6 WWE Draft Moves That Need To Happen
Multimedia personality Ryan Satin joins FOX Sports as a contributor to the new FOX Sports App and FOXSports.com, providing updates and commentary on the WWE.
By Ryan Satin
It has been almost exactly one year since the last WWE Draft took place. SmackDown had just premiered on FOX, and the WWE landscape was in a very different place when the two rosters were solidified by their respective networks.
Now, each brand has the opportunity to reshuffle its deck with new talent when the 2020 WWE Draft kicks off this Friday night on FOX.
While there are tons of possible moves that could be made, the following six Superstars stand out as the most surefire options for success.
Seth Rollins to SmackDown
Seth Rollins has been a mainstay on Raw since the Draft returned in 2016, but now is the time for new beginnings Friday night.
After receiving a character overhaul last year and adopting the "Monday Night Messiah" moniker, Seth surrounded himself with other talent looking for more opportunities on Raw. This included Murphy and the powerhouse duo of Akam and Rezar, aka AOP, which helped solidify a successful heel turn and gave Rollins new purpose.
Unfortunately, Rezar suffered an injury in March, which took AOP off television and out of the faction for good after the tag team was released from WWE.
Austin Theory was also added to the group for a brief period of time, but eventually got sent back to NXT without explanation. Murphy, his last "disciple" standing, exited the group this week on Raw.
These changes have left Rollins without the same purpose he once had, despite being part of an entertaining program with the Mysterio family the past few months. Therefore, the best decision is to move him to SmackDown where a variety of Superstars could help inject new life into his character by joining "The Greater Good."
Sasha Banks to Raw
Sasha Banks and Bayley took advantage of the pandemic era of WWE by going from brand-to-brand stealing the show during their run as WWE Women’s Tag Team champions. In the process, they became one of the hottest acts in wrestling.
Anticipation is now high for their big blow-off match after Bayley recently turned on her partner, but the best call is to prolong things for a bit longer by drafting Banks to Raw.
Bayley, in true heel fashion, could gloat for the next few months about what she did to Banks, while "The Boss" continues wrestling on Raw until winning the Royal Rumble match for the first time next year and going on to challenge her ex-BFF for the SmackDown Women’s Championship at WrestleMania.
These two have earned the opportunity to have this match there, and it would likely be one of the biggest matches on the card.
Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae to SmackDown
Johnny Gargano has nothing left to prove in NXT.
He’s held every belt there, been part of the most critically acclaimed feud, won match of the year and was involved in countless major moments.
Now, it’s time for him to move on.
Both Johnny and Candice would be more valuable to the company on Friday nights against new opponents in front of a bigger audience.
For LeRae, that could mean matchups against Superstars like Naomi and Bayley. Johnny, on the other hand, could wrestle anyone from Drew Gulak and Daniel Bryan (once he returns) to Jeff Hardy and Big E.
This move seems like a no-brainer.
AJ Styles to Raw
AJ Styles has been a fantastic addition to Friday Night SmackDown since being traded back in May. He’s also not really in need of a character refresh.
The reason he’s on this list is because Styles still had something left to prove on Monday Night Raw, as he had been tearing it up there before abruptly switching brands.
That tear continued on SmackDown with matches against the likes of Matt Riddle, Jeff Hardy and Gran Metalik to help rebuild the Intercontinental Title scene.
Now that he’s done with that, Styles should be gunning for the top belt on whichever show he is on. Feuding with Roman Reigns doesn’t seem likely though, since "The Tribal Chief" appears to be locked in the top spot for the foreseeable future with Paul Heyman by his side, which gives "The Phenomenal One" a reason to move back to Raw where he can rack up wins and ultimately challenge Drew McIntyre for the WWE Championship.
In addition, this allows Styles to once again attend his son’s sporting events on Friday nights (something he’s publicly discussed).
Ricochet to SmackDown
Ricochet needs a change.
The high-flying wrestler debuted on Raw in February of 2019 with a ton of hype behind him, but much of it has been lost due to a number of questionable booking decisions.
As you’ll recall, Ricochet appeared to be getting a singles push after the 2019 Superstar Shakeup. Instead, he quickly suffered his first main roster pinfall loss and failed to gain any momentum in the following weeks.
His fate seemed to be changing after he captured the United States Championship months later, but the reign lasted for less than a month.
Another glimmer of hope came when he helped Drew McIntyre eliminate Brock Lesnar from the Royal Rumble this year. This led to an eventual WWE title shot against "The Beast" at Super ShowDown, but he lost the match in less than two minutes and has since had trouble recovering on TV.
That can easily be fixed with a move to SmackDown and the proper push.
Bray Wyatt to Raw
"The Fiend" has yet to interact with a number of interesting names on Raw, including Drew McIntyre, who he could enter a feud with over the WWE Championship, and Randy Orton, where there is already a program waiting to happen due to their history.
USA Network has also reportedly been pushing for more mature themes on Raw, so his character would fit better there to help with that.
Plus, if Alexa Bliss joins him, WWE creative could take their story in some interesting new directions.
The WWE Draft begins this week on Friday Night SmackDown at 8pm Eastern/7 pm Central LIVE on FOX.
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