“It’s time to shake things up again!” Boy, WWE really has used that quote for every WWE Draft show for over a decade.
Sure enough, the time is upon us once again for WWE to hit the shuffle button on their roster. With the 2021 WWE Draft taking place on October 1 and October 4, we are looking back at some of the most impactful picks in WWE history.
The vast majority of WWE Draft picks amount to very little. The entire 2007 draft was null and void by the same time next year, for example.
However, sometimes there are picks that hit big. These are picks that had the biggest impacts on the careers of the stars involved and on the show they were drafted to.
These are the 12 most impactful WWE Draft Picks in history.
12. Christian to SmackDown – 2010
We will start off this list with one that you might not think of when you think of great WWE Draft picks. That being Christian being moved to SmackDown in 2010.
He had been on Raw for about two months after ECW was dissolved and did precisely nothing of note. The change of scenery did Christian a ton of good, finally reaching the main event scene a year later.
His rivalry with Randy Orton over the World Heavyweight Championship was the highlight of SmackDown in 2011 and it was the longest period of sustained success in Christian’s WWE career.
Had he remained on Raw, we would have all missed out.
11. Daniel Bryan to SmackDown – 2011
The only entry on this list to come from a Supplemental Draft, Daniel Bryan being moved to SmackDown was a blessing for his career in 2011.
After losing the United States Championship to Sheamus, Bryan had very little to do on Raw. He still struggled for a few months after being moved to SmackDown but that all changed when he won the Money in the Bank contract.
The brand split was largely done away with by mid-2012 but during Bryan’s run on SmackDown up to that point, he came into his own as a character for the first time in WWE.
This is where he won his first World Championship and it is where he started the Yes chants. More need not be said.
10. The Miz to Raw – 2009
The Miz was a goofball heel teaming with John Morrison in ECW before the 2009 WWE Draft. The duo had been appearing on all three brand with reigns as both WWE and World Tag Team Champions but this is where their partnership came to an end.
Miz and Morrison were in the ring when Miz was drafted to Raw and they shared a warm embrace before Miz hit the Reality Check to end their team on a sour note.
Not many would have picked The Miz to be the major star of their team but this draft pick started his ascent which culminated in him winning Money in the Bank and the WWE Championship a year later.
The Miz remained a fixture of Monday Night Raw until the reintroduction of the brand split in 2016.
9. Edge to Raw – 2004
Returning from his broken neck in 2004, Edge was drafted to the Raw brand. This was his first time off SmackDown since the brand split began in 2002 and it was here that he made the biggest strides.
He quickly turned heel and his manic character led him to success, winning the first Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania 21.
Edge was a mainstay of Raw for three years, having the brand’s best rivalries in 2006 as he wrestled Mick Foley and John Cena.
Edge is unquestionably remembered more as a SmackDown star but it was on Raw that he got his big break.
8. Roman Reigns to Raw – 2016
Roman Reigns was not beloved by the WWE fans in 2016 but there are few with longer runs on top of a brand than Reigns on Raw after 2016.
Despite not being taken in the first round, Reigns was the company’s golden goose at the time. He main evented WrestleMania in 2017 and 2018 and was consistently pushed hard during that time, much to the audience’s chagrin.
Reigns didn’t change much as a performer during this time but the impact he made on the brand is unquestionable.
7. Roman Reigns to SmackDown – 2019
Roman Reigns back to back, how about that. Reigns has spent less time on SmackDown than he did on Raw but it is hard to argue that he hasn’t done his best work on the Blue Brand.
Since returning at SummerSlam 2020 as a heel, Reigns has consistently been a highlight of SmackDown. He has been Universal Champion for over a year and has been in WWE’s best long-term storyline in recent memory with The Usos.
Had Reigns not been on SmackDown during the Thunderdome era, that show would have been an especially rough watch.
6. Bayley to SmackDown – 2019
As much as Roman Reigns has meant to SmackDown over the last year, Bayley has meant just as much and for even longer.
Bayley’s run as a babyface on Raw was dragged down significantly by WWE’s insistence on using babyfaces to get heels over. It should be the other way around but I digress.
Moving to SmackDown in 2019 in the Superstar Shake-Up (not quite a WWE Draft but its close enough), Bayley turned heel and was the MVP of the Performance Center era of the show.
With major stars like Reigns and Sami Zayn gone due to the pandemic, Bayley stepped up and put on some of the best work of her career.
5. Seth Rollins to Raw – 2016
The first overall pick in the 2016 WWE Draft, Seth Rollins turned Monday Night Raw into Monday Night Rollins.
He may not have been pushed as hard as Roman Reigns during his time on Raw but Raw felt more like Seth Rollins’ show. The same way that SmackDown had been The Undertaker, Edge and Rey Mysterio’s show during the 2000s.
Rollins’ run was not always smooth. His botched babyface turn in 2016 and his terrible run with The Fiend in 2019 put a damper on his overall impact but no one had a bigger impact on Raw as a brand after the 2016 WWE Draft than Rollins.
4. Batista to SmackDown – 2005
When a certain someone was drafted to Raw in 2005, SmackDown was briefly left without a World Champion.
Step right up World Heavyweight Champion Batista you get to go blue! Batista’s WWE career had primarily been on Raw up to this point. He was part of Evolution, eventually winning the World title from Triple H at WrestleMania 21.
Moving to SmackDown was a big test for Batista, and one that was not always smooth. His 2006 was pretty miserable but his 2007 more than made up for it.
Feuding with Edge and The Undertaker on SmackDown throughout 2007 made the show must-see and it was the best period of Batista’s career. Also if you look at how many pay-per-views in a row he competed for the World title during this time it is absolutely nutty.
Batista, Edge and The Undertaker properly defined SmackDown for an era and Batista had a lot to do with it.
3. Kurt Angle to SmackDown – 2002
The 2002 WWE Draft was difficult to analyze for this list. You might think that names like The Rock and The Undertaker would have to make this list but really that is not the case.
Many of the biggest names involved left the company or switched brands entirely just a few months later. One who didn’t was Kurt Angle who was moved to SmackDown.
Angle was famously part of the SmackDown Six, who defined the early days of SmackDown post Brand Split. However, he picked up the pace, becoming the face of the brand during one of its strongest periods.
His rivalry with Brock Lesnar involved perhaps the best match in SmackDown history with their Iron Man match in September 2003 and his ongoing rivalries with Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit were some of the best to ever come out of the Blue Brand.
Of all the picks in the first WWE Draft, Kurt Angle undoubtedly had the biggest impact.
2. AJ Styles to SmackDown – 2016
AJ Styles was a name on the rise in WWE after his debut at the Royal Rumble in 2016. He had just turned heel when he was taken in the first round of the 2016 WWE Draft, moving to SmackDown where he would make his home.
SmackDown became known as the House that AJ Styles built after the reintroduction of the Brand Split. Considering the work he put in on the show, it is hard to argue with that monicker.
His first reign as WWE Champion came immediately after the Draft, beating Dean Ambrose at Backlash. From there he solidified himself as WWE’s top performer at the time with great defenses and a solid second reign lasting over a year from 2017-2018.
Everyone moves around so much these days that it is hard for a star to feel linked to a brand but Styles and SmackDown are still synonymous even with him wrestling on Raw these days.
1. John Cena to Raw – 2005
John Cena was still incredibly rough around the edges when he was drafted to Raw in 2005. However, through WWE’s insistence on sticking with their cash cow, he took over WWE after this move.
Cena walked onto Chris Jericho’s Highlight Reel as the first pick of the 2005 WWE Draft. At the time he and Batista were on fairly equal footing as WWE’s newest top stars but it was here that Cena surpassed his peers and never looked back.
Cena remained on Raw consistently until 2016, marking a ridiculous 11 year stretch on the show. He was never the most polished performer but it is undeniable that Cena was the biggest and most important star on Raw for over a decade.
His highs ultimately outweigh his lows, illustrated by his two Wrestler of the Year awards in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter in 2007 and 2010.
To make sure you stay updated with all the latest wrestling news, add WrestleTalk.com to your Google Discover feed and follow us on Twitter!
Comments.
Loading comments…