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Drafted To WWE Raw: What To Expect From New Raw Talent

A photo of WWE Superstar CM Punk, who was drafted to WWE Raw.

The WWE Draft may have been void of shocking moments but it did serve its purpose in refreshing the rosters of both WWE Raw and WWE SmackDown. 

WWE Raw kept hold of its biggest stars Jey Uso, Drew McIntyre, The Judgement Day, Gunther, Seth Rollins, The New Day, Alpha Academy, Becky Lynch, Liv Morgan and Shayna Baszler. 

Many stars were announced as marquee signings from NXT, or cunning deals with WWE SmackDown. 

Here, we take a look at who was drafted to WWE Raw. Plus we discuss what we can expect from these newly drafted WWE Raw stars. 

Drafted To WWE Raw

CM Punk 

CM Punk being added to the WWE Raw roster means one thing. We are getting CM Punk vs. Drew McIntyre soon. The smart money would be on McIntyre challenging for the World Heavyweight Championship at Clash At The Castle.

If WWE wants to incite the sort of riots normally only seen in Glasgow when Celtic play Rangers in the Old Firm football derby, it’ll make sure that CM Punk costs McIntyre the title on his home soil. 

WWE could send Scottish fans home happy by crowning McIntrye as champion on this PLE. If that’s the case CM Punk will want the first crack at the gold.

Both options would set up CM Punk vs. McIntyre at SummerSlam. All of this will play out on WWE Raw which would make unmissible TV.  

Braun Strowman 

Braun Strowman was technically drafted to WWE Raw a year ago during the 2023 WWE Draft. However, he has been kept out of action since then with a neck injury. So his draft to WWE Raw is technically a redraft but that doesn’t stop it being interesting.

If his first night back on WWE Raw is anything to go by a feud with The Judgement Day is on the near horizon.  

Strowman’s draft could signal the recent QR codes and subsequent online videos hyping Uncle Howdy’s return could develop into something on TV. The Uncle Howdy videos have hinted that Howdy will be joined by potentially five other members of the new Wyatt 6. 

Shawn Spears and Alexia Bliss have both been mentioned in the videos. With Strowman back on the active roster we could see him play a role in Howdy’s return IRL.

Perhaps we will see Uncle Howdy attempt to bring Strowman into his new faction. Or if Strowman is to feud with The Judgement Day, the Wyatt 6 could launch as a back-up for him.  

Ilja Dragunov 

Ilja Dragunov’s appearance on WWE Raw After WrestleMania gave a heavy hint that he would be drafted to WWE Raw. He was. 

Dragunov claimed he would push WWE Raw to a new level of intensity. He also referred to being on the same brand as Gunther as destiny. The two men had an extremely heated rivalry in NXT UK with matches that have been heralded as the greatest of all time. 

WWE could give Dragunov and Gunther a match in front of the European crowd at Bash In Berlin. But perhaps that would rid the German crowd of two great matches. 

Gunther should challenge for the World Heavyweight Championship in Berlin. Dragunov could go for the WWE Intercontinental Championship in front of a crowd that will welcome the Russian former WxW Champion as a hometown hero. 

Damage CTRL And WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions 

All champions were guaranteed to stay on their current brand during the WWE Draft. Except for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions The Kabuki Warriors. Champions Asuka & Kairi Sane were drafted to WWE Raw with the rest of Damage CTRL Iyo Sky and Dakota Kai.

This will seriously alter the women’s division which has been dominated by the now-injured Rhea Ripley, now-on SmackDown Nia Jax, now-new Women’s World Champ Becky Lynch and Liv Morgan. 

Lynch as Women’s World Champion stays on Raw. But she will have all of Damage CTRL to deal with as they will certainly be eyeing her gold. This will also get in the way of Liv Morgan who has her eyes on Lynch’s prize.

Alba Fire & Isla Dawn  

The Kabuki Warriors will have Scottish tag duo Alba Fire & Isla Dawn to contend with. Clash At The Castle would offer the perfect opportunity to put Fire & Dawn in a tag title match in front of a home crowd.

Sure, WWE could book the match as a pre-show afterthought like it did when it booked The Way vs. The Kabuki Warriors at Elimination Chamber in Perth to give Indi Hartwell a moment in front of her fellow Aussies. But with six weeks until the Glasgow show there’s plenty of time to build an engaging story.  

Lyra Valkyria & Kiana James 

Lyra Valkyria and Kiana James complete the list of NXT women drafted to WWE Raw. James will offer impressive in-ring ability.

Valkyria is also great in the ring but comes to WWE Raw with many connections and some impressive bragging rights. Valkyria defeated Lynch for the NXT Women’s Championship at NXT: Halloween Havoc, last year. Surely that’s worth a shot at Lynch’s World Women’s Championship.

The Irish Valkyria also has a connection to Finn Balor and JD McDonagh, so could be a potential new member for The Judgement Day.   

Bron Breakker 

Bron Breaker’s move from NXT to WWE SmackDown in February led to a couple of squash matches for the second-generation wrestler. His move to WWE Raw could signal that he is set for more than just squash matches.

WWE Raw has a very competitive upper-mid card that Breakker would fit in well on. Bronson Reed, Sheamus, Dragunov, Ivar, and Chad Gable should offer some competition for Breakker as he competes for a shot at Sami Zayn’s Intercontinental Championship.  

Drafted To Raw – Again: Dijak & Odyssey Jones

Dijak is coming back to WWE Raw looking for (ahem) retribution. Dijak was drafted to WWE Raw, given the name T-Bar and put in the disastrous faction Retribution. He said he was using this negative experience to fuel his Dijax hijack of the show.  

Odyssey Jones was also drafted to WWE Raw. Both he and Dijax could fit in with the mentioned upper-mid card roster.  

The weird thing with Jones is he was drafted to WWE Raw in the 2023 Draft but never actually appeared on the show. So there’s a chance he’ll spend another year on the brand working dark matches and WWE Live shows. 

Final Testament For The Judgement Day 

The Final Testament faction – comprising of Karrion Kross, Akam & Rezar along with Paul Ellering and Scarlett – make the move to WWE Raw. This ends their feud with Bobby Lashley and The Street Profits on SmackDown.

We can expect The Final Testament to set its sights on WWE Raw’s top faction The Judgement Day if it truly wants to make a difference in WWE. But the LWO were also drafted to WWE Raw, so could also jostle for control of the show.

New Catch Republic

Things have been great for the New Catch Republic since they formed when Tyler Bate joined Pete Dunne on SmackDown in January.

They got a shot at the Tag titles at Elimination Chamber and WrestleMania 40. 

The British duo will put on some cracking matches with the new teams in front of them on WWE Raw. Such as The Creed Brothers, New Day, and Imperium.

If they get a shot at The Awesome Truth, they’ll hope third times lucky will win them the World Tag Team Championship.

More From LWOS Pro Wrestling

Header photo – WWE – Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. You can check out an almost unlimited array of WWE content on the WWE Network and Peacock.

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