WWE Overreactions: Lame Draft, Mustafa Ali's Scrapped Segment, Lana's Title Shot

The WWE draft dominated the headlines this week as the company shook things up while simultaneously building toward its Hell in a Cell pay-per-view on October 25.

But did the draft itself match the genuine excitement that typically surrounds it? 

The annual reshuffling of brands headlines this week's WWE overreactions, which also include the latest on Mustafa Ali's role as the leader of Retribution and the group's lack of presence on Raw, as well as Lana's unexpected championship opportunity.

Overreaction No. 1: Mustafa Ali's Scrapped Raw Segment Proves His Push is Doomed to Fail

There was cause for reasonable optimism when Mustafa Ali revealed himself as the leader of Retribution last week. The talented Superstar had bided his time and found himself at the forefront of a major angle on WWE television.

Best of all, the 34-year-old had earned the opportunity by way of his hard work and dedication, even in the face of creative frustration.

Monday was to be Ali's night, his opportunity to express all of that frustration in a much-anticipated promo segment hyped all weekend across WWE social media.

Then, it didn't happen.

Alfred Konuwa of Forbes wasted little time in saying the scrapped segment was essentially WWE dooming Ali's push to failure:

While some may look at that as an immediate overreaction based on one week of television, he has every reason to be wary.

Let's look at the initial reveal first. It happened in the second-to-last segment on the October 5 episode of Raw, a death spot most weeks. Not at the top of the hour, or the main event itself, but one segment before it.

The positioning of it on the show should have been a red flag to all involved that WWE Creative may not be as invested in the Retribution storyline as it had been. Fast forward a week and the fact that there were exactly zero follow-ups to the angle should sound the alarm. 

Sure, you could always suggest WWE didn't want to shoehorn a potentially star-making promo into a jam-packed show dominated by new Superstars, angles and draft segments, but why even promote it at that point? And why not follow it up?

There was no video package, and Retribution was totally absent from Monday's show. The only hint of them at all? Their photo plastered on the screen upon their drafting to Raw.

Ali, a smart performer who has always managed to make up for WWE Creative's shortcomings via his use of social media, has already covered for the conspicuously absent segment:

Still, one cannot help but think WWE's unwillingness to deliver on a promo that should have been one of the highlights of Monday's show is a sign of things to come for a faction that already has several creative factors working against it.

Will Ali get his opportunity to talk? Probably, but will it have the same impact it would have had it followed up on an angle that had social media buzzing a week earlier? Probably not, unless the company lets Ali loose, giving him freedom to speak his mind and voice his frustrations.

Otherwise, we could be in for a long fall of lackluster storytelling and a push (?) that makes Nexus look like The Four Horseman.

Overreaction: Warranted

Overreaction No. 2: Lana is a Terrible Wrestler and Doesn't Deserve a Title Shot

Monday's show brought with it the breakup of Lana's tag team with Natalya following yet another loss, this one to Mandy Rose and Dana Brooke.

Heartbroken, The Ravishing Russian entered the Dual-Brand Battle Royal to determine the No. 1 contender to the Raw Women's Championship held by Asuka with little chance of actually winning.

After all, we had been conditioned in the weeks leading into the match to believe she was the weak link of her team, an untalented wrestler and Nia Jax's favorite tackling dummy. To hammer home that last point, The Irresistible Force put her through a table in the middle of the Battle Royal for what felt like the third or fourth consecutive week.

However, it was merely a clever creative device to take her out of the match and off the minds of the viewers as the contest continued and Natalya appeared to pick up the win.

Then, just when you thought The Queen of Harts had returned to the spotlight, a recovered Lana came from out of nowhere and booted her former teammate to the floor, winning the match and setting herself up for an unlikely title opportunity.

This isn't about who the best wrestler is or how many stars her showdown with Asuka is going to get. This is storytelling. Lana had been underestimated, bullied and beaten up for weeks on end. She saw her friendship fizzle because of her own incompetence in the ring, and with nothing else to lose, she used her brain to pick up a huge upset Monday night.

And the emotion was real during Raw Talk afterward:

For a character that appeared to be in the dog house, eating pinfall after pinfall and taking table bump after table bump, her character arc in recent weeks has been as good as anyone.

Now, it's up to WWE Creative to pay it off in a way that does not end simply with a squash match for the title. Let her be resourceful. Let Lana stick around longer than anyone thought she could.

She absolutely should not win, but let that character gain some traction with fans and she will be of greater value than she ever was as the soapy second to Rusev, whose wedding and affair angles ended up duds.

Overreaction: Unnecessary, it's all part of her story

Overreaction No. 3: Lack of Big, Meaningful Moves Made for an Underwhelming WWE Draft

Seth Rollins headed to SmackDown for the first time in his singles career. "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt moved to Raw in an attempt to bolster its main event scene and get him away from uber heel Roman Reigns on Friday nights.

Braun Strowman moved to Raw, Kevin Owens went to SmackDown, and Sheamus jumped to red brand.

Yes, there were far too many talents staying put across the board, but there were five former world champions who made moves to a different brand during this year's draft. Throw in Jeff Hardy and Kofi Kingston heading to Raw and Dolph Ziggler moving back to SmackDown, and you have eight.

Oh, and arguably the most consistent star in WWE over the last five years, AJ Styles, makes nine.

Is there every likelihood WWE Creative falls back on the same tropes that have bogged down the overall quality of the company's product for years now despite the wealth of talent shuffled back and forth? Hell, yeah, but to suggest the draft wasn't a big deal or there weren't enough quality moves is just silly.

Anyone expecting WWE champion Drew McIntyre or universal titleholder Reigns to go anywhere, after the Raw and SmackDown creative teams had done so much to establish them as the faces of their shows, was being unrealistic from the start. 

Outside of shuffling them, there really wasn't any more WWE could have done to freshen up the rosters of the shows.

Overreaction: Unwarranted