At the end of the day, pro wrestling is a business. And Monday Night Raw is a television show. Neither of these statements should come as any real surprise. Henceforth, most decisions WWE makes are business-driven. This is the reason why the Slammy Awards are around and why championships change hands on Raw from time to time because to WWE, they draw ratings. The initial WWE Draft was imperative in setting up the Brand Split, but beyond that, the WWE Draft became an annual three-hour event on Raw starting in 2007. It was effective in switching up the rosters and freshening the WWE landscape, but more importantly, it was a ratings ploy for WWE. Not that that was necessarily a bad thing, however, but in its final years, the WWE Draft had very little meaning. Most of the moves could be seen coming, the three hours dragged miserably (similar to how they do today), and the sole reason they were brought back every April was because it would automatically lead to a ratings increase for the Monday night program. By 2011, fans lost interest in the Draft concept and it hasn't been brought back as a result.
Since 2008, Graham has been a diehard pro wrestling fan and, in 2010, he combined his passions for WWE and writing when he joined Bleacher Report. Equipped with a master's in journalism, Graham has contributed to WhatCulture, FanSided's Daily DDT, Sports Betting Dime, and GateHouse Media. Along the way, he has conducted interviews with wrestling superstars like Chris Jericho, Edge, Goldberg, Christian, Diamond Dallas Page, Jim Ross, Adam Cole, Tessa Blanchard, Ryback, and Nick Aldis among others.
