“Very Tame”: Major Reason for Poor Raw Draft Show Despite CM Punk, Braun Strowman Returns Explained

WWE Draft 2024 has taken over the wrestling landscape since SmackDown last week with Triple H kick-starting the creative directions for several superstars. On Night 2 on Raw from T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri, fans were looking forward to some exciting swaps. Several rounds of picks came to fruition with some marquee names making the switch and starting their new endeavors. The overall draft result didn’t live up to the expectations of many. Moreover, some seasoned wrestling buffs of Fightful wrestling elaborated on the topic.

“Tame” WWE Draft Night 2 didn’t live up to the hype

Tonight on the red brand 24 superstars found their new homes. Only three of them, Ilja Dragunov, Lyra Valkyria, and Blair Davenport, hail from NXT. While the Draft found its footing for the sake of triggering fresh rivalries into the lore, this year, the draft didn’t align with its purpose, to some extent, according to the popular wrestling voices. In a post-draft analysis, Fightful agents Denise Salcedo and Kate Hensler sat down to discuss the visible loopholes in assigning brands to the stars and deemed it a tame call.

Denise Salcedo noted, ‘I thought it was a very tame draft. Like I was expecting a lot more sizzle and bang. And I think coming off of Friday, I lost a little bit of my excitement heading into night 2 of the draft. And then when I just started to get it back a little bit, it sort of, I don’t know, by the end of it, there were some good picks that I really did like, but I felt like it was a little bit of a strange sort of format for today.”

Her co-host shared her opinion by noting it was mostly stale because it was a risk-free draft where talents have hardly switched brands, unlike last year. While the picks showed some logical reasoning, arranging a whole WWE Draft did not seem worth the trouble for a minor shakeup. Nevertheless, let’s take a glance at the highlights of WWE Draft Night 2 to see whether the notion holds true or not.

Highlights moments from the WWE Draft Night 2

Imperium headed to Raw as the first pick of the brand for the night. Shortly after, The Ring General showed why he was a top priority for the red brand, delivering a ground-breaking performance against Xavier Woods of The New Day. Arguably the most enchanting pick of Night 2 materialized in the second round with CM Punk and Braun Strowman, who came out of a prolonged hiatus to landed in Raw afterward. The Monster among Men hasn’t appeared in the ring for over a year due to a neck injury. Nevertheless, he looked like he didn’t miss a step as he showed his dominance by safeguarding Jey Uso from a brutal beatdown. CM Punk’s return and his clash with Drew McIntyre did emerge as a highlight of the event in the second round.

The watershed moment of the third round was Drew McIntyre heading to Raw with frustration. He expected to be drafted higher. NXT Women’s Champion Lyra Valkyria was chosen to grace the Women’s division of Raw in the fifth round.

As the final bit of surprise, The Final Testament moved to the red brand from SmackDown. What’s your take on WWE Draft Night 2 being dubbed as a tame one? Let us know in the comments.