WWE Draft and NXT Should Change the Format: Here's How

Well we're three weeks away from the WWE Draft Lottery, when superstars "randomly" could get drafted from one brand to the next in order to refresh the program, create new feuds, and as Mr. McMahon says "SHAKE THINGS UP".

But how much of a shakeup will there be now with two brands?  The last two years, what I looked forward to the most was which ECW stars would be drafted to Raw or Smackdown and what effect would they have. (Punk and Kofi in '08, Miz and Morrisson in '09.) But wait, there is no ECW anymore so now its just the two brands trading with one another. (Sidenote: they should've waited until after the draft to start NXT, at least the draft would be more interesting.)

Well, I looked at that factor of who's coming up from ECW as the most exciting for the same reason why I'm an NFL and NBA draft junkie. I like hearing about the Tremendous Upside Potential, about someone embarking on the start of their career in the big time (I refused to believe that WWE really thought that the ECW brand was the "big time") and what it could mean for the team that drafted them.

For the draft to be more entertaining, the WWE should scrap the lottery concept and instead base their draft more on the NBA and NFL draft and have the GM's choose who they want and somehow create a draft order.  And since the draft is only once a year, it should coincide with the season finale of NXT.

First part of making it work is to drop the whole NXT formula of the pro mentoring the rookie. So far, the only thing its worked out for has been to set up a feud between Daniel Bryan and The Miz.

NXT can still be entertaining without the pros by being a throwback to shows such as WWF Wrestling Challenge where, from time to time, a superstar will squash a jobber. Now how would this be entertaining?  Simple, expand the NXT roster to include FCW, in fact, the whole show should be taped either at FCW or at Universal Studios.

Something tells me the impact zone will be vacant pretty soon and since WWE has a relationship with NBC Universal I'm sure Universal Studios wouldn't have a problem with WWE NXT taking the Impact Zone over.

You turn NXT more into the college football of WWE and even make a little slight at College Football by awarding a championship belt in NXT, but it won't be like any normal championship belt, it would be the NXTCS, a complete satire of the BCS.

With a 30-man roster, you rank the top 10, and on some weeks two top-10 guys fight each other, while anyone from the top 10 can face off against a bottom 10 (bottom 10 obviously means you're going to be squashed and very quickly) then from week to week the rankings changed based off of votes, and you gimmick these votes into some complicated formula where wins and losses don't matter as much as you would assume.

You could even include having some Raw or Smackdown guys come down to take on the NXT guys, and if the NXT guys win, it gives them a Strength of Schedule bump. Then you only award/defend such a championship four times a year, with the pinnacle, or the "bowl game" if you will being at Wrestlemania. (And even at that, you don't so much defend your title as much as you try to hold on to it from week to week, the polls can take it away!)

How many story lines alone does this create? TONS.  Its more interesting, it writes itself, and most importantly, it can create heels and faces with ease. It would need a shakeup after about five years but the formula is very flexible. You'd end each season with Wrestlemania with some of the guys (not all, some) getting drafted.

Back to the draft, we've made NXT our new feeder system, now to fix the draft by making it more like NFL or NBA.

First off, instead of the chance that EVERYONE can be selected at random by a computer, let's instead have the GM's pick the talent. Secondly, champions are exempt. Thirdly, each roster can only protect five WWE Superstars. Fourth, five picks will be made by each roster on television during the draft, with the order determined by a battle royale.

What about the matches?  Again, each brand can only protect five superstars other than their champions. So that's a combo of ten superstars and divas on each brand that night that have to fight to stay on their brand. You could also have guys requesting trades, and yes, draft picks can be traded. 

Say there's an NXT rookie that my hypothetical Raw GM Vickie Guerrero really likes, but Smackdown ended up with the No. 1 pick. At the same time, Vickie is feuding with John Cena and wants him gone. Boom, Vickie and Teddy Long trade John Cena and Raw's No. 3 in exchange for Smackdown's top pick, their No.5, and Jimmy Yang Wang.  How does that not intrigue you?

Plus, wouldn't that continue Cena's overcoming adversity angle and really make it interesting, how Raw didn't want him and Smackdown would only trade 2 rookies and Jimmy Wang Yang for him which would be a slap in the face?

Like I said earlier, only five divas/superstars are protected from each brand, not including champions.  These protection matches can occur leading up to the draft (with five in each brand you'd have to) with the last protection matches for each brand occurring draft night, along with at least one title match. (By title of course I mean IC or US title, maybe a WWE or WHC but more likely the two secondary ones. Since Champions are protected from being draft those matches would also be protection matches.)

Since its a three hour show, the draft wouldn't start til about a quarter after the start of hour two, and you'd still have matches after that with new talent wanting to start off fresh on their brand (mainly the NXT guys).  

As a sports fan this draft seems more interesting as it doesn't come off as random, and new feuds can begin that night, while giving the incoming NXT guys a chance to begin to shine. After the draft, a new season of NXT should begin.

So what do you think, you like my ideas for NXT and the WWE Draft? Hate them? Comment!

Thomas Galicia would love to become the Mel Kiper Jr. of the WWE Draft if it went to this formula.  You could follow him on twitter @305sportsdude. Also add him on facebook or myspace so that he doesn't feel like too much of a loser, his e-mail address is [e-mail]