WWE Mock Draft 2016: 20-Round Projections Ahead of Raw, SmackDown Brand Split

On Tuesday, July 19 during the first live broadcast of SmackDown, WWE will conduct a draft in order to split the Raw and SmackDown rosters and create competition between the brands.

Speculation has arisen about where many of the top Superstars in WWE will end up during the draft. With the possibility of wrestlers who are feuding being separated, tag teams breaking up and NXT stars getting the call-up to the main roster, major changes are expected following the 2016 WWE draft.

In preparation for the monumental occasion, here is a full 20-round mock draft for the Raw and SmackDown brands, as well as a look at the biggest question marks heading into the brand-split draft.

Raw Brand	Round	SmackDown Brand
Roman Reigns	1	Dean Ambrose
Seth Rollins	2	John Cena
Kevin Owens	3	AJ Styles
Bayley	4	Charlotte
Brock Lesnar	5	Sasha Banks
Bray Wyatt	6	Chris Jericho
Finn Balor	7	Randy Orton
Becky Lynch	8	Rusev
Colin Cassady	9	Chad Gable
Big E	10	Cesaro
Alberto Del Rio	11	Sami Zayn
Enzo Amore	12	The Undertaker
Sheamus	13	Karl Anderson
Baron Corbin	14	Luke Gallows
The Miz	15	Paige
Kofi Kingston	16	Jason Jordan
Natalya	17	Xavier Woods
Naomi	18	Neville
Braun Strowman	19	Big Show
Erick Rowan	20	Nikki Bella

Biggest Question Marks Heading into 2016 WWE Draft

Where Will John Cena and Roman Reigns Land?

Whether hardcore wrestling fans like it or not, John Cena and Roman Reigns are the two biggest face characters on the WWE roster right now. Naturally, most fans think they will be split up and each will represent a brand.

For Cena, the face of the company over the last decade is getting older and taking on more and more side projects. Not only would joining SmackDown allow the company to make the secondary brand feel just as important as Raw, but it would also allow Cena to miss time occasionally since there will be less scrutiny on SmackDown.

On the other hand, there are major questions surrounding Reigns and his future. After being suspended for 30 days due to a Wellness Policy violation, how WWE handles his push when he returns is an uncertainty. Reigns was handled as the top star in the company before the suspension, and with the company’s dedication to getting his character over in the past, he will likely be the first overall pick for the Raw brand.

With Reigns running point for Raw and Cena being the face of SmackDown, WWE officials would have their cornerstones in place as they attempt to create two brands that could conceivably compete with each other for similar television ratings.

Which Tag Teams Will Be Split Up?

One of the biggest storylines to watch during the draft will be which tag teams stay together and which are forced to break up by being drafted to different shows.

In the above mock draft, both the Raw and SmackDown brands went heavy on the tag teams to bolster their rosters. Raw took Colin Cassidy and Enzo Amore, as well as the tag team champions Big E and Kofi Kingston, but they missed out when Xavier Woods was drafted to SmackDown. American Alpha got the call-up as a featured act on the blue brand, and Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows reconnected on SmackDown as well.

Unlike previous WWE drafts, the company must stay away from splitting up top tag teams, but there is no doubt there will be at least one team broken up. The worst-case scenario would be splitting one member of the New Day away from the other two, so that’s exactly what will likely come to fruition.

With uncertainty about how the championships will be handled between the brands, the tag team division and the potential for team breakups makes the 2016 draft even more intriguing.

Which NXT Superstars Will Be Called Up to the Main Roster?

For hardcore wrestling fans, the biggest storyline heading into the WWE draft is which Superstars from the NXT brand will be called up to Raw and SmackDown.

With top names such as Finn Balor, Bayley, American Alpha and possibly more making the transition to the main roster, the WWE Universe is interested to see if their characters are handled correctly or if they get lost in the shuffle like former NXT stars Apollo Crews or Baron Corbin.

In the mock draft, both brands invested heavily in NXT. For Raw, taking Bayley as the cornerstone of the division—as well as Becky Lynch, Naomi and Natalya—shows the brand’s dedication to the women’s division. Adding Finn Balor also gives Raw a huge Superstar bonus, as The Demon is bound to be a top performer on the main roster. For SmackDown, the major call-up was the American Alpha tag team.

There are other big names such as Samoa Joe, Shinsuke Nakamura and Asuka who were not taken in the mock draft and could be selected by the Raw or SmackDown general managers. The hope is that most of the talent that is ready to be on the main roster makes the jump at the draft.

Both brands will need roster depth when the company splits Raw and SmackDown into two separate entities, so adding more talent from NXT will increase the number of Superstars on the main roster and satisfy the hardcore fans who are ready to see their favorite NXT stars arrive in the major leagues.

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