How and why did the 2024 WWE Draft disappoint fans?

Only a few superstars switched brands during this edition of the draft

WWE Draft 2024 was the most anticipated event immediately following WrestleMania 40. The company hosted the Draft as a two-night event starting from the April 26, 2024 episode of SmackDown, followed by the April 29, 2024 episode of Raw.

A total of 40 WWE Superstars were drafted on television and an additional 16 superstars were drafted immediately following both shows. Although the Draft had huge expectations, the event failed to fulfil those expectations, making fans disappointed. Here we take a look at some of the reasons why the 2024 WWE Draft was disappointing.

Major names didn’t participate

WWE added a new rule that the champions would be retained in their roster, making them ineligible for the superstar shakeup. This blocked a number of major stars from the involvement in the Draft including Cody Rhodes, Becky Lynch, Damian Priest, Bayley, Sami Zayn, Logan Paul & so on. This made the interest dip low. However after Roman got withdrawn from the draft eligibility, this got worse.

Drafted to the same roster

WWE Drafts are usually made to shake up the WWE roster from moving WWE Superstars from one brand to another. However most of the Draft picks were retained in the same roster. It is notable that 32 of 56 WWE Draft picks were retained in the same brand.

Predictable NXT call-ups

There were only minimal NXT stars called up for the main roster, numerically 6. However all the six superstars who got drafted were predictable. The prior shows of NXT clearly suggest that they will land on the main roster and the company already started hinting at certain stars’ getting called up before the Draft.

Failed to hype the brand war

There isn’t any competition between the brands, which Nick Aldis & Adam Pearce showed up initially. WWE Drafts in the past used to be more entertaining with the hype among fans, WWE Superstars and brands. However it was made just like an award show, where the picks were already determined.

Brand Exclusive contracts became pointless

WWE in recent times signed a number of WWE Superstars into a brand exclusive contract including major stars like Randy Orton, CM Punk, Jade Cargill, Bron Breakker, Andrade, Tiffany Stratton, Naomi and more. However, within just weeks after signing the contract, they participated in the Draft pools, making the contract invalid. If WWE would have waited for at least 2 to 3 weeks, they would have directly picked them in the Draft.

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