The 2020 WWE Draft will officially be underway beginning on Friday but based on recent episodes of WWE television and a few social media posts the company might have already given away a few of the selections. Kevin Owens finds himself in a new feud with Bray Wyatt despite being a Raw star, and has already been booked for this week’s SmackDown in a match with “The Fiend.” Braun Strowman is technically still on the SmackDown roster but was popping up on Raw Underground for a few weeks and had an “exhibition” match with Keith Lee on this week’s Raw.
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And then there’s WWE’s social media team. Fans already caught the WWE’s main Twitter account hinting that NXT might be involved in the Draft with a since-deleted tweet on Sunday, but on Monday night the company’s Instagram account dropped another hint by listing five wrestlers who have never moved to another show since the Draft was first reintroduced back in 2016. That list includes Seth Rollins, Daniel Bryan, Carmella, Nia Jax and Titus O’Neil.
Of the five, it makes the most sense for Rollins to move given how he’s basically run out of potential opponents on the Raw roster during his heel run as the “Monday Night Messiah.” Jax could theoretically move without endangering her WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship reign with Shayna Baszler, though WWE hasn’t attempted to have two women on opposite brands hold those titles as of yet. Carmella is also a strong candidate to move now that she’s back on television with a new persona.
During the post-show press conference for NXT TakeOver 31, Triple H was once again unable to say if NXT was involved in the WWE Draft this year.
“When I say ‘not knowing what is happening in the Draft’ right now, my not knowing probably means, more than likely I would imagine, and just going off of what we’ve seen with commercials and everything, that we won’t be,” he said. “Now, that can always change this week. But a lot of talent have come up from the Performance Center… from NXT to Raw, to SmackDown over the last 12 months, I want to say the numbers, well it’s in the high teens over the last 12 months. So there’s been a lot of movement and a lot of activity. I’m always for what is best for talent.
“So when the conversations are had, we try to have as much advance notice for when talent is coming in or going out, that we can plan for it appropriately both on the exit and the entrance — for all sides,” he continued. “But sometimes that can’t happen, and sometimes it’s short notice. For the most part though, we have a fair amount of advanced notice, and we have time to be able to move on stuff… No matter how it goes, we’ll be ready to make it work.”
Of all the stars named above, who do you think gets moved to a new brand? Send us your picks in the comments below!
