Sami Zayn was drafted in the fourth round of night two of the 2020 WWE Draft. That might normally go by unnoticed, but it stands out this year because Zayn is the Intercontinental champion.
In the aftermath of the draft, Zayn pointed out how ridiculous it is that he wasn’t drafted earlier:
Imagine having the undisputed Intercontinental Champion and perhaps the most complete pro wrestler on earth in the prime of his career available to you & letting him slip into the 4th round. Worst part is I’m not even surprised. This is how little honesty & integrity are valued.
— Sami Zayn (@SamiZayn) October 13, 2020
Zayn’s complaint is firmly embedded in kayfabe, but that doesn’t make the lack of logic any easier to stomach.
I laughed out loud when Elias was drafted by Raw even though the Intercontinental champion was still available. What the hell were the Raw decison-makers thinking? It doesn’t make any sense. RETRIBUTION was even drafted before the champ! The anarchist group whose sole mission is to destroy WWE was valued more than the Intercontinental champion. The whole thing is absurd. Raw could have added another championship to their brand, yet they chose not to. I don’t get it. I guess it’s a reflection of Vince McMahon’s stance that nobody cares about the Intercontinental title.
The logic of Raw drafting RETRIBUTION is perhaps the biggest head-scratcher from this year’s WWE Draft. The group’s leader, Mustafa Ali, immediately pointed out Raw’s foolishness:
Why invite demise to your door? pic.twitter.com/DBXAwQQl1A
— Mustafa Ali / Adeel Alam (@AliWWE) October 13, 2020
But the moment that sticks out in my mind more than any other from the draft, I think, is a backstage segment where New Day and the Street Profits simply swapped their tag titles. Five-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion Adam Pearce, whose kayfabe title appears to be “WWE Official,” proposed the idea, because the Raw tag titles were drafted to SmackDown, and the SmackDown tag titles were drafted to Raw. So why not just swap the titles, right?
Besides screwing up all sorts of fake title histories and records, it just begs the question of why does any of this matter? What other titles can be exchanged? Can Drew McIntyre and Roman Reigns just swap the WWE championship and Universal title next week if they both agree to it, and Adam Pearce is cool with the idea? Can Bayley and Asuka simply trade their titles whenever they want? What’s the approximate trade value of Otis’ Money in the Bank contract? Can R-Truth exchange his 24/7 championship for Matt Riddle’s flip flops?
I understand the basic premise that the tag titles on each brand are of equal value, so therefore swapping them is a feasible solution to the problem. It’s still ridiculous that champions can simply agree to swap their titles with each other, but more than anything else it points out that the WWE Draft doesn’t have a logical mechanism in place for dealing with championships. It also emphasizes that these championship belts are just props.
And don’t get me started on the decisions to draft individual team members even though the entire unit can be taken in one selection.
These are some of the biggest examples that stand out to me about how WWE is clueless when it comes to booking a draft. But now it’s your turn to let me know if I’m right or wrong. How do you feel about the way WWE booked this year’s draft?