Bengaluru, October 14: WWE Draft has taken over the show from the past Friday Night Smackdown as every roster member is eager to find out which brand they will represent from this point onwards.
For the first time, WWE has tried to present the draft with a legit sports like feel attached to it by setting up war rooms belonging to USA Network and FOX officials. (For Raw and Smackdown, respectively) The similar experience will continue when WWE airs the flagship show tonight.
Night II of 2019 edition of WWE Draft is set to be the prime focus on Monday Night Raw where the company and the host network officials will decide the fate of several superstars.
A huge opening contest has been announced similar to the last episode of SmackDown to decide the first draft pick of the night. Additionally, there would be hype-ups for the Crown Jewel pay-per-view event that takes place within three weeks. All this and more should be in-store when Raw airs from the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado.
Much similar to SmackDown, a huge opening contest has been announced for Raw which has a huge draft implication attached to it. Its a rematch from Hell in a Cell as WWE RAW Women's Champion Becky Lynch goes up against Sasha Banks.
This time around, it will be a non-title bout between the two cornerstones of the female division in a match in which Sasha represents the blue brand and Becky represents the red brand as the champion. The winner will bring a fair advantage to its respective brand, (courtesy WWE.com)
"Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks are headed to separate shows, but they’ll face off one more time this Monday on Raw.
"This time, their rivalry’s latest chapter determines which brand gets the first pick to begin Night 2 of the WWE Draft. Becky will represent Raw after being selected first overall on Friday’s SmackDown, while “The Blueprint” battles on behalf of the blue brand."
ONE MORE TIME! @BeckyLynchWWE 🔴 & @SashaBanksWWE 🔵 may be headed to separate shows, but they will square off THIS Monday on #RAW to determine the first pick on Night 2 of the #WWEDraft. https://t.co/3rDcALjWHe
— WWE (@WWE) October 12, 2019
The big thing about this announcement is Sasha Banks must be out of a speculated injury. Rumours broke after Hell in a Cell that The Legit Boss could be out of action for sometime as she suffered a back injury.
However, she may have been cleared now and will hope to have a fresh start on the SmackDown brand. (She wanted to move to the blue brand, for a long time)
So it looks like, WWE may reserve a win for the former women’s champion against Becky as that would come handy to let her prevail while heading to a different roster. Also, this will give FOX officials the advantage to have the first draft pick of the night.
Speaking of choices, a pool of 40 superstars have been declared from which the brands must make their pick. Here are the Superstars whose fate will be hanging in the balance tonight on Raw,
Universal Champion Seth Rollins
WWE Champion Brock Lesnar
SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair
Titus O’Neil
Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura (with Sami Zayn)
Aleister Black
The New Day (Kofi Kingston, Big E & Xavier Woods)
Daniel Bryan
Bayley
Luke Harper
Erick Rowan
The Miz
Ali
King Corbin
Elias
Raw Tag Team Champions Dolph Ziggler & Bobby Roode
Samoa Joe
WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka & Kairi Sane)
Rusev
Cedric Alexander
Rey Mysterio
R-Truth
Carmella
AOP (Akam & Rezar)
Heavy Machinery (Tucker & Otis)
Apollo Crews
Andrade
Liv Morgan
Jinder Mahal
Buddy Murphy
Mojo Rawley
No Way Jose
Dana Brooke
Shelton Benjamin
Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder
The IIconics (Billie Kay & Peyton Royce)
Sarah Logan
Fire & Desire (Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville)
Drake Maverick
Take an in-depth look at the first night of the #WWEDraft for #RAW and #Smackdown. #WWENow gives you the scoop with the selections! - Presented by @Xfinity pic.twitter.com/E8hxIxhEIr
— WWE (@WWE) October 14, 2019
Here is a look at Draft rules which will be similar to that of last week’s SmackDown Live,
♦ Over 70 Superstars, as well as tag teams, are eligible for selection in this year’s WWE Draft
♦ SmackDown will draft 30 Superstars, and Raw will select another 41 Superstars
♦ Since SmackDown is a two-hour show and Raw is a three-hour show, for every two picks SmackDown makes, Raw will receive three
♦ Tag teams will count as one pick unless FOX or USA Network specifically wants to pick only one Superstar from the team
♦ Any undrafted Superstars will immediately be declared free agents and able to sign with the brand of their choice.
Do “your boys” go 🔴 or 🔵 in night 2 of the #WWEDraft? Find out tomorrow night on #Raw! #WWEAmarillo@TrueKofi @WWEBigE pic.twitter.com/kVna8R4PDA
— WWE (@WWE) October 14, 2019
WWE Raw executive director Paul Heyman is reportedly high on Aleister Black and hence this Dutch Destroyer must be a priority draft pick by the USA Network officials.
Apart from this, Charlotte Flair has lost her SmackDown women’s championship within just five days of winning it indicating that she is set to move to the opposite brand.
Heyman is said to be bringing The Queen to the flagship show and hence fans must not be surprised to see her as the first draft pick of the night. Apart from that, all three members of The New Day are also rumoured to be arriving on Raw.