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The 2024 WWE Draft will begin this Friday on SmackDown, then wrap up on Monday's RAW. A certain superstar is in the Draft pool, but the potential pick is a hot topic of discussion among fans as he seemingly disappeared last year, and then was rarely used at all.
Odyssey Jones signed with WWE in February 2019. He debuted in NXT that November, and worked a few non-televised NXT events in early 2020 before going on a 484-day hiatus. Jones returned in July 2021 and went on to work SmackDown dark matches, 205 Live, NXT TV and Level Up, Main Event, and non-televised live events, but was sidelined for 9 months in 2022 due to a knee injury. The 405-pound grappler was drafted to RAW in 2023, but he never debuted and was not seen on TV until he was squashed by Bron Breakker at Superstar Spectacle on September 8, 2023, at Hyderabad, India. While his last main roster TV appearance was 229 days ago, Jones has continued to work a few live events, dark matches, and unaired Speed matches.
The Future Favorite is now expected to return to main roster WWE TV. The Draft talent pools for RAW and SmackDown were released today, and Jones can be seen in between The New Day and Pretty Deadly on the promotional graphic. He is eligible to be picked on Monday's RAW.
Jones has been off main roster TV since September, but finished 2023 with two live event losses as he and Cameron Grimes went up against A-Town Down Under. In February, the 6-foot-5 heavyweight defeated Cedric Alexander in a SmackDown dark match and Cameron Grimes in an unaired Speed match, but in March, he lost twice to Alexander - in a dark match and an unaired Speed match. The 29-year-old wrapped up March with four live event losses to Omos.
Fans worried about Odyssey Jones as former WWE star reveals pitch
Odyssey Jones was confirmed for the 2024 WWE Draft earlier today. Jones resurfacing was especially interesting as his name was a trending topic on X the day before, with fans expressing concern and speculating on his status.
Former WWE star AJ Francis is currently working for TNA and other independent companies. The former Top Dolla spoke with Muscle Man Malcolm following his release last year, and revealed that he had pitched an idea that would see Odyssey join Hit Row.
"I even talked about adding Omari, Odyssey Jones, to Hit Row. As like muscle, you know what I’m saying? I’m already muscle but like... like Suge Knight. I look like Suge Knight. Suge Knight rolled around with 20 Mexican Bloods. That’s a real thing he would do. Yeah, he could whoop people’s a** but he would have hitters with him. So that’s not a crazy thing. We talked about adding him too," AJ Francis said. [H/T - WrestleZone]
Out of the former Hit Row members, Francis is with TNA, MLW, and GCW, while Swerve Strickland is the new AEW World Champion. Ashante "Thee" Adonis is barely used on SmackDown, and B-Fab is a member of The Pride with Bobby Lashley and The Street Profits.
