by Fresh Out The Deli (@FreshOutTheD)
One week out from the 2016 Royal Rumble, we had our our first-annual WWE Fantasy League draft. Scoring is pretty simple; Superstars earn points each time they initially win a belt and every time they continue to hold the belt after a Pay-Per-View (regardless of if they defend it or not).
- 3 points for every World Heavyweight Championship
- 2 points for every Intercontinental Championship, United States Championship, or Divas Championship
- 1 point for every Tag Team Championship, or a win in a special event like the Royal Rumble, King Of The Ring, Money In The Bank, Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal, etc.
Round 1
Brock Lesnar
Dylan Cicale (@dylanc97): Brock Lesnar has been the most dominating superstar the WWE has seen in years. He rarely shows up to events, but we all know when he does, he won’t settle for just an ordinary fight. He wants the Heavyweight Championship.
Bray Wyatt
Alex Perdomo (@TheAlexPerdomo): After seemingly taking the powers of the phenom himself in a bizarre ritual, it seems as if Wyatt and his family have become the spiritual successors to Kane and the Undertaker. With Undertaker possibly retiring this year, we can only hope that Wyatt will have a career half as illustrious. Even 50 percent of the Undertaker is still a great first round pick.
Roman Reigns
Troy Provost-Heron (@Troy_Provost): The superstar-rebelling-against-authority storyline is a WWE classic. Roman Reigns has been a thorn in The Authority’s side for over a year and will continue to be one while competing for titles. This is as safe a pick as you can make.
Dean Ambrose
Bryan Cicale (@Bryanc94): With Roman off the board Dean seemed like a no-brainer. He’s one of the biggest superstars in WWE right now, and should be for a while.
Alberto Del Rio
Nick Alberico (@MeadowsLeague): Clearly riding a push from the company, ADR is poised to be the WWE’s go-to heel while Seth Rollins is out with a knee injury.
Kevin Owens
Nicholas Cicale (@nickcicale): Owens got a push right away when he debuted last summer and it wouldn’t make sense if the WWE didn’t continue to push him in 2016. With all the injuries around the top of the card and Owen’s popularity, he’ll have the shot at the World Heavyweight title at some point soon.
Round 2
Charlotte Flair
Nicholas Cicale: Flair is the current Diva’s Champion and should either hold the belt or be the number one contender for it until WrestleMania. Also, with the way the Diva’s division has been bouncing the title around, chances are she’ll have another chance at it later in the year.
Becky Lynch
Nick Alberico: Her brand-new feud with Divas Champion (and former faction partner) Charlotte means she’ll be getting lots of chances to take the belt.
Dolph Ziggler
Bryan: Ziggler has exciting matches more consistently than anybody else in WWE. It doesn’t matter who he’s fighting; there will be near-falls, and there will be a lot of them.
Kofi Kingston
Troy : I can’t remember a more polarizing tag team than The New Day, and the hilarious, yet obnoxious, trio of Kofi Kingston, Big E and Xavier Woods is here to stay. Kingston’s in-ring ability makes him the best candidate in The New Day to win individual gold as well.
Rusev
Alex: After coming into WWE as a undefeatable monster, Rusev has cooled significantly. After the endless and silly Dolph feud, I think Rusev is due for a resurgence, especially given the amount of marquis superstars currently injured.
Big E
Dylan: Big E is part of the most dominant faction since the Shield. However, even if the New Day has a falling out, Big E is the most likely of the three to have a successful singles career.
Round 3
Ryback
Dylan: No one really likes Ryback but the WWE seems to put him in storylines that involve championships, so why not?
Bubba Ray Dudley
Alex: The Dudley Boys are one of the best tag teams of all time, with the most fun finishers in WWE. With a trademark of putting people through tables and a traditionally weak tag team division, I think they’re basically guaranteed a title win at TLC. Bubba is a fairly safe pick.
Neville
Troy: Winning Breakout Superstar of the Year at the Slammy’s bodes well for Neville. Need proof? Look at what last year’s winner, Dean Ambrose, did in 2015. Ambrose is the reigning Intercontinental champion, received two WWE World Heavyweight title matches against Seth Rollins and participated in myriad big matches. If Neville has a year half as good as Ambrose’s 2015, this pick will be well worth it.
Brie Bella
Bryan: I’ll be honest here; I wasn’t 100 percent sure which Bella Twin was which. Either way, the Bellas will always be relevant as long as WWE headquarters still loves John Cena.
Xavier Woods
Nick Alberico: The voice behind the, err, eclectic team that is New Day. They’ve been the most exciting thing happening in the WWE of late, and I expect them to make more waves in 2016.
Sheamus
Nicholas Cicale: I’ve never really liked Sheamus, but he’s getting a push to start 2016 as a replacement Seth Rollins and he always seems to get in the mix for a belt or two each year.
Round 4
Sasha Banks
Nicholas Cicale: With minimal in-ring action since her call up to the main roster, Sasha Banks is everyone’s favorite Diva. Once WWE finally let her loose, she’ll grab the title and hold onto it.
Kalisto
Nick Alberico: This up-and-comer has made a statement in the past three months: speed kills. Don’t sleep on Kalisto.
Randy Orton
Bryan: Yes, he is currently injured, but after an extended leave of absence, WWE’s apex predator is sure to get a push the moment he returns.
Seth Rollins
Troy: Seth Rollins is still recovering from knee surgery after tearing his ACL, MCL and medial meniscus in a house show (WWE really needs to limit the number of matches superstars are in per year) but when he returns he’s one of the best WWE has to offer. At some point in 2016, Rollins gets back the WWE World Heavyweight Championship he never lost.
Sting
Alex: The vigilante is injured and probably retiring this year which makes him a pretty foolish pick. But with a Hall Of Fame induction and a constantly injured main roster, anything could happen in 2016, and at this point in the draft I figured why not?
John Cena
Dylan: Big match John didn’t get that nickname by beating the likes of Bo Dallas. Whether it’s the Heavyweight Championship or the U.S Championship, Cena is always in the hunt for a belt. Cena did suffer an injury a couple weeks back that is set to put him back 6-9 months, but the man is a superhero with super recovery. I can see him coming back within 4 or 5 months.
Round 5
Paige
Dylan: Another injured superstar. Paige suffered a concussion in late December, which is set to keep her out for at least another month, but WWE is hopeful she will return for WrestleMania and when she does return she will be right in contention for the championship in the Divas division.
Kane
Alex: The Big Red Machine is due for another streak of dominance. With the Undertaker retiring it will become a battle between him and Bray for the “scary guy” of the WWE. Kane is insurance just in case Bray doesn’t pan out for me early.
Braun Strowman
Troy: Not even Rusev looked as dominate as Braun Strowman has to begin his career. I believe that WWE has big plans for the Wyatt Family in 2016 and Strowman will be in the center of it all.
Jimmy Uso
Bryan: Does it really matter which Uso? I think not. That’s two wrestlers that I’ve picked so far without completely knowing who they are.
Tyler Breeze
Nick Alberico: The pretty face of NXT has made the jump to the WWE roster. Although he hasn’t had many chances thus far, the matches he has fought in showed why he is a great heel: annoying as all hell, with the fighting skills to match.
King Barrett
Nicholas Cicale: Barrett’s one of may favorite wrestlers, so this was more of a selfish pick than one that’ll get me a ton of points. Still, he always has a chance to grab the IC Title or get thrown into some strange tag team that gets hot for a month or two.
Round 6
Triple H
Nicholas Cicale: Would it shock anyone if Hunter walked out as entry number 30 this Saturday, won the belt at the Rumble, and carried it until WrestleMania? This pick is six free points, with potential for more.
Jey Uso
Nick Alberico: This was a panic pick. I know nothing about the Usos. Here’s hoping.
The Miz
Bryan: The Miz is hilarious. He might never compete in any meaningful matches but that’s fine with me.
Finn Balor
Troy: If you’ve never watched NXT, you need to, if for no other reason than to see how awesome NXT champion Finn Balor is. Being the champion at NXT is usually followed by a call-up to the main roster, and when “The Demon” gets unleashed, a lot of gold could be switching hands.
D-Von Dudley
Alex: Just doubling down on Dudley dominance.
Nikki Bella
Dylan: The longest-reigning Divas champ in history is always a threat for the title. Although Nikki Bella is injured and will find out if she needs surgery at the end of January, I still believe she will be a front runner for the Divas title when she returns.
Round 7
Darren Young
Dylan: Darren Young is a former tag team champion and will look for another shot as soon as he recovers from his injury.
The Rock
Alex: The People’s Champ! While he’s almost completely moved to film, the Rock will always be a favorite among WWE fans and he could participate in some big storyline at some point during the year. The Rock is one of the few people who can beat Brock Lesnar and one of the only WWE superstars with the size to realistically take him on so I wouldn’t be too surprised to see them duke it out at WrestleMania.
Naomi
Troy: Naomi was the last draftable Diva on my draft board, so I’m not overly thrilled with this pick, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she claims her first Divas title in 2016.
Cesaro
Bryan: Before he got hurt it was apparent the WWE pendulum was swinging in his favor. Once he’s healthy, we’re sure to see plenty of uppercuts
Luke Harper
Nick Alberico: Wash your shirt!
Samoa Joe
Nicholas Cicale: Joe isn’t on the main roster yet, but as a seasoned veteran and with a lack of healthy stars at the top, I think he’ll show up sooner rather than later and make an instant impact.
Round 8
Daniel Bryan
Nicholas Cicale: The ultimate boom or bust draft pick. Bryan might never see the ring in WWE again, or he could come back this weekend. If he does wrestle this year, he’ll surely be in the discussion for at least one belt.
Titus O’Neil
Nick Alberico: – Titus is the most frightening man in WWE. He deserves some recognition for that. Plus, there’s a guy who works security at a bar near me who looks exactly like him.
Lana
Bryan: SLEEPER ALERT: The one woman everybody wants to see in some real matches. Does she know how to wrestle? Probably not, but that never stopped the Big Show from becoming a relevant WWE character.
Sami Zayn
Troy: I’m not sure how long Sami Zayn will be cooped up in NXT after recently returning from shoulder surgery, but his match with John Cena on Monday Night RAW for the United States Championship proved he’s main roster material. If he gets up there, he could make a splash.
Donald Trump
Alex: The true wildcard pick. As a member of the WWE Hall of Fame, he is technically on the WWE roster. If Trump were to win the presidency, I make the argument that the US Presidency should be incorporated into a WWE title much in the way that the WCW titles transferred to the WWE when purchased. If he were to win the election, that would give me four years of an uncontested title, making Trump easily the best pick of the draft.
Adam Rose
Dylan: The most overlooked superstars this side of Damien Sandow, Adam Rose is finally looking for a storyline that will push him over. He has joined the Social Outcastes to form a faction of unwanted superstars with nothing to offer. He needs a push or he will become the Doink of this era.
Recap:
| Dylan Cicale | Alex Perdomo | Troy Provost-Heron | Bryan Cicale | Nick Alberico | Nicholas Cicale | |
| 1 | Brock Lesnar | Bray Wyatt | Roman Reigns | Dean Ambrose | Alberto Del Rio | Kevin Owens |
| 2 | Big E | Rusev | Kofi Kingston | Dolph Ziggler | Becky Lynch | Charlotte Flair |
| 3 | Ryback | Bubba Ray Dudley | Neville | Brie Bella | Xavier Woods | Sheamus |
| 4 | John Cena | Sting | Seth Rollins | Randy Orton | Kalisto | Sasha Banks |
| 5 | Paige | Kane | Braun Strowman | Jimmy Uso | Tyler Breeze | King Barrett |
| 6 | Nikki Bella | D-Von Dudley | Finn Balor | The Miz | Jay Uso | Triple H |
| 7 | Darren Young | The Rock | Naomi | Cesaro | Luke Harper | Samoa Joe |
| 8 | Adam Rose | Donald Trump | Sami Zayn | Lana | Titus O’Neil | Daniel Bryan |
Fresh Out The Deli 