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WWE Rumors: Will The Draft Be Returning This Year? Who Is Affected?

By Bernadette Giacomazzo
Published on: 08:38 PST, Feb 26, 2017

With all of the preparations that are currently being made for WrestleMania, many fans are speculating about what will happen after “wrestling’s biggest night.” And the latest WWE rumors suggest that there’s one thing that fans can expect right after WrestleMania is over: the WWE draft!

First, according to the WWE rumors by IWNerd, one of the first superstars that will be affected by the 2017 Draft is AJ Styles. The former World Champion, who is currently on the SmackDown brand, is being considered for trade to the Raw brand by none other than Vince McMahon. Styles is considered a “top draft pick” for the company, and while SmackDown is doing well in the ratings, the company is focusing on Raw and wants to shake things up a bit, as they realize that there needs to be more to offer the audience than just Roman Reigns, Kevin Owens, Chris Jericho, and Brock Lesnar. Also, Goldberg — who recently made a huge comeback — is only going to be on the Raw roster for a limited time, as he’s not considered a “full-time wrestler.” Therefore, someone else is going to need to fill that slot, and that “someone else” just might be AJ Styles.

On the other hand, the latest WWE rumors from Still Real to Us suggest that while they’re still not completely sure if a draft will happen, it’s something that needs to be done to shake up the roster. Since the brand split last year, the WWE has been scrambling to have both of the brands seen in the same light, but it’s proven to be a bit of a challenge.

“The WWE brand split shook up the roster in a way that hadn’t been done in a long time. Each brand got their own exclusive superstars, and not withstanding a couple noticeable exceptions at Survivor Series, and the build-up to Randy Orton vs. Brock Lesnar’s bloodbath at SummerSlam they have pretty much stuck to that. There are rumors going around that WWE fans might be seeing another WWE draft in June. However, these are not the only rumors in the same vein to surface since the brand split took place in July of last year. WWE might need to shake some things up by June, but at this point they still have plenty of room to work with the superstars on their current rosters.”

Finally, the latest WWE rumors from The Inscriber Magazine suggest that a draft is long overdue. A “draft” was something that was done annually by the WWE from 2003 until 2011, and then was brought back last year to great success.

And while many fans are speculating which superstar should go to which brand, and which should stay — for what it’s worth, the outlet believes Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper, both on the SmackDown brand, are subject to a Raw trade — fans aren’t considering the potential impact of what the NXT brand could bring to the draft. Remember, NXT is the so-called “training ground” for the next generation of WWE superstars, and there are more than a few that have come up through the ranks thanks to the brand.

Fans will just have to wait until right after WrestleMania to see if, or when, the draft will open.

What do you think of this latest round of WWE rumors? Leave your thoughts about the latest WWE rumors — and whether you think the draft will happen — in the comments below.

[Featured Image by WWE]

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