5 WWE Smackdown Draft Picks That Ruled (And 5 That Sucked)

3. D-Von Dudley (2002)

The initial WWE draft in 2002 promised to shake things up, with champions and top stars becoming the exclusive property of one show. One of the teases for the draft was 'what would happen if (insert tag team here) split up?'. Would the Hardys go there seperate ways? Was it curtains for the team of Billy and Chuck?

Those two teams survived the draft intacts, but the APA and the Dudleys weren't so lucky: Bradshaw and Bubba were drafted to Raw while Ron Simmons and D-Von were put on Smackdown. Amazingly, D-Von was a proper draft pick, chosen specifically by Vince McMahon, as opposed to in the online portion of the draft. He was the No. 8 pick.

D-Von began to 'testify' for real on the blue show, as he became the villainous 'Reverend D-Von', crooked church man and 'spiritual adviser' to Mr. McMahon. The gimmick was a dud, running its course within a matter of weeks. It was clear that D-Von would struggle as a singles performer after years tagging with Bubba.

This period is notable for the debut of 'Deacon' Batista, who briefly acted as the muscle and tag partner of the rev. Following Batista's switch to Raw, D-Von began tagging with Ron Simmons, another wrestler who had struggled to do much of anything following the brand split. The thrown-together team didn't last long, either.

Come November, some eight months after the split, D-Von found his way back on Raw, once again as a member of the Dudley Boys tag team. The decision to split them, and push D-Von as a singles star (which also saw him score a rare win over Triple H), was a head-scratcher.