The 2016 Brand Split Discussion Thread

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Kross Rhodes

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With a WWE roster split announced, here's your first 2016 WWE mock draft

Huge changes are coming to Raw and SmackDown.

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By Nick Schwartz @nick_schwartzMay 25, 2016 at 1:10p ET

WWE announced Wednesday that it is revamping SmackDown as a live showthat will feature a unique roster starting in July, which means fans could potentially see the return of the WWE Draft.

Back in 2002 following the death of WCW, WWE split its roster across Raw and SmackDown (The Rock was the No. 1 overall pick), and annual drafts were held to shake up the shows annually from 2004 to 2011. Raw and SmackDown rosters eventually merged and the number of championships was reduced - but with one of the deepest rosters in years, a brand split could finally make for two compelling shows each week.

So how should WWE divide its stars? We went through the roster one by one, assuming that WWE's goal is to make Raw and SmackDown equally watchable and do comparable ratings. Part-timers like Brock Lesnar or The Undertaker have been excluded along with injured stars without a return date, and tag teams count as a single pick.

No. 1 - Raw: Stephanie McMahon

Stephanie McMahon feuded with her brother over control of Raw, which ended with Vince McMahon forcing his children to work together on the show. Stephanie and Shane have been (almost too) friendly since, but splitting the pair up and turning Raw vs. SmackDown into a competition seems like a wise move.

No. 2 - SmackDown: Shane McMahon

SmackDown is the show trying to catch up, which is why Shane falls to second despite being more over with fans than his sister. In general, Shane is the lead "New Era" figure in WWE while Stephanie represents the establishment, and their roster choices will reflect that.

No. 3 - Raw: Roman Reigns

Reigns' title will be on the line at Money In The Bank, but it seems probable that he keeps it given how WWE has built his character over the last few months. The new franchise player goes to the franchise show.

No. 4 - SmackDown: John Cena

Taking John Cena off Raw would be a bold move for WWE to make - Cena was famously drafted by SmackDown in 2011 but switched to Raw later in the show - but at this point in his career it seems like a move Cena would be willing to make. This is a 15-time world champion who spent an entire year elevating the United States title. Having him anchor SmackDown will drive a huge amount dedicated Cena fans to the show

No. 5 - Raw: Seth Rollins

Rollins and Reigns are just starting what could be a long feud, and even if the pair only wrestle each other at pay-per-views, they should be on the same show. Given how hot Rollins is right now, it's hard to see him moving off Raw.

No. 6 - SmackDown: AJ Styles

It's tempting to put Styles on the same show as Reigns given how well they work together, but now that Styles has been shoved out of the title picture by Seth Rollins, WWE could distance him from the champion. Styles-Cena matches could be similarly epic.

No. 7 - Raw: Charlotte

It seems likely that Charlotte will remain the champion for the foreseeable future after emerging victorious from a feud with Natalya and picking up a bodyguard in Dana Brooke, so she's naturally the first female wrestler on the board.

No. 8 - SmackDown: Sasha Banks

Sasha Banks has been missing from action and is rumored to be recovering from a head injury, but WWE is using her to promote the change to SmackDown. Banks is incredibly popular and should get a shot to lead her division on SmackDown.

No. 9 - Raw: The New Day

Whichever show gets The New Day essentially hits the jackpot, but we think WWE will stick its star tag team on the show with the best ratings (at least for now).

No. 10 - SmackDown: Kevin Owens

Kevin Owens has been arguably the best part of WWE programming this year. He consistently delivers in the ring, on the mic, in the commentator's chair, andeven on Snapchat.

No. 11 - Raw: Dean Ambrose

Ambrose goes to Raw to keep the former Shield intact and keep him close to the WWE title.

No. 12 - SmackDown: Sami Zayn

If Zayn and Owens aren't on the same show WWE will have made a horrible, horrible mistake.

No. 13 - Raw: Paige

This is a bit of an upset pick. Paige has been unfortunately shuffled out of the forefront of the women's division, but a roster split should give her more airtime. Also...

No. 14 - SmackDown: Becky Lynch

... we're keeping recent NXT stars together on SmackDown, which means Becky Lynch joins Sasha Banks. Give them 15 minutes every week, please.

No. 15 - Raw: The Miz

The Miz is probably too low on this list given that he's the Intercontinental champion, but he's constantly on the verge of losing it. He very well may drop the belt at Money In The Bank before a draft ever happens.

No. 16 - SmackDown: Rusev and Lana

Who will Rusev beef with now that he's the United States champion? Captain America John Cena is the best bet, so we're putting the Bulgarian Brute on SmackDown.

No. 17 - Raw: Enzo and Cass

Someone's got to wrestle The New Day.

No. 18 - Smackdown: The Wyatts

Another injured star on the verge of a comeback, Bray Wyatt was just starting to gain momentum before suffering a calf injury in April. We really want to see Wyatt work with some of the new arrivals from NXT, and it only makes sense for the rest of the Wyatt family to be on the same show.

No. 19 - Raw: Randy Orton

Orton is set to return shortly from a long absence according to Vince McMahon, but it's unclear how WWE will use Orton once he returns. Prior to his injury he was allied with Reigns and Ambrose, and though that storyline is long forgotten, we'll put Orton into the WWE title picture on Raw.

No. 20 - SmackDown: Gallows and Anderson

The fractured Club storyline is just getting started, so Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson be on AJ Styles' show.

No. 21 - Raw: Dana Brooke

No. 22 - SmackDown: The Dudley Boyz

No. 23 - Raw: Cesaro

No. 24 - SmackDown: Baron Corbin

No. 25 - Raw: Apollo Crews

No. 26 - SmackDown: Darren Young

Brooke will land wherever Charlotte does, and Cesaro goes to Raw to balance the Intercontinental title field between the shows. Finally, the [awful] Darren Young promos with Bob Backlund have to be leading somewhere, right?

No. 27 - Raw: Natalya

No. 28 - SmackDown: Eva Marie

No. 29 - Raw: Sheamus

No. 30 - SmackDown: The Vaudevillains

No. 31 - Raw: Dolph Ziggler

No. 32 - SmackDown: Summer Rae

No. 33 - Raw: Chris Jericho

No. 34 - SmackDown: The Big Show

No. 35 - Raw: The Usos

No. 36 - SmackDown: The Shining Stars

No. 37 - Raw: Kalisto and Sin Cara

No. 38 - SmackDown: GolDango

No. 39 - Raw: Whatever the combinations of Goldust, R-Truth, Tyler Breeze and Fandango are called at the time

No. 40 - SmackDown: Mark Henry

No. 41 - Raw: Jack Swagger

No. 42 - SmackDown - Titus O'Neil

No. 43 - Raw: Kane

No. 44 - SmackDown : The Social Outcasts

WILD CARDS: Finn Balor, Bayley, Shinsuke Nakamura, Asuka

Balor's WWE debut has been rumored for weeks and he could become the new leader of The Club now that AJ Styles has split with Gallows and Anderson. He'll probably join the main roster sometime soon, in if he does he'll be a top pick.

No one knows how long Shinsuke Nakamura will remain in NXT, and with Balor soon to depart the Japanese superstar could carry the show with Samoa Joe while the next crop of talent develops. Nakamura has the talent and charisma to be main eventing WWE pay-per-views, though, and will hopefully be on national television sooner rather than later.

Bayley dropped her title to Asuka just before WrestleMania, and Asuka seems primed to go on a long dominant run in the NXT women's division. Bayley's ready to make the jump, but it's unclear when her debut will happen. Asuka's main roster debut is further off, but like Nakamura, she's an incredible performer who will be a fan-favorite for a long time to come.

http://www.foxsports.com/buzzer/story/wwe-mock-draft-smackdown-raw-roster-split-052516
In all honestly... this is pretty close to how I would want it to go down.

What are your ideal mock drafts?
 
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Fuji Vice

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I still remember the glorious butthurt when Cena was drafted back to Raw on the same night.


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I still remember the glorious butthurt when Cena was drafted back to Raw on the same night.


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That was a glorious night. Not because of the Cena thing but because it was the start of the HALL OF PAIN!


Tapatalkin' bitches
 

ants

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Obviously a lot of Rumours going around as to how it's going to work, I did think about doing a mock one with a mate- him draft for raw and me smackdown or vice versa.

Assume The champ goes to raw, then on smackdown they announce a new belt. One will draft the intercontinental champion and then the next will draft the US Champion. Maybe Tag Teams on raw, divas on smackdown?

It will be good, it potentially makes someone like Ziggler relevant again, gives guys like Neville (when back), cesaro, etc to move up in the pecking order.
 

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Raw better not get screwed over in the draft. I want Styles or Banks..or both on Raw since I'm going to Raw on Aug 1st.
 

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Raw better not get screwed over in the draft. I want Styles or Banks..or both on Raw since I'm going to Raw on Aug 1st.
There's no chance of Raw getting the shaft. It's SmackDown we have to worry about.
 

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There's no chance of Raw getting the shaft. It's SmackDown we have to worry about.

I don't know, I mean Smackdown going live I can see them putting some pretty big stars that I'm gonna hate to miss out on. Brock surely will be on Raw hopefully, and be on the one I go to. I ain't seen him yet.
 

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Raw better not get screwed over in the draft. I want Styles or Banks..or both on Raw since I'm going to Raw on Aug 1st.
Recent rumours have the women floating between shows, Reigns/Rollins as leads on Raw and Cena/Styles as leads on SD.


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Recent rumours have the women floating between shows, Reigns/Rollins as leads on Raw and Cena/Styles as leads on SD.


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Well if I got to see Sasha, that would be good I guess. But I'd hate not seeing Styles, even if I have seen him a couple times already in his TNA days.
 

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wait, so is raw staying 3 hours with half the talent??
 

Kross Rhodes

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wait, so is raw staying 3 hours with half the talent??
I'm gonna assume Raw is still gonna have nearly 30 people after all the NXT call-ups. They'll be plenty of talent.

Honestly, now that they have a smaller roster and a 3-hour slot to fill, more underused guys should get to shine.
 

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45 minute shane and vince promo to start raw :lmao
 

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Honestly, now that they have a smaller roster and a 3-hour slot to fill, more underused guys should get to shine.
Don't kid yourself buddy, aside from the aforementioned lengthy opening promo they'll also devote a lot of the air time to backstage crap, lots and lots of Reigns and Rollins and some of the others who get drafted. If you think this is going to allow new talent to springboard themselves into the picture, you'd best prepare to be disappointed.


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Don't kid yourself buddy, aside from the aforementioned lengthy opening promo they'll also devote a lot of the air time to backstage crap, lots and lots of Reigns and Rollins and some of the others who get drafted. If you think this is going to allow new talent to springboard themselves into the picture, you'd best prepare to be disappointed.


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Perhaps. I mean I know not everyone will get a decent push. WWE will still favor it's favorites, and of course, there'll be backstage segments. WWE won't become Evolve, but my main point is WWE will definitely have enough talent to run the show as they always have. And honestly, when the first brand extension first happened, WWE tried to push a lot of guys who were floundered before the split. WWE didn't succeed in getting them all over, but there were a ton of guys getting meatier pushes because of the smaller split rosters. That's until the drafts started to murk the split.
 

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Don't kid yourself buddy, aside from the aforementioned lengthy opening promo they'll also devote a lot of the air time to backstage crap, lots and lots of Reigns and Rollins and some of the others who get drafted. If you think this is going to allow new talent to springboard themselves into the picture, you'd best prepare to be disappointed.


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Because that's what happened when the original brand split started right? All that time dedicated to RVD, Booker T, Orton and Batista.

Yeah, didn't happen.