WWE Draft Big Board 3.0
WWE finally unveiled some guidelines for the WWE Draft that is set to take place Tuesday night and they have prompted me to revise my big board.
Before I reveal my latest big board, let's run through the rules WWE released Sunday. First off, Raw has the No. 1 overall pick. Because Raw is a three-hour show and Smackdown is only a two-hour program, for every two picks Smackdown receives Raw will get three.
However, those are not the two most intriguing rules. The one that piqued my interest the most was that tag teams will count as one pick, meaning that they can be drafted as a unit. What that also means is that tag teams will not be unnecessarily split up due to being drafted to different brands.
There is a caveat, though, and that is teams will be drafted as one pick unless a general manager — either Mick Foley or Daniel Bryan — specifically wants one member of the team. Teams could still be split up, but the likelihood is far lower than if they weren't drafted as units.
And finally, six drafts pick will be made off the NXT roster. So NXT will not be pillaged as originally thought, but that does mean you will finally see some NXT names make it onto the rankings.
A few things you'll notice while reading my list is that The Undertaker isn't on it. That is because he was not listed as among those that are eligible to be drafted. Brock Lesnar is listed, but dropped on my list due to him being flagged for a potential doping violation by the United States Anti-Doping Agency after his fight at UFC 200. If it is confirmed that he indeed failed a test, I'm not quite how it would impact his standing with WWE.
With that said, let's get to the list:
Male superstars
1. Dean Ambrose
He is still technically the WWE champion and when you are carrying the top title in the industry, you are more than worthy of holding the top spot.
2. Seth Rollins
For the second time in about a month, Rollins almost walked out of a show as the WWE champion.
With Stephanie McMahon in charge of Raw, I have a feeling Rollins will not fall much further than this in the draft, unless WWE wants to create some sort of Aaron Rodgers situation.
3. AJ Styles
Styles and The Club are seemingly getting better as time goes by. With or without Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, Styles would make a fantastic addition to either brand.
4. John Cena
Cena's commitment to WWE has come into question a lot as of late, but he still the No. 1 draw for WWE. He will remain in that position until further notice.
5. Roman Reigns
Reigns could have easily been much further down this list with his suspension, but since the suspension is almost up and it seems like WWE is still behind him as a top babyface, I couldn't bring myself to drop him that far. Because of that, he remains in the top five.
Here is how the rest of the top 10 shook out:
6. Finn Balor
7. Samoa Joe
8. Kevin Owens
9. Shinsuke Nakamura
10. The New Day
And with that, here is the rest of the male side of the rankings.
11. Sami Zayn
12. Bray Wyatt
13. Chris Jericho
14. Enzo Amore & Big Cass
15. Randy Orton
16. Rusev
17. The Miz
18. Cesaro
19. Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson
20. Brock Lesnar
21. American Alpha
22. Baron Corbin
23. Apollo Crews
24. Kalisto
25. Sheamus
26. Neville
27. The Revival
28. Austin Aries
29. Alberto Del Rio
30. Dolph Ziggler
31. The Vaudevillains
32. Zack Ryder
33. Titus O'Neil
34. The Usos
35. The Golden Truth
36. The Dudley Boyz
37. Sin Cara
38. The Social Outcasts
39. Darren Young
40. Jack Swagger
41. The Shining Stars
42. Kane
43. Mark Henry
44. Big Show
45. Erick Rowan
Now let's get to the women. The same criterion applies, but since there are so few, the list will be a lot shorter.
Female superstars
1. Charlotte
Her storyline with Dana Brooke isn't all that great, but she is still the champ, which means she stays at the top of the leaderboard.
2. Sasha Banks
Banks looks to be on the fast track to the WWE Women's championship, which means could very well assume the top spot very, very soon.
3. Bayley
Bayley would have been in this position on the first two editions of the big board, but I was not sure how WWE was going to handle the NXT roster when it came to the draft.
Now that we know six picks will be made from NXT, I can put Bayley near the top of the list, which is where she belongs. She has the potential to be the No. 1 babyface — male or female — in all of wrestling.
4. Asuka
She is probably the dominant woman on the entire WWE roster, Asuka will quickly win over fans of either brand with her brutality in the ring.
5. Becky Lynch
Lynch's physical talents are through the roof, but her value as female babyface is immense.
Here is the rest of the list:
6. Natalya
7. Paige
8. Naomi
9. Nia Jax
10. Dana Brooke
11. Alexa Bliss
12. Carmella
13. Summer Rae
14. Alicia Fox
15. Eva Marie