WWE Backlash 2023 PREVIEW | WWE Draft: Night 1 Recap & Breakdown

Night 1 of the WWE Draft is in the books! Smackdown kicked things off by drafting the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa as The Bloodline, and RAW quickly answered by snatching up “The American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes. From there, the two brands would go back and forth for 4 rounds with each brand getting 2 picks a round. The WWE Universe witnessed a massive shake up as Bianca Belair, the RAW Women’s Champion, was drafted to Smackdown as was the NXT Women’s Champions Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn. RAW would answer by securing Imperium’s Ludwig Kaiser, Giovanni Vinci and Intercontinental Champion Gunther as well as the NXT Women’s Champion Indi Hartwell. Some other highlights saw The Street Profits, Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins, joining WWE Hall of Famer Edge, Bobby Lashley, Damage CTRL (Bayley, Dakota Kai and Iyo Sky) and the OC (Luke Gallows, Karl Anerson, “Minchin” Mia Yim and the returning AJ Styles). Drew McIntyre and Shinsuke Nakamura join Becky Lynch, The Miz and Matt Riddle on RAW. Following Smackdown, the Supplemental picks would be announced which include NXT call ups Apollo Crews, JD McDonagh and Zoey Stark. Sonya Deville would join her tag team partner Chelsea Green on RAW as both women were drafted by the red brand. Natalya and the Viking Raiders (Erik, Ivar and Valhalla) would be leaving the blue brand and joining RAW. Candice LaRae, Dexter Lumis, Lacey Evans and Maximum Male Models ((ma.çé and mån.sôör with Maxxine Dupri) would remain on their current programs. Dolph Ziggler, Mustafa Ali would go undrafted, so would Omos but his manager MVP negotiated his free agency status to maximize his visibility on both brands. The WWE Draft continues Monday Night on RAW with a new pool of superstars to choose from.Who will end up wrestling under a different brand? Who will stay where they are? Will Smackdown Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley and United States Champion Austin Theory remain where they are? What will this mean for the title pictures on both shows? With the rosters not going into effect until after next week’s Backlash, we will take a look at the card and give our predictions on what the landscape of the WWE will look like in the coming weeks