WWE Draft 2021: Grading the Raw Roster

Looking at the Raw roster after the 2021 WWE Draft

The 2021 WWE Draft has been completed, and now we get to look at how the rosters will look for the next year. WWE gave the USA network an influx of star power for both the men’s and women’s divisions. Let’s take a look at the roster and the divisions, and give them a grade. Be sure to also check out the SmackDown roster grade here.

Men’s Roster

• Big E
• Edge
• Bobby Lashley
• Seth Rollins
• Damian Priest
• Keith “Bearcat” Lee
• The Miz
• Finn Balor
• Kevin Owens
• Apollo Crews & Commander Azeez
• Karrion Kross
• Gable Steveson
• Austin Theory
• John Morrison
• Reggie
• Jaxson Ryker
• R-Truth
• Drake Maverick
• Akira Tozawa
• T-BAR
• Veer

USA Network must’ve requested star power for Monday nights. The men’s talent pool is deep with main event quality wrestlers. Big E will have a plethora of challengers, like Edge, Lashley, Rollins, Balor, Owens, and more. The pure volume of star power will also benefit the US Championship division. Damian Priest better watch his back around any of those stars, plus guys like Crews, Cross, and NXT call-up Theory. The biggest surprise was Olympian Steveson getting drafted to Raw, bypassing developmental. How quickly he picks up professional wrestling will be an interesting thing to watch. The 24/7 Championship also remains with the red brand and has lots of fodder in guys like Reggie, Maverick, R-Truth, and two guys split from their teams: T-BAR and Veer.

Grade: A

Women’s Roster

• Becky Lynch
• Bianca Belair
• Alexa Bliss
• Rhea Ripley
• Nikki A.S.H.
• Liv Morgan
• Carmella
• Nia Jax
• Dana Brooke
• Tegan Nox
• Zelina Vega
• Doudrop
• Tamina
• Mia Yim

Raw also got a lot of star power in their women’s roster. Headlined by champ Becky Lynch, the division features a variety of challengers for her. Belair is positioned right at the top, but Bliss and the current women’s tag team champions Ripley & A.S.H. could become contenders at any point. Morgan is a fan favorite people desperately want to see pushed, and the rest of the division has depth. Look for Tegan Nox to get a big stage after being split from tag team partner Shotzi Blackheart.

Grade: A

Tag Teams

• RKBro
• AJ Styles & Omos
• Street Profits
• Rey & Dominik Mysterio
• Alpha Academy
• Dirty Dawgs
• Hurt Business (Cedric Alexander & Shelton Benjamin)

The biggest weakness of Raw is their tag team division. RKBRo exist as tag champs for now, but we all know they’re headed for a break-up sometime in the future so both men can return to singles action. The Mysterios seem to be on the way to a break-up, and WWE will eventually split Omos & Styles once they feel confident in Omos’ ability to be a solo giant. That leaves a pretty bear cupboard that the Street Profits and Alpha Academy will have to do a lot of heavy lifting to carry. Why WWE didn’t leave more teams together (like Retribution or Veer & Shanky) is beyond me.

Grade: B-

Overall, Raw is the land of singles stars. They’ve got some huge names to work with, which is great given their extra hour of programming. The key is going to be developing those non-main event feuds instead of just having everyone chase Reggie and the 24/7 Championship. If WWE can find intriguing angles to keep their midcard acts interesting while rotating through top contenders at the main event level, Raw may be better than it has been in a while.

Be sure to check out the SmackDown grades from the WWE Draft as well here.

Evan Gomes is a freelance pop culture & sports writer. Follow him on Twitter at @ItsEvanGomes, and check out his two podcasts: Crossbody of Work and The Pop Capsule Podcast.