Favorite Draft Concept.

[morrisonfan]

Sorry if it is against the rules posting this in a separate thread, but I figured with the subject I will be talking about, that I make a thread for it.

Now with the draft tomorrow night, I figured a decent subject would be to talk about the actual draft and ask the forums what their favorite draft concept was. There were only four different ways the WWE has done the draft, and they are as follows:

1. The Draft where the GM's(then co-owners, Flair and McMahon) pick who they want on their shows.
2. The Draft Lottery, where all the wrestlers names of each brand were in this bin and the GM's picked a name out of it, thus being their pick
3. The Month Long draft, where every week on Raw and Smackdown, that draft pick would appear on the show, up until each had five picks.
4. The Computerized Draft where they have matches and whoever wins for their brand, a computerized lottery will play thus that person who it lands on will be the draft pick.

Now, out of all those choices, I would have to go with the second option, with the superstars names in the bin, and they pick out of that. To me, it was such an enjoyable draft, because anyone from big names to jobbers could get picked and it would be believable. I think it's better than the current format of the draft with the computerized one, because it just doesn't seem as real because when they scroll through the rosters, say someone who previously got drafted, they still show the person who got drafted during the next pick for that show.(ex: in 2008 when Rey Mysterio got drafted to Raw, when Raw won another pick and they scrolled through the smackdown roster, Rey was still there.) Now I think they should go back to the draft lottery of which I just mentioned. It will bring unpredictability in my opinion.

So you heard my favorite, what's yours?

 

[bltz524]

My draft concept would be how they did it in 2001 with the first draft. Throw the whole roster into the pool and have the gm's pick their picks (obviously Cole would read off the RAW GM's picks). Now you could do 2 nights of picks, on RAW and SmackDown. Do 10 picks on both for a total of 20 hand picks. Then, on Saturday do a supplemental draft to do the rest of the roster that wasn't hand picked. That was the ONLY draft concept i liked out of all the recent options.

 

[#hamler]

The 2001 Draft was by far my favorite draft concept. To me, something like that felt real to me. You take the two general managers and have them pick the top superstars of their choice. For example Smackdown could choose John Cena and RAW can choose Undertaker from Smackdown. It makes the two main event scenes more prominant and steady without one show stealing too many of the other show's top talents. If they want to make RAW and Smackdown two different brands then having the owners choose their own picks would do just that. The 2001 concept, is my favorite.

 

[Brahma Bull]

My favorite is how it is done now. It makes it completely up in the air (kayfabe) who will be selected to go where. It makes you feel like anything (barring a trade involving cena or taker) could take place.

On a side note: I think that an actual trade like they do in pro sports would be a great concept too. Have the gm's negotiate who gets traded where. Maybe have the smackdown gm offer 3 high level midcarders for cena, or something like that. I always love trading season in sports, and i think it would be an interesting concept.

 

[Sick_Sider13]

i dont really get the point of drafts if in a few weeks whoever is drafted is gonna show up in both shows. but whatever i like the computerized draft bacause to me it seems more fair.

 

[sharu7]

The draft happend in 2002..Not 2001..Get your WWE facts straight.

And yeah, I agree with you. The 2nd concept was the best because, it made you think that the draft wasn't rigged, and that anybodys name could pop up..From Triple H to Yoshi Tatsu..It would be really unpredictable..

Also loved the 2002 one as well.. But for that they would have to start fresh, with none of the wrestlers having specfic brands..All wrestlers would have a new home.

 

[The Universal Re-monster]

The draft happend in 2002..Not 2001..Get your WWE facts straight.

And yeah, I agree with you. The 2nd concept was the best because, it made you think that the draft wasn't rigged, and that anybodys name could pop up..From Triple H to Yoshi Tatsu..It would be really unpredictable..

Also loved the 2002 one as well.. But for that they would have to start fresh, with none of the wrestlers having specfic brands..All wrestlers would have a new home.

Wow, no need to be an abrupt asshole or anything. But yea, I liked the 2nd draft the best too, just random dudes getting picked by a computer. Made for total suprise.

 

[mister_b1LL]

The first version by far, and if the Raw GM would finally show up, I would've wished it would have worked out this way. This way both GMs could pick out exactly who they wanted on their show. It would have been also cool to have on screen trade offs (somewhat reminiscent of the Racial Draft from Chappelle's show) so if say SmackDown wanted John Cena, the Raw GM would negotiate on the spot with Teddy Long to try and keep his guy on the show and perhaps give SD John Morrison and R-Truth instead. During that draft, each show was loaded with talent and it never felt like one show was above the other like it feels sometimes today.

 

[Skairipa Matrix]

i gotta say i like the 1st & 2nd ideas the best and id love if wwe did either of them tomorrow night! they could do the first one and shuffle up everybodys brands and it would be pretty cool also i think the 2nd idea was the best ever it makes it seem like anybody from triple h or undertaker to zack ryder or ted dibiase and it would be beliveable

 

[The Perfect Max]

The modern day one brings more tension. Say you have Alberto (SD) vs Triple H (RAW) and Alberto wins, you could be sat there thinking Oh My God Triple H Could Go To SmackDown. Same with anyone. I supoose this way Big Show could be drafted the RAW then later on in the night going back to SmackDown.

I just love it when someone wins then the titantron scrolls through all the superstars then the WWE Draft logo comes up and then finally someone is drafted!

 

[spinningtorturerack]

I definitely prefer the second option, the lottery. Because it meant that there was a direct competition between the two GM's trying to pick the best, but they can get completely done over. I think drafts should involve the GM's more in general, it's their brand and so they should feel responsible for trying to get the best superstars to their brand.

 

[iheartfcw]

My favourite draft conceot was the one they did back in 2004 where all the drafts were in the bin and each roster had 12 picks each. That was a huge element of suprise as anybody could be drafted. That 2004 draft show was amazing. I really liked the last match with Eddie Guerrero vs Triple H. And at the end where all the wrestlers had a huge gang brawl. :')

 

[Trill Co$by]

I can't remember which year it was, but there was one year where the wrestlers (sue me, WWE) were given the "choice" to switch shows whenever they felt like it. Back when Stephanie and Bischoff were GMs. I thought that was a great concept because we saw Bischoff steal HHH from Stephanie which would dawn Raw's era of Evolution, but on the flip side, we saw Lesnar switch to Smackdown and become the most ferocious human being on the planet.

 

[vicd71]

My favorite was, by far, the (I believe) the 2004 Draft. Bischoff and Heyman were priceless picking against one another. Those 2 gave that draft a real sense of believability. HHH getting drafted to SD, but having Evolution come to the ring for support him in his match with Guerrero and Rhyno getting a "lucky" title shot that same night vs. Benoit added great elements and gave the whole draft instant credibility and meaning.Then having Heyman turn right around and trade HHH back to Raw that same week and reuniting the Dudleys (remember, Bubba got drafted off from Raw that night which split-up the team) on SD. What a great creative way to have the team switch brands without wasting 2 whole draft picks. Remember, that trade was also a 3-for-1 deal, allowing 2 more guys to go to SD. All in all, IMO, this was the most creative and best executed draft.

 

[Shadowbladez]

I think the second one is the best since it gives the draft a feeling of realism. I did not like last year's draft since it was so predictable who would change brands.

 

[Wolf Pac]

2002
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011

Which year of the Draft Lottery was your favourite and explain why? Was it because of the way the picks were selected via computer or GM's picking? Was it because of the superstars that were drafted? Did you feel one specific year, the draft benefited both brands greatly instead of just one?​

My pick is the 2005 edition. I liked all the picks & the concept of the draft where they revealed each draft pick one at a time on Raw & Smackdown each week. There was some pretty good debuts such as Carlito winning the IC Title off Shelton on his first night like he did Cena & the US Title when he debuted on SD, Cena's showdown with Christian on the Highlight Reel was awesome, Kurt Angle's confrontation with Batista, HHH & Shawn and Batista taking out JBL after JBL won a 6 man to determine a new World Champion but then Teddy Long came out and said there wasn't any need to him be champ cause Batista is now on SD, so he instead made him #1 Contender.

 

[Dagger Dias]

The best in my opinion is the computerized draft. I might be in the minority there, but it adds to the sense of randomness and the fact that everyone is elligible to be moved to the other brand. 2008 in particular was one of my favorites, as that draft shaked the foundation of the roster. Announcers traded places, and so did the world championships. Some years are more random than others, but I like the computerized concept due to it feeling a lot more randomized than the older formats. Also, it has the feel of a "choose your character" screen from a video game whenever all the mugshots are being shuffled before a pick is announced.

 

[KidIncredible]

I'm okay with the computerized random draft, but I'm not big on the whole "this match determines who gets a pick". Towards the end of the night (or even earlier on), it starts to spoil the outcomes of matches and that really takes me out of watching the match. Each show should get X number of picks, you can have your matches for regular storylines and fill in the drafts in between those.

Also, the supplemental draft is rubbish. Anybody ever sit through the chat room while that goes on? I can't believe it was 4+ hours this year >.< Just have a draft pick for both shows before every commercial on Raw and you can be done all in one go.
OR
Do half the draft on Raw and the other half on SD. It'd be a reason to watch SD? (if you can avoid the spoilers).

 

[Spidey Revivey]

The Lottery-style draft picks that General Manager Eric Bischoff and Paul Heyman did on Raw so many years ago is definitely my choice. It really felt completely random; getting choices like:

- Triple H (the biggest RAW star at the time) for Smackdown and:
- Paul Heyman (Head honcho of Smackdown) for Raw

The atmosphere didn't feel scripted as much to me as the computerized choices do. It was a simple, effective way of going about things that brought the two GMs from their respective shows together in a begrudging way. I miss that true Raw vs. Smackdown vibe.

And OP, this would have been really cool if this was a Poll.

 

[King Patrick Star]

My favorite concept out of the 4 choices has to be the very first one with the Owners making picks. I didn’t really like the Draft Lottery or the Computerized Draft, because it didn’t’ feel “random” enough. Having matches for picks is a good idea, after all it is a Wrestling show. What I would like to see is for the WWE to sort of combine all their good ideas from the past drafts.

1. The first thing I would do is give all of the Champions the right to appear on any show. If a Champion were to lose their Title, he would take the new Champions place on their respective Brand.

2. All WWE Superstars, except the Champions, are eligible in the Draft and are all Free Agents, for example, if Raw got the first pick, one would have to think that they would pick Cena even if he is already on Raw.

3. I would like to see the GMs making actual picks.

4. I would have a month long Draft over 9 shows, 4 Raw, 4 Smackdown, and culminate it at Bragging Rights.

5. On each show I would go with 5 picks, 2 for the “Visiting” Brand and 3 for the “Home” Brand. I’d alternate the picks with the “Home” team always getting first pick. (On Mondays, Raw would get 3 picks and Smackdown would get 2 picks and on Fridays, Smackdown would get 3 picks and Raw would get 2 picks).

6. Once a Superstar is picked, they cannot be picked again later in the Draft. That would be a waste of 2 picks.

7. As for the Draft matches, I would just have Raw’s first pick vs. Smackdown’s first pick and then Raw’s second pick vs. Smackdown’s second pick each week. The third and final pick for the Home Team on each show would be a part of the Bragging Rights Team.

8. At Bragging Rights, I would have the losing Team of the 4 – on – 4 Raw vs. Smackdown Bragging Rights match moved to the winning Teams’ Brand. The GMs would have to take into consideration losing who they pick for their respective teams.

9. I would include NXT Rookies in the Draft. Imagine the instant push that rookie receives for being picked.

10. I would nix the WWE.com Supplemental Draft.

Too much??