Kiana James was the big news from the first night of the draft on Friday Night SmackDown.
With the only main change being Nia Jax moving to SmackDown, most of the women drafted were staying put. James was the last pick announced on TV and her reaction put smiles on a lot of her coworkers and fans.
Per Fightful Select, “Kiana James was genuinely surprised by her callup, as she was not told what brand she would end up on post the Draft. James’ video package was prepared earlier this week, per Fightful’s Corey Brennan. One talent in NXT noted James was previously one of the best in ring workers on NXT’s women’s roster.”
The entire NXT roster was in attendance through the draft at the WWE Performance Center. One notable talent was Wendy Choo who we have not seen on TV for quite some time.
On Choo, Fightful Select states, “Wendy Choo has been out of action for quite some time, but was at the WWE Performance Center. Those Corey Brennan spoke to were hopeful for a return soon.”
Additional information on the draft, “We asked about the Friday process of barely having anyone switch brands, and we’re told that the notion put forth on TV of retaining familiar talent was important. However, there are expected to be more swaps on Monday. We were also told to expect more NXT talent picked up that day.”
Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn were the only other women outside of Nia Jax and Kiana James to switch brands They have moved to Raw which was announced online in the supplemental draft.
Liv Morgan, Zoey Stark, Maxxine Dupri, and Shayna Baszler all stayed on Raw. Bianca Belair was the number one overall draft pick and stayed on SmackDown.
