This was night 2 of WWE Draft 2024 which was presented on Monday Night RAW. 91 was presented last week on Friday Night SmackDown and a total of 16 picks were revealed. Tonight it was supposed to be a total of 24 picks. A lot of big names were yet to be drafted who were on the list today. Some NXT stars were also expected to be apart of tonight’s show.
Night 1 of Draft 2024 was pretty different from the recent years. Only three SmackDown or RAW stars move to their brands, three NXT stars were called up to the main roster, total of 10 wrestlers were retained. Only the most necessary once had been moved. So what to expect from night 2 of the draft? Would it be most of a similar story from night 1? Let us find out.
WWE Draft 2024 – Complete Results and Analysis of Night 2 on RAW
Round 1 –
Presented by Stephanie McMahon
Pick 1 – Imperium Retained by RAW
This is definitely one of the best decisions. Keeping Imperium on RAW, especially Gunther is a long time investment. Gunther is the future top face of WWE and by keeping him on RAW, they could slowly build him as a top opponent for Cody Rhodes. Building him for another year on RAW, especially, by keeping him out of Cody’s reach is an excellent decision.
Pick 2 – Jade Cargill Retained by Smackdown
Jade Cargill is retained by Smackdown and this is an obvious decision. She was appointed to Smackdown recently and there was no point of moving her to RAW at this moment. At Backlash, she would be teaming up with Bianca Belair to challenge for the Tag Team titles, this match also remained pretty much unpredictable.
Pick 3 – Damage CTRL Drafted to RAW
Damage CTRL is now back on RAW. They started their run on Smackdown but last year they were drafted to RAW. Now, they are back on Smackdown again. This is a questionable decision. We believe they should have continued Bayley vs. Iyo Sky, especially Damage CTRL rivalry for a little longer. They had unfinished business on Smackdown, drafting them to RAW is certainly not the best decision in the world.
Pick 4 – Kevin Owens Retained by Smackdown
This is also another obvious decision, even though, a lot of fans expected to see a possible Sami Zayn – Kevin Owens reunion on RAW, but keeping Owens on Smackdown means he would continue his rivalry with The Bloodline without any obstacles, and this rivalry is needed to be continued. Definitely a good decision.
Round 2 –
Presented by Logan Paul IShowSpeed
Pick 1 – CM Punk Retained by RAW
Punk did not get to do much in WWE after his return to the show. He returned on Survivor Series last year and since then he is a part of RAW. But he had to go through a severe injury that did not let him work regularly. So keeping him to the red brand seems like an obvious choice. We can definitely expect him to continue his rivalry with Drew McIntyre now.
Pick 2 – The Pride Retained by Smackdown
We do not know if it was really necessary to present this draft pick so much hype. Bobby Lashley might be a big star but he is 47, you cannot expect him to be on the main event scene for long. The Street Profits can be a top tag team again after the Tag Team titles split, but was it really necessary to give this pick so much highlight?
Pick 3 – Braun Strowman Drafted to RAW
So ‘The Monster Among Men’ are back after a long time and once again we would get to see him working on the red brand of WWE. After his last return to the promotion, Strowman worked on Smackdown. Even though a lot changed for both brands after his absence, so whichever brand he goes to, would have been a fresh start for him.
Pick 4 – Tiffany Stratton Retained by Smackdown
This is a very good pick and keeping her so high on the list is a great decision. The youngster really needed this boost and we hope she goes on to be one of the top stars of the promotion in the near future. She recently started working on Smackdown, so keeping her on the blue brand is an obvious choice.
Round 3 –
Presented by The APA
Pick 1 – The LWO Drafted to RAW
This is a questionable draft pick. On Night 1, Andrade was drafted to Smackdown so we expected him to be a part of LWO. But drafting the faction to RAW made things a little hazy at this point. Now, moving Andrade to Smackdown looks a little confusing. But we can definitely hope to see the continuation of father vs. son rivalry now.
Pick 2 – Legado Del Fantasma Retained by Smackdown
After this draft pick, we can expect them to feud with Andrade, and this had been the plan all along, we think it is not a bad decision. Stopping the LWO vs Legado Del Fantasma at this point is also the right decision. It has been going on for months, so it had no reason to continue. This pick is also good.
Pick 3 – Drew McIntyre Retained by RAW
McIntyre is finally a part of the draft and he is kept on RAW as expected. McIntyre is having an amazing feud with CM Punk and it is one of the top non title main event feuds of WWE right now so keeping both of them on RAW and continuing the feud seems like an excellent decision. It is also an obvious pick.
Pick 4 – Shinsuke Nakamura Drafted to Smackdown
Finally, Smackdown got a new star for their show tonight. Nakamura was working on RAW for the last couple of years and he had almost nothing to do in the red brand. Drafting him to Smackdown not only seemed like an obvious choice, but it also strengthened the mid card division of the blue brand.
Round 4 –
Presented by Alundra Blayze and Theodore Long
Pick 1 – The Judgment Day Retained by RAW
So Judgment Day is kept on RAW and finally we might get to see a regular interrupted feud between Rey Mysterio and Dominik Mysterio. The LWO vs. The Judgment Day is now a huge possibility. But keeping the Judgment Day on Round 4 seems like a questionable decision. Are they done pushing this faction?
Pick 2 – Naomi Retained by Smackdown
With Naomi remaining on Smackdown, we can see there were no major changes made on the women’s division. The biggest draft from the women’s division had been drafting Damage CTRL to RAW and Bianca Belair moving to Smackdown. But two more rounds to go, we are waiting to see if some major name from the NXT like Roxanne Perez or Lyra Valkyria gets main roster call up.
Pick 3 – Ilja Dragunov Drafted to RAW
This was also pretty much predicted as ‘The Mad Dragon’ recently dropped his NXT title and it was pretty obvious that he would be called up to the main roster now. Now, with both Dragunov and Gunther being on the same roster, we can expect to see this huge rivalry on the main roster. We hope WWE does not rush into anything with Dragunov.
Pick 4 – Chelsea Green and Piper Niven Drafted to Smackdown
There is nothing special about this pick, they had mostly been presented as lower mid cards in the red brand, and we are not expecting any special treatment for them on Smackdown either. This had been one of the most random picks for this year’s draft. It did not even need to be featured on the main show. But yes, drafting them to Smackdown is the right choice since both of them were working on RAW for more than a year.
Round 5 –
Presented by The Dudley Boyz
Pick 1 – The New Day Retained by RAW
The tag team division is being refurbished as The New Day is kept on RAW and there is not much to talk about it. Since there are different tag team titles for both brands once again, we can surely expect to see strong tag team divisions for both rosters. Highlighting some tag teams is an obvious choice.
Pick 2 – Pretty Deadly Retained by Smackdown
Another tag team had been picked as Smackdown decided to keep Pretty Deadly. For two long years, there had been not much option on the tag team division since there were only one tag team title and it was not changing hands much either. So the tag team divisions had been reignited and this is a fresh start for all the tag teams, no matter where they head.
Pick 3 – Lyra Valkyria Drafted to RAW
The Irish professional wrestler is now drafted to RAW this is a very good decision to bring her in the main roster now since she had been pretty impressive in the NXT. She also defeated Becky Lynch to win the NXT Women’s title that makes her a big contender for the Women’s World title that is being held by Becky right now. This is a great pick and we hope she has a great future lying ahead of herself in the main roster.
Pick 4 – Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell Drafted Smackdown
Just like the last pick of the last round, this is also a pretty random pick made by Smackdown again. Since the Tag Team titles are not exclusive for any show, women’s tag teams are equal on both shows. This team has not been given much exposure on the red brand, but we hope they get successful on Smackdown.
Round 6 –
Presented by Nick Aldis and Adam Pearce
Pick 1 – The Final Testament Drafted to RAW
Another faction draft and the Monday Night Show of WWE gets a new faction; The Final testament. So far, they did not get very strong booking as they lost their only rivalry on Smackdown against The Pride. But they featured on WrestleMania XL, so we can expect them to get a strong treatment on red brand of WWE.
Pick 2 – #DIY Drafted to Smackdown
Finally, a major tag team switched brand as #DIY makes their way to Friday Night Smackdown. As we have already said, the tag team divisions on the main roster is being refurbished so moving or keeping tag teams does not matter much. But both Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano spent a long time on RAW, so moving them to Smackdown is a good decision. We hope they finally goes on to win the WWE Tag Team titles now.
Pick 3 – Bronson Reed Retained by RAW
The Australian big man is kept on red brand and we can agree with this decision. He is having a very good time in RAW and he is an excellent name on the mid card division. Reed is a big threat for Sami Zayn’s Intercontinental Championship and we hope to see him winning the IC title soon.
Pick 4 – Blair Davenport Drafted to Smackdown
Much like Kiana James’ draft last week, Blair Davenport getting the main roster promotion is a little confusing. The English professional wrestler never won any title in the NXT, but we cannot expect to see only top stars of NXT getting drafted. We hope both Kiana James and Blair Davenport get proper treatment in the main roster and they go on to become top stars.
Overall, WWE Draft 2024 had been really good. Not many wrestlers switched brand like in the recent years of drafts where half of the roster switched brands for no real purpose. This year, WWE Draft had been booked with a strong future plan, and not moving champions also a great decision. A new era has started in WWE and they should move according to proper planning.
There are some questions about the draft, like moving the Damage CTRL was really not necessary. Bayley vs. Iyo Sky should have continued for a little longer. Roxanne Perez not getting a main roster call up is also quite strange. But overall, WWE Draft 2024 had been excellent and it will be remembered as one of the WWE Drafts ever.
