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Night Two of the WWE Draft was expected to be as big as the first one as a pool of extremely talented Superstars were up for selection for RAW and SmackDown. Both brands made wise picks during the night, and SmackDown went for the RAW Tag Team Champions The Street Profits to fill the void left by The New Day.
That wasn’t all, as Bray Wyatt, Alexa Bliss, and Randy Orton moved to the RAW while Kevin Owens, Dolph Ziggler, and Robert Roode made their way to SmackDown.
Apart from the draft, several big matches were held during the night, including a Battle Royal to determine the #1 contender to Asuka’s RAW Women’s Championship. That match main evented RAW, with Lana picking up a surprise victory to get a shot at The Emperess.
Earlier in the night, we saw Drew McIntyre and Randy Orton get into a brawl, while AJ Styles and Jeff Hardy made a grand appearance during the show.
In this article, we will look at the five things WWE got right on Night Two of the Draft on RAW.
#5 Ricochet outsmarts The Hurt Business on WWE RAW
In a backstage segment, Ricochet found The Hurt Business and told them he was done with them. He asked the faction to end their rivalry definitively. Ricochet agreed to a match against any member of the stable on WWE RAW, claiming that he’d be done with The Hurt Business if he won, but join the stable if he lost.
Cedric Alexander was picked by the faction to take on Ricochet during RAW, and the two started the match well. MVP wasn’t too happy with Alexander losing control of the match at crucial moments, but he did well to keep the match going.
Towards the end of the match, Alexander accidentally hit the referee, after which chaos ensued. MVP slid in a steel chair that Ricochet grabbed and faked getting hit, causing the referee to call for the bell and disqualify Alexander.
This was a fun match with a surprising finish. We haven’t seen Ricochet do anything like this before, and it was good to see RAW come up with an innovative finish without hurting either competitor’s value.
This will likely end the rivalry between Ricochet and The Hurt Business, who’ve been at it for a few months. Hopefully, The One and Only will get a push on RAW sooner than later.
#4 ‘The Fiend’ Bray Wyatt and Alexa Bliss set up towards a Mixed Tag Team Match on WWE RAW
Angel Garza was back in the ring this week on WWE RAW after an injury scare at Clash of Champions. He was set to take on his former tag team partner Andrade as their former manager Zelina Vega watched on from the commentary table.
Vega said she was done with both the Superstars after this match. El Idolo started off by taking the upper hand in the match while Garza was desperate to pick up a quick victory.
After the few men traded a few strikes, Garza picked up a quick victory by hitting Andrade with the Wing Clipper.
After the match, Alexa Bliss and ‘The Fiend’ Bray Wyatt arrived one by one. The duo targeted Andrade and Vega, who were in the ring together and took them down together with Sister Abigail.
While it would have been nice to watch Andrade and Garza fight for longer, it was an interesting way to end the match and bring out RAW’s new acquisitions. The sinister duo seems to have Andrade and Vega in their crosshair, which could lead to them turning face in the process.
Will we be treated to a few Mixed Tag Team Matches between these two teams in the near future? Only time will tell.
#3 The New Day impress as new WWE RAW Tag Team Champions
On Friday Night SmackDown, WWE made the bold decision of breaking up The New Day and drafting Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods to RAW while leaving Big E on SmackDown. The New Day had won the SmackDown Tag Team Championships on the same night, and they took the titles with them to the Red brand.
This week, the RAW Tag Team Champions were drafted to SmackDown. Adam Pearce officially traded the titles of the two brands and crowned The New Day the RAW Tag Team Champions while The Street Profits became the SmackDown Tag Team Champions for the first time.
Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode weren’t too happy with the decision and argued that they deserved a title shot.
The match went ahead with Roode impressing with his technical wrestling style while Woods and Kingston fought their way out. The challengers kept hitting the RAW Tag Team Champions with their best moves, but Woods and Kingston kept kicking out of near falls.
The New Day finally hit the Midnight Hour to take down Roode and Ziggler and retain their titles after a hard-fought match.
This was a fine match that showed why Roode and Ziggler are so good at what they do. The duo deserves to hold titles in the company, but they’ll have to wait their turn a little while longer.
The New Day got a great first match on RAW after returning to the brand.
#2 AJ Styles leaves a mark on his WWE RAW return
The Monday Night Messiah was out for his final sermon on WWE RAW before leaving for Friday Night SmackDown. While he had a few things to say, Jeff Hardy arrived to make his statement for taking Seth Rollins’ place on RAW.
Rollins wasn’t there to argue and simply told Hardy that he would face Lars Sullivan on SmackDown this week. AJ Styles made his way to the ring and mocked The Charismatic Enigma. He then got into an argument with Rollins, and a Triple Threat Match was set for RAW after Hardy took out both men.
We got a great contest between the three veterans, and Styles and Rollins had great chemistry together in the ring. At times, it looked like Hardy was fighting in a handicap match as both the heels targeted him for extended periods.
One of the highlights of the match saw Hardy hit Rollins with a DDT just when he was ready to deliver the Stomp to The Phenomenal One.
After Rollins kicked out of a Swanton Bomb, Elias ran in and smashed a guitar over Hardy, allowing Styles to take advantage and pick up the victory.
This was another match that protected all three men while building a new rivalry on RAW immediately. Elias seems to be back, and he could have a good rivalry with Hardy to get over.
Styles was the standout star in this one, and it looked like he made an immediate mark after returning to the Red brand. He’s someone who could target Drew McIntyre after Randy Orton is done with him.
#1 Kevin Owens picks up the victory against Aleister Black on WWE RAW
Kevin Owens and Aleister Black faced each other in a No-Disqualification match on WWE RAW, and both men weren’t ready to pull any punches during the contest. The WWE Universe saw both men start off hot, and Black went right after KO with everything he had in the tank.
Tables and steel chairs were introduced early into the contest, and The Dutch Destroyer nearly destroyed KO with diving double knees through a couple of chairs.
While KO took a lot of punishment from Black, he refused to stay down, especially after his loss to ‘The Fiend’ Bray Wyatt on Friday Night SmackDown last week. He treated Black to a face full of chairs by DDTing him onto them. Later on, he caught him with a Stunner and then powerbombed him through a table to pick up the victory.
This was a good contest that allowed both men to shine on RAW. KO needed the victory as he is the bigger Superstar who has been suffering from mixed bookings. It was also a good farewell for both the RAW Superstars who were drafted to SmackDown during the night.
KO could end up having a great program with Roman Reigns for the WWE Universal Championship.
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