Were some of the WWE Draft Plans changed?
Some good news for AEW’s TV rights negotiations And my review of Monday Night Raw,
I’m Luke Owen and this is the WrestleTalk News.
I think it’s fair to say that fans felt that the first night of the 2024 WWE Draft
was… underwhelming.
It also led to the lowest SmackDown viewership of the year, not helped by competing against
the actual NFL Draft.
So it left fans wondering if WWE would do a WrestleMania 40 and have a Night Two that
eclipsed Night One.
And, well, they did in terms of changes.
More than double of the wrestlers changed brands as compared to Friday!
…albeit with an extra round of drafts.
Amongst those changes last night were some exciting WWE NXT call-ups as Blair Davenport
got picked for SmackDown, Ilja Dragunov and Lyra Valkyria were drafted to Raw, along with
Mr. Ratio himself Dijak who was announced for the red brand after the show went off
the air.
They joined Carmelo Hayes, Baron Corbin and Kiana James who were plucked from NXT on Friday.
Interestingly it had been noted that if Dijak’s contract is coming up, and it had been reported
that if re-signed with the company he would likely remain in NXT.
Perhaps, more importantly, Fightful Select report: “Dijak ate a lot of Taco Bell before
having to sit for over three hours straight at the WWE PC.”
Keep your eye on WrestleTalk.com for the latest breaking news on this story as it moves.
It was reported throughout the week by Sean Ross Sapp that talent were not being informed
of potential call-up plans ahead of time, which made for some lovely genuine emotional
reactions.
It has been reported by Fightful Select’s Corey Brennan a couple of weeks ago that NXT
stars were asking about Draft plans, and head booker Shawn Michaels could only reply with
a shoulder shrug as no concrete plans had been made.
Which might be why there were some names being floated around for call-ups that didn’t
happen.
Brennan had reported ahead of Raw’s Draft that, “Many at the PC are expecting Gallus
to be drafted” - presumably because they were instrumental in helping The Rock get
back into ring shape ahead of his Mania 40 match, which for my money still features the
best sell of the year.
Another name being “tossed around” as a potential call-up was Fallon Henley, and
Brennan had previously reported that Tony D’Angelo and Stacks were names being talked
of getting called-up.
Another interesting one is The Final Testament, who had been rumoured to be heading to NXT
as part of the 2024 Draft, but were instead drafted to Raw in the final round.
Natalya - who was also rumoured to be drafted to NXT according to Corey Brennan - was drafted
to Raw on social media after Raw finished.
Lastly, while Dijak was heading for a bowl breaker, Bron Breakker was drafted to Raw
and his Wolf Dogs partner Baron Corbin was moved to SmackDown - despite reports there
hd been several pitches made to keep them as a team on the main roster.
Sean Ross Sapp has now revealed the real reason the team were broken up, reporting that, “WWE
sees a major singles star in Breakker”, and that “Corbin is likely to get a renewed
look on Smackdown after not being pushed on the main roster since 2022.”
To round out the Draft News, Giovanni Vinci, Tegan Nox and Apollo Crews were drafted to
SmackDown, while Raw drafted New Catch Republic, and kept The Party Girls, The Creeds and Ivy
Nile.
And - the one I know you’ve all been waiting for - Raw somehow managed to keep hold of
Odyssey Jones after drafting him last year.
Boy, I bet you that was a tense negotiating phase between brands.
Moving to AEW now, and unlike WWE who have all their TV rights deals locked in, Tony
Khan still has it all to do.
While outwardly confident regarding AEW’s future with Warner Bros Discovery, things
have been quite up in the air due to one big factor: The presence of the NBA on TNT.
According to The Athletic, Amazon has reached a massive agreement regarding the broadcasting
rights for the NBA beginning with the 2025/26 season.
To quote top tier WrestleTalk Fan Dan, NBA is a big one.
So this is obviously a major blow to Warner, but it could prove to be a big positive for
AEW’s chances of remaining on the network, as detailed by Dave Meltzer on Twitter, who
noted that TNT’s revenue will likely decline significantly, making the retention of AEW
more valuable to them.
Meltzer also alluded to the possibility of Warner moving AEW’s A-show Dynamite from
TBS to TNT in the NBA’s absence.
By all accounts the Warner and AEW relationship is as good as ever.
Warner is reportedly “really happy” with AEW Dynamite’s low numbers last week and
its position as sixth overall on Cable according to PWInisder.
While the numbers were low, it faced stiff sports competition - with many of the shows
that had better numbers than Dynamite being within the “same family” - AKA NBA games
on TNT.
The latest episode of Monday Night War went live yesterday, with injuries ruining several
plans.
If you don’t know what that show is: well here’s a handy trailer
to let you know.
We’ve linked to a
whole playlist of Monday Night War Season 4 in the video description, so set some time
aside and start your Monday Night War watch along today.
And now it’s time for my review of Monday Night Raw - aka the ‘Better Than Night One’
Edition of Monday Night Raw… in about 5 minutes.
The show opened with Logan Paul arriving at the arena drinking his terrible drink like
the big heel he is, making friends with The Judgement Day which will pay off later in
the show.
Becky Lynch opened the show proper to put over how she is the new Women’s World Championship,
and wanted to find her new number one contender.
This brought out Liv Morgan who said that Becky was only champion because she did what
Becky couldn’t - she took out Rhea Ripley.
SmackDown draftee Nia Jax came out and said that Becky only won because Liv and Lynch
double teamed her.
This set up a match between Liv and Nia for later in the night.
Liv was a babyface here, as it looks like they are doing a slow burn on that heel turn.
It would have been nice to see a new face in this division, though, considering the
Draft is supposed to signal new directions for brands.
Stephanie McMahon came out to announce the first round drafts for the episode, as Raw
picked up Imperium and Damage CTRL, while SmackDown kept hold of Jade Cargill and Kevin
Owens.
Pat McAfee said that Nick Aldis was dumb because Adam Pearce drafted six people while SmackDown
only got two.
He has a point.
Gunther then beat Xavier Woods in a great showcase match that showed off his dominance.
He worked over Woods’ knee, which promoted a drama filled Half Crab - shoutout to Michael
Oku, good luck in your Riot Cabaret title defense against Mark Andrews tonight - and
Kofi Kingston teased throwing in the towel.
Woods begged for Kofi to let him continue and got the ropes, but Gunther dragged him
back to the centre of the ring and tapped him out Zack Sabre Jr style.
A great showing for Gunther this was.
Logan Paul and some YouTube fool came out for the next draft picks.
You could have at least picked a half famous wrestling YouTuber to keep it on theme.
Someone who is bald with a beard.
Someone who looks good in a suit.
Someone known for their insightful wrestling opinions.
You know, Simon Miller.
Raw kept hold of CM Punk and got a returning Braun Strowman, while SmackDown kept hold
of The Pride and Tiffany Stratton.
Paul kept the talking going for a very wacky segment, where he cut a promo on Jey Uso.
That’s how you promote the Brand Split and the Draft: the number one draft pick for Raw
teasing a match with a SmackDown champion who cannot be drafted.
This brought out Jey Uso, which then brought out Finn Balor and JD McDonaugh who beat Jey
up.
Paul then went out and got Superbowl Rings from a hometown player who got big cheers
for helping the heels beat up the top babyface on Raw, and Braun Strowman made his return
to even the odds.
He then teased also getting into a fight with that local town sports hero until Jey pulled
him away.
What an odd segment.
Cathy interviewed Booker T about the Draft picks and he put over Raw for drafting Damian
Priest even though he wasn’t eligible to be drafted, and Drew McIntyre walked up to
be annoyed that CM Punk was drafted before him.
Sami Zayn and Bronson Reed were having a decent match for the Intercontinental Championship
until Chad Gable caused a DQ.
He was then attacked by Bronson Reed to set up a fun three-way feud.
Which I’m all for, but we’re basically doing the same thing in the SmackDown title
scene.
The APA came out - to announce Raw picked up the LWO and kept
Drew McIntyre, while SmackDown kept Legado Del Phantasma and drafted Shinsuke Nakamura.
This brought out McIntyre who was annoyed that it took Raw so long to draft him - a
great point and well made - and said CM Punk wasn’t here.
But Punk was there, hiding in a luxury suite.
Drew went to find him and Ron Simmons said DAMN.
Cathy interviewed Bron Breakker but - more importantly - Dom got caught in 4K sneaking
out of a room with Liv Morgan - and then Candice LaRae beat Maxinne Dupre in less than 2 minutes
to end this feud.
And it is the end of the feud, as The Way were later drafted to SmackDown.
So, to recap, this feud went 5 matches totaling 12 minutes.
Great.
The LWO had conflicted feelings about being drafted with Carlito after it was revealed
that he was the one who attacked fellow faction member Dragon Lee, and Rey continues his forever
feud with Dominik Mysterio by calling him Dirty Sanchez.
That Welsh version of Jackass?
Shoutout to the 5 people who will get that reference.
And for the rest of you, have this instead.
Drew only found a signed picture of Punk in his viewing box, and Punk came out to cut
a promo on Drew and turned his back.
I sure hope his apology is as loud as that disrespect.
Teddy Long and Medusa announced that Raw had kept Judgement Day and drafted Ilja Dragunov
from NXT, and SmackDown kept Naomi and drafted Chelsea Green and Piper Niven.
While I am very happy about Dragunov - that has been a long time coming in my books - I
am devastated that I’m losing Chelsea Green and Piper Niven to SmackDown.
Liv Morgan beat Nia Jax when Jax got distracted by Naomi and Tiffany Stratton brawled around
ringside, and The Dudley Boyz did all three of their catchphrases before announcing that
Raw retained New Day and drafted Lyra Valkyria from NXT, while SmackDown kept Pretty Deadly
and drafted The Way from Raw.
Awesome Truth took on Alpha Academy for the tag titles, which had been set up earlier
in the night when Chad Gable made a deal with Truth and berated Otis and Tozawa to win their
titles tonight.
The did not, as Awesome Truth hit their tag finish for the win.
The final rounds of Drafting saw Raw pick up Final Testament and keep Bronson Reed,
while SmackDown drafted DIY from Raw and Blair Davenport
from NXT.
It was quite wholesome how much this meant to Davenport.
It also means, with them both being on the same brand, we can have a real life version
of TiffDav!
And the main event saw Jey Uso team with Ricochet and Andrade to beat Judgement Day when JD
McDonaugh - complete with hilarious make-up to show off his Superbowl Bruises - tried
to help Damian Priest when he didn’t need it.
Jey pinned Balor with the Spear and Splash.
A fun match with a fun finish, but this feud still feels very midcard.
And it capped off another fine edition of WWE Raw, which I’m scoring 3 out of 5.
Now go and check out the first episode of Monday Night War over on partsFUNknown and
catch up on all of season four so far!