10 New Directions After WWE Draft 2016

Again, the United States Championship scene is in a very similar situation to that of the Intercontinental title.

Rusev, the reigning champion, was drafted to Stephanie McMahon’s Raw, while Zack Ryder, the challenger, has a spot on Shane’s SmackDown brand.

For me, this one’s got a Rusev win written all over it, meaning the title would indeed remain on Raw. But then again, I also fancy Darren Young’s chances of overcoming the Miz—I mean, how can he fail with Backlund as his coach?

But that would mean there would be two mid-tier titles on a single show, and while that’s certainly feasible given that Raw is longer, it doesn’t seem likely since they also boast the Women’s title and Tag Team titles.

The most likely explanation here is that my predictions are way off. It might just be easier to have both belts stay on the brands they were originally drafted to.

Still, with inter-promotional challengers at Battleground, regardless of who wins at the pay-per-view we’re guaranteed fresh feuds off the back of it.