As the company is fond of informing both its longtime and prospective fanbase, anything can happen in World Wrestling Entertainment. And so it proved on Tuesday night, as the first live Smackdown aired on the USA Network.
After a couple of months of heated anticipation, it was finally time for the brand draft to divide the roster into two not-quite-even halves. All the gossip ahead of the draft revolved around the gritty veterans and global icons who had reportedly negotiated their returns, as WWE sought to add sizzle to the flank steak of their present offering.
Were wrestling fans going to get to see big names like Goldberg, Kurt Angle, Rob Van Dam, and MVP back on mainstream television? Perhaps a triumphant return for recent departees Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow? A glimpse of fondly regarded ECW originals like Tommy Dreamer and Stevie Richards?
No. Just as nobody expected, there were no surprises at all to be had from the WWE brand draft. WWE kept its fans on the edge of their seats through the course of the two-hour broadcast, and then the broadcast finished and they were still left wondering.
Commissioners Stephanie and Shane McMahon and their respective General Managers Mick Foley and Daniel Bryan at least drew something from NXT. Raw received the big prize in former NXT Champion Finn Balor, while Smackdown grabbed the hot young tag team of Chad Gable and Jason Jordan, collectively known as American Alpha. But equally enticing superstars like Bayley and Samoa Joe were inexplicably passed over in favour of Nia Jax and Mojo Rawley.
Perhaps worst of all the women’s division, which for the past year and a half has provided all of the company’s best matches, after receiving an overdue breast reduction now finds itself all but decapitated. Sasha Banks and Charlotte are separated from Becky Lynch and a promising Alexa Bliss, the women spread too thinly when they could have headlined Smackdown and truly revolutionised the industry.
So anything can happen in World Wrestling Entertainment, but when will the surprise be something other than disappointing?
