6 Draft Strategies for the Commissioners of RAW and SmackDown

Strategy #1: Don’t Go for Youth

A ton of people are projecting that the top picks in the WWE Draft should be young superstars to carry the brand into the future. While partly true, let’s not overthink this. This isn’t the NFL Draft. History shows us that at least once a year, there will be some changes in who competes on what show. Each brand needs a mix of top-level talent consisting of veterans like Cena and Jericho as well as Kevin Owens and Dean Ambrose.

Strategy #2: Don’t Split Up a Tag Team

The tag team division is weak. The WWE has made strides in bringing back the division, but the current reign by The New Day has belittled the other great tag teams. There are other ways to create drama and intrigue besides prematurely breaking up Enzo and Cass or the Usos (okay, maybe it’s time to break up the Usos). Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to break up a non-serious tag team like Golden Truth or remove Bray from the rest of the Wyatt Family. But the tag division is scarce enough as it is without losing another big team for the tag belts.

Strategy #3: Have Talent Compete for a Spot

I would be interested to see a few picks made as the result of some pinfalls. After the stars are selected, I would like to see a guy like Baron Corbin have a match with Sheamus or Apollo Crews to see who the next pick will be. This draft can’t be Steph and Shane standing by a podium all night.

Strategy #4: Book the Top Two Picks for a Title Match

This is purely common sense. The top guy from each brand should theoretically be the best talent on the show’s roster. So after the selection process, those two should compete for the title. Of course there are some logistics to work out. What if the champ isn’t one of the top two picks? Having Ambrose or Rollins (who compete for the title the night before the draft) slip to No. 3 or below would immediately ruin their title reign. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if they take the title away from Ambrose next Monday night for that very reason. Rollins is a heavy favorite to be a top draft pick. Ambrose could easily fall to the 5–10th pick. Would you realistically pick Ambrose before Kevin Owens, John Cena, AJ Styles, Seth Rollins, or Roman Reigns?

Strategy #5: Stay Away from Part-Timers

Brock Lesnar is the most talked-about athlete in the sports world this week, aside maybe from Tim Duncan, who announced his NBA retirement this week. My expectation is for someone to draft Lesnar high, and for Paul Heyman to come out and make a grand speech about the Beast Incarnate. But not so fast — why waste a valuable top pick on a part-timer? Sure, the Undertaker, Rock, Triple H are all guys that would be a huge name to announce at the podium, but what good is it from week-to-week? Vince McMahon made it clear last night, he wants to see blood; and he wants to see an increase in ratings. How will Brock Lesnar help you in the ratings war if he’s not going to be there? So unless these part-timers are going to step up and make frequent appearances, I don’t want to hear their names called in the Top 20.

Strategy #6: Draft Corey Graves

Corey Graves is the single best commentator in professional wrestling today. He is enormously undervalued as the “heel” commentator for NXT. He needs to be on RAW or SmackDown. I haven’t seen anything stating that the only talents involved in the draft are competitors. Commentary has an impact on ratings. RAW could use Corey Graves over JBL. Drafting a non-competitor talent would be an interesting twist that would give a new spotlight on something that is often overlooked.