Quick Takes on AEW Capturing the Moment, the Roman Reigns Void in WWE and More

Even with an eventful WrestleMania weekend in the rear view, WWE and All Elite Wrestling have done an effective job of setting the stage for an exciting remainder of the month and beyond.

On the WWE front, fans have the imminent return of the draft to look forward to, provided that the company actually take the separation of the SmackDown and Raw rosters seriously. Otherwise, it will prove to be another empty promise of change.

With Vince McMahon potentially back in the fold creatively, WWE must do everything imaginable to send the message that the quality of the product will remain consistent, if not improve, under the new regime. To move backward would be a waste of the goodwill Triple H has built with the audience in the last eight months.

The positive reception to Friday's SmackDown indicated that it may not be all doom and gloom for WWE after all. Regardless, AEW would be wise to continue building momentum in order to serve as the ultimate alternative at a time when fans might be looking for one.

This installment of Quick Takes will examine the key to AEW's resurgence, the drawback of Roman Reigns retaining at WrestleMania 39, why Raw's women's division needs some renewed focus and more.

WWE Draft Will Only Work with a Reinforced Brand Split

Triple H announcing the return of the WWE draft for the coming weeks should be seen as a significant deal. For the first time since he took the reins of the company's creative direction, Raw and SmackDown may finally have mutually exclusive rosters.

Of course, it's purely speculation at this point as nothing has been confirmed, but it would be underwhelming for the draft to occur if Raw and SmackDown were going to continue featuring talent crossing over on a regular basis. It would defeat the purpose of a draft, which should see Superstars assigned to one brand or the other.

The rules of the brand split were understandably ignored when Triple H first assumed power because they weren't his rosters. It also didn't make sense to do a draft before now.

If WWE expects fans to care about shaking up the rosters, it must be established that the brand extension will be enforced.

This has happened on countless occasions previously and WWE has always reverted back to the status quo, but a Triple H-booked draft that leads to Raw and SmackDown boasting different rosters (with their own authority figures) and only interacting on certain shows throughout the year could have promise.

How AEW Can Capture the Moment

Last week's editions of Raw and SmackDown gave no clear indication as to what WWE TV will look like exactly for the foreseeable future. Raw appeared to have a heavy Vince McMahon influence and was largely panned by fans, whereas SmackDown restored some of that faith by producing an enjoyable episode.

The current inconsistency within WWE right now creates a massive opportunity for AEW to emerge and give fans a product worth investing at the moment. Dynamite has been solid since last month's Revolution event, but more compelling stories are needed to really take the show to the next level.

Putting together the biggest card possible for the All In card emanating from Wembley Stadium in London on August 27 should be AEW's overarching goal over the next four months.

That may or may not include CM Punk, who would provide the pay-per-view with a major boost in star power if he's able to return in time. Even if not, AEW has enough notable names to make the event must-see.

The promotion is picking up steam at the perfect time, and capitalizing off fans' disenchantment with the WWE product will be the key to their next hot period.

Jay White Is Too Big of a Star to Be Underutilized in AEW

To say Jay White was the hottest free agent in wrestling for the last month wouldn't be an understatement.

Rumors ran rampant for months regarding where he would wind up once his contract with New Japan Pro-Wrestling expired. For a good while, all signs seemed to point to him inking a deal with WWE. Arriving right around WrestleMania season would have been ideal as well.

Ultimately, Switchblade made the decision to sign with AEW, debuting on Dynamite last Wednesday and reuniting with fellow former Bullet Club member Juice Robinson. His reasons for doing so are not yet known, but one can only assume the ongoing uncertainty behind the scenes in WWE at the moment didn't help White's cause.

There are plenty of people on the AEW roster he has history with and thus making him a natural fit, but it's imperative he's actually utilized as a main event talent and not relegated to the midcard. He had too decorated of a run in Japan just to be overshadowed by the many stars AEW has had no plans for.

He should be a big part of the build for All In and cement his spot toward the top of the card to avoid becoming the latest signee to get lost in the shuffle.

Raw Women's Division in Desperate Need of Renewed Focus

Bianca Belair's successful retention of the Raw Women's Championship against Asuka at WrestleMania was certainly surprisingly, if only because she doesn't have any credible challengers waiting in the wings to challenge her.

The EST of WWE has reigned supreme over the women's division on the red brand over the last year and has overcome everyone from Bayley and Becky Lynch to Carmella and Alexa Bliss.

Unless the idea is that she'll be running it back with one of those rivals (and she shouldn't), WWE has a serious issue on its hands when it comes to the lack of female stars on the scene right now.

Candice LeRae, Michin, Piper Niven and Nikki Cross are all talented, but the company hasn't put in the effort needed to get them over. Chelsea Green isn't at that level yet, and the rest of Damage CTRL have lost to Belair multiple times.

Rhea Ripley would have been a fine choice had she not just won the SmackDown Women's Championship. The draft should bring several fresh female faces to the Raw roster for Belair to work with, but she must also avoid growing stagnant and having fans turn against her.

If WWE intends to keep the belt on Belair for a while longer, then she will need interesting opponents who pose a legitimate threat to her dominance.

Roman Reigns' WrestleMania Win Leaves WWE Roster with No Top Titles to Fight For

Depending on where the story is headed, the decision to have Roman Reigns defeat Cody Rhodes in the main event of WrestleMania and hold onto the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship could be criticized and questioned by fans for years to come.

In the meantime, WWE is once again without a world champion. If there are no plans for Reigns to work Backlash and it's unknown when he'll be back, the talent of SmackDown and Raw are still left with nothing to vie for.

The Intercontinental Championship and the United States Championship have been booked extremely well in his absence, but stars such as Seth Rollins and Bobby Lashley can contend for those titles only so many times.

Having two world champs, or at least one full-time one, would greatly alleviate this issue. The belts could be split up in the WWE draft, but Reigns shouldn't relinquish either title until he is finally beaten.

The dilemma is difficult enough heading into an event like Backlash, but it will be far worse if he maintains his grasp on the gold through WrestleMania 40. The main event scenes on SmackDown and Raw are struggling, proving that Reigns' WrestleMania win may have done more harm than good.

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Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, has specialized in sports and entertainment writing since 2010. Visit his website, WrestleRant, and subscribe to his YouTube channel for more wrestling-related content.