So Cody is considered a SmackDown superstar now?
Looks that way. Below are the more in depth rules.Originally Posted by Tyson
RULES OF THE DRAFT
1. Champions on each brand will be protected and are not eligible to be drafted. As a result, Damian Priest, Becky Lynch, Awesome Truth and Sami Zayn will remain on Raw. Cody Rhodes, Bayley, A-Town Down Under and Logan Paul will remain on SmackDown.
2. Even though their status as champions allows them to go to both brands, WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Asuka and Kairi Sane are eligible to be drafted. They will be assigned to that brand if they lose the titles.
3. Friday’s SmackDown will feature four rounds of draft picks being announced. Each round will consist of the brands making two picks apiece for a total of 16 picks being announced (8 for SmackDown and 8 for Raw).
4. Monday’s Raw will feature six rounds of draft picks being announced. Each round will consist of the brands making two picks apiece for a total of 24 picks (12 for Raw and 12 for SmackDown).
5. SmackDown will have the first pick on Friday, and Raw will have first pick on Monday.
6. Rosters will go into effect on Monday, May 6, two days after Backlash France.
Yes because he won the title from Roman who was a SmackDown superstar
I find it interesting that when looking at the draft pools that they left Rhea and Jimmy Uso off who are injured but Punk is still in a draft pool. Why not have Rhea and Jimmy in pools when you know they will be back unless they are going to do the whole free agent thing with them but that really doesn't make sense for Rhea who is going to go where ever Judgement Day is
Pretty sure he mentioned it in his first promo as champ.
He mentioned like the second time he was on Raw that the GM's were letting him do both shows until the draft if I remember correctly.
He did mention specifically that he was a Smackdown champion in one of the promos like mth is saying. Which isn't surprising.
My curiousity - I assume Bloodline will stay Smackdown and JD on Raw, but that leaves Netflix without Roman or Cody which you'd think they'd want one of them at least.
Then again what do i know.
Keep in mind a lot can happen between now and January. I don't think Cody will be World champion come Netflix. I think he's dropping the title at Summerslam. We're not going to a super long run from. I think he drops the title, but he will win it back before Mania 41.
Lame night one.
You saw the draft pool. It was obvious #1 contenders stay on show.
After free agents do far 8 switched brands officially. 7 if you count Sheamus. 8/23 super stars is about a third.
Last edited by Bluegunn; April 27th, 2024 at 7:45 AM.
I actually fully agree with this. Cody is best in the chase, rather than as a defending champ.
but who beats him? Gunther? Drew?
Gunther probably. Can only go up after the ic title.
I think that is really dumb. Cody is their best white hot babyface in decades. They let Seth have thing for a year and Cody can't keep it for 4 months, come on. Also, crap idea to run the draft when the real draft is going on and you don't really move anyone. I doubt the ratings for this will be any good. Should have waited til Monday and then do it with some actual moves.
We don’t need back to back to back to back long ass title reigns. This is actually the perfect time to have some shorter title reigns.
Babyfaces always seem to shine brighter chasing a title. He could drop it by Summerslam, regain by Survivor Series, drop it again by the Rumble and still be in the chase again for WM next year.
Austin, Macho, Cena and Hogan were never hotter than when they had the title. The IWC has fallen in the NWA trap that having a heel champion have the same match for 6 years straight while they push and depush an entire locker room of faces. There is a reason WWE had red hot faces rode rough shot through the territories and was the last one standing. After that Vince's dementia kicked. Cody winning at Mania next year will not be as good as it is was at WM 40. Damien is not going to keep that belt long either let that be the hot potato title.
I watched a bunch of WWE in the lead up to Mania so I would have a decent idea what I was watching. Drew was far and away the best full time guy I saw in the lead up to Mania. I was rooting hard for him to beat Seth. He should get a run with Cody.
Obviously with Rock coming back Cody shouldn't lose any time soon.
There's also a reason John Cena for example is a 16 time World champion. I don't want to dissect the 4 you brought up but I do agree that there was a shift probably around the time Triple H became a bona fide main eventer where, due to the brand extension, you had the "babyface territory" lead by people like Cena and then the other side would be your Triple H's, your Randy Orton's who were mostly heels dominating. But again, those 3 right there have what, 40+ World titles between them?
I'm not saying Cody isn't going to have a long reign, I just don't know if it's THIS run where it happens. I feel like this is a guy who you could have drop the title in the next 4-6 months but win it back and go into Mania 41 as champion, and DEFEND the title. Something he hasn't done yet and only a handful of World champions have in the 40 years of Mania.
I am interested to see how the next part of the draft goes. No major shake ups per say on Friday. A couple NXT call ups. Kind of status quo keeping people where they were which honestly so far is fine with me. I do like seeing Isle Dawn and Alba Frye moving over to Raw. Maybe we will see them more since there seems to be more women tag matches going on over there.
Tonight will be very interesting. Gunther going to Smackdown would be very interesting. I forgot the champions are off limits so there's no Sami to SD Logan to Raw trade going on-at the moment. See, they start doing that weird shit where backdoor trades get tweeted. Or like that one year where they traded Booker T and the Dudleyz for Triple H. At the time I hated it but now I'm like shit, imagine if you had Aldis say Pearce I'll give you 3 guys for Gunther...Shows Gunther is in even more demand than anyone else.
Rumor has Braun showing up.
Could be the 2nd Braun return I've been to. Dude loves returning in KC. My theory is whenever he's on the fence, they offer some Arthur Bryant ribs at the pre-show
I think the draft was an acceptance that they're pretty happy with the rosters and the stories that can play out over the next year. Not much changed. They broke up the two never ending stable wars on Smackdown and not much else. Cody hasn't really got much competition on Smackdown currently, though I guess his big angles (Bloodline, Orton, Logan Paul) are there when they need them, but there's a bit of work to be done to get there. I guess the Styles feud carries on longer than a one and done. Raw gets the more stacked roster, particularly when Punk, Drew and Seth are back full time.
More of a mix up of rosters last night. Overall I think a good draft. Some nice call ups from NXT. So lets see how this all plays out.
Kinds my quick tier rankings on Raw and Smackdown after the draft:
This is kinda my list of who I could feasibly see work a PPV main event and/or have a sustained championship feud over the next 6 months or so
RAW Men:
PPV Main Event Level
Jey Uso
Damian Priest
GUNTHER
CM Punk
Drew
Seth Rollins
Sami Zayn
If things broke right;
Bron
Braun
Women:
Becky
Liv
Asuka
Iyo
Obviously Rhea bumps up if she returns in that timeframe
Smackdown Men:
Cody
AJ
Orton
KO
Melo
Knight
Paul
If things broke right:
Melo
Solo
Women:
Bayley
Bianca
Jade
Tiffy
Naomi
Nia
Been out of the loop a bit due to real life issues so just catching up.
I mostly like the picks but putting Bron on Raw away from a potential Heyman is a weeeeird decision. Sorry if that’s been covered but yeah just catching up on stuff and not read through everything here.
Carmelita getting drafted early is sweet af though.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote