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With every draft in professional sports, there will always be some head-scratching moves. The WWE Draft 2020 was no different. While the top few picks went as expected (Drew McIntyre, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, The Fiend all first-round picks), there were still some names that waited awfully long before they were chosen.
Conventional wisdom would lead us to believe that a Champion will be picked in one of the first two rounds, but that wasn't the case with all of the title holders at WWE Draft 2020. And a former United States and NXT Champion didn't even get drafted by RAW or SmackDown.
Some moves at WWE Draft 2020 made sense as the likes of Lana, Tamina, and Erik of the Viking Raiders not getting drafted. Lana and Tamina are towards the bottom of WWE's women's divisions, whereas Erik is a bit directionless following the devastating injury to his partner, Ivar.
Whether you liked the moves or not, there were definitely some odd choices made during the two nights of the event. Here are five of the stranger ones of the WWE Draft 2020. Some of my reasoning is based on the fact that a star didn't move or because of the opportunity that the stars will/won't have on their current brand.
#5 King Corbin stays on SmackDown at WWE Draft 2020
King Corbin was a plague on Monday Night RAW when he was the "Constable" of the brand. He had a reign of terror that saw him abuse his powers to his advantage while putting down the majority of faces of the brand.
WWE then moved him over to SmackDown, where he would win the 2019 King of the Ring Tournament. While that was likely the right call due to a heel being better suited for that role, it's been all downhill for Corbin ever since then. His 2019 would see him battle Chad Gable a few more times before entering into a lengthy feud with Roman Reigns. Reigns won at practically every turn except for an infamous dog food segment and a match or two.
Even after that, Corbin has seemed to come out on the short end of most of his WWE feuds. While the likes of Kevin Owens and Apollo Crews have joined SmackDown again during WWE Draft 2020, it seems like he could have received a fresh start on RAW. Instead, he'll likely continue to lose mid-card feuds.
Changing his gimmick or character completely might be the best way to save him. To remedy that, it would have been best to send him over to RAW and draft Angel Garza or Elias to SmackDown instead.
#4 Peyton Royce stays on RAW at WWE Draft 2020
The top four names on Monday Night RAW in the women's division after WWE Draft 2020 are as follows - RAW Women's Champion Asuka, Charlotte Flair, Nia Jax, and Shayna Baszler. Also comprising the women's division are Lacey Evans, Nikki Cross, Mandy Rose, Dana Brooke, Lana, Alexa Bliss, and Naomi.
When you throw Peyton Royce into the mix, it makes the division deep from top the bottom. The main problem, however, is that she has little to no chance of becoming Champion. The top four women will continue to dominate the division, making it hard for anyone to advance. Bliss and Naomi are former titleholders in their own rights, but WWE officials love Flair and Asuka. Jax and Baszler are monster heels that only fall to the top babyfaces.
For those reasons, it would have made sense for Royce - and not Billie Kay - to be the IIconic to join Friday nights during WWE Draft 2020. Royce is said to be a favorite of WWE management and that's fine. Advancing on RAW, however, will be an extremely difficult task. Kay has done well as a tag team member and comedy act. She's probably not going to rise to defeat Asuka, Jax, or Flair.
Had WWE moved Royce to SmackDown, she'd at least have a chance to be SmackDown Women's Champion. The division is much more wide open, and once Bayley drops her title, the face Champ will need heel challengers. Instead, she might get lost in the shuffle of a loaded RAW division.
#3 Lars Sullivan drafted before Keith Lee and Sami Zayn at WWE Draft 2020
Lars Sullivan returned with a bang last Friday to attack Matt Riddle, Jeff Hardy, The Miz, and John Morrison. He was then quickly added to Monday's WWE Draft 2020 Pool and was the second overall pick in the third round by SmackDown.
Right after the Blue brand picked Sullivan at WWE Draft 2020, RAW took Keith Lee. Lee has been on a tear since late last year and throughout 2020. It was strange that a controversial star like Sullivan was taken before a proven commodity like Lee.
The Limitless One has proven he is already a top star and just needs the push. Why else did he debut in the middle of the WWE Championship feud between Drew McIntyre and Randy Orton?
The Freak was also taken a complete round before the Intercontinental Champion, Sami Zayn. Both were drafted to SmackDown, but Zayn was drafted second by SmackDown in the fourth round.
Outside of the 24/7 Championship, it was the lowest draft position for a Championship in WWE. For a title that's referred to as prestigious due to the number of WWE Hall of Famers that have held it, it was extremely odd to see someone like Sullivan get drafted ahead of the actual Champion.
#2 Andrade not picked, but Akira Tozawa, Titus O'Neil are drafted at WWE Draft 2020
Perhaps WWE is moving Andrade back to NXT or there's some other grand plan. But no matter how you slice it, it was certainly strange that the former NXT and United States Champion wasn't drafted by either RAW or SmackDown during WWE Draft 2020.
With Charlotte Flair on RAW, it could be assumed that he's going to sign with RAW. However, if that's the case, why were Akira Tozawa and Titus O'Neil drafted ahead of El Idolo?
His partnerships with Zelina Vega and Angel Garza are certainly over, making him his own man. But to have Tozawa and O'Neil drafted in the sixth round of WWE Draft 2020 and Andrade left out of the whole thing seems off. Tozawa has his value to WWE and has been entertaining in his 24/7 title segments. O'Neil is a great humanitarian and ambassador for the WWE, but he is rarely used in matches on RAW. He did pop up randomly on RAW Underground but without much success.
WWE even had the seventh round of WWE Draft 2020on RAW Talk and both Riddick Moss and Arturo Ruas were selected instead of El Idolo. Andrade is clearly one of the most talented stars in all of WWE, but his main roadblock has been his limited English. That's why it was confusing when he was separated from Vega.
O'Neil and Tozawa are perfectly fine for their roles in WWE, but they haven't been used in the capacity that Andrade has been used over the last two years.
#1 Jeff Hardy, Matt Riddle picked in 2nd round before IC Champion Sami Zayn (4th round) at WWE Draft 2020
By far, the weirdest draft position of WWE Draft 2020 was Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn. The Great Liberator had to wait until the fourth round of Night Two of WWE Draft 2020 to hear his name called. It was strange since he's the mid-card Champion on SmackDown. Those WWE Superstars are usually picked in the first two rounds. Not Zayn. The Champ himself even called the move out on Twitter after his fourth-round selection by SmackDown.
What's even stranger is that one of the men he beat for the Undisputed Intercontinental Championship, Jeff Hardy, was taken at the bottom of the second round by RAW. Matt Riddle, a potential future mid-card Champion, was also taken ahead of Zayn as RAW made Riddle the third pick of the second round at WWE Draft 2020.
If this is all a part of some long storyline that sees Zayn gain some retribution (sorry for the word use) on those drafted ahead of him, then it will make sense. But to have such a prestigious WWE title drafted behind Riddle, Hardy, King Corbin, and Lars Sullivan just seems off.
Some will argue that Hardy is a WWE Legend and Riddle has upside. They could also say that Corbin has been a main-eventer more than Zayn, but Corbin has been losing a lot lately. Despite all that, the Great Liberator is the Intercontinental Champion and should have been picked much sooner than the fourth round.
