The first night of the WWE Draft is well underway, and here’s a breakdown of every pick made on night one during WWE Friday Night SmackDown. The rules of the draft have been established and it’s in line with previous years with over 60 male, female, and tag team superstars and that means that any potential champions moving would be bringing their championships to the new brand and so on. But that also means that all kinds of shake ups can be on the table, and that’s already evident with the first night of the WWE Draft for the year.
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Here is a breakdown of WWE Draft picks for the year and will be updated throughout the evening as night one continues. There are already a number of surprises with this first wave of announcements, and that’s sure to continue as the night rolls on with all sorts of new announcements!
Read on for a breakdown of all the picks made during night one of WWE Draft 2020, and let us know how you feel about the picks! What are the biggest surprises? What are the least surprising choices? Which superstar had the best move? Let us know all of your thoughts in the comments!
Monday Night Raw – Drew McIntyre
Drew McInytyre was Monday Night Raw’s very first pick, and that means the WWE Championship will be remaining on the red brand for the next year!ย
Friday Night SmackDown – Roman Reigns
Following McIntyre being nabbed by Monday Night Raw, Friday Night SmackDown’s very first draft pick was Roman Reigns! Meaning the WWE Universal Champion (as well as the title itself) will be sticking with blue for now.ย
Monday Night Raw – Asuka
The first of the women’s division for Monday Night Raw was their champion, Asuka, so she’ll be sticking with the red brand.ย
Friday Night SmackDown – Seth Rollins
The first real surprise (and change of the Draft overall) for the first round was Seth Rollins moving from Monday Night Raw to Friday Night SmackDown. No longer able to be the “Monday Night Messiah,” it will be interesting to see how this shade of blue will change Rollins going forward!ย
Monday Night Raw – The Hurt Business
Being one of the pillars of Monday Night Raw for the last few months, Raw drafted the entire Hurt Business to their brand. This includes MVP, current United States Champion Bobby Lashley, Shelton Benjamin, and newest recruit, Cedric Alexander.ย
Monday Night Raw – AJ Styles
Another major shake up for Monday Night Raw is AJ Styles moving over to the red brand following a strong showing in Friday Night SmackDown. There were some rumblings over whether or not Styles would move now that Paul Heyman is on SmackDown, and whether or not this was the result, AJ will now be tearing it down on the red brand.ย
Friday Night SmackDown – Sasha Banks
Sasha Banks will be sticking around on Friday Night SmackDown, which is definitely good news for fans who were hoping to see more of Sasha and Bayley’s feud play out for what could probably be a great run up right until Wrestlemania.ย
Monday Night Raw – Naomi
Shaking up the Women’s Division for the red brand is Naomi, who definitely deserves a fair shot at the Raw Women’s Championship as Asuka is currently on the hunt for strong opponents! Moving over from SmackDown just might be the opportunity this star needs!ย
Friday Night SmackDown – Bianca Belair
Following a string of skits during Monday Night Raw that showcased how she was the “EST” of any competition, Bianca Belair is surprisingly moving over to Friday Night SmackDown! This superstar has a clean slate since she honestly hasn’t done much since coming from NXT, so the blue brand needs to be ready for the EST!ย
Monday Night Raw – Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax
The final pick of Round 2 was the confirmation that the current Women’s Tag Team Champions of Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax will remain on Monday Night Raw. Although it was pointed out that they can defend the titles anywhere, even NXT, so who knows where they will be popping up next?ย
Monday Night Raw – Ricochet
It seems Ricochet will be clashing with The Hurt Business for much longer as during Round 3 he was chosen to remain on Monday Night Raw, so let’s see where he goes from here!ย
Friday Night SmackDown – Jey Uso
After making a singles name for himself with his big match against Roman Reigns at Clash of Champions, Jey Uso will be remaining on Friday Night SmackDown to take this feud even further as Roman is teasing yet another crushing blow to his family!ย
Monday Night Raw – Mandy Rose
Following her trade to Monday Night Raw a few weeks before the official draft, Mandy Rose is now a cemented piece of Raw’s women’s roster. She has yet to start any major feuds as of this writing, but hopefully she’ll kick off a fresh slate from here on out!ย
Friday Night SmackDown – Rey and Dominik Mysterio
One of the major shake ups is the package deal of Rey and Dominik Mysterio. Moving over from Monday Night Raw to Friday Night SmackDown, there’s a good chance that there will be a revisit of their long feud with Seth Rollins down the line. But hopefully a new roster will change that!ย
Monday Night Raw – The Miz and John Morrison
As the final pick of the third round, The Miz and John Morrison will be continuing their tag team shenanigans over on Monday Night Raw after causing a ruckus on Friday Night SmackDown. Some might have wanted this pair to split, but we’ll see what a new set of opponents brings this duo.ย
Monday Night Raw – The New Day (Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston)
Following Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston’s surprise return to Friday Night SmackDown, The New Day had an official match against current SmackDown tag team champions Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro. But after that win, Stephanie McMahon confirmed that Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston would be moving to Monday Night Raw.ย
Friday Night SmackDown – Big E
The biggest shock, however, came soon after as it was revealed that Big E had been drafted as a singles star to Friday Night SmackDown. This means The New Day has officially broken up as Big E continues his singles stardom on SmackDown while Woods and Kingston head over to Raw as the tag team champions.ย
Monday Night Raw – Dana Brooke
Following a few appearances as Mandy Rose’s tag team partner on Monday Night Raw, Dana Brooke is now officially continuing as a part of the Monday Night Raw brand! There’s a good chance she will continue her teaming with Mandy Rose now that the both of them have been confirmed for the Raw brand, and that Mandy’s other teammate is still on SmackDown.ย
Friday Night SmackDown – Otis
As the current Money in the Bank briefcase holder there were a lot of questions concerning Otis, so it certainly was a surprise to see he was drafted to Friday Night SmackDown after seeing Mandy Rose and The Miz and Morrison moving over to Monday Night Raw. What is curious about this draft, however, is that Otis was drafted alone and not as part of Heavy Machinery along with Tucker.ย
Monday Night Raw – Angel Garza
As the final pick of the fourth round, Angel Garza was confirmed to be sticking around as part of the Monday Night Raw roster. Now it’s a matter of seeing what happens to his former cohorts of Andrade and Zelina Vega!ย
