WWE Draft has always been one of the biggest attractions of the year. Over the years, WWE has organized draft and the fans remain extremely eager to see which superstar is going where. Smackdown hosted Night 1 of WWE Draft much like every year. This year, there had been a lot of expectations and speculations just like every year. WWE announced that no champions are eligible for this year’s draft apart from the Women’s Tag Team Champions.
The first Draft event was organized in 2002 when WWE announced the first ever brand split. Still, WWE is following the model of 2002. In 2004, WWE organized it in a different way which is still considered by many as the best presentation of draft. But sadly, WWE presented the draft in 2004 style. So what exactly happened in WWE Draft 2024? Which wrestlers changed brands and who were retained? Let us find out;
WWE Draft 2024 – Complete Results & Analysis of Night 1 on Smackdown
Round 1 –
Presented by Triple H and Cody Rhodes
Pick 1 – Bianca Belair Drafted to Smackdown
The EST of WWE became the first Draft pick of 2024 as the former three times WWE Women’s Champion had been drafted to Smackdown after spending a couple of years on RAW. We might get to see another rivalry between Bianca Belair and Bayley after this draft, but there would be nothing new if it happens again. These two athletes have faced each other multiple times before. We hope comes out with something new.
Pick 2 – Jey Uso Retained by RAW
Jey Uso had been treated as a main eventer as he had been the first pick by Monday Night RAW. WWE is desperate to build the tag team specialist as a potential main eventer. He would be facing Damian Priest for the World Heavyweight Championship at Backlash and it looks like they are building him as a serious contender. We can expect him to see him winning the World Heavyweight Championship soon.
Pick 3 – Carmelo Hayes Drafted to Smackdown
This is first time in WWE history that an NXT superstar had been drafted to the main roster on the first round of the draft. This is a really big treatment for the former NXT Champion. The way he had been presented in NXT, surely, he would be promoted as a top star in the main roster as well. We hope WWE goes easy on him and does not rush into anything.
Pick 4 – Seth Rollins retained by RAW
The former five times WWE World Champion is currently out with an injury since WrestleMania XL. Once again he received a main event treatment by WWE as he was a part of round 1. We can expect him to return soon to claim the World Heavyweight Championship which he dropped at WrestleMania XL.
Round 2 –
(Presented by Michelle McCool and Torrie Wilson)
Pick 1 – Randy Orton retained by Smackdown
The Viper had been retained by Smackdown and it is an excellent idea keep him on Smackdown. He missed action for a long time and he did not get to have a good time in the Blue Brand of WWE. As long as Cody Rhodes is champion, we do not see him winning the WWE Championship. But he can definitely have main event non title feuds.
PICK 2 – Bron Breakker drafted to RAW
The former two times NXT Champion became the second NXT superstar to be drafted in the main roster. Breakker is being teased on the main roster since Royal Rumble where he received a very strong booking. The World Heavyweight title looks very much up for grabs for everyone, so we can hope to see him winning the title soon.
Pick 3 – Nia Jax drafted to Smackdown
This is by far the best decision made in the draft 2024. Nia Jax had almost nothing to do in RAW. She already had multiple matches with both Rhea Ripley and Becky Lynch. So it could be difficult to keep her in the title picture on RAW. Now she has multiple options. Bayley vs. Nia Jax for the Women’s title would be a great feud.
Pick 4 – Liv Morgan retained by RAW
Keeping Liv Morgan on RAW seems like an obvious choice. We hope they keep Rhea Ripley on RAW as well so that we get to see the much awaited Rhea Ripley vs. Liv Morgan feud. Morgan can also be an excellent rival for Becky Lynch’s Women’s World Championship. There are a lot more to explore for the former Champion on RAW.
Round 3 –
(Presented by The Dudley Boyz)
Pick 1 – LA Knight Retained by Smackdown
This was an excellent decision to keep Knight on Smackdown and let him explore the blue brand even more. As WWE decided to keep him on Smackdown for another year, it is pretty much clear that there is some reality in the rumors of Knight winning the United States title in the future. Knight can definitely be an excellent US Champion.
Pick 2 – Ricochet Retained by RAW
Round 3 of the Draft is all about the mid carders. Ricochet is a former WWE Intercontinental Champion and also a former United States Champion. He is already active on RAW for more than a year and keeping him on RAW is definitely a bold move. We can see this year’s WWE draft is not about moving much wrestlers but keeping them in their respective brands.
Pick 3 – The Bloodline Retained by Smackdown
By The Bloodline, they only meant Solo Sikoa, Tama Tonga, and Paul Heyman. Jimmy Uso is already out of the faction, Roman Reigns and The Rock are not portrayed as Bloodline members here. This is an obvious choice as The Bloodline storyline is pretty strong on Smackdown and moving them to RAW would have hurt the story.
Pick 4 – Sheamus Retained by RAW
The Celtic Warrior missed action due to injury and keeping him on RAW is also an excellent decision. We hope to see his latest angle with Drew McIntyre gets a good continuation and we also hope McIntyre is also retained by RAW. Keeping Sheamus in the red brand of WWE is a very good decision.
Round 4 –
Presented By Theodore Long and John “Bradshaw” Layfield JBL
Pick 1 – AJ Styles Retained by Smackdown
This is an obvious move to keep the former two times WWE Champion on Smackdown since he would be facing Cody Rhodes at Backlash for the WWE title. If this was Vince McMahon’s WWE, you could definitely see Styles is drafted to RAW by making things totally predictable for Backlash. But we could see Triple H is not playing around.
Pick 2 – The Alpha Academy Retained by RAW
Another pick is kept on retaining wrestlers, so this year’s WWE Draft had been really well planned as not many wrestlers changed brands. Only the most necessary ones were moved so far. Alpha Academy, especially Chad Gable is having an excellent storyline for the Intercontinental Championship, so keeping them is an obvious decision
Pick 3 – Andrade is Drafted to Smackdown
This is also a pretty good decision. Some fans might argue that Andrade returned to WWE just a number of months ago so moving him might not be a good decision. But moving him to Smackdown means he could be a part of LWO which could be an excellent storyline. We have seen Carlito backstabbing his teammates, so Andrade can be a great replacement.
Pick 4 – Kiana James is Drafted to RAW
With the final Draft pick of WWE Draft 2024 Night 1, we saw NXT star Kiana James getting the main roster promotion and she is now a part of Monday Night RAW. This is a rather surprising decision as she is pretty young and she only spent a couple of years in the NXT. We believe she should be kept in the NXT for a little longer but if they decided to move him to the main roster, they might have seen something in her. We seriously hope she does not get lost among the main roster stars like Apollo Crews and Odyssey Jones, and guess what, both are RAW stars.
Night 1 of WWE Draft had been really excellent and this year’s WWE Draft was pretty different from the recent episodes of the WWE Draft. Only two RAW stars moved to Smackdown and only one Smackdown star moved to RAW. Three NXT stars moved to the main roster. Ten wrestlers had been retained. Moving a lot of wrestlers usually does not make sense.
So what can we expect from Night 2 of the WWE Draft? Roman Reigns would definitely be a part of Night 2 and we hope to see him being retained by Smackdown. What other wrestlers could move brands? Much like night 1, we hope not many wrestlers change brands, only the most necessary ones.
Some NXT stars like Ilja Dragunov, Lyra Valkyria and Roxanne Perez are also expected to be granted main roster promotions. Night 2 of the WWE Draft has a lot of potential and we hope Night 2 of WWE Draft would be a bigger deal than Night 1 since there will be a total of six rounds as a total of 24 wrestlers would be named as Draft picks on RAW.
