Tiffany’s RAW Takes: It’s Still Drafty in Here!

Raw continues the WWE Draft, and Tiffany has Takes! What happened on the WWE’s red brand?

Day 2 of the WWE Draft is on! Who is going to be on our favorite shows for the next six months?

Women’s Division

Originally, Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks were supposed to face off to see which brand got the first pick, but since Sasha was injured at Hell in a Cell, we got Charlotte instead. I’m not surprised Charlotte was as aggressive as she was, considering that she’d just gotten beat for the SmackDown Women’s Title. Unlike last week, this match had an ACTUAL finish, so RAW gets first pick…again.

So, Lacey Evans and Nattie went from tearing each other apart last week to being tag partners this week. Did I miss something? Guess it doesn’t matter, Kabuki Warriors won and are now on RAW.

Draft

RAW: Seth Rollins, Charlotte, Andrade/Zelina Vega, Kabuki Warriors, Rusev, Aleister Black, Cedric Alexander, Humberto Carrillo, Erick Rowan, Buddy Murphy, Jinder Mahal, R-Truth, Samoa Joe, Akira Tozawa, Shelton Benjamin, Rey Mysterio, Titus O’Neill, Liv Morgan

SmackDown: Brock Lesnar, New Day, Bayley, Daniel Bryan, Shinsuke Nakamura/Sami Zayn, Mustafa Ali, Carmella, Roode/Ziggler, Miz, Baron Corbin, Chad Gable, Elias.

This draft feels very anti-climactic from start to finish. There were very few surprises and most of the moves weren’t game changers, except for maybe Sasha going to SmackDown. Mostly, everyone stayed put, no championships changed shows. It was a lot of hype for very little substance, which seems to be what WWE wants these days.

There were some big absences, namely the Usos and Naomi, but since all three are inactive for various reasons, they were probably kept off the draft until they were ready to come back, which is standard.

One thing I did notice was WWE bringing in more 205 guys amidst rumors that WWE is going to folding up the purple brand and incorporating it into NXT. The problem I see with this is that while Akira Tozawa could be a great mid-card talent, Humberto Carrillo is likely going to get buried in the low cards. He’s a great talent, but one thing I’ve taken away from watching 205 is that it feels like Carrillo really has no personality or way to get the audience behind him. He’s got a great moveset and look, says all the right things for a babyface, but I felt no connection with him, it was like there was nothing there. That was covered up on 205, but it’s going to be a big problem on RAW.

NBC Guys

Oh, Lord we’re at this again. I get it. WWE wants to make this look like a legit sport, but having people who have NO connection to the product and no knowledge of it is stupid. At least get people from ESPN who actually work with WWE in on this.

Seth Rollins

I was hoping Bray Wyatt going to SmackDown would end this feud with Rollins. Guess not. At least WWE is FINALLY addressing what happened at Hell in a Cell.

Be vewy quiet, Seth Wollins is hunting for a Wamblin’ Wabbit and probably the psychopath attached to that weird wabbit.

Okay, I’m a little confused. I was under the impression that Seth Rollins was going to be part of Team Hogan at Crown Jewel, but now he and the Fiend are going to meet up in a Falls Count Anywhere Match, which confuses the hell out of me since there was no fall in Hell in a Cell. Is Seth going to have to wrestle twice in hot as fuck Saudi Arabia or are they going to replace him on the card?

Well, he finally did it. Seth Rollins burned it down. It being the Firefly Funhouse and it was fucking glorious! No only did Rollins FINALLY got the upper hand on Bray Wyatt/The Fiend and destroyed the Funhouse! Now, that’s an appropriate ending to RAW!

Crown Jewel

When they announced that Tyson Fury and Braun Strowman would be having a contract signing on RAW, despite having a face off at a press conference making their match official last week, I expected some fireworks. This is WWE, there is always SOME kind of fireworks at a contract signing. We did not get fireworks. that was a dud and makes me even less happy about this match.

Andrade vs Ali

Okay, I don’t remember if Ali has been drafted yet, but I loved this match! Ali vs Andrade is a feud that could be for any singles title and still be good. I’m not surprised that Andrade won with Zelina Vega there, but it was still a good match.

Ricochet vs Shelton Benjamin

This was such a dream match, I’m actually mad that it didn’t go longer. These two had such great chemistry that I could’ve watched them wrestle all night. I’m not surprised that Ricochet won, I just hope this won’t be the last time I see them lock up.

That’s it for Tiffany’s RAW Takes! Tune in tomorrow for AEW Dark!