WWE Draft Rumors on Big E, Bobby Lashley, Sasha Banks, The Street Profits
October 5, 2021
Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.
WWE Changed Big E, Lashley Draft Plans
WWE champion Big E was the No. 1 draft pick for Raw on Friday night's WWE draft edition of SmackDown, but that reportedly wasn't the original plan.
According to PWInsider (h/t WrestlingInc.com's Marc Middleton), WWE was initially going to make Bobby Lashley the No. 1 overall pick for Raw.
The idea was reportedly to make it a "cliffhanger" by making Big E draft eligible on Monday rather than Friday. That would have forced fans to tune in to see where Big E would land.
That strategy could have been especially effective given that New Day members Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods were moved to SmackDown on Friday. Because of that, there may have been some belief among fans that Big E could go back to the blue brand as well.
Instead, WWE broke up New Day for the second year in a row, and fans learned of the stable's fate on SmackDown.
With Big E getting drafted Friday, it did open the door for WWE to make a huge announcement at the start of Raw.
SmackDown Women's champion Becky Lynch opened the show and revealed that she was Raw's No. 1 overall pick on Night 2 of the draft.
The move was expected since Raw Women's champion Charlotte Flair already got drafted to SmackDown, but it was significant nonetheless.
With the draft now officially in the books, Big E has clearly been established as the face of Raw on the men's side, and making him the red brand's No. 1 overall pick made it obvious to the WWE Universe that he is viewed in that light.
Banks to Go Babyface on SmackDown?
Given the landscape of the SmackDown women's division, a big change could be in store for Sasha Banks.
Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t Felix Upton of Ringside News) speculated that Banks is likely to go from heel to babyface in the near future.
Meltzer pointed out that the other top women on SmackDown's roster, Flair and Shayna Baszler, are heels, which could necessitate The Boss moving to the other side of the ledger.
Given that Banks is hugely popular with the fans, it wouldn't be difficult to turn her. Even as a heel, she consistently receives babyface reactions, which is a telltale sign that she would be embraced in the top face role.
Banks appeared on Monday night's episode of Raw and essentially played a tweener role by attacking a babyface in Bianca Belair, as well as heels Flair and Lynch.
Sasha is scheduled to compete in a Triple Threat match for the SmackDown Women's Championship against Lynch and Belair later this month at Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia.
Since Lynch and Belair are now part of the Raw roster, there is seemingly a good chance that Banks will win that match and become a two-time SmackDown Women's champion and seven-time Women's champion overall on the WWE main roster.
Establishing Banks as a strong babyface champ on the blue brand with Flair, Baszler and other contenders chasing after her would be an excellent foundation to the SmackDown women's division.
WWE Reversed Course on Street Profits Breakup
WWE reportedly had discussions about splitting up Street Profits members Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins in the draft.
According to PWInsider (h/t Middleton), WWE creative gave the split "serious consideration" before backing off and drafting the entire team to SmackDown.
PWInsider noted that if the split had taken place, Dawkins would have stayed on SmackDown on his own, while Ford would have moved to Raw with Belair, who is his real-life wife.
Talk of an eventual Ford singles run heated up a couple of weeks ago when Ford faced Universal champion Roman Reigns in the main event of SmackDown in a non-title match.
While Ford lost the match, he looked like a star in the making, and perhaps that is what got the wheels turning among WWE's chief decision-makers.
Even so, it is difficult to argue with keeping The Street Profits together since they have been such a successful act in WWE and have plenty more they can accomplish as a duo.
The Street Profits have only held the Raw and SmackDown Tag Team Championships one time each, but now that they are on the red brand, they instantly become one of the top contenders to challenge RK-Bro for the titles.
With feuds against AJ Styles and Omos and perhaps even The Hurt Business on tap as well, Ford and Dawkins have no shortage of creative possibilities.
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