Obviously the main topic of discussion in the wrestling world is the upcoming draft – and rightfully so. This is going to be a night that will literally change everything in WWE. No longer will we just have WWE, we will have Raw and SmackDown. Once again we have company competition in the wrestling world…all due respect to Impact Wrestling (…pause for laughter…seriously, did you see that Hardy Boys segment from a few weeks ago?)
This will be the first time since 2002 that the company’s roster will be split in two. This was a different time in the business to say the least. Could you imagine if a draft was done in another era before that?
I mean, could you imagine if the roster from, oh I don’t know, 1990 was split in two like it will be on July 19?
Could you imagine?
Well…I could!
Back in those days, we didn’t have Raw and SmackDown. We had Superstars on 
Saturdays and All American Wrestling on Sundays. Those will be our two shows. Authority figures? Well The illustrious President of WWE (yes, I’m still going to call it WWE, you never know when the pandas are watching!) Jack Tunney has appointed himself to run Superstars. For All American Wrestling, WWE is taking a chance on a man that has been a key cog in the machine for decades and has been seen as a possible successor to Tunney – Gorilla Monsoon!
As far as the broadcast team goes, the GM of All American Wrestling Gorilla 
Monsoon has taken it upon himself to take the lead on the commentary team and has brought in Bobby “The Brain” Hennan in to do color commentary so he could, as he says, “keep an eye on the weasel.” Mean Gene Okerlund will hand to backstage interviews with that show. Commentary for Superstars will be done by another lead mic man, and only a lead mic man, in Vince McMahon. Jesse Ventura will be handling color with Sean Mooney handling interviews in the back.
Here we go! All American Wrestling is on the clock!
Round 1
The first two picks are obvious ones, it’s just a matter of who goes first. After taking everything into account, Monsoon decides to center All American 
Wrestling around WWE Champion THE ULTIMATE WARRIOR. The man that took down Hulkamania at WrestleMania 6 is obvious choice. Possibly a more obvious choice would be Superstars first choice in HULK HOGAN. The already established mega star will bring a lot of casual eyes to Superstars.
Round 2
Both shows decide to select their top heel in the second round. Superstars is up first and they select “THE MILLION DOLLAR MAN” TED DIBIASE. Nobody was able to generate heat quite like that man did in his prime! All American Wrestling follows suit by taking the “MACHO KING” RANDY SAVAGE. With the Warrior and Savage on the roster, couldn’t you see these two have a great match in 1991? (see what I did there?)
Round 3
Heels remain the theme in the next round. All American Wrestling takes Intercontinental Champion MR. PERFECT. Arguably the greatest talent to never win the WWE Championship. The same can be said for Superstars next selection of “RAVISHING” RICK RUDE. Superstars is hoping that they can put together a Hogan/Rude match that the fans would love to see.
Round 4
Superstars is stacking up the heels by taking EARTHQUAKE. Before you say that may be a little too high, keep in mind that 1990 was the year of Earthquake. 
He spent most of the year feuding with Hulk Hogan! That’s the easiest way to a quick payday! All American Wrestling gets back on the face side by selecting DUSTY RHODES. The American Dream hasn’t been with WWE for too long but had definitely made an impact.
Round 5
All American Wrestling keeps with the big man trend and takes the BIG BOSS MAN the future Hall of Famer has looked solid since starting his singles career in 1990. Superstars comes back and takes one of the most popular stars in WWE JAKE “THE SNAK” ROBERTS. Damian is sure to come along with Roberts…though they are on the same show as Earthquake…uh-oh.
Round 6
Superstars checks in with the first tag team of the draft and select the newcomers to WWE, Hawk and Animal the LEGION OF DOOM. Not surprisingly, just as it was around this time, LOD is copied as All American Wrestling goes the same route as their Saturday counterpart and drafts DEMOLITION. An interesting selection indeed as All American Wrestling gets three wrestlers with this pick – Ax, Smash and Crush.
Round 7
Future Hall of Famer Rowdy Roddy Piper heads to Superstars. Hot Rod is towards the end of his run, but maybe McMahon could use some help on the mic? This pick comes after All American Wrestling starts the round by selecting a
relative newcomer to WWE. He hasn’t really done too much at this point but some say this guy has some serious potential potential, apparently Gorilla Monsoon agrees with those assumptions. All American Wrestling selects … … … THE UNDERTAKER.
Round 8
Superstars is taking a risk in round 8 taking BRUTUS BEEFCAKE. One of the most popular stars of the era is currently recovering from a major boating accident. Hopefully he can return to the ring soon! All American Wrestling is going a more certain selection with the popular tag team THE ROCKERS. I don’t know about but whether its Marty Jannetty or Shawn Michaels, I can see big things from at least one member of this team!
Round 9
All American Wrestling will take former Intercontinental Champion, the Texas Tornado KERRY VON ERICH. What could go wrong from taking someone from such an historic family? Perhaps the biggest surprise of the draft is selected by Superstars with the Tag Team Champions THE HART FOUNDATION. I guess you can just count it as another chip on Bret Hart’s shoulder.
Round 10
Superstars uses their final televised pick to take one of the most hated men in WWE right now, the Iraqi sympathizer SGT. SLAUGHTER. After returning 
from such a long absence, what will such an un-American decision mean to Mr. America Hulk Hogan? (again…see what I did there?) Seeing the negative reaction the crowd gave the pick of Sgt. Slaughter, All American Wrestling goes the complete opposite rout and takes the flag waving symbol of patriotism HACKSAW JIM DUGGAN. Simply put … HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!
So that will do it for the televised portion of the draft. The rest of the roster was drafter immediately following the show on the WWE Netw…wait, think 1990. You can head over to WWE.com to vi…ugh, for the love of Shawn Michaels’ tag team partner at Backlash 2006, how did we get by in 1990? Anyway, here are the complete rosters.
ALL AMERICAN WRESTLING – The Ultimate Warrior, Randy Savage, Mr. Perfect, Dusty Rhodes, Big Boss Man, Demolition (Ax, Smash, Crush), The Undertaker, The Rockers (Marty Jannetty, Shawn Michaels), Kerry Von Erich, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Bad News Brown, The Warlord, The Barbarian, Honky Tonk Man, Colossal Connection (Andre the Giant, Haku), The Bushwackers (Luke and Butch), Jimmy Snuka, Power & Glory (Hercules, Paul Roma), Red Rooster, Brooklyn Brawler.
SUPERSTARS – Hulk Hogan, Ted DiBiase, Rick Rude, Earthquake, Jake Roberts, Legion of Doom (Animal, Hawk), Roddy Piper, Brutus Beefcake, The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart), Sgt. Slaughter, Tugboat, Tito Santana, Rick Martel, Akeem, Greg Valentine, Koko B Ware, Ronnie Garvin, Dino Bravo, Bolsheviks (Nikolai Volkoff, Boris Zukhov), Hillbilly Jim, Orient Express (Sato, Tanaka), Buddy Rose.
And of course, you can catch a review of both shows on Prime Time Wrestling every Monday night on the USA Network. But, let’s be honest, do you really see a future in wrestling on Monday Nights?
THERE YOU HAVE IT! WHO DO YOU THINK HAS THE BETTER ROSTER? ANY PICKS YOU WOULD HAVE MADE SOONER? LATER? FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @FROM_THETOPROPE AND LET US KNOW!
