The Fourth of July celebrations are over, Kevin Durant turned heel by going to the Golden State Warriors and now we have something else to look forward to this summer: July 19’s WWE Draft on Smackdown Live.
It’s pretty easy to see why the WWE Draft leading to the second brand extension in company history is a reason to get excited. With Smackdown going live on July 19 with the draft taking place that night, WWE is expecting a big audience. A normal Smackdown audience on USA Network has been hovering around the two million viewers mark. That should could double that number and the hope is that whoever gets drafted to Smackdown will be enough to get those numbers up on a consistent basis.
What we know about the draft, following this past Monday’s Raw, is that Stephanie McMahon will be the Commissioner of Raw while her brother Shane McMahon will be the Commissioner of Smackdown. Each of them will also announce a General Manager to help run their shows. They must name their GMs as soon as this Monday night on Raw.
Since we’re in 2016, I figured it would be a good idea to write about 16 items that we – the “WWE Universe,” as the company likes to call us – are looking forward to for the rest of the year. The order doesn’t matter that much. They are just talking points.
1. Everything about the brand extension
We are less than a week away from the WWE Draft, yet WWE hasn’t filled us in with all the details yet. Who is eligible to be drafted? Is a second World Championship coming back? What titles will be on what show? Will tag teams be split up? Will every pick take place on the July 19 episode of Smackdown or will more of them be done after the show?
It looks like there will be World Titles, based off of news from reliable sources. After that, they’ll probably put the Intercontinental Title on Raw and the US Title goes to Smackdown or vice versa. It wouldn’t shock me if there were two sets of tag team titles and two titles for the women as well, but that’s more of a guess at this point.
While WWE may come across as if they have planned this thing out well, I’m not sure if that’s true. The only way to know for sure is when the draft takes place and the separate brands start rolling to end the year.
That July 19 episode of Smackdown is going to be huge. I’m excited about it.
2. A heel turn for Roman Reigns
Roman Reigns is currently sitting at home serving a 30-day suspension for a Wellness Policy violation. He will miss the July 19 draft show, but will be back for the July 24 Battleground event where he will challenge Dean Ambrose for the WWE Title in a three-way match along with Seth Rollins.
Since WWE addressed the suspension on the June 27 edition of Raw, my guess is that Reigns will address at some point when he comes back. Whether that’s at Battleground or the Raw or Smackdown episode after, they really can’t ignore it.
My hope is that WWE will turn Roman Reigns heel soon after he returns from the suspension. It doesn’t have to happen at Battleground or even the next time he’s on TV. But if they do it soon after he comes back, it would be the best thing for him because a lot of fans were booing him now. Now that he’s got the Wellness Policy violation under his belt, they might boo him even more.
3. Brock Lesnar’s WWE career after his victory at UFC 200
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4k71T-4SzF8
Brock Lesnar is likely going to be a part of the July 19 WWE Draft. He hasn’t been advertised for it, but the expectation is that most of the people on the WWE roster will be there. Following Lesnar’s impressive UFC 200 victory last Saturday, his stock is as high as ever.
I’m intrigued by what WWE might do with Lesnar because it’s important to strike while the iron is hot. WWE must capitalize on the momentum he has coming out of the UFC victory. Does that mean a WWE Title win in his future? It might, because there’s no better way of telling people he’s the man than putting that title around his waist again.
What we do know at least for the short term is that he’s facing Randy Orton at SummerSlam on Aug. 21. After that, it’s not known what his WWE schedule is or if he will fight in the UFC again. Although if I had to bet on it, I think he’ll definitely fight again, possibly in December. Why wouldn’t he? He got paid over $2 million for one fight and that number will climb after PPV buys roll in.
Look for Lesnar to be one of the top draft picks on Raw or Smackdown. It wouldn’t surprise me if he’s holding the WWE Title soon as well.
4. Finn Balor on the main roster
The NXT performer that fans would say is the readiest to be on the main roster is former NXT Champion Finn Balor. He has everything needed to be on Raw or Smackdown because he can have great matches, he can talk and he has the charisma to get people’s attention. Plus, his “Demon” entrance with the body paint is unlike anything in WWE today.
I’m interested to see what he does with AJ Styles. It was Balor that originally led the Bullet Club in New Japan Pro Wrestling with Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson by his side. He left for WWE, then Styles became the leader and now Styles leads G&A as part of The Club. If Balor is on the same show as all three of them, is he an ally or an enemy? I think either role would work for him.
Balor could fit so many roles and I think WWE is really high on him, so much so that he might be a main event player right away.
5. Bayley on the main roster
While Balor is the male wrestler most ready for WWE’s main roster, Bayley is clearly the most popular female wrestler in NXT. She has been for at least two years now. While her “Four Horsewomen” friends Charlotte, Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch thrive on the main roster, she was used to put over Asuka for the NXT Women’s Title. What else can she do in NXT? Not much, really.
She could get called up to the main roster for the July 19 draft, but it wouldn’t shock me if they held off a bit because of so many other NXT talents that may get called up. They could end up saving her until after SummerSlam in August.
Whenever they move her up, it’s clear that Bayley will be a major player in the women’s division. It’s where she belongs.
6. Bray Wyatt’s future
Bray Wyatt is a guy that many people had pegged to be a World Champion in WWE by now. Even though he’s main evented a few pay-per-view events, he isn’t considered a top guy. Currently, Wyatt’s part of a six-man feud with his Wyatt Family against the New Day trio. After that, there’s no telling where he might be placed on the roster.
In order for WWE to really get Wyatt in a main event position, they need to start booking him as a threat that has strong backup in Braun Strowman, Erick Rowan and Luke Harper when Harper returns from his torn ACL injury.
The brand extension could be huge for Wyatt. The average fan may have forgotten how much of a big star he can be if used the right way, but I feel like his career is going to take off in the next six months leading into WrestleMania next year.
7. AJ Styles winning a World Title
The best performer in WWE so far in 2016? That’s AJ Styles. He’s been great in terms of having outstanding matches with a number of different opponents and the heel turn he did against John Cena has set him up for a future World Title win.
Since the two World Titles are likely to happen by the time we get to SummerSlam next month, it makes sense to put some gold on him in the near future. Whether that’s Raw or Smackdown, we just don’t know at this time.
It’s also going to be interesting to see how long Styles is in the heel role because he’s such a natural face. Fans want to cheer for him because he’s the “phenomenal one” after all. I get the sense that the heel run won’t even last until the end of the year, but you never know what WWE might be thinking either.
8. Shinsuke Nakamura and Samoa Joe keeping things interesting in NXT
Following Shinsuke Nakamura’s victory over Finn Balor on this past Wednesday’s NXT show, the expectation is that he’ll face Samoa Joe for the NXT Title at NXT Takeover Brooklyn on August 20. It would be the first time they have a televised match in WWE.
One of the good things about NXT is that it’s a platform to deliver great matches that we can’t see on WWE’s main roster. With that said, it’s also weird that guys in their mid-to late-30s like Nakamura and Joe are wrestling on what was once considered the developmental show for stars of the future.
Should both guys be on the main roster right now? Absolutely. However, WWE needs some star power in NXT, so for this summer at least they will still be there. Once they are out of NXT, the brand will really start to suffer, but the main roster is more important and those shows will benefit from the presence of these two awesome talents.
9. The future of tag teams
There are a lot of questions surrounding WWE’s tag teams going into the draft. That’s because WWE commentators talk all the time about what things might be like if teams were forced to break up. The thought of some teams breaking up – like Enzo & Cass or The New Day – makes me groan because they have such great acts together. If they were forced to break up those teams, would they be better off? I really don’t think so.
What about the Wyatt Family? Wouldn’t it make a lot of sense if, for example, Bray Wyatt gets drafted to Raw and then Braun Strowman or Erick Rowan gets drafted to Smackdown right away. By doing that, the Commissioner of Smackdown (Shane McMahon) would be breaking up the Wyatt Family trio and making them less powerful.
It’s going to be interesting to see if WWE decides to go with two sets of Tag Team Titles because if they do that then they need to bring up some NXT teams such as the American Alpha duo of Jason Jordan and Chad Gable. They’ll need others as well because in order to have a true “division” they will need at least 5-7 teams per show.
10. Women’s wrestling getting more of a spotlight
It’s been one year since Sasha Banks, Charlotte and Becky Lynch debuted on Raw to start what was first called the “Divas Revolution.” Now that WWE has dumped the “divas” term, it’s back to calling it “Women’s Wrestling,” while WWE tries to tell us that women’s wrestling is as strong as ever? Is it really, though? Nope.
As much as WWE likes to talk about how much of a spotlight the women are getting, there have been many instances where they are stuck having two- or three-minute matches that feel forced. Instead of really giving them a chance to shine, they’re still in the background while somebody like Banks was barely on TV for three months because they wanted to save her for a summer feud with Charlotte over the Women’s Title.
A reason to be optimistic is that maybe WWE can focus on the women’s division more now that they don’t have to book the same men on both shows. It could lead to better women’s matches, more meaningful times and most importantly, more time on television.
11. Bobby Roode’s role in NXT
Bobby Roode, who is a former TNA Champion that recently signed with WWE, has yet to debut on NXT as a wrestler although he will be there very soon. (No spoilers!) He recently worked WWE’s NXT tour in England and has worked other live events, so it’s safe to say that he is officially a WWE guy now.
Roode is 39 years old, which means he’s already one of the oldest guys on the entire WWE roster. While NXT is seen as a developmental program for some wrestlers, guys like Roode are there to give it some name value and to have some great matches along the way.
It wouldn’t surprise me if he gets slotted into a NXT Title feud fairly soon, because I think WWE is going be impressed by him quickly and he should be on the main roster by next year.
12. The Cruiserweight Classic offering something different
The Cruiserweight Classic is a 10-week tournament that started this past Wednesday on WWE Network at 9 p.m. ET right after NXT. It was a showcase for some non-contracted WWE performers to step into a WWE ring and show what they can do in front of a crowd that isn’t familiar with all of them. Some of the guys are under WWE deals like Johnny Gargano, Tomasso Ciampa and Rich Swann while others like Cedric Alexander are known from Ring of Honor.
The favorites to win the tournament are Japanese star Kota Ibushi and British wrestler Zack Sabre Jr., who are on opposite sides of the tournament and likely will meet in the finals.
What does the winner get? WWE hasn’t said that yet. It could be a new Cruiserweight Title to be defended on NXT or perhaps the main roster somewhere. It’s likely that WWE is going to sign of them to exclusive deals following the tournament. How many people many is anyone’s guess, but I would suggest it’s a good idea to keep watching because these guys are some of the stars of WWE’s future too.
13. Midcard wrestlers that can become main eventers
One of the best things about WWE’s brand extension is that it will allow people to ascend to the top in an easier way because you only have half the roster to climb over instead of having to deal with everybody. When the original brand extension started in 2002, we saw guys like Eddie Guerrero, John Bradshaw Layfield, Edge and Rey Mysterio among others emerge as first time World Champions that became main event guys.
In looking at today’s WWE roster, there are several upper midcard wrestlers that could become first time World Champions in the next two or three years. Guys like Cesaro, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn and the aforementioned Bray Wyatt immediately come to mind. Then there could be younger guys like Apollo Crews that find a way to emerge as well. Perhaps a guy like Zack Ryder could get there too. It may sound laughable to you now, but you never know what might happen.
When thinking of the brand extension, it’s important to realize just how much the roster depth is the big reason why they are doing it in the first place. There are over 120 contracted WWE performers if you count main roster and NXT. It’s the only way to really utilize everybody.
14. Will the No. 1 overall draft pick live up to the hype?
In the world of pro sports, there’s always a lot of hype about who the top draft pick will be. Whether it’s a great pick like LeBron James or a bad pick like Greg Oden, fans will always debate about that first selection because of the spotlight on that person. It comes with the territory.
For the WWE draft, there’s a lot of interest in who should go first. If it was me, the choice would be Seth Rollins, just because I think he’s the overall package at the peak of his career (he’s 30 years old) and has many more World Title reigns in his future. It could be argued that Dean Ambrose should be the first pick, though, because he’s the current WWE Champion. Then there’s Roman Reigns, who despite being suspended for 30 days, still has a lot to look forward to in his career. Brock Lesnar is another name that comes to mind, even though he will only work four or five matches in the year. You can’t deny his star power.
The first and only true draft in WWE history took place in 2002. They used the “draft” term in the years that followed, but that was really more of a lottery. In that 2002 draft, The Rock was the first pick. Was it smart? Not really, because he was gone from WWE as a full-timer within a year.
Pro wrestling is at its best when it feels real or when it feels like a true sport. By doing a draft, it will feel like a true sport. Let’s just hope they book it in a way that makes sense because if they mess up the draft in a major way, it will get things off on the wrong foot rather quickly.
15. John Cena’s future in WWE
Cena’s at an interesting point in his career because he’s 39 years old, working a limited WWE live events schedule for the first time in his 14-year run and doing a lot of other ventures outside of the ring. This past week, he did a pretty good job of hosting the ESPY Awards and also signed a new deal working on reality TV projects with the Leftfield Production company.
Is he going to completely step away from WWE like The Rock did in the early 2000s? Probably not… at least not yet. Cena has said all the right things of late by commenting that there’s nothing better than being in front of a live crowd and how he loves it. However, if he keeps landing film roles and more television hosting gigs, then perhaps he’ll be keen on doing a career where he isn’t bumping on a mat anymore.
As for his role in WWE storylines going forward, it’s expected that he’ll be a high pick on either Raw or Smackdown. Is he the first pick, though? Maybe not. If he goes in round three or four, then WWE could work it into an angle about whether or not he has what it takes to be “the man” anymore.
Also, don’t forget that Cena is sitting at 15 World Title reigns in his career. One more and he ties the 16-time record held by Ric Flair. I feel like he’s going to reach that milestone, but it may not be this year.
16. A ridiculous amount of WWE content that is spoiling wrestling fans whether we know it or not
Just to give you an idea of how much content WWE is putting out there, let’s take a look at what they have planned for SummerSlam weekend.
Saturday August 20 – NXT Takeover Brooklyn (2+ hours).
Sunday August 21 – SummerSlam is 4+ hours assuming they do what they did last year.
Monday August 22 – Raw for three hours.
Tuesday August 23 –Smackdown for two hours.
Wednesday August 24 – NXT & Cruiserweight Classic back to back.
Add it all up and that’s 13 hours of WWE content for five days in a row. I’m not sure if even the most hardcore fans are going to watch that much while the casual viewers will pick and choose a lot more.
The reason I pointed that out is because there are so many fans that complain about the simplest things in wrestling. Yet if we really think about it, the good old days may not have been that good to begin with. It’s just something we remember fondly because we were young.
Final Thoughts
There is reason for optimism in the second half of 2016 because of how talented WWE’s roster is. More PPV events means longer matches, which means better matches because look at how talented the people are on their shows.
While it’s going to mean a lot of content that may be tough to digest at times, if it’s not going to cost us more money then why should we complain? Just turn on USA Network or WWE Network, keep an open mind and hope that WWE find the right formula to make 2016 one of their best years ever.
