7 Mistakes WWE Will Probably Make With The Draft This Week
We still remember the last time...
This Tuesday marks the first live episode of Smackdown, and that means it's time for the WWE Draft! Once again, the company will be divided up across Raw and Smackdown lines, with each show being run as a separate promotion, and it all starts this week.
This could be a chance for WWE to really give its programming a shot in the arm. Raw has been stale for a long, long time, while Smackdown's ratings are so weak that the USA Network were the ones to actually press the idea of making the show live. In a perfect world, WWE would take this opportunity to let both shows evolve, grow their own feel, and become must-watch wrestling television.
Unfortunately, as we've seen before - including during the first split, which lasted from 2002 to 2011 - the company tends to be its own worst enemy in this scenario. There's a very "WWE" way of doing things that Vince McMahon is loath to abandon, and as a result, fans experience a lot more disappointment and frustration than they should have to.
This draft could be the beginning of something great - but we've all seen too much to actually believe that. Odds are that it's all doomed from the get-go.
Here are seven mistakes WWE will make with the draft this week...
7. Triple H Becomes Raw General Manager
Before the rosters are split on Smackdown, Raw will answer the question as to who will run each brand.
Last week, Stephanie and Shane McMahon were appointed the Commissioners of Raw and Smackdown, respectively, but Vince McMahon told both of his children that this week they would have to appoint General Managers to run "day-to-day operations".
The Smackdown General Manager is rumoured to be Daniel Bryan (WWE accidentally let the news slip on the company's app), but where does that leave Raw? Sadly, there's no more logical step than for Stephanie McMahon to appoint her husband, Triple H, as the show's General Manager.
As The Authority, the two ran Raw for years, and there's no kayfabe reason why Stephanie wouldn't return to that status quo when given the chance.
Triple H has been off camera since WrestleMania, but rumours have popped up about him competing at SummerSlam. With that show just about a month away, he'll have to return soon if he's participating. That's even more reason to believe the tired Authority unit is coming back.