10 Wrestlers Who Benefited Most From WWE Draft 2016
The Brand Split is finally here, but who will prosper?
WWE’s 2016 Draft is finally over, and the Brand Split is officially underway. We now know the identity of the superstars entrusted with maintaining Raw’s position as WWE’s perceived top brand, and those charged with rebuilding SmackDown as a genuine alternative to the Monday night flagship.
The Draft was an important step for WWE in a number of different ways. With ratings flip-flopping through the doldrums and creative struggling for new, engaging stories, WWE television was in dire need of a wide scale shake-up, and what could be bigger than a new Brand Split?
Some wrestlers went surprisingly high, while others fell depressingly low. Allies have been separated, and old rivals have been thrown back together. Only time will tell if WWE have balanced their rosters well enough for both shows to succeed, but there are some immediately apparent winners coming out of the Draft.
The Brand Split is designed not just to freshen things up, but to afford new opportunities to superstars whose wings were clipped by the old TV format. Not everyone will benefit from the split, but with each wrestler now facing approximately half as much competition for airtime and exposure, some will undoubtedly prosper.
Here are the 10 WWE superstars who benefited most from the Draft.
10. Mojo Rawley
One of the final members of the “NXT Six” to make an appearance in the Draft, Mojo Rawley has made his way from Full Sail University to SmackDown Live. Though he comes with clear deficiencies in the ring and his high-energy gimmick has grown increasingly stale over the years, this is a gigantic step-up for unfancied Rawley.
Mojo had fallen into an endless holding pattern in NXT. Drifting from one listless tag team match to another, Rawley’s development had stalled, and it was clear that he and Zack Ryder (The Hype Bros, collectively) had been overtaken by fresher, more engaging teams like American Alpha and The Revival. While far from the finished article, there was little point in prolonging Mojo’s directionless NXT run, so WWE decided to roll the dice and give him an early call-up.
Now, Mojo Rawley gets to live his dream as a SmackDown superstar. He should immediately slot in with Ryder to reform The Hype Bros, and while nobody should expect them to ever become division staples, there’s no reason they can’t act as effective gatekeepers for the likes of American Alpha.
He has his detractors, but Mojo Rawley has gone from faceless NXT enhancement talent to main roster draftee in the space of a single evening. Let’s see how it works out.