5 Picks SmackDown must make on Night 2 of the WWE Draft

Who will move to the Blue brand?
Who will move to the Blue brand?

The 2019 WWE Draft kicked off on this week's SmackDown and will carry over to Monday night, on RAW. The rosters are shaping up and we are starting to get a clearer picture of how each brand will look once they set off in different directions. 20 picks have been made so far, with the majority remaining set to take place in two days' time.

The Blue brand has stocked up on big stars like Roman Reigns, Bray Wyatt and Sasha Banks. There was also an emphasis on tag teams, with the brand's current champions, the Revival moving over along with Heavy Machinery and Lucha House Party. Braun Strowman and Lacey Evans round off SmackDown's picks from the first pool.

The likes of Shinsuke Nakamura and Bayley, as the Intercontinental and SmackDown Women's Champions, will obviously be going to the Blue brand must make, unless WWE decides to swerve us and cause a championship imbalance between both shows. But the rest of the roster is pretty much open, with a lot of the intrigue and excitement remaining for RAW.

Here are five picks that SmackDown must make on Night 2 of the WWE Draft.


#5 Brock Lesnar

Beast in Blue.
Beast in Blue.

This is another relatively obvious pick.

Brock Lesnar defeated Kofi Kingston in nine seconds to win the WWE Championship on the Friday Night SmackDown premiere on FOX, before a surprising confrontation with former UFC rival, Cain Velasquez. He is a sure-fire pick for the Blue brand, especially considering the sports-centric presentation that the network is going for.

Lesnar is a master in realism and his presence instantly makes any situation seem much more legitimate. He will defend his title against Velasquez at Crown Jewel. After that, provided he leaves Riyadh with the title, the Beast could have a variety of interesting matches against fresh opponents. Not Roman Reigns or Braun Strowman, though.

#4 Ali

Unfinished business.
Unfinished business.

After impressing on 205 Live throughout 2018, Ali joined the SmackDown roster at the end of the year. He was quickly thrust into the main event scene, facing Daniel Bryan in his first match on the Blue brand.

Ali even pinned the then-WWE Champion clean during a tag team match. While he did not face Bryan for the title in a one-on-one match, the former Cruiserweight Classic competitor was constantly in the scene until misfortune struck and an injury took him out of a potentially star-making WWE Championship match, with Kofi Kingston taking his place. And the rest was history.

Ali has had a slightly frustrating six months on SmackDown, most of which consisted of him facing Buddy Murphy in the dark match before the show. He did have a standout performance in the Money in the Bank ladder match and even had his fingertips on the briefcase before Brock Lesnar came in and ruined everything.

Ali could challenge Lesnar for the WWE Championship, there still is unfinished business there. He would even be a great option to hold the Intercontinental Championship, busting out belters every Friday and wowing the FOX audience with his incredible passion and unmatched athleticism.

#3 The New Day

Sticking together.
Sticking together.

So far, SmackDown has picked the Revival, Heavy Machinery and Lucha House Party for its tag team division. The foundations have been laid but another couple of strong teams should make their way to the Blue brand. With the Viking Raiders and Street Profits on RAW, the Red brand doesn't really need any more top tier babyface tag teams. On the other hand, SmackDown requires at least one.

Heavy Machinery are on the up but are not quite at the elite level to head up an entire division. The Revival defeated the New Day for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship in September, so they could continue feuding with each other.

While Xavier Woods and Big E rack up the tag title victories, Kofi Kingston would ideally attend to some serious business. The way in which he lost the WWE Championship to Brock Lesnar was unfortunate.

So just like the aforementioned Ali, Kofi also has unfinished business with the Beast and the WWE Championship in particular. But the most important thing is that all three members should stick together. They always get the best out of each other and have been one of the most consistent acts in recent WWE history.

#2 Liv Morgan

What is in store for her?
What is in store for her?

Bayley won the SmackDown Women's Championship and debuted a new look, "murdering" the Bayley buddies and changing her theme song as well. This has made things interesting in the Blue brand's women's division.

We all know that Sasha Banks is making her way to SmackDown and the current champion will presumably join her on FOX, along with Lacey Evans. However, the roster requires babyface females. Babyface females who are not Charlotte Flair, by the way, because it's time for a change and her feud with Bayley has been played out. We will likely get a surprising name to become the leading female babyface on SmackDown.

That name could be Liv Morgan. She has shown quite some promise in the last couple of years and the WWE Universe is firmly behind her. However, the former Riott Squad member has only wrestled one televised match since WrestleMania. Morgan faced Charlotte in July and had a great showing, but ultimately lost to the Queen.

After the said match, she told the fans that she was going to come back and get "real". Morgan has not yet returned, but her name will likely be called out on Monday. Whether she changes her gimmick or not, WWE should allow Liv Morgan the opportunity to fulfill her massive potential.

#1 Aleister Black

The door is open.
The door is open.

Originally, it would seem that Aleister Black would fit better on RAW as Paul Heyman is supposedly a big fan of him. But on SmackDown, there is more potential in terms of story. Black's dark character should not appear on TV every week, so the shorter show could work well for him in that respect.

If booked well, his presence is usually a huge deal, much like in NXT. Additionally, his style of combat would fit right in with FOX's sports-centric vision for the show. The former NXT Champion is an incredible striker and can be pretty vicious in the ring.

Black has all the tools to become one of the biggest names on the roster and WWE would be smart to preserve his aura as much as possible. Also, the biggest feud he could possibly have currently would be on the Blue brand.

Bray Wyatt has been urging everybody to let him in, while Black has openly proclaimed that his door is wide open and he is waiting for a challenge. A feud between the two mystical Superstars could be perfect. The Dutch Destroyer is one of the only men who could possibly defeat the Fiend, so WWE must not drop the ball with it.

This is the biggest match either man could have at WrestleMania 36, only considering full-time performers, so WWE would be very smart to draft Aleister Black to the site of the Firefly Funhouse and build to the match very subtly.

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