WWE Draft Results: Biggest Unanswered Questions After Raw, SmackDown Brand Split

Tuesday night's WWE draft left fans both cheering and confused. As Raw and SmackDown looked to build their brands by adding superstars, champions and NXT prospects, uncertainty lay under all the buzz.  

What lies ahead for The Club is unclear. Heath Slater's future is undetermined, and fans have yet to learn what WWE has planned for its championships and calendar following the brand split.

WWE only had two hours on Tuesday's draft-heavy SmackDown to divide the roster in two and set up the foundation of reconfigured versions of its two major shows.

We found out that Finn Balor will be a part of Raw. John Cena will be in position to help SmackDown regain prestige. The major players are in place. It's mostly the administrative side of things that needs clearing up. 

Moving back to a brand split is certain to change what the WWE schedule looks like and the number of titles up for grabs. The audience will be anxious to see questions about those issues answered in the coming weeks. 

Is a 2nd World Championship on the Way?

When all the picks were in on draft night, Raw ended up with the United States, women's and tag team titleholders. SmackDown, meanwhile, nabbed the intercontinental champ and Dean Ambrose, the reigning WWE world champion.

That division of titles could work as is, but it's not clear whether WWE wants each show to have its own top titleholder.

That's how things worked with the previous brand split. Both the WWE Championship and the World Heavyweight Championship served as top prizes, with each strap limited to either Raw or SmackDown.

Not reintroducing that two-title system would be a great chance to elevate the United States Championship. Rusev, by default, would be Raw's No. 1 champ. Positioning him as the show's headliner would add prestige to the belt.

But don't count on things unfolding that way.

SmackDown choosing Ambrose makes it more likely that WWE is bringing back another world title. As much as the company is trying to hype SmackDown, Raw remains the flagship, three-hour show. And WWE won't let the flagship lack world championship pedigree for long.

Who Will Comprise the Cruiserweight Division?

A celebration of underdogs and athletic dynamos is on the way. Nine years after WWE deactivated the Cruiserweight Championship, Raw commissioner Stephanie McMahon announced that her show will feature an exclusive cruiserweight division.

How that will look and whether that means the return of the cruiserweight title isn't clear yet. And as of now, the Raw roster isn't equipped with enough smaller wrestlers to fill out a whole division.

Among Raw's draftees, Balor, Xavier Woods, Neville and Sin Cara fit the cruiserweight bill. Kalisto would have been a great fit in that group, but he's instead headed to SmackDown. That move surprised many, including indy wrestler Gran Akuma:

Even with Kalisto, though, McMahon's proposed division would need to add wrestlers.

The ongoing Cruiserweight Classic tournament is likely the place where Raw grabs the necessary talent. The event is showcasing wrestlers who aren't signed with WWE. Expect that to change. The tournament will act as a tryout of sorts, with strong performances from these free agents helping to convince the company to bring them aboard.

Welcoming Kota Ibushi, Zack Sabre Jr. and Akira Tozawa would suddenly leave the cruiserweight division pulsing with potential.

Will The Club Become The Balor Club?

The draft disassembled The Club. SmackDown drafted AJ Styles, and Raw selected Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson. 

Gallows and Anderson, though, may have a new general to lead the way. The two bruisers are now on the same show as Balor, the man who headed The Bullet Club in New Japan Pro Wrestling.

Ever since Gallows and Anderson arrived on the WWE stage, speculation has been rampant about whether the company would revisit their alliance with Balor. Gallows and Anderson took on a modified version of their NJPW group's name; Balor sported "Balor Club" T-shirts.

Do those two entities merge on Monday nights?

That would be an easy way to introduce Balor. He would leap into a pre-existing storyline, lean on already established chemistry and make headlines by ousting Styles from the faction. 

If WWE doesn't go that route, it will be a shocker.

How Will the Pay-Per-Views Work?

Is each PPV going to feature both brands? Will Raw and SmackDown alternate shows each month? 

We don't know. There was no mention of the new system during the draft—no clue as to how the calendar will change. Freelance writer Tom Beasley was among those perplexed by WWE not making things clearer:

Fans have had to turn to rumors for info. An image of the PPV schedule allegedly leaked online (h/t Bill Pritchard of Wrestle Zone) showing that Raw would take over Hell in a Cell and Roadblock, while SmackDown would run the returning Backlash and No Mercy events.

WWE hasn't confirmed any of this. Answers are sure to come after Battleground, the last PPV before the brand split becomes official.

Going with two PPVs a month would be overkill. Talk about not allowing space for anticipation to grow. WWE has never had issues with excess, though.

Where Will the Free Agents End Up?

Round after round went by, but Tamina Snuka, Emma and Luke Harper didn't find a home by the end of the night. That's a result of injury, not oversight.

As the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Twitter account pointed out, Harper wasn't available because of being hurt:

But when Harper and others are healthy, where do they go?

WWE doesn't have to decide that until each wrestler is cleared. The company can play things by ear. If it feels that SmackDown's women's division is in need of more talent, it can send Emma there. If it wants Harper to reunite with Bray Wyatt, it can assign him to SmackDown, or else venture on his own on Raw.

Undertaker didn't get drafted either. With as infrequently as he wrestles, especially on TV, he may not get an official brand assignment. The Deadman may well just show up wherever he pleases. 

Slater went undrafted, too.

Strangely enough, the last pick never happened. Instead, Slater sat in a room by himself, upset to be left out of the fun.

This will end up being a running gag for a while. WWE could have easily made Slater Mr. Irrelevant and slapped him at the bottom of the Raw roster, but it looks instead like it will make a storyline out of this, having Slater complain to the higher-ups.

Both of his fellow Social Outcasts, Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel, are on Raw. The obvious move is just have him follow them there. But that's no certainty. The draft left The Wyatt Family incomplete. 

The next few editions of Raw and SmackDown will have an added reason to tune in. The infrastructure of the New Era will be constructed before our very eyes.

WWE looks to be figuring out some elements of the brand extension as it goes. It may not know answers to some of these questions itself just yet.