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Credit: WWE.com
Welcome to the Bleacher Report pro wrestling mailbag.
The B/R community has always been outspoken, especially when it comes to opinions on pro wrestling and its biggest stars.
We will answer your questions and react to your hot takes about WWE, AEW and the world of pro wrestling.
This week’s question: What WWE draft move needs to happen? A lot of WWE Superstars would benefit from a change of scenery, but not everybody shares the same opinion about who should switch rosters.
Check out what the B/R community thought.
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“Damian Priest and Drew McIntyre to SmackDown. I would love to see a Priest vs. Roman Reigns match.” (@VawlForLife92)
Both of these picks would be big gets for the blue brand. If Roman Reigns remains on SmackDown, which is likely since he is the universal champion, both Damian Priest and Drew McIntyre would make great rivals.
Priest has had a great run with the United States Championship, and he hasn’t even held the title that long. He has defended it multiple times already, and every one of those matches has been outstanding.
We’ve already seen The Tribal Chief and The Scottish Warrior do battle several times, but the dynamic would be different this time due to Reigns’ shift in attitude over the past couple of years.
If Priest did move, it would likely mean Shinsuke Nakamura would be switched to Raw so each brand has a midcard title.
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“Shayna Baszler to SmackDown would give us a Shayna vs. Becky Lynch feud we’ve deserved for two or three years.” (@ohmygil)
When Shayna Baszler and Becky Lynch collided at WrestleMania 36, WWE opted not to put the title on The Queen of Spades despite her overwhelmingly dominant performance inside the Elimination Chamber the previous month.
In the eyes of many fans, that was the first sign that the company was not going to book Baszler the same way she had been in NXT.
The past couple of weeks have seen the MMA fighter show her vicious side again with attacks on Nia Jax and Eva Marie, so it feels like management is trying to reestablish her as a top contender.
Moving her to SmackDown would give her a fresh start and a chance to beat The Man for the women’s title, but both women being heels might be an issue. WWE could always book Baszler as a neutral tweener by having her attack other heels, so it’s not impossible to make that feud happen.
Regardless of who she goes after, Baszler needs a change of scenery. She was stuck in a tag team for too long and deserves another shot to succeed on her own. Plus, she could reignite her feud with Bianca Belair from their time in NXT, which was one of the best storylines either woman had on that show.
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“Jeff Hardy and Ricochet to SD, then put them in a tag team.” (@TDLakerFan)
Now, this is an intriguing proposition. While I don’t think either guy needs a partner at this time, this would be an interesting pairing.
Jeff Hardy and Ricochet have a 12-year age gap, and there is almost as much time between the start of their careers. While the latter is no rookie, the former would definitely be the veteran mentor in this scenario.
They each represent a different style of high-flying offense. Ricochet is more of an acrobat who hits beautiful moves almost effortlessly; Hardy, on the other hand, is much more of a devil-may-care risk-taker who is willing to put his own body through hell just to hurt his opponents a bit more.
Together, they could come up with some incredible double-team maneuvers and add some variety to the tag team division. Seeing them face a team like The Usos would be amazing.
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“Finn Balor to Raw so he can either team or feud with AJ Styles.” (@JudahKing)
AJ Styles and Finn Balor had a brief program together in 2017, but WWE has kept them apart ever since. The Irishman’s return to NXT certainly helped put distance between them.
WWE seemed hesitant to fully commit to making a proto-Bullet Club while Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows were still with the company, but that’s not a problem now.
Since Styles has a tag team partner in Omos, it would be easier to stick The Phenomenal One and The Demon in a feud, but the idea of them forming their own tag team at some point can’t be ignored.
The star power Styles and Balor would bring to the tag team division would be huge, but more importantly, they would be able to put on some incredible matches with the likes of The Viking Raiders, The Usos, The Street Profits and The New Day.
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“Kaientai to Raw, JOB Squad to SD.” (@jdslim11)
I feel like Taka Michinoku needs to go his own way, but J.O.B. Squad to SmackDown sounds like a good idea. I want to see Stevie Richards in the main event.
“Can AEW draft WWE and just run all the shows?” (@allinkid)
I was tempted to give a joke response here, but I have to acknowledge how much better WWE programming has been in recent weeks. Raw has been especially good compared to the past several months, and SmackDown has been solid for some time. I think WWE will be fine if it keeps featuring the right people.
“I would love to see Dexter Lumis on the main roster, preferably on Raw.” (@DantheMan82)
So you want to break up InDex? Indi Hartwell deserves to be happy with her new husband. What do you have against love, Dan?
“Just throw names into a hat.” (@historian)
Alright, I did that. Now, what do I do next?
“Do away with SmackDown vs. Raw and velcro belts. Add weight classes and records.” (@Goonery)
WWE discontinued the SmackDown! vs. Raw video game series in favor of the WWE 2K version some time ago, so that’s already done.
But in all seriousness, I hate the velcro belts, especially when a champion holds one so the big velcro patch is visible. As for weight classes, it would be hard to do that in WWE the same way it is done in boxing and MMA. They would have to be too broad to include enough competitors.
If WWE kept track of wins and losses, people would accuse them of copying AEW, so I doubt that’s going to happen outside of the occasional tournament.