raw It airs tonight (April 29) with a live show from the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri. This is the last episode of raw Within four weeks of building towards the backlash, Which will be held on Saturday (May 4) in France.
New era, same boring WWE draft
The 2024 WWE Draft ends tonight on Raw. There will be six rounds of four picks, for a total of 24 picks. These picks will come from this list of 29 wrestlers/teams, as well as the NXT roster:
• Braun Strowman
• DIY (Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa)
• Apollo crews
• Bronson Reed
• Candice Leary and Endi Hartwell
• Chelsea Green and Piper Niven
• C m Bank
• Creed (Brutus Creed, Julius Creed and Ivy Nile)
• Imperium (Gunther and Ludwig Kaiser)
• Giovanni Vinci
• Final Reign (Karrion Kross, AOP, Paul Ellering and Scarlett)
• Drew McIntyre
• CTRL Damage (Kabuki Warriors, IU Sky and Dakota Kai)
• Judgment Day (Finn Balor, JD McDonagh and Dominik Mysterio)
• Kayden Carter and Katana Chance
• Kevin Owens
• Legado del Fantasma (Santos Escobar, Angel, Berto and Electra Lopez)
• Naomi
• Natalia
• The Pride (Bobby Lashley, Street Profits and B-Fab)
• Tegan Nox
• Shinsuke Nakamura
• Pretty Deadly (Kate Wilson, Elton Prince)
• Odyssey Jones
• The New Day (Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston)
• New Catch Republic (Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate)
• Tiffany Stratton
• LWO (Rey Mysterio, Carlito, Dragon Lee, Joaquin Wilde, Cruz del Toro and Zelina Vega)
• Jade Cargill
As usual, there's a lot of hype surrounding the draft this year, but one thing that was clear on night one was that the new WWE era didn't bring a new vision for how to approach these draft shows. Night 1 was a somewhat loud and disappointing show, with very little draft-related excitement other than Carmelo Hayes being selected in the first round by SmackDown. When the event begins with the company's top star (Roman Reigns) withdrawing himself from the draft via Paul Heyman, it sends the wrong message about the importance of what we're watching.
If you're wondering why WWE didn't try something significantly different in this year's draft, it's likely because the WWE draft exists primarily to attract TV ratings. This format has been a huge ratings hit for WWE in the past, so there's little incentive to make a change. At the end of the day, WWE can change the Raw and SmackDown rosters throughout the year as needed based on injuries and creative schemes, so the results of the actual draft don't really matter that much, aside from the notable NXT call-ups.
However, there are several interesting things worth noting about tonight's draft. First, the last time Braun Strowman wrestled was May 1, 2023, which is almost one year ago. He's been out of action since then due to neck fusion surgery, but his inclusion in tonight's draft pool suggests he'll be back very soon. Could we see his return happen tonight?
It also appears that WWE is still listing Carlito's name among the wrestlers to be inducted with the LWO, even though he has turned on the group and been revealed as Dragon Lee's mystery attacker. Will Carlito be fired as his own pick (like Giovanni Vinci) in time for Raw?
CM Punk is supposed to return to Raw tonight for the draft. He and Drew McIntyre are part of the draft pool and could be out in the first round. Will McIntyre try to attack Punk tonight and give his fragile body another injury to deal with? Will they be formulated on the same brand? Which star will be drafted first?
It took Jade Cargill nearly two months before he decided to sign a SmackDown contract. Surely it would be something if she was moved to Raw during the draft in a month, right? Her tag team partner Bianca Belair was drafted first overall by SmackDown Live last week, for what it's worth.
Damian Priest is protected from the draft because he is the world heavyweight champion. However, Judgment Day stablemates Finn Balor, JD McDonagh, and Dominik Mysterio will be brought together for one pick tonight. What would happen to The Judgment Day if these three men were moved to SmackDown, while Priest stayed on Raw?
At least five entries on the above list will be discarded from the televised portion of the draft and thrown into a supplementary online round. Among the candidates for this fateful fate are Apollo Cruise, Giovanni Vinci, Natalia, Tegan Nox, and Odyssey Jones. But with every NXT wrestler that gets drafted, another name from the list above will also be overlooked. This could lead to a more surprising snub like Shinsuke Nakamura or some women's tag teams.
Rest of the card
US Champion Logan Paul is scheduled to appear on Raw. The champion could be looking forward to WWE's trip to Saudi Arabia later in May for the show King and Queen of the Ring It happened. Will someone boycott douchebag's YouTube channel tonight and become his next potential contender?
A six-man tag team match featuring Jey Uso, Andrade and Ricochet vs. Damian Priest, JD McDonagh and Finn Balor is booked for tonight. Andrade and Ricochet have some mid-card momentum heading their way now, while Jey Uso could use a win before facing him. World Heavyweight Championship Match against Priest at Backlash. McDonagh stands out as the obvious man to take the blame in this bout, unless WWE really wants Jey to pin Damian's shoulders to the mat once before the backlash.
Other things to watch for
– Gunther returned from a short break and announced his entry into the King of the Ring tournament. Is there anything King Xavier Woods can do to prevent Gunther from taking his crown?
– Chad Gable is tired of tolerating failure within Alpha Academy, and this raises questions about the future of Otis, Akira Tozawa, and Maxine Dupree in the group. Is it time to replace them with wrestlers with a brighter future like The Creeds?
-There's room for another match or two at Backlash, and that's the go-home show. Is there any time left to book another World Team Championship Defending Miz and R-Truth?
-Becky Lynch is the new one Women's World Champion! What will the man say now that she's back at the top of the women's division? Will Liv Morgan confront her immediately?
-Bronbreaker has been drafted to Raw, and the new rosters will be in place starting next Monday. Will Bron show up a week early to crush some Jabroni?
-There is a new mysterious campaign similar to the White Rabbit campaign, scheduled to be revealed soon. Does this mean that Uncle Howdy and/or Alexa Bliss will be returning to your TV screens in May?
– Where is Omos?
What will you be looking for? raw?
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