among the champions
The biggest championship news coming around the 2023 WWE Draft was the reintroduction of the World Heavyweight Title. The new belt will be available to RAW stars. The Intercontinental and US Champions swapped brands, as did the RAW and SmackDown Women's Champions.
There was a missed opportunity to have Bianca Belair and Rhea Ripley finally battle it out. Both could have been drafted to SmackDown, with the latter eventually beating the EST of WWE. It would certainly have been more entertaining than swapping the belts.
Belair could then step aside for other women to get title opportunities after holding the RAW Women's Title for over a year. It would have also created intrigue for the Queen of the Ring Tournament (if it is still in the works) or a similar title tournament that could have crowned a new RAW Women's Champion.