The 2016 WWE Draft is officially in the books, and while there were are few surprising picks (Who saw Finn Bálor going that high? Who saw Kevin Owens going that low?), what’s even more surprising is which male and female Superstars were left off the board entirely. The following athletes are all still listed as part of the active roster on WWE.com but all went undrafted for various reasons.
The three biggest names to go completely unmentioned throughout the draft include Triple H, The Undertaker and The Rock. All three of these guys competed at WrestleMania 32 less than four months ago, but none have been seen in a WWE ring since then. (Though Taker was recently spotted on the golf course.)
Sure, they’re all considered part-timers, but so is Brock Lesnar, and he got drafted at No. 8 overall. While it’s understood that these are three of the biggest names the company has and that they perhaps transcend the idea of the brand split, it would be nice to at least know where they stand, storyline-wise. Could you imagine Daniel Bryan drafting Triple H out from under Stephanie, or securing The Rock for his namesake show, Smackdown, whenever he’s free to come back? If there was ever a way to pop ratings on Tuesday nights, that would be it.
A numbers of performers are still on the shelf with a variety of injuries, including Nikki Bella, Luke Harper, Emma, Tyson Kidd and Tamina Snuka. While some of these wrestlers still have a long road ahead of them, recovery-wise, some are nearing their returns — Nikki Bella tweeted that she is headed to the WWE Performance Center to resume training and Luke Harper said he plans on returning between August and October.
So how will their returns be handled in this post-brand-split world? Will they just appear randomly when needed, or will we see the GMs trying to coerce them into signing with their respective brands? (Just imagine the comedy of Daniel Bryan trying to convince Nikki to sign with Smackdown.) Sure, it’s not fair for us to expect the writer’s room to have ideas lined up for all of these competitors until it’s time for their respective returns, but would it have been so difficult to throw in a line in the rules stating injured Superstars are currently ineligible for the Draft?
Two other women were also conspicuously absent in the Draft: Brie Bella and Rosa Mendes. The Total Divas stars have each been off TV for quite some times, both for different reasons. While it has never been publicly acknowledged by the company, Brie has said via social media that she has retired from in-ring competition. (Expect this to be a big storyline on the first season of Total Divas spinoff show Total Bellas.) Mendes, on the other hand, gave birth to her first child in February. Either WWE offers incredibly generous maternity leave or they consider her such a valuable part of the Total Divas cast that they’ve kept her around. Regardless, it’s unlikely we’ll see her competing on Raw or Smackdown ever again.
Then there are those performers who are in the middle of contract disputes. Ryback has been very vocal in his dislike for the way WWE handles compensation of their independent contractors, and he’s been off TV because of it for the past few months.
While he is still listed as a part of the active roster on WWE.com, the odds of him appearing on Raw or Smackdown again before his contract expires is incredibly slim. Paul Heyman, on the other hand, is also in the middle of contract negotiations, making him the only valet or manager not to be auto-drafted alongside their client. However, he is expected to rejoin Brock Lesnar as his advocate as soon as the deal is signed.
And of course, how could we forget WWE’s hottest free agent, Heath Slater? The One Man Rock Band was openly acknowledged by WWE as being the only wrestler not officially drafted by either brand. Clearly, they have some sort of storyline in the works for the guy, even if it is just to show up at the Barclays Center and get beaten up by Flo Rida again.
