By Jason Powell
The following is live notes of the WWE Smackdown pre-show that is being broadcast on the WWE Network. Refresh the page for the latest updates. If you are reading this on the Prowrestling.net app, our mobile website will refresh more frequently than the latest updates than the app will. CLICK HERE to see the very latest updates to this article throughout the show.
-Renee Young, Booker T, Lita, and Corey Graves hosted the show from a new set. Graves said they would have “draft central” coverage throughout Smackdown with updates and interviews.
-They hyped the Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins for the WWE Championship, and John Cena vs. Luke Gallows for Smackdown Live.
-Graves ran through the rules of the draft and was wise enough to point out that Raw gets three picks for every two picks that Smackdown gets because Raw is a three-hour show.
-Backstage at Smackdown, Dean Ambrose was asked by Tom Phillips which brand he would prefer to work for. He said it was a tough call. He spoke about putting up with Stephanie’s voice, yet also said it would be fun to run her out of the business. He liked the ideas that Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan have. He quoted the Willie Nelson song about how it’s good to not be in control. Ambrose spoke briefly about his match with Seth Rollins and said he would emerge victorious.
-Natalya was interviewed backstage by Phillips, who asked her what pitch she would make to the general managers to get them to draft her. She spoke about carrying the women’s division all these years and how they should want the Queen of Harts to represent them.
-Greg Hamilton interviewed New Day backstage at Smackdown. They were clowning around until he mentioned that Bray Wyatt would face Xavier Woods on Smackdown. Woods was very serious about the match.
-They aired the top ten draft moments video. Highlights included John Cena being drafted to Raw, the split of the Dudley Boyz, Lashley being drafted, The Miz attacking John Morrison after Miz was drafted to Raw, Vince McMahon trying to draft Brock Lesnar only to have Ric Flair inform him that it wasn’t his pick and he was picking Lesnar instead, John Cena being drafted to Raw again or something (I lost interest), and Vince drafting Rock first overall. Young and Lita had some fun at the expense of Paul Heyman having a ponytail in one of the clips.
-Booker spoke about John Cena. He said it’s time for the new era to step up and make their claim. Booker recalled Cena saying the road to the top still goes through him. The hosts spoke about the strategy of drafting someone other than Cena who have more time and upside. There was a brief shot of the NXT crew standing around talking inside the WWE Performance Center.
-Backstage at Smackdown, Phillips interviewed Sami Zayn, who took the neutral approach to being drafted to Raw or Smackdown. He said he just hopes that he doesn’t end up on the same brand as Kevin Owens, and he also hopes that he is drafted one spot ahead of Owens. Zayn said that if only one man is called up from NXT it would be Finn Balor.
-Hamilton interviewed The Social Outcasts and brought up the possibility of the trio being split up. They were outraged by the thought of that possibility and then went back to goofing off. Young noted that “shiner” on Heath Slater, who was hurt over the weekend at a live event.
-They cut to Smackdown for the introduction of Stephanie McMahon, who went to the Raw podium. Mick Foley came out and joined her. They have laptops on top of the podium. Hopefully neither one is the anonymous general manager. Shane was shown making his entrance. The hosts wrapped up this portion of the show.
Join Jake Barnett on the main page for live coverage of Smackdown, and I’ll be running the live draft tracker.
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