SmackDown Women’s Division Takes a Big Hit in WWE Draft Pick

The annual Draft for WWE saw some huge transfers. With some big names like ‘The Fiend’, Braun Strowman, AJ Styles, and Kevin Owens being drafted to the other brand, WWE fans were riled up in excitement. However, a glaring part of the draft pick was the redistribution of the Women’s division.

It’s fair to say that SmackDown was tapped into far more than Raw. The blue brand lost key female Superstars that formed an integral part of the Friday night excitement.

Raw gained big names that made SmackDown great, but not vice versa. SmackDown gained the up-and-coming Superstars of Raw that still need pushes to work for the main events.

Raw took most of the big names away from SmackDown

Monday Night Raw gained the likes of Charlotte Flair, Alexa Bliss, and Lacey Evans while retaining Raw Women’s Champion Asuka. The show also managed to reel in Women’s Tag Team Champions Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler.

The brand also has space to build up Superstars like Mandy Rose, Lana, and Peyton Royce, who are all expected to become future pillars of Raw’s Women’s Division.

SmackDown retained its main show storyline with Bayley and Sasha Banks. The brand also gained veterans Natalya and Tamina. The return of Carmella could also spark an exciting storyline. However, there are a lot of developmental names included that still need work.

While Bayley and Sasha Banks keep the story going with their massive feud, SmackDown will have to work on Bianca Belair, Liv Morgan, Zelina Vega, and Ruby Riott. 

Since Ruby Riott and Liv Morgan form The Riott Squad, we can expect them to continue in the Tag Team scene. The brand also has the choice of booking Natalya and Tamina to its comfort. Although, the pickings are very slim compared to Raw.

WWE had a good reason for the big drafts

The reason for this major shift to Raw was because the show was suffering big time. Raw is 3 hours long compared to SmackDown’s 2 hours. This longer run-time means that Raw will have to create considerably more content for its show.

The woman’s division for Raw was very uneventful, and desperate storylines were created to plug in the gaps. The men’s division was also kept alive for a majority of the time by The Hurt Business, Retribution, and the Seth Rollins and Dominik Mysterio feud.

Drew McIntyre vs Randy Orton is another feud that had headlined Raw. However, the brand needed a breath of fresh air from its old storylines. This is probably why Raw was given the better deal.