The Official UKFF RAW thread (part 2)...

[air_raid]

23 minutes ago, Statto said:

Odyssey Jones 

[Loki]

So are we having sensible draft rules this year, like not splitting tag teams or factions?  The bizarrest thing about some previous drafts was the way they would seemingly deliberately derail existing booking plans by randomly splitting teams.

[Statto]

They way they've done it the past few has been exceptionally clunky, with the rule being "teams/factions are drafted as one unless the picker doesn't want all of you". 

The absolute worst example of it was with New Day - they were splitting Big E off to start a singles push that would ultimately result in him winning the big belt, but the way it began was with Smackdown specifically choosing to take Kofi & Woods but NOT him, ending up with fewer assets than they could have got with the same pick. 

He was then immediately drafted to Raw and presented as something of a late round steal, but it didn't change the fact the poor fella had just been explicitly shunned by Smackdown, who indeed were willing to break up a hugely popular trio just to not end up lumbered with Big E. 

This was when they were purporting that it was the TV execs making the picks too, so you couldn't even play it off as an internal WWE "E, you're ready, go be great" decision. They didn't even try to explain it away with roster size caps or anything. 

Sorry for the rant. I love Big E and I still feel sorry for him. 

A fun way you COULD use a similar structure could be to have a member of a team/group secretly declare that they want to be drafted on their own, then flick their shocked partners the V-sign as they swan off into their new solo stardom. Would work with an existing heel or as part of a heel turn. Kinda similar to how the JBL character got started, with him secretly choosing to re-sign rather than walk out on principle with the fired Ron Simmons. 

[air_raid]

Splitting the teams in the past I didn't mind, because it gave some jeopardy to the human beings that their team could get split up without them wanting it. But it was handled terribly in terms of there usually being no decent teams lined up to replace them. 2002 probably being the worst, with the tag team scene fading dramatically after Edge's promotion and elevation of Chuck & Billy, they then split up the Hardys AND Dudleys. There were then basically no decent tag teams until the "SmackDown 6" stuff happened, which was a time-killer for 2/3 of them anyway.

[Dr. Alan Grant]

2 hours ago, Statto said:

This was when they were purporting that it was the TV execs making the picks too, so you couldn't even play it off as an internal WWE "E, you're ready, go be great" decision. They didn't even try to explain it away with roster size caps or anything. 

This stirred up a vague memory of those nameless execs being in an office that they called the war room and inexplicably a robot somehow being involved. I had to double check as that must be some fever dream I had.

Nope. That happened. Robot. 

[air_raid]

What's weirder though, a robot or that time SmackDown had a Palm Cannon in charge?

It's not the joke I wanted to make, but I realised just in time that I was conflating "Palmer Canon" with "Canyon Cemon" who apparently is a volleyball player. So I thought I could say "Semen Cannon" and some of you would know what I was talking about.

Ummm......

.... here's Hunter firing a Super Soaker.

[Statto]

@Dr. Alan Grant That's Cleatus, the Fox Football Robot! 

[d-d-d-dAz]

I can't even begin to fathom the kayfabe reasoning behind some of those draft picks.

Iyo Sky getting drafted above Punk and Hunk has to signal the end of the new boom era.

It's over. Done. Someone tell The Rock he can stay in Hollywood.

[andrew "the ref" coyne]

Although there's a lot of people moaning that "a lot of the draft are people staying on the same show", I applaud WWE for not mixing the established rosters too much. Fewer moves mean more to me, as your not throwing out established back stories from the last year of TV.

But in hindsight, with the exception of the first draft which was AWESOME, the best setup seems to be when it's a Draft Lottery tied into matches outcomes. Team RAW vs Team Smackdown and they get a random draftee right after the match. At least that way you can have a surprise draft of a individual or of an entire team.

[d-d-d-dAz]

Breathe easy, everyone.

Odyssey Jones has been drafted to Raw.

[air_raid]

LWO to Raw, finally divorcing them from the LDF feud, and Nakamura to SmackDown are the only notable switches from a skim read of the happenings. Also, I know Naomi is a third wheel in the title match for Backlash but it’s somewhat pleasing to see a rivalry set up with Nia, assuming the title focus ends up on Bayley vs Stratton. Aside from the tag belts, it’s high time that they give more of the women feuds to focus on that aren’t just “who’s going for the belt this month.”

[DavidB6937]

Dijak has been a fun watch since he returned to NXT so hopefully he gets a decent shot.

Lyra should be a great addition. Surprised about Blair Davenport though.

[RedRooster]

I’m hoping WWE recognises how bad that draft was, and that tonight was a case of just getting through it all. Next year, if they do a draft, they have to change the format. That was just plain bad, and the last two shows were easily the worst of the Triple H era.

The Smackdown roster doesn’t exactly scream ‘entertaining television’, though - charting a path for Cody through to Wrestlemania next year, even taking The Rock into account, is challenging. I hope they prove me wrong, but the roster looks incredibly stale. Raw should be fun, though.

Edited Tuesday at 06:29 AM by RedRooster

[d-d-d-dAz]

Either LA Knight is turning heel, or they've properly decided they can't be arsed.

There's barely anything for him to do, unless the US title is the pinnacle of his ambition.

In fact, to Rooster's point, there's barely anything for Cody to do. A heel turn for someone surely, be it KO, Orton or Knight.

The draft was almost unbelievably shite, though. Completely pointless. The best pick was Jade as it was completely consistent with how she's been portrayed, and how Nick Aldis pursued her signing. But, besides that, it's hard to justify much of what they did. Even drafting Gunther and Carmelo Hayes is dumb if you look at it for more than a second; if this was an NFL draft maybe you pick the young next guy first, as they're reasonably likely to stay with your team as long as you want them, but the WWE do drafts or shake-ups every year. It makes absolutely no sense to not just pick the biggest names first.

Punk getting drafted above Iyo Sky will make me sad until at least tomorrow. Rubbish.

You can tell Punker is back on his way to rude health, on the weights and feeling sexy again. He absolutely loves cutting the sleeves off his shirts when he feels like his arms deserve to be seen.

[RedRooster]

I'm guessing the Smackdown roster tells us something about their plans for various wrestlers - if you draft a hot heel to Smackdown - Gunther or Drew McIntyre perhaps; maybe even Dragunov they immediately become an obvious contender to face Cody. And if they wrestle him and lose, they cool off. Cody is going to wrestle The Rock at some point - and this plot thread is presumably what will be driving Smackdown forward. Whether Rock wins or loses, that presumably leads to Roman Reigns making his return - bolstering Smackdown. If Cody retains the belt, his Wrestlemania challenger could jump over via the Rumble - perhaps Gunther, or Punk. Or maybe they'll have Logan Paul go after the belt at Wrestlemania?

Alternatively, if Cody loses, presumably we get Rock/Reigns for the title at Wrestlemania. Maybe Cody goes after Logan Paul, if he's still the US champ?

Either way, there are a limited number of options for Cody - even if you consider potential additions as the year goes on (eg. Ricky Starks and the new Wyatt-inspired faction)