The First Draft: Who Won?

[klunderbunker]

Currently reviewing the first WWE Draft which established the Brand Split and I wonder who you think won based on the top ten picks for each brand. These were the picks announced live on the air with the rest being made online later but we'll stick to the live ones here:

Vince's Picks (Smackdown)
1. The Rock
2. Kurt Angle
3. Chris Benoit (injured at the time)
4. Hulk Hogan
5. Billy and Chuck (tag champions)
6. Edge
7. Rikishi
8. D-Von Dudley (debuted as a preacher soon after with a deacon named Batista)
9. Mark Henry
10. Maven (Hardcore Champion)

Flair's Picks (Raw)
1. Undertaker
2. NWO (Hall/Nash/X-Pac)
3. Kane
4. Rob Van Dam (IC Champion)
5. Booker T
6. Big Show
7. Bubba Ray Dudley
8. Brock Lesnar
9. William Regal (European Champion)
10. Lita

So in short, who won the draft that night?

 

[FunKay the Inevitable]

Raw did. When looking at the picks it has more to do with SmackDown's picks then Raw's.

The Rock may have been pick number one but after the draft he disappeared to make The Rundown/Welcome to the Jungle.
Benoit was injured and would resurface on Raw anyway.
Rikishi was largely (no pun intended) ineffective in his first year.
Hogan would last until the end of the summer when he would need time off for surgery.
D-Von's gimmick bombed (Not that Bubba's Rip-Off of Dusty Rhodes did much better).
Mark Henry was gone within a few months to 'improve his skills'.
And Maven lost the Hardcore Championship to Raven (a Raw Guy) on the SmackDown prior to the Draft taking full effect.

SmackDown really did get a bum deal here (which is odd because it would have Guerrero, Big Show, Lesnar and #1 Pick Undertaker on the Show by the End of the Year).

Raw would also receive a large boost in Steve Austin the following week. In reality, the draft ended up being largely ineffective as Flair was deposed within three months, the GM's were introduced and a good 1/5 of the roster swapped shows by year’s end.

 

[Whippersnapper88]

Raw did, as it should have being the top show. Angle, Benoit, and Edge are the only people there who had major Smackdown impact (by the time of the draft, the Rock was already exploring Hollywood). Raw not only picked up five past or future world champions, but also the IC and European championships, which I would rather have on my show than the tag team and the hardcore...

 

[The Chosen One of WZ]

Everyone this posts in this thread will say Raw as will I

All I have to read are their first 5 pics and they beat the whole 10 smackdown picks I mean: Undertaker, nWo, Kane, RVD and Booker.. You can't beat that haha.

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

Everyone this posts in this thread will say Raw as will I

All I have to read are their first 5 pics and they beat the whole 10 smackdown picks I mean: Undertaker, nWo, Kane, RVD and Booker.. You can't beat that haha.

They may have beat them in name value but not in the ring and their actual contributions. Hall was basically done and Nash got injured two or three months after that. Kane was just floating around for a while as was RVD. Undertaker was terrible during this period with awful matches against Austin and HHH. Only good thing that was produced was comedy gold with Booker and Goldust.

 

[Sicc Nick]

You would think that RAW did, but in reality; Smackdown did.

Smackdown had younger stars, and in three months, most of the people that Flair picked were in Smackdown by then anyways, probably because RAW had Stone Cold leaving, Smackdown stars invading, RAW stars defecting, etc. that it could not sustain any resemblance of realism or consistency and that year itself was a terrible year for RAW, and maybe the only good year in the last 8 years for Smackdown. With Vince being on the show and the Hogan run going on, Smackdown was finally considered the A-show for once.

 

[gd]

Looking at the actual wrestlers, Smackdown clearly got the better deal. I'm even going to try and go into what the guys actually did after they got drafted, because I really don't know.

Looking at it, Smackdown got 3 guys at the very top (Rock, Angle, Hogan - regardless of his age, he's still Hulk Hogan) Plus Benoit and Edge, who were both blossoming stars, or something like that. Billy and Chuck were champs, so that's always good. Rikishi is definetly enjoyable. I couldn't really give a fuck about D-Von, Henry, or Maven.

Raw got 2 super high caliber guys, I'd say, with Taker and Lesnar. Other than that, they had pretty good but in reality just midlevel guys in RVD, Kane, Booker, and Big Show. They got the nWo, but who really gave a fuck about it at that time? Top it off with the other Dudley, Regal with a pointless title, and a female.

From my perspective, Smackdowngot the bigger and better stars.

 

[Wolf Pac]

Raw. They had hot feuds going on, Flair vs. Austin, Taker vs. HHH, Eddie Gurrerro vs. RVD, Brock Lesnar destroying everyone. And even when Taker, Brock, Eddie, Benoit all went to SD & Austin departed, HHH carried the show all on his own and still made it entertaining especially since he was feuding with HBK which had to be the Feud of that Year. And who can forget Eric Bischoff, the greatest GM Raw has ever had. Also the fact Taker & co. went to SD must say summit about Smackdown's product back then, that it was pretty shit, so they needed the best Raw had.

All Smackdown had going for them was the Edge vs. Kurt Angle feud till they paired Edge up with Hulk Hogan of all people in a feud with Lance Storm & Christian while Jericho was stuck up in a programme with a bland John Cena & who can honestly say they were entertained by Billy, Chuck, Rikishi, Maven, Henry & D-Von? Only stupid people would. Also Steph lost character after her storylines with HHH, she was a plain GM. Too many people overrate SD.

Even if you put more established names on SD, Raw will always be better cause it's too established itself.