It’s the most wonderful time of the year. No, it’s not quite time for the holidays. Instead, the 2020 WWE Draft is almost here, so excitement is in the air. While the WWE Draft has lost some luster in recent years, it remains one of the most anticipated events on the WWE calendar because the draft reshuffles the deck for the main roster.
This year, WWE really needs to shake things up because the RAW roster has grown awfully stale. SmackDown has been thriving lately, but a little change never hurt anyone. With that said, here are the top ten moves that need to happen in the 2020 WWE Draft.
Kevin Owens To WWE Friday Night SmackDown
To start off with a blockbuster, Kevin Owens needs to move to WWE Friday Night SmackDown. Owens’ run as a face on WWE RAW has missed the mark, to say the least. He flourished on the blue brand and, months ago, seemed poised to cement his status as RAW’s top face. Instead, due to various circumstances, Owens has languished on the red brand. He’s been an irregular presence on RAW since WWE WrestleMania 36. He missed some time with an injury and he also opted out of tapings for a while. So any momentum Owens had is gone.
Now, he’s been feuding with a newly heel Aleister Black. Though this duo is a compelling pair on paper, the feud hasn’t done Owens any favors. He’s clearly positioned for a program with Bray Wyatt; two consecutive editions of The Kevin Owens Show have ended with a confrontation between the two. WWE should send Owens to the blue brand, both to facilitate his showdown with Wyatt and to reinvigorate his character.
John Morrison To WWE RAW
Remember when the announcement of John Morrison’s return to WWE excited many fans? As soon as Morrison arrived on WWE Friday Night SmackDown earlier this year, the writing seemed to be on the wall. His return came in a brief backstage segment, as he simply said that The Miz was unavailable for an interview. Since then, Morrison has reunited with The Miz, his longtime tag team partner, but they haven’t quite captured the magic of their initial run. Sure, songs like “Hey, Hey” have been fun. But their act is quickly growing stale.
It’s time for another Morrison singles run. Moving him to RAW would allow WWE to put a fresh coat of paint on the veteran, and the red brand could use a face with legitimate star power. During his time with IMPACT, Morrison proved that he has what it takes to be a top draw. Now, WWE just needs to give him the ball so he can run with it.
Unify the tag titles (have one brand’s champions switch brands/have a title unification match)
WWE needs to unify the tag team titles, plain and simple. It doesn’t matter how they do it. They can move the Street Profits to SmackDown, or they can send Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro to RAW. Either way, these two teams need to face off in a winner-take-all match. When Cesaro and Nakamura arrived on RAW a few weeks ago to challenge their counterparts, it seemed like WWE was setting up a unification match. Instead, the Street Profits decisively won the bout. Still, the noticeable lack of depth tag team division remains one of the company’s fatal flaws.
WWE continues to feature the same tag team matches. (How many times did Angel Garza and Andrade face Angel Garza and Montez Ford?) They desperately need to add some new energy into this division. At this point, the best way to do that would be a title unification match, which would allow fans to see some fresh match-ups.
RAW’s Gonna Get These Hands
Braun Strowman’s move to RAW is a formality, but it still merits a spot on this list. The Monster Among Men has appeared on RAW Underground, and he just clashed with Keith Lee on the red brand. Clearly, Strowman is destined to move to Monday nights. But as WWE official Adam Pearce pointed out on RAW this past week, Strowman isn’t officially on the roster yet.
By sending Strowman to the red brand, WWE will give its flagship show another main event player. The Monster Among Men didn’t blow many fans away with his run as the WWE Universal Champion. Since he turned heel and lost the title to The Fiend, Strowman has been the odd man out on SmackDown. But he remains one of the company’s top stars, so potential feuds with Randy Orton and/or Drew McIntyre for the WWE Championship could help the top of RAW’s card remain fresh.
Otis Is Coming To RAW
“Oh, yeah!” It’s fair to argue that, more than anyone on this list, Otis needs a change of scenery. Some fans disagreed with the decision to give Otis the Money in the Bank contract, but many members of the WWE Universe assumed that the big guy’s meteoric push would continue. If that happened, Otis might be on his way to a match for the WWE Universal Championship. But given how the last few months have played out, that’s not happening.
Otis has entirely disappeared for some stretches. It’s unclear whether his absences were remotely related to COVID-19, but for weeks at a time, Otis was nowhere to be found on Friday nights. Now, he’s back, and while he’s feuding with John Morrison and The Miz, you can’t help but wonder whether Otis would be better off on RAW. Moving to the red brand would allow Otis to reunite with Mandy Rose, and there are still plenty of storytelling possibilities left for this couple. Plus, Otis hasn’t matched up with most of the RAW roster yet, so getting drafted would open up a lot of options for him.
