WWE.com announced the wrestlers eligible for each night of the 2023 Draft. One select group of wrestlers is up for selection tonight on SmackDown, and the second group is qualified to be drafted Monday, May 1, on Raw.
Tag teams and factions will be drafted as a unit with two notable exceptions. The Bloodline has been split up as two draft picks. WWE Undisputed Universal Champion Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa are packaged as one pick, and The Uso are grouped as another draft pick.
The Judgement Day is also subject to separation as SmackDown Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley is a solo listing, while Dominik Mysterio, Damian Priest, and Finn Balor are listed as a unit.
Unspecified “Select NXT Superstars” are listed as eligible for both Draft nights.
–Night One: Friday, April 28 on SmackDown
–Night Two: Monday, May 1, on Raw
Predicting the draft is tricky since the rules and draft order have yet to be revealed as of press time. In the past, Raw got three picks for every two of SmackDown’s picks since their show is an hour longer.
Assuming the blue brand gets the first pick as the host of Night 1, it only makes sense for Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa to be the first overall pick. Let Monday Night Raw deal with crowning a new world champion and ride the legendary reign of “The Tribal Chief.” Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair will go to SmackDown as the first female draft pick to shake things up.
As for Monday Night Raw, Cody Rhodes will be their No. 1 draft pick. “The Man” Becky Lynch will go No. 2, and the No. 3 spot will fall to “The All Mighty” Bobby Lashley.
The brand that gets the new world heavyweight championship will have an advantage with the number of top-level matches it can produce. No matter who drafts Roman Reigns, his limited availability makes the number of title defenses few and far between. The show with the new belt won’t be handcuffed creatively in that regard.
There are two wrestlers I’d like to see land on specific shows.
Shinsuke Nakamura needs to trade in his SmackDown blues for the red aesthetic of Raw. Despite wrestling on the show several times throughout his WWE tenure, Nakamura has never been an official Monday Night Raw roster member, and his renewed push in a different climate would serve him well.
Bron Breakker is a blue-chip athlete who has been impressive since his first appearance in NXT. SmackDown’s two-hour run time calls for a tighter production with chaos that is more straight to the point. If the tea leaves are right about Breakker’s call-up, odds are he will get the Goldberg treatment upon arrival. Tearing up opponents in quick fashion would be a steady segment to ingratiate the former NXT Champion to the larger SmackDown audience.
How will the 2023 WWE Draft go? Who do you want to see on which show? Please let me know in the comment section.
Ringside Logic 