WWE Draft 2011 Results: Biggest Winners and Losers of the Supplemental Draft

Welcome to part 2 of "Biggest Winners and Losers of the 2011 WWE Draft."  (To see part 1, go here)  This installment will take a look at the supplemental draft that took place earlier today. 

22 superstars and divas were selected in this year’s supplemental draft, bringing the grand total of picks to 30.  WWE continued with their previous goal to try and beef up the SmackDown roster after the unfortunately abrupt retirement of Edge. 

I feel that the supplemental draft did a better job of helping the SmackDown roster than the previous night’s televised draft, but, of course, things were not perfect.

So who were the winners and losers of the supplemental draft?  Let’s take a look.

Drew McIntyre: WIN

With the 18th overall pick in the 2011 draft, Drew McIntyre was moved from SmackDown to Raw.

I like that McIntyre has been put on WWE’s top show.  He has been with the company too long to have gone without any sort of decent feud or reaction from the crowd. 

By being on Raw, McIntyre will have a greater opportunity to succeed.  He was labeled as “The Chosen One” but has yet to make anything out of that name.  Hopefully with a new home on Raw, McIntyre will finally be able to become “The Chosen One.”

With the abundance of heels on Raw, I don’t see McIntyre making a huge impact right away, but if things work out, within a short period of time, McIntyre will be making weekly impacts on the mid-card and work his way up from there.

Raw Divas Division: WIN

Raw’s divas division received a huge boost from the supplemental draft, and Kharma, formally known as Awesome Kong, hasn’t even debuted yet.

With the 13th and 29th picks of the draft, Raw received Kelly Kelly and Beth Phoenix.  While Raw also lost Tamina, Natalya and Alicia Fox to SmackDown, the acquisition of two of the biggest names in the divas division has definitely strengthened Raw’s roster.

With Kharma likely joining the Raw brand, Beth Phoenix will probably be the only Diva who will be able to compete with her. 

The pairing will undoubtedly be able to put on some spectacular matches and give the diva’s division the boost they need.

I’d also love to see Michael Cole try to get up and interrupt a match between The Glamazon and Kharma.

Look for the divas to make a much bigger impact on Raw, bringing the division out of the dark.

Wade Barrett: LOSS

Wade Barrett and the rest of The Corre have been fighting a losing battle for months now.  With the inevitable break up, WWE had the perfect opportunity to move one or more members of The Corre to Raw and prevent them from slipping any further into obscurity.

Unfortunately, every member of The Corre is still on SmackDown.  Their break up and continuing pseudo-feud will likely now continue for another month or longer. 

Not to mention that the United States Champion, Sheamus, was drafted to SmackDown, which has resulted in both mid card titles being placed on the same brand. 

This will likely cause both titles to lose some of their prestige unless one of them can be somehow transferred back to Raw.

Hopefully, Barrett can rid himself of the Intercontinental Title quickly and force himself into the main event picture. 

With the loss of Alberto Del Rio to Raw, there is an opening for more heels in the main event.  Barrett needs to step up and take that empty spot or he could end up stuck in the mid-card for far too long.

Kofi Kingston: WIN

Kofi was drafted back to Raw with the 23rd pick of the draft.

This is good news for Kingston, who has been stuck with poor feuds and virtually no push since his well-received feud with Randy Orton. 

By moving back to Raw, he will have the chance to feud with some of WWE’s top superstars, possibly making his way back toward the main event, where he was headed during the feud with Orton.

Kingston might also be the person who could bring one of the mid-card titles back to Raw.  I could see him being placed in a last-minute match with Wade Barrett for the Intercontinental Title at Extreme Rules. 

If he wins the title and brings it to Raw, it will be the push he needs in the right direction.

Alex Riley: WIN

Alex Riley was drafted to SmackDown, switching brands with the 29th pick of the draft.

This is the best thing that could have happened for Riley.  With a new home on Friday nights, Riley will finally be able to step out of The Miz’s shadow and now has the opportunity to make a name for himself.

Since joining the main roster after his appearance on NXT, Riley has been nothing but a background character in The Miz’s quest to win and retain the WWE Championship. 

His only matches have been either tag team matches with The Miz or in matches with The Miz’s future opponents.  He has never been able to strike out on his own and have a match that matters only to him.

On SmackDown, Riley will finally be able to do what he couldn’t on Raw, and there might be a United States title in the near future for him.

Zack Ryder: LOSS

Zack Ryder is probably the most popular superstar in WWE relative to the amount of time he spends on television. 

His YouTube videos titled “Z! True Long Island Story” have become a huge hit, and fans across the WWE universe were crying for him to be drafted to SmackDown.  Unfortunately when the draft ended, Zack Ryder’s name was nowhere to be seen.

Though he is technically a member of the Raw roster, Ryder has recently only been making sporadic appearances on Superstars. 

He took part in the live WWE chat that took place during the supplemental draft and was quoted as saying that he didn’t care where he went as long as he was “somewhere other than superstars.

You can’t blame him.  For someone with so much talent and charisma, he is stuck in a position where he cannot progress his character any further. 

Hopefully, even though he was not drafted to SmackDown, WWE will begin to utilize him on Raw.  If not, Ryder might be without a job in the coming months.

Jack Swagger: LOSS

Swagger moved from SmackDown to Raw with the 10th pick of the draft.  While this seems like a good move, especially since he has been appearing on Raw with the current feud between Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler, it was the other moves in the draft that make his new home on Raw a tougher place.

I see Jack Swagger as a constant challenger for WWE gold.  With the addition of Alberto Del Rio to a roster that already included The Miz and CM Punk, there is very little room in the main event for another heel contender. 

With Sheamus being drafted to SmackDown, there is also no mid card title on Raw.  It seems like Jack Swagger may not have much to do when his role as trainer to Michael Cole runs dry.

Hopefully either the US or Intercontinental titles makes their way back to Raw, otherwise Swagger may be in trouble.

Raw and SmackDown: WIN

Both rosters were shaken up, and yet both Raw and SmackDown seem to have benefited from the 2011 draft.

SmackDown found its replacement for Edge with Randy Orton during the televised draft, but they also received many great superstars to improve their mid card during the supplemental draft. 

Daniel Bryan, Sheamus, Ted DiBiase and Alex Riley (as well as Sin Cara and Mark Henry, who switched brands on Monday) can all make an instant impact and create some great new feuds on Friday nights.

Meanwhile, Raw now has Chris Masters, Tyler Reks and Drew McIntyre, three superstars who have the potential to make a huge impact and really have breakout years on their new brand. 

All three have the potential to be some of the top names in the business in the next several years.

Hopefully the young superstars who now have new homes make the best of it and are allowed to grow into the future of WWE.