WWE Draft 2011: Do We Really Need It?

The draft was originally designed when the brand extension took place. It was an opportunity to capitalise on the fact they were treating the two shows, Raw and SmackDown, as different entities. This was due to the recent influx of talent caused by the acquisition of all its competition at the time—WCW and ECW.

Each show took turns in deciding which superstar would appear exclusively on which brand. The first was in 2002 and it became an annual event from 2004, which coincidentally, is not long after the separate brands also hosted all pay-per-views barring the big four exclusively, dividing them up in the year.

So, the draft lottery was designed to shake up the rosters every year and give the fans different contests that they wouldn’t have been able to see on pay-per-view otherwise. This allowed the programming to stay fresh and people to continue tuning in.

The decision to make the pay-per-views non-exclusive after WrestleMania 23 meant that both Raw and SmackDown superstars would once again compete on the same pay-per-views and this is when the draft began to become meaningless and pointless in many people’s eyes.

Superstars began appearing on brands they were not drafted to, they were swapped with no word of warning or explanation—you only have to look at the past six months to see at least three instances of that happening.

What is the point of the draft, if the superstars aren’t going to stay drafted?

It still needs to be here regardless of how many times a superstar appears on another brand because it gives a reason to change Superstars to different brands. It prevents people—to an extent—from thinking that superstars are free to swap between brands whenever they please.

The counter argument to this obviously is the fact that they seem to have been doing that for a long time now anyway. There are many examples over the past five months where this has been happening.

Take Dolph Ziggler for example—he just switched to Raw after everything going for him on SmackDown ended.

Secondly, the brands are still split up and while this is the case, there will always be a draft because it legitimises them as separate entities. This means that they still need their own superstars to represent each brand.

This will also be the case for as long as the Bragging Rights pay-per-view exists—which is dependent on the brands staying separate.

It could be argued that the brands should be separated, especially now they don’t host their own pay-per-view events—and that the draft lottery is one of the only things preventing this from happening. 

It would seem that the WWE is in a vicious cycle as far as the brands are concerned. It could also be argued that having two world championships is another reason for the continued separation of Raw and SmackDown.  

The final argument for the draft lottery is that, despite the many changes that occur throughout the year, the actual draft still provides excitement and new feuds—even more so if Championships are traded.

It gives the WWE a chance to basically have a fresh start every year and create new, exciting storylines that couldn’t have happened with the previous rosters.

Obviously, the opposite argument is that some will think that these feuds could be explained with different situations, rather than just a draft lottery. Sometimes it feels like superstars are just feuding because they are forced to.

It can also backfire as feuds and tag teams are cut short or cut completely in favor of doing something unexpected. The biggest disappointment is the drafting of Jim Ross to SmackDown, in my opinion.

The final point I have to make is that despite the influx of articles on Bleacher Report regarding the draft, I believe that the IWC has completely lost interest in the concept of the draft.

I believe it has run its course and I think that it breaks too many careers and makes too little.

We need a change in WWE. After looking at the arguments I have presented to you bleachers, what side are you on?

Are you for the draft, or are you against it?

Please let me know your views on the draft and its importance. I do my best to reply to all comments that warrant it, as you well know.

I will be back tomorrow with another article regarding the draft.