Mission 002: The 2024 Draft

Mission 002 – The Mission? Review The 2024 WOW Draft

Well, I got here about 28 hours ago in Charleston with the rest of the ULW crew and was immediately informed that the televised draft was happening within two hours! Now, the Triad was not terribly surprised as word has it that they had their suspicions that WWE and AEW had worked it out with WOW that it would happen shortly after we arrived. Anyways, the only thing that I did notice as the broadcast was about to begin was that Triad Members Brown and Mouse were seemingly chatting jovially while Triad Member Dibiase was sitting initially with his arms crossed.

I wasn’t sure what this meant at first, but the world would soon see something unfold with the first ever televised WOW Draft!

The Exemptions

Ok, first let’s discuss each of the company’s draft exemptions outside of management:

Seventh Era Productions/Murrey Entertainment (WWE)

Exempted Active Talent –

1. The Rock (WWE Champion)

2. Solo Sikoa

3. Big E (Tag Team Champion)

4. Kofi Kingston (Tag Team Champion)

5. Montez Ford

6. Angelo Dawkins

7. Damian Priest

8. Flex Fuller

9. Asuka (WWE Women’s Champion)

10. Dominik Mysterio

11. Johnny Gargano

12. Shinsuke Nakamura (United States Champion)

13. Otis

14. Danhausen

15. Chad Gable

16. Drew McIntyre

17. Bobby Lashley (Intercontinental Champion)

18. Hook

19. Bronson Reed

20. Johnny Lawrence

Exempted Legends –

1. Jesse Ventura

2. Roddy Piper

3. Jake Roberts

4. Bret Hart

5. Ricky Steamboat

6. Batista

7. Rey Mysterio

8. Ken Shamrock

A quick glance at the WWE exemptions tells you that it is rather cut and dry. It is interesting that WWE didn’t use all 10 of their legends exemptions, but they may have just concluded that there was no one else worthy of saving from the draft. This could have actually been a little foreshadowing for the WWE plans to bow out of the proceedings early, but we will get to that later.

One of the noteworthy names here – beyond the champions, of course – is Bronson Reed, who replaced Rhea Ripley in this slot. Ripley wound up getting picked up by AEW in the draft as a result of this decision, and I was left wondering if WWE would regret the choice to put Bronson Reed in her place. Moreover, I know from a source that someone in WWE sent a message to a ULW prominent official asking if ULW was interested in a trade. Word on the street is that WWE badly wanted Seth Rollins and was none too pleased that he was exempted, so were some of these exemption moves by Elizabeth and Murrey (and we learned just before WWE announced their first pick that they are working in concert) a preparation for later  trade negotiations? We shall see.

BWM Inc. (AEW)

Exempted Active Talent –

1. MJF
2. Swerve Stickland (AEW TV Champion)
3. Logan Paul (Unsanctioned Internet Champion)
4. Cody Rhodes
5. Max Caster (AEW Tag Team Champion)
6. Anthony Bowens (AEW Tag Team Champion)
7. Adam Page
8. Kenny Omega
9. Miss Athena Star (AEW Knockouts Champion)
10. Gunther
11. Brock Lesnar
12. Roman Reigns
13. Jimmy Uso
14. Jey Uso
15. Sasha Banks
16. Bianca Belair
17. Bryan Danielson
18. AJ Styles
19. Scott Dawson
20. Dash Wilder

Exempted Legends –

1. Armageddon
2. Hulk Hogan
3. Randy Savage
4. Kevin Nash
5. Scott Hall
6. Splinter
7. Lady Love
8. Stevie R
9. Booker D
10. Chyna

With BWM Inc., all of their exemptions make perfect sense here, especially when you consider where all of these stars were standing at the end of the Sixth Era. I know that my predecessor would have strongly disagreed with the decision by AEW to exempt AJ Styles despite Danielson beating him for the guaranteed exemption spot, but I 100% agree with their decision here because I know for a fact that ULW would have made AJ their first pick if Styles was available.

Also noteworthy was the necessitated decision to exempt FTR after AEW traded the Bludgeon Brothers for them. I have it on good authority that Ted Dibiase was angling for ULW to draft FTR early had AEW forgotten to exempt them. No complaints about these exemptions from me at all!

Cash Mouse Enterprises (ULW)

Exempted Active Talent –

1. Randy Orton (Undisputed Champion)
2. Jade Cargill (Women’s Champion)
3. Charlotte Flair (International Champion)
4. Jesse Hash (Extreme Champion)
5. Carmelo Hayes (Premier Champion)
6. Matt Jackson (Tag Team Champion)
7. Nick Jackson (Tag Team Champion)
8. Matt Cardona
9. Granddaddy Duxen
10. Alexa Bliss
11. Bray Wyatt
12. AJ Lee
13. Becky Lynch
14. LA Knight
15. Erick Rowan
16. Luke Harper
17. Ted Dibiase Jr.
18. Mystico
19. Liv Morgan
20. Seth Rollins

Exempted Legends –

1. Slammu
2. Dragonfly
3. Soultaker
4. HBP
5. Krusader
6. Crock
7. Metalhead
8. FRED
9. Teo
10. Rhyno

Now that we know how the draft played out I can say this: there was serious disagreement within the Triad about NOT exempting Attitude to start with, but more on that shortly. I also can say that Matt Cardona threw a fit when he found out that his wife wasn’t exempted. Moreover, Giant Gonzales was originally exempted, but Dibiase again lost on that argument in favor of exempting the Crock in the Legends Exemptions and Seth Rollins in the Active Roster. So, this is all worth mentioning as it precludes what we saw on live TV.

And now for what happened at the Draft:

The First Draft Section (Rounds 1-20, One Pick Per Company)

The First Section Die Roll

It was pushed by Seventh Era Productions for the rock-paper-scissors game to be abandoned for this installment of the draft, and just before the cameras started rolling, the die was rolled instead and for the first time since before the Fifth Era, BWM Inc. did not win the out on having first dibs! Instead, ULW – the “new kid in town” – won the roll, with WWE coming second and AEW placing THIRD!

The Single Draft Picks

ULW	WWE	AEW
1.Ronda Rousey 2. Bron Breakker 3. Living Dead Girl 4. Ricky Starks 5. Attitude 6. Giant Gonzales 7. Jay White 8. Sting 9. Bayley 10. Sammy Guevara 11. Kevin Owens 12. Chris Jericho 13. Christian Cage 14. Ethan Page 15. Cora Jade 16. Samoa Joe 17. Bill Goldberg 18. Jon Moxley 19. Kushida 20. Sean Olson	1. Jordynne Grace 2. R-Truth 3. DDP 4. Finn Balor 5. Ciampa 6. Eric Bischoff 7. HBK 8. HHH 9. Booker T 10. Wade Barrett 11. Miz 12. William Regal 13. Baron Corbin 14. Shotzi 15. John Cena 16. Natalya Neidhart 17. Steve Austin 18. Naomi 19. Al Snow 20. Lexis King	1. Austin Theory 2. Toni Storm 3. Adam Cole 4. CM Punk 5. Raquel Rodriguez 6. Thunder Rosa 7. Grayson Waller 8. Tiffany Stratton 9. Matt Riddle 10. Darby Allin 11. Brock Anderson 12. Miguel Diaz 13. Chelsea Green 14. Rhea Ripley 15. Kris Statlander 16. Nia Jax 17. Maryse 18. Braun Strowman 19. Shawn Spears 20. Ultimate Warrior

Analysis of the Single-Pick Section

Right out of the gate, Lawrence Mason stepped to the podium and had some difficulty with announcing the first pick, as he was experiencing some serious communications issues with the earpiece given to him so that the Triad didn’t have to shout over the Seventh Era Table and Pat McAfee at him. After the somewhat comical and accidentally dramatic pause, Mason announced the first pick for the 2024 WOW Draft: Ronda Rousey!

Rousey was on Mickey’s radar since before the Sixth Era began, and this pick was an easy one, in my book. HOWEVER, I have been told that one of the reasons for the communications issue was that Lawrence overheard Triad Member Dibiase telling the other two members that they needed to “save” Attitude first, but Brown and Mouse were adamant that they pick Rousey as the first pick, lest they forego any shot at getting her after.

This initial issue with communication was itself a preview of things to come, as Dibiase grew more and more frustrated with each pick that didn’t take his thoughts into consideration.

Mick Foley then stepped up and revealed WWE’s first pick: Jordynne Grace. Jordynne has absolutely been killing it in the independent scene as of late, and Catherine was a big advocate for picking her on either the third or fourth pick. It will be interesting to see what Grace does in the months ahead as she bursts onto the scene by the beginning of fall! I have no doubt that she will either be the one to unseat Asuka as the women’s champion or that she will at least be champion by the next draft.

AEW followed up with their first pick: Austin Theory. Theory was exempt last year by PWI as the Extreme Champion before PWI decided to agree to a significant trade deal after Starrcade. Now, we see all of his hard work over the past two years pay off (he had quite the entertaining year in WWE; especially in his story with Candice LeRae and Johnny Gargano). As for his upcoming stint in AEW, I have heard some rumblings about possible future plans with him in the tag division, but I personally would love a program between him and Swerve for the Television Championship.

Now, as much as I want to break down EVERY single draft pick, I know that we have a lot to get through, so I am instead going to look next at a number of groupings of picks and breakdown the things which standout the most to me; such as the second round picks of Bron Breakker, R-Truth, and Toni Storm, as well as the third round’s Adam Cole and Living Dead Girl.

In this group of picks, we see ULW become the second company to take a pick from the Available Talent pool. Breakker was always planned as a pick for ULW, but the loss of a shot at Miss Grace in the first round expedited WHEN he was getting picked. There was some disappointment in ULW when WWE snagged the increasingly popular and always hilarious R-Truth (god, he will fit right in there, but watch him become THE most stable person in the company…lol), and AEW taking Toni Storm was a hit to the ULW women’s locker room, but not one that was unanticipated. Storm is an incredible talent with immense potential.

With the third round, ULW selected Living Dead Girl, and I know that AEW and their commentary team kind of scoffed about this pick, but it can not be understated how important she was in building the prestige of the PWI Women’s title at the beginning of the Sixth Era. So, she was definitely a top priority for the company to bring in. The biggest pick of the third round, though, was Adam Cole being sent to AEW. This so enraged Dibiase that he (quietly) warned Brown and Mouse that he was considering leaving if they didn’t start saving members of the Million Dollar Corporation. Cole has been an incredible athlete since his debut, and I am 100% confident that he will quickly ascend in his new home!

Going through to the end of the fifth round, we see ULW pick up Ricky Starks and save Attitude, WWE get Finn Balor, and AEW save CM Punk. Yes, there were more picks than this, but these were the most significant as far as the impacts they had on the locker rooms. Firstly, Finn Balor being picked by WWE was significant as we will see him continue the momentum in a company that is guaranteed to feature him more prominently. The “Prince” is not someone to be overlooked in any environment, but especially not in an environment such as WWE.

Next, I need to focus on the slight si-saw that we saw between ULW and AEW in the fourth and fifth rounds. ULW started the round with arguably the biggest shock pick of the night up to that point when they selected young bright prospect, Ricky Starks! I could see that Megan Mouse and Sami Zayn were a bit frazzled by this, and it would appear that they sensed what would have been coming very soon (it was) with their decision to save CM Punk. This move enraged Catherine and Ted Brown, as they were hoping to bring Punk on board, so they responded with the first ULW save: Attitude.

This was significant in its own right because Dibiase was at this point very audibly (from where I was standing, at least) griping about not being heard out and almost screaming about the need to save Attitude “at least!” From what I have learned, this was the right choice given that Attitude was very high on AEW’s priority list!

The standouts of the 6^th and 7^th rounds, for sure, were the choices of Giant Gonzales, Eric Bischoff, Jay White, and Grayson Waller. Gonzales, as mentioned before, was originally on ULW’s exemptions list, but had to be moved twice to make room for “higher priority talent”. This by no means should be interpreted to suggest that he is any less important for being the 16^th overall draft pick, but it is interesting nevertheless that his contract was gambled with. Dibiase was relieved a tad seeing that two of his Million Dollar Corporation buddies had been saved in back-to-back rounds, but this would be the last time that he was appeased; but more on that later.

WWE making Eric Bischoff the 17^th overall pick was VERY intriguing, and the biggest head-scratcher up to this point. Hell, even Bischoff was confused when his name was announced, but as Jim Ross pointed out, this was a move that resulted in Eric preparing to work with Murrey for the first time since they worked together in the Last Wrestling Federation twenty years ago…almost exactly! I will be very intrigued to see how this works out.

ULW in its next pick then made the choice to steal Jay White from under AEW’s nose, thus creating another moment of Zayn and his wife shifting uncomfortably in their seats. Before Jay ever went to work in the former HLW/AXW, he was a top prospect sought after by PWI that summer. Now, we will see how he fares with a brand new environment.

That brings me to AEW’s 7^th round pick: Grayson Waller. AEW had gambled by spending some quality airtime preparing us for Waller’s arrival on the scene via a cool series of vignettes, so this gamble wound up paying off when they were able to get in front of ULW’s goals of spiriting him away. By the way, the rumors that I heard regarding Theory may or may not have something to do with Waller.

Rounds 8 and 9 saw ULW pick up Sting and Bayley, while AEW grabbed Tiffany Stratton from the Available Talent pool in the 8^th round. AEW saving Riddle in the 9^th round was also good, but he was surprisingly safe anyways, from what I have learned. However, ULW selecting “The Icon” Sting has apparently been planned for the past two months; going back to when Catherine was working with Scott Nash in planning the UWA. He had a great return to the business in WWE, but his arrival in AEW alongside Darby Allin (who we will get to soon enough) helped to boost serious interest in him, and I am told that Brown, Dibiase, and Mouse actually all agreed on signing him here!

AEW’s pick of Miss Stratton led Catherine to slam her fists on the table and angrily glare off into space, because Stratton appears to be one of those rare “once in a lifetime” talents with the potential to rewrite women’s wrestling history. It is also understandable that ULW selected Bayley in part as a reaction to missing out on Stratton. The Triad are absolutely fans of hers, but they also feared that not choosing her here would lead to either WWE or AEW picking her next.

The tenth round itself represented another moment which stole the air out of the room as ULW started it off by picking Sammy Guevara; inducing a minor heart attack on the AEW side. Sammy has been on Catherine’s radar since 2019, and she strongly advocated for this pick; which saw its only opposition via Dibiase, who was lobbying for another pick to save his allies. AEW no doubt had to respond by saving Darby Allin, a pick that was a wise choice for them not only because they have spent so much time building him, but also because he was pretty much up next on the ULW list. This back and forth played a major role in some decisions made after the draft, but we will get to that later.

For what it is worth, WWE selected Wade Barrett in the tenth round, and knowing that he was so promising the last time he worked with them, I am excited to see what he has in store for the WWE faithful!

Rounds 11 and 12, though, saw less happy times for WWE as they became THE target for ULW and AEW. ULW’s 11^th and 12^th picks were Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho, respectively, as AEW took top young prospect Brock Anderson and…the actor who plays “Miguel Diaz”?

Brock Anderson is definitely the pick who stands tallest amongst these two rounds for AEW, but I am intrigued by the very random selection of “Diaz”. Is AEW hoping to duplicate the success of WWE’s use of “crazy” celebrities?

As for ULW, bringing Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho checked two big boxes that the Triad had hoped to check, even if Dibiase was increasingly frustrated with not being heard out. He supported both picks…just not before his allies.

The 13^th round was good with Christian Cage going to ULW, but the locker room was upset with losing Baron Corbin to WWE – since he really has been improving over the years -, and Matt Cardona straight up destroyed catering when he watched his wife get picked by Megan and Sami! No worries, Matt, because this story is far from over.

Rounds 14 and 15 saw ULW focus more on the future as Ethan Page and Cora Jade were brought on board from the Available Talent pool, but WWE had a good streak by regaining the services of Shotzi, and finally signing John Cena (who they wanted to draft last year). AEW, though, had the steal of the night for women’s wrestling by retaking Rhea Ripley. I think that one is gonna hurt!

In rounds 16 and 17, ULW nabbed Samoa Joe and Bill Goldberg (something that would have been pleasing to Mickey, for sure), and AEW took Maryse; an absolute star in the making, if you ask me. She had a great first run with PWI, and I am excited to see what she does in AEW!

To finish off the first section, rounds 18-20 saw ULW get Jon Moxley, Kushida (a decision which led to some scoffing by WWE and AEW officials alike), and Sean Olson. In round 20, WWE FINALLY saved its controversial and promising former NXT champion, Lexis King, and we saw AEW finish with two very strong picks in Shawn Spears and the Ultimate Warrior! The biggest pick in all of these is most certainly King, who was perhaps the biggest missed draft opportunity for ULW and AEW, as the man practically has money coursing through his veins.

The Second Draft Section (Rounds 21-40, Two Picks Per Company)

The Second Section Die Roll

During the commercial break, the leaders had Lawrence Mason, Mick Foley, and Taz roll the die on behalf of their respective bosses to determine the order for the next 20 rounds…and ULW came in first AGAIN! The only difference was that AEW and WWE switched places here. Just wow!

The Double Draft Picks

ULW	AEW	WWE
21. Authors of Pain 22. The Acolytes 23. Lucha Brothers 24. Proud & Powerful 25. The D’Angelo Family 26. Little Man & Big Man 27. Powerhouse Hobbs & Goldust 28. Io Shirai & Mandy Rose 29. The Rascalz 30. Noam Darr & Roxanne Perez 31. JD McDonagh & Jacob Fatu 32. Pretty Deadly 33. Ember Moon & Beth Phoenix 34. Angelina Love & Tay Conti 35. The Bella Twins 36. Bane & Greg Valentine 37. Connor McGregor & Vader 38. Dakota Kai & Ladies Man 39. Madison Rayne & Taya 40. John Silver & Evil Uno	21. Picture Perfect 22. Gunn Club 23. Paige & Piper Niven 24. Jurassic Express 25. Orange Cassidy & Bigelow 26. Beer Money Inc. 27. Brian Cage & Lacey Evans 28. Zelina Vega & Britt Baker 29. Ludwig Kaiser & Yokozuna 30. Malakai Black & Grimes 31. Ryback & Fandango 32. Hurricane Helms & Nyla Rose 33. Wardlow & Scott Steiner 34. Sabu & Scarlett 35. Roderick Strong & Trish Stratus 36. Lex Luger & Ruby Riott 37. Best Friends 38. SCU 39. Lucha House Party 40. Pac & Brandon Lee	21. Viking Raiders 22. Karrion Kross & Undertaker 23. Nic Nemeth & Ricochet 24. RVD & Kurt Angle 25. Dijak & Jeff Hardy 26. Keith Lee & Kane 27. Abyss & Kairi Sane 28. Brawling Brutes 29. Mark Henry & Road Dogg 30. Sonya Deville & Elias 31. John Morrison & Jeff Jarrett 32. Moose & Alex Hammerstone 33. Gail Kim & Jim Cornette 34. Shayna Baszler & Indi 35. Lita & Santos Escobar 36. Legado Del Fantasma 37. Cesaro & Rusev 38. Camden Cross & Armando 39. Ric Flair & Carlito 40. Dave Matthews & Aiden

Analysis of the Double-Pick Section

As we launched the double-pick section with ULW again at the starting position, Mason revealed that the Triad was coming out swinging as we saw a series of major picks from rounds 21 through 24. In this grouping, ULW absolutely mauled the AEW tag division in checking numerous teams off of the wish list: the Authors of Pain, the Acolytes, The Lucha Brothers (a pick which REALLY aggravated Sami and Megan), and Proud & Powerful. To me, this was the most aggressive that ULW had been since the Sammy pick, and it really threw AEW off of their game.

AEW had a dead-set agenda of their own which initially prevented them from stopping the bleeding as they grabbed Penelope Ford and Jamie Hayter. The 22^nd round saw them take the Gunn Club (the sons of Billy Gunn, from the Available Talent Pool). Round 23 saw them still a little taken aback as they took ULW’s Paige and WWE’s Piper Niven. It wasn’t until after ULW took Santana and Ortiz that they had to act out of self-preservation and prevent ULW from checking their next box: Jurassic Express. And believe me, they were absolutely next on the list.

Giving AEW a brief breather, ULW used their 25^th pick to sign Tony D’Angelo and Stacks Lorenzo from the “Available Talent” pool and their 26^th pick to reunite Little Man and Big Man (Saguna and Big Show), which gave AEW a chance to save Orange Cassidy and steal Bam Bam Bigelow. Dibiase was apoplectic about one of his top guys being sent away, and the next round only further infuriated him when Catherine and Brown let the former Tag Team Champions, Beer Money Inc. slip away. Defying Dibiase’s cries for attention, Brown and Catherine then instructed Lawrence to use the 27^th ULW pick to steal AEW’s Powerhouse Hobbs and long-time BWM Inc. veteran, Goldust!

The 28^th round was sort of tame compared to the others as ULW brought Io Shirai on board alongside Mandy Rose, AEW took Zelina Vega and Britt Baker, and WWE finished the round by saving the Brawling Brutes. The 29^th round, though, saw ULW sign available talent prospects Wes Lee and Nash Carter – known as MSK or The Raszcalz in the indies – and AEW manage to nab another top prospect in Ludwig Kaiser from under ULW’s nose (alongside Yokozuna, who the top brass most definitely wanted).

From rounds 30 through 32, ULW continued to sign talent from the available pool with Noam Darr, Roxanne Perez, JD McDonagh, Jacob Fatu, and Pretty Deadly. During this period, WWE saved Sonya Deville (who has been red hot for them in recent months), Elias, John Morrison (will the Elite reunited for a third time??), Jeff Jarrett, as well as available talents: Moose and Alex Hammerstone (I did hear some incredulous remarks from Brown and Dibiase regarding their confusion as to who this last guy was). For their part, AEW grabbed the contracts of Ryback (who has been a ratings-grabbed when paired with Doc Brown, so we will see how he does without him) and the pyromaniac known as Fandango. They also saved Nyla Rose (someone who was nearing a possible selection by the Triad) and took Hurricane Helms.

For ULW, the 33^rd-35^th rounds were all about establishing a strong women’s division as they drafted former EWA Knockout’s Champion Ember Moon, former PWI Women’s Champion Beth Phoenix, former PWI Women’s Champion Angelina Love, Tay Conti, and the championship-decorated twins Nikki and Brie Bella. MJF was relieved, for sure, to see his bodyguards saved by AEW, and AEW then followed up by stealing Sabu, Scarlett, Roderick Strong, and keeping Trish Stratus. For WWE, this group of picks represented a decent run as well with the massive pick of Gail Kim, the curious pick of Jim Cornette (is Asuka’s mouthpiece returning to her side?), as well as Shayna Baszler and Indi Hartwell! It’s safe to say that the female gender most certainly had a good run here.

In the last five rounds of this double-pick section, ULW signed Bane and most curiously Greg “the Hammer” Valentine. They also continued to confuse some by hiring Connor McGregor and Vader (which itself was followed by AEW sneaking in a save of the Best Friends…but more on that in a second). In the next round (the 38^th, for those of you trying to keep count), ULW brought in Dakota Kai and the incredibly controversial Ladies Man. In that same round, AEW got in another save with their pick of SCU as WWE turned heads by saving Camden “Cameron” Cross and getting Armando Estrada. I have no idea what they plan to do here with Estrada, but I can almost certainly guarantee that it will be instant gold!

Finishing strong in the 39^th and 40^th rounds, ULW signed Madison Rayne, Taya Valkyrie (thus, further strengthening the women’s division) as well as Dark Order members John Silver and Evil Uno. AEW finished the section by taking Pac back as well as shockingly grabbing former PWI and HCW Champion Brandon Lee. WWE then ended the section completely with what I think was the most curious and perhaps even comical picks of the night as they took AEW interviewer Dave Matthews (“whaaaa???” This will definitely be good!) and also shockingly, Aiden “Quatro” English! I saw a couple of things go down with this last set of picks as HCW interview icon Anthony reacted thinking he had just been drafted and the Duct Tape Men reacting with tears of sticky sadness.

The Third Draft Section (Rounds 41-50, Three Picks Per Company)

The Third Section Die Roll

For the final roll of the die, the three companies prepared to determine who would get the picks in what would turn out to be the last stretch of the draft…and it was AGAIN won by Cash Mouse Entertainment! Seriously, what are the odds of that?!

The Triple Draft Picks

ULW	WWE	AEW
41. Victoria & Natural Disasters 42. Grayson, Buddy, Frank Sh. 43. Menotaur, M. Phenom, Eddie 44. Shida, Velvet Sky, Carmella 45. Akosha & Legion of Doom 46. Dusty, Vicious, Che 47. Establishment & Raphael 48. Bearer, Homicide, Sherri 49. Kidman, Dutt, Splidder 50. Emma, Dana, Alundra	41. Andrade, Garza, Vega 42. LeRae, Panda, Casey 43. X-Pac, Elijah, J. Jordan 44. Mia, Pete, Honky Tonk Man 45. Forfeit 46. Forfeit 47. Forfeit 48. Forfeit 49. Forfeit 50. Forfeit	41. Omos, Yuta, Garcia 42. Brodie, Slammer, Rip 43. Cass, Umaga, Archer 44. L. Storm & Private Party 45. Dexter, Terminator, Molly 46. R. Velvet, Hagar, P. Williams 47. Kaitlyn, Perfect, Bossman 48. Cobb, B. Gunn, Rude 49. R. Storm, Melina, Raven 50. Phobe, Giante, Mockingbird

Analysis of the Triple-Pick Section

Once again ULW kicked off the rounds as we returned to the original format from the original 20 rounds. In the opening salvo of the triple-pick section, ULW takes Victoria, the Natural Disasters, Stu Grayson, Buddy Murphy, Frank Shamrock, Menotaur, Masked Phenom, and Eddie Guerrero. This grouping was strong enough, and rife with some surprises such as with the picks of Murphy (someone who AEW was hoping to have for their House of Black stable, from what I hear), the iconic Frank Shamrock (this), the legendary monster Menotaur, and Eddie Guerrero.

WWE had their own good run with Andrade, Angel Garza, the funny pick of Vega (who Murrey fired while he was announcing at Starrcade last year), Candice LeRae, the legendary Panda Khan, the puzzling pick of WWE-legend Casey Jones, PWI official X-Pac, Elijah Burke, and Jason Jordan.

With AEW, this was largely about the future with available talent picks such as Omos, Wheeler Yuta, Daniel Garcia, and Brodie King. They also captured Big Cass and kept Umaga, but there were three earth-shattering and consequential picks: Slammer, and Million Dollar Corporation members: Rip and Lance Archer. As the Archer selection finished up this stretch of picks, he walked by the ULW table and held out his arms, saying “what the hell, man?” to Dibiase. This was the absolute last straw for Dibiase, who shouted at Catherine and Brown loudly enough to be heard by everyone in attendance. Then, in protest, Dibiase got up and left as fellow Triad Members Catherine Mouse and Ted Brown stared off into the distance, fully aware of what had happened.

In the 44^th, ULW saved Hikaru Shida and Velvet Sky, and hired Carmella. AEW shocked everyone including their pick when they selected the retired Lance Storm and nabbed rising available talent prospects in Private Party.

But, the most interesting part of this section is what happened in between ULW and AEW as WWE first picked Mia Yim to top off their Women’s Division, then stunned all when they picked Pete the referee to leave BWM Inc. for the first time since its inception, and then after an announcement that the guy chosen to tell Mick Foley who to pick was getting canned just like the last guy, WWE saved their last man standing – the Honky Tonk Man – and then revealed that they were leaving…and in dramatic fashion as it was announced over the loud speaker that the entire WWE staff was to vacate immediately. A few rounds earlier in the draft, Murrey himself left the stage in his own dramatic way, and this last act of drama made at least this wrestling journalist notice one thing: Murrey is still ONE HUNDRED PERCENT in control, and he is using Elizabeth for cover.

The final six rounds were without WWE, but they weren’t without their own surprises. ULW managed to pick up Akosha, the Legion of Doom, Homicide, Sherri Martel, Billy Kidman, Sonjay Dutt, Emma, Dana Brooke, and Alundra Blayze; a grouping leaning very strongly towards the women. They also picked up some legends as well with Dusty Rhodes, Vicious, Che, Raphael, Paul Bearer, and Splidder. In my opinion, though, the biggest picks for ULW in this section was the surprise pick of Recon and Sniper of Benny’s old Establishment; who were reportedly upset because they were hoping that they could by Benny’s side one more time, as they had ever since 2002.

For AEW, they had some significant picks as well with Dexter Lumis, Molly Holly, available talent pool prospect Red Velvet, Petey Williams (the pick of whom actually shocked and disappointed Ted Brown, from what I was told), Kaitlyn, Jeff Cobb, Billy Gunn, Rick Rude, Melina, and Raven. They grabbed some legends in Terminator, Mr. Perfect (“no more broken necks for him”), Big Bossman, Phobe, and Mickey’s former “Secret Weapon” through to the bitter end: El Giante. In my mind, the most surprising picks here were Robby Storm and the final pick of the night, Mockingbird. Either way, I am excited as ever for what Starrcade and the Seventh Era holds!

The Post-Draft Trades (So Far)

Very briefly, there have only been a handful of trades so far: Bam Bam Bigelow, Chelsea Green, and the Best Friends in exchange for Sammy Guevara – which was a pick that seriously rocked the AEW locker room once it happened – and the trade of John Brown for the deeply-depressed Executioner.

In Conclusion and Looking to Starrcade

I will have some detailed predictions for the Friday’s Starrcade in the coming days, but for now I want to assess what this draft did. Most importantly, it established a new and exciting precedent of broadcasting for the world how the mainstream of this industry decides the rosters of the competing companies within. I seriously hope that this is a mainstay for all future drafts to come.

It also laid out for all to see that this era may be readying to be the most evenly-matched war for supremacy that the business has ever seen. I know that some of the pundits, and certainly the competition, are STILL looking down with suspicion about what ULW has to offer, but I sincerely believe that ULW is preparing to shock the world…even as the Triad’s supposed unity is now more in doubt than it was before the draft began.

Stay tuned, ladies and gentlemen, because the fun has only just begun!