As WWE continues its true brand split into the second season of its new television contracts, it is in the midst of holding another WWE Draft to shake up the rosters of its two main shows. The draft began Friday night on SmackDown and concludes Monday night on Raw with every superstar on both rosters available for selection.
There will be more than 60 superstars (men, women and tag teams) picked over the two-day draft with Raw, a three-hour show, getting three picks for every two chosen by SmackDown. WWE has split those superstars into two pools in order to ensure that the company’s biggest stars serve as attractions over the two-day draft.
On the first night of the draft, taking place Friday during SmackDown on Fox, featured four of WWE’s six singles champions eligible, though all remained on their respective brands. The other two — Bayley (SmackDown women’s) and Sami Zayn (intercontinental) — will be up for selection Monday during Raw on USA Network.
Though the initial Fox-USA Network draft in 2019 received mostly negative reviews — it was largely boring and left the rosters uneven — WWE decided to use the same format with chief brand officer Stephanie McMahon announcing every pick in a commissioner-type role. Improvements were made Friday night as WWE did away with the pre-taped war room celebrations featuring cartoon robots and face-painted executives and focused on reactions from drafted superstars.
Now all that’s left is to break down the WWE Draft format and prepare for the actual selections. Keep on reading for a detailed look at the rules of the WWE Draft and which superstars are available to be selected each night.
WWE Draft format, rules
- Pool: More than 60 superstars, including men, women and tag teams
- Picks: For every two SmackDown picks, Raw gets three
- Teams/groups/factions: Count as one pick, but teams can be split up
- Free agents: All undrafted superstars can sign with either brand
WWE Draft results, Day 1 (Friday, Oct. 9)
|
1 |
Drew McIntyre (c, WWE) |
Roman Reigns (c, Universal) |
|
Asuka (c, Raw women’s) |
Seth Rollins |
|
|
The Hurt Business |
||
|
2 |
AJ Styles |
Sasha Banks |
|
Naomi |
Bianca Belair |
|
|
Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler (c) |
||
|
3 |
Ricochet |
Jey Uso |
|
Mandy Rose |
Rey & Dominik Mysterio |
|
|
The Miz & John Morrison |
||
|
4 |
The New Day (c, SD tag team) |
Big E |
|
Dana Brooke |
Otis |
|
|
Angel Garza |
||
| 5 | Humberto Carillo | Murphy |
| Drew Gulak | Kalisto | |
| Tucker |
- Teams split: New Day was split up with Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods winning the SmackDown tag team titles but being drafted to Raw as Big E was drafted to SmackDown. Heavy Machinery and Lucha House Party were also split up.
- Undrafted: Elias (see below), Shorty G (see below), Lucha House Party (see below), Mickie James
WWE Draft results, Day 2 (Monday, Oct. 12)
|
1 |
“The Fiend” Bray Wyatt |
Bayley (c) |
|
Randy Orton |
The Street Profits (c) |
|
|
Charlotte Flair |
||
| 2 | Braun Strowman | Daniel Bryan |
| Matt Riddle | Kevin Owens | |
| Jeff Hardy | ||
| 3 | Retribution | Lars Sullivan |
| Keith Lee | King Corbin | |
| Alexa Bliss | ||
| 4 | Elias | Sami Zayn (c) |
| Lacey Evans | Cesaro & Shinsuke Nakamura | |
| Sheamus | ||
| 5 | Nikki Cross | Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode |
| R-Truth (c) | Apollo Crews | |
| Dabba-Kato | ||
| 6 | Titus O’Neil | Carmella |
| Peyton Royce | Aleister Black | |
| Akira Tozawa | ||
| 7 | Lana | Natalya |
| Riddick Moss | The Riott Squad | |
| Arturo Ruas |
- New Day and The Street Profits swapped their brands’ tag team titles after being drafted opposite one another.
- Shorty G was added to the SmackDown roster on Monday. He went undrafted on Friday.
- Lucha House Party (Lince Dorado & Gran Metalik) were added to the Raw roster on Monday. They went undrafted on Friday.
- Undrafted: Andrade, Erik, Billie Kay, Tamina, Zelina Vega
Notable unlisted superstars
- Becky Lynch is pregnant and not currently competing.
- Jimmy Uso and Ivar are both injured, but their tag team partners are listed as singles wrestlers. Presumably, they would simply join whatever brand to which their partner is drafted.
- Sonya Deville is no longer under WWE contract (in storyline).
- Edge and Jinder Mahal are injured.
- Samoa Joe is currently on the Raw commentary team.
- Mojo Rawley has not competed since June 15, 2020.
- The Forgotten Sons have not competed since May 10, 2020
- Bo Dallas has not competed since Oct. 31, 2019.
- Part-time / ineligible: Big Show, John Cena, Bill Goldberg, Ronda Rousey, The Undertaker